CHIMNI'S FAMILY HISTORY
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Sardar Hukma Singh Chimni
Sardar Hukma Singh Chimni
Sardar HUKMA SINGH CHIMNI was commander-cum-civil administrator under
Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was son of Ram Singh, of Bhera, who was the first
one in the family to take the vows of Guru Gobind Singh's Pahul, and who
entered thc service of the Sukkarchakkia misl under Charhat Singh as a
trooper. After the death of his father, S. Hukma Singh was admitted into
Ranjit Singh's army and took part in the Kasur expedition of 1807. He soon
won the favour of the Maharaja by his valour particularly in the reduction of
the Kanhaiya citadel of Pathankot in 1808, and in the seizure of Sialkot the
same year from Sardar Jivan Singh. The energy and alacrity of Hukma Singh won
from the Maharaja the affectionate epithet of Chimni.
CHIMNI
is derived from Punjabi word Chimna signifies both a man of small stature and a
little bird, swift and strong of wing. The nickname fitted Hukma Singh, who
was short of stature, but very virile and active. S. Hukma Singh was created
a sardar and was made the governor of Ramnagar on a salary of Rs 2,000 per month.
He also became the controller of customs and salt mine duties. He was
assigned a jagir worth 60,000 rupees annually.
S. Hukma Singh took part
in the battle of Haidru, 8 km from the Fort of Attock, in 1813, under Diwan
Mohkam Chand, when the Sikhs defeated the Kabul Wazir, Fateh Khan. As Yar
Muhammad Khan, the Afghan governor of Peshawar, made an attempt to reoccupy
Attock, S. Hukma Singh drove the Afghan army from the fortress and plundered
thc retreating host.
In 1818, Maharaja
Ranjit Singh appointed S. Hukma Singh as the governor of Attock and Hazara.
Hukma Singh was primarily a soldier, and there were few of the Maharaja's
campaigns in which he did not participatc. He was well rewarded for his skill
and hravery and, at one time, held jagirs amounting to upwards of three lakhs
of rupees .
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