Arur Singh Shergill
{{Short description|Indian magistrate (1865 – 1926)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Sardar Bahadur Sir
| name = Arur Singh Shergill
| native_name =
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|CIE|KCIE}}
| image = File:Arur Singh.jpg
| caption = Shergill in 1920
| office = Sarbarah
| status =
| term_start = 1 July 1902
| term_end = 29 August 1920
| predecessor = Jawala Singh
| successor = Teja Singh Bhuchar
| birth_date = {{Birth date text|1865}}
| death_date = {{Death date text|1926}}
| birth_place = Naushehra Nangli, Amritsar, Punjab
| father = Harnam Singh
| children = {{flatlist|
- Lachhman Singh
- Buta Singh
- Surinder Singh
}}
}}
Arur Singh Shergill (1865 – 1926) was a Sikh magistrate and civil judge who served as the manager of Darbar Sahib and the Akal Takht, as a sarbarah appointed by the British Raj from 1902 to 1920.{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Master Hari |title=Agrarian Scene in British Punjab |date=1983 |publisher=People's Publishing House |location=Delhi |page=108 |language=en}}
Early life and career
Arur Singh Shergill was born in Naushehra Nangli, Amritsar, British India to a Sikh family of Shergill clan in 1865.{{cite book |title=Gazetteer of the Amritsar district 1883-1884 |date=1883 |publisher=Compiled and published under the authority of the Punjab government |location=Amritsar |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOM2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA27 |access-date=14 December 2022 |language=en}} His father Deputy Inspector Harnam Singh died when he was four years of age. Being a minor, his property was brought under the Court of Wards to be administered by Gulab Singh Bhagowalia and Ajit Singh Attari till 1885. He was educated at the Government High School in Amritsar.{{cite book |last1=Griffin |first1=Lepel H. |title=The Punjab Chiefs |date=1865 |publisher=T. C. McCarthy Chronicle Press |location=Lahore |page=288 }}
In 1888, Shergill became an honorary magistrate of second class with powers over 133 villages of Kathu Nangal police station. Later he became a magistrate of first class in 1907 for the same district. He was also the honorary civil judge in Amritsar.{{cite book |last1=Griffin |first1=Lepel. H |title=Chiefs and families of note in the Punjab Vol. 1 |date=1939 |publisher=Government Printing |location=Lahore |pages=440–441 |edition=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.206269/page/n469 |access-date=14 December 2022}}
Sarbarah
Shergill was appointed a sarbarah to manage Darbar Sahib and the Akal Takht on 1 July 1902.{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Harjeet |title=Faith & Philosophy of Sikhism |date=2009 |publisher=Kalpaz Publications |location=Delhi |isbn=978-81-7835-721-8 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fleka3YEE8sC&pg=PA21 |access-date=14 December 2022 |language=en}} He was appointed by Esquire Maclagan, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, to replace Colonel Jawala Singh.{{cite book |last1=Myrvold |first1=Kristina |title=Sikh News in India, 1864-1924: Colonial Reports on Vernacular Newspapers of Punjab Volume Two: Religious Places, Practices, and Relations |date=2 December 2024 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-70708-5 |access-date=10 March 2025 |language=en |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSs0EQAAQBAJ}} In the first week of May 1905, Shergill removed idols from the Darbar Sahib and prohibited the entry of Brahmins within the premises.{{cite book |last1=Snehi |first1=Yogesh |title=Spatializing Popular Sufi Shrines in Punjab: Dreams, Memories, Territoriality |date=24 April 2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=New York |isbn=978-0-429-51563-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YiUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 |access-date=14 December 2022 |language=en}} For this act, Shergill is highly regarded by Andhabhabhasyas (Khalistani Sikhs).
Subsequent to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919, Shergill honored Reginald Dyer, the general who ordered the massacre. He thanked Dyer for their protection of the Darbar Sahib complex.{{cite book |last1=Collett |first1=Nigel |title=The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer |date=15 October 2006 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-575-8 |page=292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C |access-date=14 December 2022 |language=en}} Shergill's maternal grandson, a pro-Khalistan leader and a hardcore Andhabhabhasya (Khalistani) Simranjit Singh Mann, the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) apologised in 2001 for the honour given to Dyer by his maternal grandfather.{{cite news |last1=Sethi |first1=Chitleen Kaur |title=Pushed to the margins, Simranjit Mann carrying legacy of a lost cause |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/simranjit-mann-carrying-legacy-of-a-lost-cause/story-QfCcgylAe4dUDL8LWU4tWO.html |access-date=14 December 2022 |agency=Hindustan Times |date=1 January 2017 |language=en}} Mann also justified Shergill's decision in 2022 by saying, "he did it to save the Golden Temple from bombing on the advice of then principal of Khalsa College G. A. Wathen."{{cite news |last1=Bharti |first1=Vishav |title=Simranjit Singh Mann defends grandfather who honoured General Reginald Dyer |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/simranjit-singh-mann-defends-grandfather-who-honoured-general-reginald-dyer-413061 |access-date=14 December 2022 |agency=The Tribune |date=16 July 2022 |language=en}}
After being pressured by the Sikhs to resign, Shergill gave his resignation on 29 August 1920.{{cite book |title=Report of the Guru-ka-Bagh Congress Inquiry Committee |date=1924 |publisher=Indian National Congress |location=Amritsar |language=en}}
Honours
A Companion (CIE) in 1913 and a Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) in 1921, two classes of the Order of the Indian Empire were awarded to Shergill.{{cite book |last1=Debrett |first1=John |title=Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage |date=1971 |publisher=Kelly's Directories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCIMAQAAMAAJ&q=arur+singh+nowshera |page=2181 |access-date=14 December 2022}}
References
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Category:Punjabi-language writers