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[[File:Sir Sobha Singh (1890-1978).jpg|thumb|Sardar Sir Sobha Singh (1890-1978)]]
''Sardar Bahadur'' '''Sir Sobha Singh''' [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (1890 – 18 April 1978) was an Indian civil contractor, prominent builder and [[real estate]] developer of [[Delhi]].<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/2007/06/20/072a.html#469444827313 Lutyens' Legacy] ''[[Forbes]]'', 7 February 2007.</ref> He is the father of Indian writer [[Khushwant Singh]].

==Early life==

Sardar Bahadur Sobha Singh was born in 1890, in the village of [[Hadali]] in [[Khushab Tehsil|Khushab]], [[Shahpur District]] – then part of [[British Raj|British India]] (now Pakistan). He was the elder of the two sons of Sujan Singh and Lakshmi Devi, the younger one being [[Sardar Ujjal Singh]],<ref name=ujj/> who was a [[member of Parliament]] in India from the state of Punjab.

After a few years at school in Amritsar, he joined his father's business of civil construction dealing in the laying of railway tracks and the digging of tunnels.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}

==Career==

When [[Baron Hardinge of Penshurst|Hardinge]], the [[Viceroy of India]], announced the plan to move the British Indian [[capital city]] to Delhi was along with the [[Delhi Durbar|Coronation Durbar]] for [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] and the [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]], would take place in Delhi in December 1911, Sujan Singh and 22-year-old Sobha Singh, who was then a contractor working on the [[Kalka–Shimla railway|Kalka-Shimla railroad]], shifted base to Delhi as building contractors. Building contracts then being given out. Sujan Singh-Sobha Singh were accepted as senior-grade contractors. Plans for the new city were drawn immediately after the Coronation Durbar.

The foundation stones had been laid by the King and Queen. After this the architects, [[Edwin Lutyens]] and [[Herbert Baker]] wanted to change the site from where the foundation stones had been laid to [[Raisina hill]] and the village of Malcha. Sobha Singh had the foundation stones removed during the night and took them 11 km across the city and replanted them on the new site. The construction of the plans were taken up after World War I (1914–1918).

For the [[South Block]] and War Memorial Arch (now [[India Gate]]), Sir Sobha was the sole builder. He also worked on some parts of the Viceregal House (now [[Rashtrapati Bhavan]]) and [[Vijay Chowk]].

[[File:thesouthblockdelhi.JPG|right|200px|thumb|[[Secretariat Building, New Delhi|The South Block]] in [[New Delhi]] for which Sobha Singh was the sole contractor.]]
Sir Sobha bought as much land in Delhi as he could. He bought several extensive sites at as little as Rs 2 per square yard, freehold. There were few other takers, and he came to be described as ''adhi dilli ka malik'' (the owner of half of Delhi).<ref>[http://www.delhilive.com/page/who-built-new-delhi-200802132209 Who built New Delhi?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907192818/http://www.delhilive.com/page/who-built-new-delhi-200802132209 |date=2008-09-07 }} ''www.delhilive.com'', 13 February 2008.</ref> He constructed many residential and commercial buildings, including the [[Connaught Place, New Delhi|Connaught Place]] market complex,<ref>[http://www.indiaprofile.com/heritage/cp-delhi.htm Connaught Place]</ref> as well as the Chelmsford, A.I.F.A.C.'s Hall, Broadcasting House ([[All India Radio]]), [[National Museum, New Delhi|the National Museum]], [[Dyal Singh College, Delhi|Dyal Singh College]], T.B. Hospital, [[Modern School (New Delhi)|Modern School]], Deaf and Dumb School, [[St. Columba's School, Delhi|St. Columba's School]], Red Cross Buildings and [[Baroda House]]. Outside Delhi, he built the High Court and Government Medical College at Nagpur and the Pasteur Institute at Kasauli.

Sir Sobha Singh was a person of modest education but his success as a builder made him one of the wealthiest persons of Delhi; also, a prominent member of the social elite. He also became the first [[India]]n president of the [[New Delhi Municipal Council]] and held the post four times, in 1938, 1942, and 1945-46.<ref>[http://www.ndmc.gov.in/AboutNDMC/Ex_History.aspx Ex-Presidents] ''[[New Delhi Municipal Council]]''.</ref> Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ([[Order of the British Empire|OBE]]) in the 1938 Birthday Honours, he was subsequently appointed a member of the [[Rajya Sabha|Council of States]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34518|supp=y|page=3703|date=7 June 1938}}</ref> {{citation needed|date=March 2013}} He was knighted in the 1944 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36544|supp=y|page=2566|date=2 June 1944}}</ref> He also built ''Sujan Singh Park'', near [[Khan Market]] New Delhi, New Delhi's first apartment complex, which only had bungalows till then, in 1945, designed by [[Walter Sykes George]] and named after his father.<ref>{{cite news |title=Making history with brick and mortar|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Making-history-with-brick-and-mortar/Article1-745801.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205200651/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Making-history-with-brick-and-mortar/Article1-745801.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 December 2012 |newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=15 September 2011 }}</ref> Sir Sobha Singh died in [[Delhi]] on 18 April 1978.

==Legacy==

Sardar Bahadur Sir Sobha left a large part of his private estate to a charitable trust, the Sobha Singh Trust, which maintains homes and hospices for the terminally ill and aged all over the country, most recently it built, a [[Dharamshalas|dharamsala]], within the [[Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital]] complex, in [[New Delhi]] in 2005<ref>[http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=124461 Caring for the care-givers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050424201033/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=124461 |date=2005-04-24 }} ''[[Indian Express]]'', 10 April 2005.</ref>

He also presided over some institutions funded by it like the Deaf and Dumb School and the Modern School. Among his last grants was one for [[Bhagat Puran Singh]]'s [[Pingalwara]] home for the destitute in Amritsar.

In 2006, [[India International Centre]] (IIC) organized the first ''Sir Sobha Singh Memorial Lectures'', in which the inaugural lecture titled, "My father, the builder", was given by his son, writer [[Khushwant Singh]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060723/edit.htm#6 | title=Back to the glorious past | first=Humra | last=Quraishi | newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] | date=23 July 2006}}</ref>

=== Testimony against Bhagat Singh ===

Sobha Singh's public image was marred by his sketchy testimony against [[Bhagat Singh]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=How Bhagat Singh Was Sentenced|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/how-bhagat-singh-was-sentenced-based-on-the-testimony-of-kushwant-singhs-father-/298316|access-date=2020-12-19|website=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bhagat Singh vs Sobha Singh|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2011/jul/24/bhagat-singh-vs-sobha-singh-274552.html|access-date=2020-12-19|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

==Personal life==

The younger brother of Sir Sobha Singh, [[Sardar Ujjal Singh]] (1895–1983), later became a parliamentarian, and [[governor of Tamil Nadu]] (1966–71).<ref name=ujj>[http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/heritage/WeaponsGGS/WeaponsGGS.htm Welcome to Memorable relics]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Past Governors|url=http://www.tnrajbhavan.gov.in/PastGovernors.htm |date= |publisher=[[Raj Bhavan, Chennai]], Official website }}</ref>

Sir Sobha was married to Sardarni Vira Bai (Varyam Kaur, Lady Singh). They had four sons: Bhagwant Singh, [[Khushwant Singh]] (journalist and author), Brigadier Gurbux Singh and Daljit Singh, and a daughter, Mohinder Kaur, who was the mother-in-law of [[Rukhsana Sultana]] (her son Shavinder's wife) and grandmother of Indian film actress [[Amrita Singh]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080219083543/http://allaboutsikhs.com/person/sirsobhasingh.htm "Sir Sobha Singh (1890-1978)"]. All About Sikhs.
* Jahagirdar, Archana (13 October 1997). [http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?204408 "Khushwant Singh"]. ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]''.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Sobha}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Date of birth missing]]
[[Category:Place of death missing]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Indian knights]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Indian Sikhs]]
[[Category:People from Delhi]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Delhi]]

Sobha Singh (builder) - Revision history

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