Gujjar Singh Banghi

Sardar Gujjar Singh Dhillon was a Sikh warrior of Jat caste. He was one of the triumvirate who ruled over Lahore for thirty years before Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Gujjar Singh was the son of a cultivator, Nattha Singh Dhillon. Nattha Singh was a Jat farmer who lived on a fertile farm near the city of Lahore as a cultivator and had converted to Sikhism from Hinduism. Gujjar Singh received the vows of the Khalsa at the hands of his maternal grandfather, Gurbaksh Singh, who presented him with a horse and recruited him as a member of his jatha (An armed band of Sikh warriors). As Gurbaksh Singh had grown too old to lead his band of Khalsa warriors, he made Gujjar Singh head of his band; soon, the band was united with the force of Hari Singh, head of the Bhangi Misl, He and Gujjar Singh set out on a career of conquest and plunder. In 1765, Gujjar Singh along with his wife Kanhaiya Kaur, adopted the son of Gurbaksh Singh and Soba Singh, Lahina Singh. Gujjar Singh allowed his adopted son Lahina Singh to take possession of the city and the fort, and he himself occuppied the eastern part the city. Then, Gujjar Singh erected a huge part of the city and also Gujjar Singh erected a mud fortress and invited people to settle there. He also sank the wells to supply water for the population. A Lord Shiva Mandir was built for the Hindus and a mosque was also built for the Muslims. The area is the site of present-day railway station of Lahore and it still bears his name and is known as Qila Gujar Singh.