Sardar Chattur (or Chattar) Singh, 1845 (c)

Miniature portrait in watercolour on ivory, by a Company artist, Lahore, India, 1845 (c).

Chattur Singh (died 1858) was the head of an influential family and his daughter, Taj Kaur, was betrothed to the Maharaja Duleep Singh. From 1846, he succeeded his son, Sardar Sher Singh Atariwala, as Governor of Peshawar but his rule was corrupt. On the outbreak of the Second Sikh War in 1848, he took up arms against the British East India Company forces. His forces captured Attock Fort on 2nd January 1849 before joining with Sardar Sher Singh Atariwala's army to fight the Battle of Gujerat. Following its decisive defeat, the Sikh Army surrendered and the Sikh's Afghan allies were chased out of India. Sardar Chattur Singh and Sardar Sher Singh Atariwala were placed under surveillance, but were later imprisoned. They were released from confinement in 1854 and Sardar Chattur Singh died in Calcutta in 1858.