Bot at 01:41, 11 December 2022

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{{More citations needed|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mahan Singh Mirpuri Bali
| image = Mahan Singh Mirpuri.jpg
| landscape =
| caption = Mahan Singh Mirpuri wearing red poshak with a white beard with a sword in left hand and mala beads in right hand, ca.1850 painting
| birth_date = 1810
| image_size =
| birth_place = [[Mirpur, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir|Mirpur]], [[Kashmir]]
| death_date = 1844
| death_place = [[Kashmir]], [[Sikh Empire]]
| occupation = Military officer
| parents = Data Ram Bali (Father)
| signature = Persian seal of Mahan Singh Mirpuri.jpg
| children = Chhattar Singh <br/> Himmat Singh<br/>Sham Singh<br/> Wadhwa Singh
}}

[[Sardar]] '''Raja''' '''Mahan Singh Mirpuri''' '''Bali''' (born in [[Mirpur, Pakistan|Mirpur]], Kashmir) was a famous general in the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]], and was the second-in-command general to General Sardar [[Hari Singh Nalwa]].<ref>The history of the Muhiyals: The militant Brahman race of India<nowiki>''</nowiki> (English,1911) by T.P. Russell Stracey</ref>{{dubious|date=May 2022}} He was conferred by Maharaja Ranjit Singh the title of [[Raja]] for his conquests of [[Haripur, Pakistan|Haripur]], [[Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]] and [[Peshawar]]. The town of [[Mansehra]] derives its name from him.

==Early life==

Mahan Singh was born in [[Mirpur, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir|Mirpur]] in the [[Kashmir]] region of India into a [[Hindu]] ([[Saraswat]]) [[Mohyal Brahmin]] family of the [[Bali clan|Bali]] clan ([[Parāśara]] gotra). He was the son of Data Ram Bali, who was a counselor to Sultan Raja Muqqarab Khan, the muslim [[Gakhars|Gakhar]] Subedar of the [[Punjab]]i cities of [[Gujrat, Pakistan|Gujrat]], [[Jhelum]], and [[Rawalpindi]]. Mahan Singh Mirpuri, born a [[Brahmin]] [[Hindu]], took amrit and became a [[Khalsa|Khalsa Sikh]].<ref name=":0"><nowiki>''Mohyal History''</nowiki> (Urdu, 1940) Chuni Lal Dutt</ref>

==Military career and later Life==

While in [[Lahore]] in search of a job, he happened to participate in a hunting expedition of [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]], in which he caught the notice of the Maharaja by single-handedly killing a leopard with his sword. Impressed by his valor, the Maharaja had him inducted into the army under the famous General [[Hari Singh Nalwa]].

Mahan Singh Mirpuri played a key role in the battles of [[Battle of Peshawar (1834)|Peshawar]] and [[Battle of Shopian|Kashmir]], and in the 1818 siege of Multan, where he was seriously wounded two times. He went on to become second-in-command to [[Hari Singh Nalwa]]. In April 1837, he was the main defender of the [[Jamrud Fort]], holding out against an invasion by the [[Afghans]]. In the [[Battle of Jamrud]], [[Hari Singh Nalwa]] was killed but Mahan Singh maintained the news secret until reinforcements arrived from [[Lahore]].

Mai Desan, the widow of [[Hari Singh Nalwa]], adopted Mahan Singh as her son and solemnized his marriage into a fellow [[Mohyal Brahmins]] family of the [[Mohan (clan)|Mohan]] clan ([[Kashyapa]] gotra) from [[Gujranwala]] according to [[Vedic|Hindu Vedic]] traditions.

Mahan Singh had four sons, named Chhattar Singh, Himmat Singh, Sham Singh and Wadhwa Singh.

== Death ==

Sardar Raja Mahan Singh was murdered by his own soldiers in 1844, when mutiny broke out in the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]].

His death at the hands of mutinying soldiers was avenged by Chhattar Singh (His Son), who was himself killed soon after.

==See also==
* [[Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Generals]]
* [[Mansehra]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirpuri, Mahan Singh}}
[[Category:Indian generals]]
[[Category:People from Mansehra District]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Converts to Sikhism from Hinduism]]
[[Category:Indian Sikhs]]
[[Category:1844 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Sikh Empire]]
[[Category:Assassinated Indian people]]
[[Category:Assassinated military personnel]]
[[Category:1810 births]]

Mahan Singh Mirpuri - Revision history

Bot at 01:41, 11 December 2022