Gurdit Singh
(b.1807 d.1882)

Gurdit Singh

Hari Singh Nalwa was one of the few nobles in the Court of Lahore who did not champion the cause of his sons. In over three decades of distinguished service to the Sikh Empire, the sole reference to the presence of father and sons in Sohan Lal Suri's Umdat-ut-tawarikh, the Lahore Court chronicle, is towards the end of 1835. Hari Singh Nalwa and his sons presented themselves at the Lahore Durbar after the Sardar had annexed Peshawar to the Sikh Empire and was serving as the governor:

'On the 10th of Poh (23 December) Sardar Hari Singh presented himself with his sons, 5 elephants, horsemen and the Zamburaks, well-equipped and well-dressed, the Maharaja felt greatly pleased at sight of the horses, the youth etc.'

Gurdit Singh, Hari Singh's eldest child, is mentioned in the first Panda Record for the Nalwa family at Haridwar (1808 CE). The genealogy, noted and verified in Hari Singh Nalwa's presence, initiated the record for the Nalwa family.                               

The manuscript displayed above, from the record of the Pandas in Haridwar, is in Devanagari. Hari Singh Nalwa's father was Gurdas Singh (d. 1798), and his grandfather was Bishen Singh (d. 1762).