Haveli of Sham Singh Attariwala

Attari lies about 25 km west of Amritsar and 3 km from the Wagah border. Its name is known across India, yet few visitors see the historic village itself. Around 1735-40 two Sidhu Jat brothers, Gaur Singh and Kaur Singh, came here from Malwa. Gaur Singh built a three-storeyed house, an “attari”, on a high mound, and the village grew around it and took its name. There are several claims regarding the origin of the Haveli. Some say it was built around 1735, and is the original House that Gaur & Kaur Singh built. Others say that this Haveli is different and its construction started in 1780. The house became the fortified seat of the Attariwala sardars, who rose to high rank under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Gaur Singh’s grandson, General Sham Singh Attariwala, entered the Maharaja’s service in 1817. At Multan in 1818 he commanded a battery of guns and, though wounded, was the first man through the breach in the fort wall. He also served at Attock, Peshawar and Kashmir, and in 1844 took the surrender of Jasrota from Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu. Approaching the town from Amritsar, the city wall and the big havelis could be seen from far off. The haveli’s best-known moment came with the marriage of Sham Singh’s daughter Nanaki Kaur to Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh, Ranjit Singh’s grandson, on 7 March 1837. Sir Henry Fane, the British commander-in-chief, also attended. During the wedding the milni with Maharaja Ranjit Singh took place at the haveli’s gateway. The haveli had carved doors, mehrabs (arches), burjis (turrets) and domes, and its own well with a hidden approach, so water could be drawn during a siege. After Ranjit Singh’s death Sham Singh withdrew to Attari. When Maharani Jind Kaur consulted him about war with the British, he argued against it and was called a coward for it. After the Sikh defeat at Ferozeshah she summoned him again. He condemned the commanders who had left the field and crossed the Sutlej with his horsemen, swearing on the Guru Granth Sahib not to return in defeat. At Sobraon, Tej Singh urged him to retreat while the bridge of boats still stood. Sham Singh refused, and vowed before the Guru Granth Sahib to return victorious or die. On 10 February 1846 he rode out at dawn in the robes of a martyr, on his white horse, and charged the British line with his men behind him. Tej Singh had fled across the river and broken the bridge, cutting off the Sikh army’s retreat. Sham Singh fell with seven bullets in his chest. British commanders praised his courage, and the historian Lepel Griffin wrote that the Sikhs might have kept their independence had they had more leaders like him. The British let his followers carry his body home. He was cremated outside the village on 12 February, and his samadh stands beside a tank at the edge of the town. Sham Singh’s descendants still live in Attari and keep his sword, rhino-hide shield and a peerhi from the haveli. The 2025 tourism project at Attari does not include the fort.