Arur Singh Shergill


Arur Singh Shergill was a Sikh magistrate and civil judge who served as the manager of Darbar Sahib and the Akal Takht, as a sarbarah appointed by the British Raj from 1902 to 1920.

Early life and career

Arur Singh Shergill was born in Naushehra Nangli, Amritsar, British India to a Sikh family of Shergill clan in 1865. His father Deputy Inspector Harnam Singh died when he was four years of age. Being a minor, his property was brought under the Court of Wards to be administered by Gulab Singh Bhagowalia and Ajit Singh Attari till 1885. He was educated at the Government High School in Amritsar.
In 1888, Shergill became an honorary magistrate of second class with powers over 133 villages of Kathu Nangal police station. Later he became a magistrate of first class in 1907 for the same district. He was also the honorary civil judge in Amritsar.

Sarbarah

Shergill was appointed a sarbarah to manage Darbar Sahib and the Akal Takht on 1 July 1902. He was appointed by Esquire Maclagan, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, to replace Colonel Jawala Singh. On 2 May 1905, Shergill removed idols/images from the Darbar Sahib and prohibited the entry of Brahmins within the premises. This action was supported by the Tat Khalsa faction of the Singh Sabha movement, however the Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, and other prominent organizations contested the move. There would be a petition following the action signed by around 13,000 persons dispatched to the colonial British administration requesting that images be reinstated in the precincts of the shrine.
Subsequent to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919, Shergill honored Reginald Dyer, the general who ordered the massacre, with a siropa. He thanked Dyer for their protection of the Darbar Sahib complex. According to Mohinder Singh's The Akali Movement, Arur Singh discussed with Dyer about the possibility of him becoming a Sikh at the siropa ceremony but Dyer declined on the basis of being unable to keep long-hair as a British official and giving-up smoking cigarettes.
After being pressured by the Sikhs to resign, Shergill gave his resignation on 29 August 1920.

Honours

A Companion in 1913 and a Knight Grand Commander in 1921, two classes of the Order of the Indian Empire were awarded to Shergill.

Family and legacy

During the Punjab insurgency, the Khalistani militant outfit Dasmesh Khalsa set on-fire the samadh of Arur Singh in Naushehra Nangli in May 1984, fired upon the complex, and issued a letter to his familial relatives warning them that traitors to the Sikhs "would not be spared".
Simranjit Singh Mann is Arur Singh's grandson. Shergill's maternal grandson, pro-Khalistan leader Simranjit Singh Mann, the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) apologised in 2001 for the honour given to Dyer by his maternal grandfather. Mann also justified Shergill's decision in 2022 by saying, "he did it to save the Golden Temple from bombing on the advice of then principal of Khalsa College G. A. Wathen."