Budha Singh

Budha Singh (ca.1670 - disputed^[1]), also spelt as Budh Singh or Budda Singh, was a Sikh warrior. He was the father of Naudh Singh, the grandfather of Charat Singh, great-grandfather of Maha Singh, and the great-great-grandfather of Ranjit Singh.^[2][3]

Budh Singh, detail from a larger illustration, lithograph, Umdat-ut-Tawarikh (vol. II), Albert Press, Lahore, 1886

Name

Budha was nicknamed Desu after his horse, Desi, and would later be given the baptized Khalsa name of Budh Singh.^[4][5][6][7]

Biography

Budh Singh was born in around 1670 and was the son of Baru.^[4][5][6][7] Budh Singh's ancestors were cattlemen and farmers around the Gujranwala area, with Budh being the first in the family to rise to significant notability.^[1] Budh's father Baru was the first of the family who had associations with Sikhism, as he was a follower of the founder, Guru Nanak, and an avid reader of the Adi Granth (as it was then known).^[4][5][6][7] Baru had wanted to get baptized into the Khalsa order but was unable to fulfill this desire.^[4][5][6][7] On his deathbed in 1679, Baru told his son, Budda, to get baptized in Amritsar as a dying wish for his son to fulfil.^[4][5][6][7] Once he reached an age of maturity, Budda was baptized into the Khalsa order and was renamed as Budh Singh.^[4][5][6][7] His Pahul initiation ceremony said to have been directly administered by Guru Gobind Singh himself.^{[1][4][5][6][7]}

Lore connects Budh to a piebald mare he rode named Desan, with the names of the two often being evoked together as Desan Budh Singh.^[1] Other sources claim his horse was named Desi.^[4][5][6][7]

Budh Singh was a warrior of high repute in his time, being renowned for his stamina and he engaged in raiding.^{[1][4][5][6][7]} Through his martial activities, a region of a few villages was controlled by Budh and surrounding areas paid the rakhi tax to him.^[1]

When Budh Singh died, it is claimed that Budh Singh's corpse exhibited wounds from sabres and muskets.^[1] After Budh's death, his wife committed suicide so they were cremated together.^[4][5][6][7]

Budh was survived by two sons, Naudh Singh and Chanda Singh.^[4][5][6][7] Naudh Singh would succeed Budh as head of the Sukerchakia family.^[1] Meanwhile, Chanda was the progenitor of the Sandhawalia family of Raja Sansi.^[4][5][6][7]

Death year

His year of death varies depending on the source. Some give a year of death of 1716 whilst others, such as Khushant Singh, give 1718.^{[4][5][6][7][1]}