PRESENT HEAD OF HOUSE:

PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY: The name of the misl was taken after Baba Deep Singhji's martyrdom in defence of the Harminder Sahib (Golden Temple). Their territories were in some districts in Ambala (parganah of Shahzadpur) and the district of Saharanpur. The first two leaders of the misl were considered Shaheeds, or martyrs, by their contemporaries so the misl became known as, Shaheedan, or the followers of the martyrs. The Nihang order of Sikhs maintains the traditions of this misl. The property of the Shahidan chiefs was administered as an independent territory until 1847, when general orders were passed resuming the sovereign powers of all the separate petty states included in the Ambala district. Thereafter the status of the chiefs was as an ordinary jagirdar, but, as such, it ranks second among the jagirs of the district. The succession in the Family follows the law of prmogeniture. The family hold the title of Mushfiq Meherban but prefer to use Shahid. Members were....

• Sardar Chuhar Singh, owning allegiance to the Shahidan misl, he was a close relation of the Bhangi Sardar, Rai Singh, the conqueror of Jagadhri and Dialgarh, he received the Jarauli area as his share of the spoils after the sack of Sirhind in January 1764, he retained ten villages for himself and made over the rest to his deputies, returning to Amritsar, he held charge of the Shahid Bunga for many years, married and had issue.

  • Sardar Karam Singh (qv)

  • Sardar Mohar Singh, he was placed in charge of the village of Jarauli, married and had issue, the Sardars of Jarauli.

  • Sardar Dharam Singh, he had Shahzadpur as his share in the original territory, but he died without issue and his widows (Bibiji Hukma and Bibiji Desa) married his oldest brother.

• Baba Deep Singh, 1st Misldhar of Shahidan misl 1748/1757, he was appointed the first Mahant of the "Takht Sri Damdama Sahib" (shrine of the resting-place of the 10th Guru), he was killed in action against the Afghan army in 1757.

• Sardar Suddha Singh, 2nd Misldhar of Shahidan misl, he was the disciple of his predecessor and succeeded him as the guardian of the shrine, he led the misl into a skirmish against the Afghan government of Jalandhar City. He was killed in a skirmish at Adhkola.

• Sardar Karam Singh, 3rd Misldhar of Shahidan misl, he succeeded to the family estates north of the Sutlej, and proceeded to expand the territory of the misl by taking possession of the country about Bannia and Damdama, Khari, Jaroli and Faizullapur, married (his brothers widows), Bibiji Hukma and Bibiji Desa, and had issue, two sons. He died 1808 (or 1784).

  • Sardar Gulab Singh (by Hukma Kaur)(qv)

  • Mehtab Singh (by Hukma Kaur), married 1stly, Bibiji Karam Kaur, married 2ndly, Bibiji Sahib Kaur. He died sp in 1820, and his younger widow married his brother.

• Sardar Gulab Singh, 4th Misldhar of Shahidan misl 1784/1803 and Jagirdar of Shahzadpur 1784/1844, he was one of the first chiefs to offer assistance to the British, who granted him a sanad on 4th January 1804, married (his brothers widow) in 1820, Sardarni Sahib Kaur, and had issue. He died 1844.

  • Sardar Shiv Kirpal Singh (qv)

  • Sardar Thakur Singh

• Sardar Shiv Kirpal Singh, Jagirdar of Shahzadpur 1844/1870, born 1838, he succeeded to his fathers estates, worth Rs30,000 p.a., and was the guardian of the Damdama Shrine, he did good service in the time of the Mutiny of 1857, and was rewarded by Government, married and had issue. He died 1870.

  • Bibiji (name unknown) Kaur, she married Tikka Balbir Singh of Jind, and had issue.

  • Sardar Sahib Meherban-i-Dostan Jiwan Singh Shahid (qv)

  • Bibiji (name unknown) Kaur, she married (as his 2nd wife), Sardar Bishan Singh Majithia (see Majithia).

• Sardar Sahib Meherban-i-Dostan Jiwan Singh Shahid C.S.I., Jagirdar of Shahzadpur 1870/1927, born 1860, educated at the Government Wards School, Ambala; he was an Honorary Magistrate and an Honorary Civil Judge; a Member of the District Board, a Member of the Committee of Management of the Aitchison College, Lahore; a Vice Regal Darbari of Ambala District, 3rd in order of Precedence within the Division and 36th in the Province; being a great sportsman he kept a fine horse racing stable at Shahzadpur; he was created a Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India on 1st January 1891, he was awarded a sanad and a sword of Honour for his contributions to the war effort during WWI; married 1884, Bibiji (name unknown) Kaur, daughter of HH Maharaja-Dhiraj Rajeshwar Raja-i-Rajgan Maharaja Mahendra Singh Mahendra Bahadur, Maharaja of Patiala, and had issue, two sons and three daughters. He died 1927.

  • Lt.-Col. Sardar Bahadur Ram Singh (qv)

  • Sardar Kartar Singh, born 1899, married and had issue.

    • Sardar Jagjit Singh, born 1921.

  • Bibiji (name unknown) Kaur, married Sardar Kirpal Singh Majithia, and had issue, two sons.

  • Bibiji (name unknown) Kaur, married Kanwar Balram Singh Majithia, and had issue.

  • Bibiji Kartar Kaur, married (as his 1st wife), Sardar Bahadur Sardar Bhagwant Singh of Manauli (see misl Singhpuria).

• Lt.-Col. Sardar Bahadur Ram Singh, Jagirdar of Shahzadpur 1927/-, born 1893, educated at Aitchison College, Lahore; he served as Military Secretary with the Patiala State Service from 1918, he was granted a jagir worth Rs2,500 p.a. and the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel by the Maharaja of Patiala; married and had issue, two sons.

  • Sardar Bahadur Ranjit Singh (qv)

  • Sardar Ajit Singh, born 1915.

• Lt. Sardar Bahadur Ranjit Singh, Jagirdar of Shahzadpur, born 1914, educated at Aitchison College, Lahore and at Government College, Lahore; later he was appointed an Honorary Magistrate and an Honorary Sub-Judge; a Provincial Darbari and a Lieutenant in the I.A.R.O.; he was granted the title of Sardar Bahadur in 1935