Rana Arjun Singh Sodha
Rana Arjun Singh Sodha was the 24th Rana (King) of Amarkot now Umerkot, Sindh, Pakistan, Rana contested the elections from the platform of Muslim League in 1946 against Congress, he had opted for Pakistan at the time of the partition of the subcontinent.[1] The family says their historical roots in Sindh made Rana Arjun Singh choose Pakistan over India. “He loved Sindh and did not join Congress even though Nehru had personally approached him."[2]
Contents
Career
The Indian Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had specially gone to Amarkot ( now Umarkot in Sindh, Pakistan) to extend invitation to Rana Arjun Singh Sodha, the ruler of a small princely state, to get associated with Congress Party. Amarkot was once the capital of Sindh.[3] The Rana of 48.6 sq.KM jagir having population of 12,000, mostly Hindu, declined the offer. He conveyed Nehru in no unclear words that there had been a long association with the Muslim rules of India and he would prefer to be with the Muslim League.[4] Rana Arjun Singh contested the decisive 1946 elections on All India Muslim League ticket, resisting all pressures by the Congress to join it on the basis of being Hindu. His jagir was as such surrounded by the proposed Pakistan. A long historical background also made him not to toe Congress line.[5] The population of India was 400 km away across the desert. His forefather, Rana Prashad, had extended protection and assistance to the Mughal Emperor Humayun when he was escaping the Afghan usurper Sher Shah Suri. Amarkot is the birthplace of Padshahzada Akbar, future Emperor of Delhi.[6]
Family
Rana married Rani Dev Kumari, daughter of Thakur Bheru Singhji of Khatpura and had issues.[7]
- Rana Chander Singh (1931 – 1 August 2009), married Rani Sahiba Subhdra, daughter of Rawat Tej Singh of Rawatsar in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan.
- Thakur Inder Singh Sodha, born in 1934.
- Thakur Balbeer Singh Sodha, born in 1938, married Rani Indira Kumari, youngest daughter of Rawat Jai Singh, 3rd Rawat Saheb of Meja.
Death
Since the 24th Rana of Amarkot, Arjun Singh died in 1947, his son and the 25th Rana Chandra Singh(1931-2009) started his political career at age 16.[8]
References
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