The foremost being to settle a familial dispute and the second to gain plausible employ in the mighty monarch's military. Thus, when Hari Singh reached his court he did so with two minds. His fame and fear was rife throughout the Punjab, other regions of North India and even up to China. Ranjit Singh had succeeded in his aims, and Punjab was now renamed as the Sikh empire. Simultaneously they had also managed to encumber Afghani expansion towards North India and batted the latter for domination over the Punjab-Afghani border. A young Ranjit Singh, and his maternal mentor Sada Kaur, had succeeded in extrapolating their domains and crushing the said confederacies. No longer were the Khalsa Misls or confederacies in power. At fourteen, says Sitarama, he aspired to become an expert swordsman and destiny fully favoured him in this endeavour.' (4) By this time the political model in the Punjab had undergone a profound evolution. By the age of twelve he displayed leadership qualities, by the age of thirteen he could recite Gurbani from heart. In his eleventh year he displayed expert horsemanship, could roar like a lion and was blessed with immense God-bestowed strength. Raised by his mother, Sitarama cites that at ten years old 'he (Hari Singh) was initiated into the Khalsa fold which was a source of joy for all. Both his grandfather and father fell in the service of Ranjit Singh's predecessors, in 1762 A.D. Nonetheless his ballads still provide a profound insight into the Nalwa clan amongst who Hari Singh was born in 1791 A.D. It seems that Sitarama's primary manuscripts have been lost or he did not set to work until Hari Singh was born. But the greatest and most authentic sketch of Hari Singh Nalwa comes from the ballads of Pandit Sitarama, a Hindu cleric employed by Nalwa's grandfather to record the military exploits of his generation and descendants.

Parallel to him many sub-continental biographers and observers were captivated by him. The Baron was only one of the many foreigners who would meet and elucidate upon the persona of the Marshall of the Khalsa forces. Hari Singh Nalwa battling Islamic radicals. This subtleness did not escape the Baron who would later conclude that their 'conversation was very different from the majority of such interviews in India, and really consisted of a due exchange of ideas, and of references to events which had actually taken place.' (3) 'I surprised him by my knowledge of whence he had gained the appelation of 'Nalwa' and of his having cloven the head of a tiger who had already seized him as prey.' (2) Surprised by the Baron's knowledge Hari Singh gifted him with a portrait capturing his cleaving of the tiger, whilst subtly asking for intelligence regarding varied European states. Already having researched his subject, he surprised the Nalwa by recounting the exact legend which had led to him gaining his feared nomenclature. He was a distinguished explorer and an avid traveller. Baron Charles Hugh by no means was the run-of-the-mill European anthropologist or diplomat. Unbeknownst to Hari Singh Nalwa however, this visitor would prove to be exceptionally varied. Ever since his monarch, Ranjit Singh, had started granting the occasional entry to foreigners a whole drove had arrived at his gates asking to interview him and spread his name in their nations. 'If Sardar Hari Singh were to cross the Indus, his majesty would soon be glad to make good his retreat.' (1)Ģ0th April: The man famed as being Nalwa, or the lion-ripper, tediously awaited his visitor. Deepening Your Personal Relationship with the Guru.

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