Of the jagirdars the most famous were Hari Singh Nalwa a Khatri of Gujranwala city, where his descendants still reside, whose personal valour earned him the title of the ‘’Ney of the Punjab’’ and whose exploits in extending the Sikh dominions were hardly eclipsed by those of the Maharaja himself. He was killed near Jamrud in 1837 while bravely resisting the attack of the army which the Amir Dost Muhammad had sent to capture the fort, and the invading army was repelled by the Maharaja in person who arrived with reinforcement from Ramnagar, a distance of over 200 miles, in 4 days. His death was an irreparable loss to the Sikhs. As a governor he was harsh but strong, Rani Nikayan, the senior wife of the Maharaja, held nearly one-fourth of the district, including all the souther portion bordering on Lahore, in Jagir, and maintained a semi-royal state in the fort at Sheikhupura, finding a substantial compensation for her being supplanted in the Maharajah’s affections by younger and more pleasing rivals in the income which she derived from her wide possession. Though notoriously avaricious, she was wise and farseeing enough to encourage cultivation by making grant of waste lands to cultivators and settling tenants in the villages which had been deserted in the struggle between the Virakhs and Bhattis.
Of the Kardars, General Avitabile, whose head-quarters were at Wazirabad which he considerably enlarged and beautified, is remembered as having been the first to introduce the system of fixed cash payments in substitution for the old rude systems of appraisement (kankut) or division of the crop (Batai). The two greatest were Dewan Sawan Mal and Raja. Gulab Singh, who held most of the Hafizabad Tahsil in farm. The name of the former is remembered here, or elsewhere, for the justice of his decisions, the moderation of his assessment, and the wisdom which led him to conciliate and settle in the soil the turbulent and predatory tribes of the Bar—Rharrals, Bhagsinkas etc. by giving them grants of waste lands on easy terms, and remitting part of the assessment in favour of those who founded villages, sunk wells, or otherwise developed cultivation. The memory of Gulab Singh, on the other hand, and of his unscrupulous agent, the Wazir Rattanu, is criticized by the people for their oppressive assessments which ail but crushed the tract in their charge.
Of the Sikh rule generally it may he said that while it introduced an era of comparative order and security by setting up a barrier against invasion from outside and stamping out tribal feuds and private wars of rival chieftains, it did little else to improve the position of the great mass of the people. These were left to the mercy of the Jagirdars or Kardars whose discretion was practically unbounded as long as they furnished their contingent of troops to the royal army, or their quota of revenue to the royal treasury. Individual Jagirdars or Kardars, such as Sawan Mal taking a broad and farseeing view of their position and responsibilities, might now and again Endeavour to promote the welfare of the people in their charge, but these were the exceptions and the vast majority, dressed in a, little brief authority, hastened to make the most of their power by squeezing what they could out of the people.
A common figure of speech among the people liken them to ravening wolves who preyed at will on the helpless fold, or vampires who sucked the blood of human beings.
In fact, the hand of the Sikhs fell heavier on this district on account of its proximity to the capital and close connection with the ruling family than almost on any other, owing to the number of rapacious followers who had to be provided for, the quartering of troops on the people, and the obligation to furnish supplies free to the Sikh armies on their way to and from the frontier.