Mangal Singh Ramgarhia (1800–1879) was a prominent Sikh leader, a Sardar, who participated in the first and second Sikh wars. Later he was appointed manager of the Golden Temple of Amritsar.[1]
Mangal Singh was the son of Diwan Singh and grandson of Tara Singh Ramgarhia, a brother of the Sikh leader Jassa Singh Ramgarhia. He was heir to some of the estates of Jassa Singh's son Jodh Singh. In 1834 Mangal Singh was sent to Peshawar to command 400 foot soldiers and 110 sawars (cavalrymen) of the old Ramgarhia class. There, under Sardar Tej Singh and Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa, he fought in the Battle of Jamrod in April 1837, where Hari Singh was killed. During the reign of (Maharaja) Sher Singh, he was employed in Suket, Mandi and Kullu, and remained there until the close of Satluj War in 1846. During the Second Sikh War, Mangal Singh did excellent service in guarding the roads, and in maintaining order in the Amritsar and Gurdaspur Districts.[2]
In 1862 Mangal Singh was appointed Manager of the Sikh Temple of Amritsar. In the same year he was appointed Honorary Magistrate of Amritsar.[2] Mangal Singh was a man of education and liberal ideas. It has been in a great measure owing to his influence and example, that the cause of female education has been so widely systematically taken up in Amritsar.[3]