ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>AZ&#298Z UD-D&#298N FAQ&#298R (1780-1845)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="AZ*Z,D*N,FAQ*R,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279'AZ&#298Z UD-D&#298N, FAQ&#298R (1780-1845), physician, diplomat, and foreign minister at the court of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, was the eldest son of <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Mohy ud-D&#299n, a leading physician of Lahore. Of his two brothers, N&#363r ud-D&#299n held charge of the city of Lahore and had been governor of Gujr&#257t, and Im&#257m ud-D&#299n was <i>qil&#257hd&#257r</i> (garrison commander) of the Fort of Gobindga&#7771h. The family claims its descent from Ans&#257r&#299 Arab immigrants from Bu<u>kh</u>&#257r&#257, in Central Asia, who settled in Lahore as <i>Hak&#299ms</i> or physicians. <i>Hak&#299m</i> is the original title by which 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n was known, the prefix <i>Faq&#299r</i> appearing for the first time in the official British correspondence only after 1826. Faq&#299r, Persian for a mendicant or dervish, was adopted by 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n as a mark of simplicity and humility. In the court he was referred to as Faq&#299r Raz&#257, mendicant by choice.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1799, when Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh occupied Lahore, 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n was undergoing apprenticeship under the principal Lahore physician, Hakim H&#257kim R&#257i. Summoned to treat the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 for an ophthalmic ailment, the latter deputed his pupil to attend on the patient. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, impressed by the intelligence and skill of the young man, soon appointed him his personal physician and assigned a <i>j&#257g&#299r</i> to him. He was also entrusted with drafting State papers in Persian. This brought him still closer to the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 who began to repose great confidence in him for his ability correctly to interpret his policy. Faq&#299r 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n's first major diplomatic assignment was to look after Charles Metcalfe, the British envoy, and to help in the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's negotiations with him which culminated in the Treaty of Amritsar (1809). He held negotiations on behalf of the Sikh ruler with David Ochterlony in 1810. In 1813, he was deputed to settle the country and dependencies of Attock and negotiated the transfer to the Sikhs of the Fort, by the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n governor Jah&#257&#7749d&#257d <u>Kh</u>&#257n, who accepted the offer of a <i>j&#257g&#299r</i>. Thereafter, throughout Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's reign, Faq&#299r 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n remained almost solely responsible for the conduct of foreign relations of the Sikh kingdom. In 1815, he held parleys with the r&#257j&#257s of Ma&#7751&#7693&#299 and R&#257jaur&#299 and with the Naw&#257b of Bah&#257walpur. In 1823, he was sent to Pesh&#257war to realize tribute from Y&#257r Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n B&#257rakza&#299. After the death of R&#257j&#257 Sans&#257r Chand of K&#257&#7749g&#7771&#257 in 1824, his son, Anirodh Chand, demurred to the payment of <i>nazr&#257n&#257</i> to Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n met him at Nadau&#7751 and brought him round to pay homage to the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 and get his succession recognized. In 1827, he travelled to Shiml&#257 with a goodwill mission to call on Lord Amherst, the British governor-general. In April 1831, a similar mission waited upon Lord William Bentinck. Faq&#299r 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n was again a member and, although Sard&#257r Har&#299 Si&#7749gh Nalv&#257 was the leader, the latter had royal instruction to rely on the counsel and advice of D&#299w&#257n Mot&#299 R&#257m and "the resourceful Faq&#299r. " During the famous Ropar meeting between Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and William Bentinck in October 1831, 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n, through Captain Wade and Prinsep, acted as an interpreter between the two chiefs. He conducted negotiations that led to the signing of the Tripartite Treaty of 1838 aimed at putting Sh&#257h Shuj&#257' on the throne of K&#257bul, and acted as the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's interpreter during his meeting with Lord Auckland towards the end of 1838.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Faq&#299r 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n has been described as "the oracle of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257" and as "his master's mouthpiece. " He was learned in Arabic as well as in Persian and was "the most eloquent man of his day" - "as able with his pen as with his tongue. " He was one of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's most polished and accomplished courtiers, with a very gentle and affable manner and with a very catholic outlook. The Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 had complete trust in him and rewarded him with <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> and honours.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n continued in the service of the Sikh State after the death of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. He represented Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh on a complimentary mission to Lord Auckland at Shiml&#257 in December 1839, and waited upon Lord Ellenborough at F&#299rozpur in December 1842, under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh's instruction. He remained scrupulously aloof from factional intrigues which had overtaken Lahore after Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's death. Saddened at the turn events had taken and by the death of two of his sons, he died in Lahore on 3 December 1845.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> S&#363r&#299, Sohan L&#257l, '<i>Umd&#257t-ut-Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u></i>. Lahore, 1885-89<BR> <li class="C1"> Waheeduddin, Faqir Syed, <i>The Real Ranjit Singh</i>. Delhi, 1976<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhagat Singh, <i>Maharaja Ranjit Singh and His Times</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">F. S. Aij&#257z&#363dd&#299n<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>