Later life
Early career
Sujan Singh and Sobha Singh were called to the Central Public Works Department and had been asked them to arrive and start plans for the construction of the New Delhi.[12] He had started with developing the roads of Delhi, including Alipur Road. Sobha Singh and his father were present for the Coronation of the King and Queen near Delhi in 1911 as guests due to their work in the field of canal irrigation, development and construction of roads and rail tracks, invited by Malcom Hailey, Baron of Shahpur.[13] Malcom Hailey knew Sujan Singh since a long time, in 1905 they first came in contact in Shahpur while constructing sites in the area.[13]
When coming to Delhi Sujan Singh had given Sobha Singh a dark green Raleigh cycle made in England which he used for the next fifteen years.[12]
Foundation Stone of Delhi
Sobha Singh’s first job was to relocate the foundation stones from where the King and Queen had laid them, in Kingsway. Under cover of darkness (so it would not be taken as a bad omen), he moved them to the new site 11kms away on Raisina Hill.[14] Sobha Singh was accepted as a senior-grade contractor in the Construction of New Delhi.[15]
Delhi Conspiracy Case
In 23 December 1912, he was an eyewitness to the Delhi Conspiracy Case, when the Viceroy's elephant was bombed, although no one except the umbrella-bearer was killed.[16] Although, when everyone dispersed after seeing the bombing, all the witnesses believed that the English would massacre the local Indians, hence Sujan Singh and Sobha Singh went to Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib and shut the gates of the Gurudwara to make sure the Guru Granth Sahib was safe.[16] Once night fell, they both walked back to their residence in the dark, while Sujan Singh muttered, 'Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru'.[16]
World War I
While Sujan Singh toured Shahpur, Hadali and Mian Channu to recruit soliders for World War I, Sobha Singh stayed in Delhi and tried his prospects in the textile industry.[16] Due to World War I Sir Sobha Singh, Sardar Sujan Singh and his family shifted near Sabzi Mandi in Delhi and worked in the textile industry, in a cotton mill.[13] It was originally called Jumna Mill but then he changed the name to Khalsa Cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills.[13] The mill was not successful and often had to shut down due to lack of money and they were on the verge of bankruptcy.[13] In 1919 a fire swallowed the mill and turned it to ashes. They were very concerned that the English may lose the war and New Delhi would have never been built, but that did not happen.[16] He then learned English to communicate with the Englishmen during this time.[9]
As a reward they were gifted a large tract of land between Mian Channu and Khanewal along with Jaranwala which was canal area.[17] The railway station near Khanewal was named after his father called Kot Sujan Singh after persistence by Ujjal Singh.[18]
Freedom Struggle of India
Akali Movement
Sir Sobha Singh's activities were questioned by the British after 1921, after he started helping Sir Sundar Singh Majithia in his extremist demands against the British Raj.[19] William Birdwood had clearly stated that the Sikh prisoners kept in Rasina Hill after the Jaito Morcha and Akali Movement should have been kept in custody.[19] On 16th Sep. 1921, Sir Sobha Singh defied the orders of the British, stating that they were innocent and non-violent, and the Sikhs who were charged with more severe terms (manslaughter, looting, theft) were still kept in Rasina Hill.[19] Sir John Maynard agreed with Sir Sobha Singh and the Akalis, and allowed the prisoners to be free.[19] Sir Sobha Singh was also made the honorary secretary of the Chief Khalsa Diwan like his father was.[19]
He wrote a mail congratulating Sir Sunder Singh Majithia and wished his success in the Akali Movement-
My dear Sardar Sahib,
I confirm my telegram on behalf of the Khalsa Dewan of today offering heartfelt thanks for your services rendered to the Sikh community in securing release to our brethren convicted for enthusiastic zeal in the cause of religious reform of our Gurdwaras. You have, no doubt, proved yourself worthy of the trust vested in you by the province and these sincere efforts of your for the Sikh cause will, I am sure, endear you and the Government of which you are such a prominent member, to the Sikh Community. It will not, moreover, be out of place here to request you to convey the Diwan's sincere thanks to your worthy colleague Sir John Maynard, K.C.S.I.C.I.E. whose services in the cause have been equally praiseworthy. Thanking you in the end and wishing you success.
I am yours very sincerely
— Sd/- Sobha Singh Honorary Secretary
Testimony against Bhagat Singh
Construction started in 1918 and took about thirteen years to complete. It was named 'New Delhi' in 1927 and inaugurated in 1931.[19]
According to the official version, in 1931 Sobha Singh came late and just as the session had started in the Parliament and it was a lively discussion about the Indian National Congress' role in British India.[20] He was seated near Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt, and while he was scanning the headlines on a newspaper, they had started firing.[20] So that they would not see him as a threat, Sobha Singh sat down on his chair till the second bomb was thrown.[20] Once they finished, an Anglo-Indian officer surrounded all of them, and recognizing Sobha Singh, an honorary magistrate, they let him leave.[20]
Only after the second bomb did Sir Sobha Singh get up, and when he heard shots we went back and saw Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt being escorted by the policemen.[20] He along with Mahatma Gandhi, Ajaib Singh Kokri, Jawaharlal Nehru and 6 members of the HSRC (Bhagat Singh's party) had all testified, inside or outside the court as witnesses.[21][22][23][24] Bhagat Singh himself, and his colleagues admitted the same during their special tribunal.[25]
Late career
Construction of Delhi
.jpg)
Sir Malcom Hailey allowed Sobha Singh to buy several extensive sites at as little as Rs 2 per square yard, freehold.[26] He hired around 6,000 Bagadi laborers and dozens of supervisors, clerks and accountants with stone imported from Dholpur. The Bagadis were famous for building Mughal monuments like the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb and others. The laborers had very low wages- 80 paisa for men and 60 paisa for women per day.[13]
During this time Sujan Singh left for Punjab to help his younger son, Ujjal Singh.[9] He had gone back to Mian Channu when his father fell ill. Sujan Singh had died at 65 of illness in Ujjal Singh's cotton factory in Mian Channu, named Inder Cotton Factory.[9]
Sobha Singh built a double-storied house in Jantar Mantar Road, which became a road for wealthy Sikh contractors, currently Kerala House, and bought an Oldsmobile from an English engineer, becoming one of the first Indian businessmen to have a car in North India.[9] He was given the title of 'Sardar Sahib' in the 1922 birthday celebrations.[9] The official horticulturist imported some exotic trees like the Sausage tree and the African Tulip tree from East Africa to line the streets of Delhi, to make sure that the city remained cool in summer.[16]
For the South Block and War Memorial Arch (now India Gate), Sir Sobha was the sole builder.[27] He also worked on some parts of the Viceregal House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) and Vijay Chowk. He constructed many residential and commercial buildings, including the Connaught Place market complex,[28] as well as the Chelmsford Club, A.I.F.A.C.'s Hall, Broadcasting House (All India Radio), the National Museum, Dyal Singh College, T.B. Hospital, Modern School, Deaf and Dumb School, St. Columba's School, Red Cross Buildings and Baroda House. Outside Delhi, he built the High Court and Government Medical College at Nagpur and the Pasteur Institute at Kasauli.[15] He was given many titles, such as Sardar Bahadur, then O.B.E and nomination to the Council of States.
"Sobha Singh didn’t have time to worry about politics. He just kept constructing and building and making money.”
— Gurbaksh Singh
Income Tax Enquiry Commission
Liaquat Ali Khan (then finance minister of British India) started an income tax enquiry commission against people who supposedly made money during World War I and hadn’t paid taxes, he had to spend three years answering to that commission from 1946 to 1949, and was proven innocent in court.[15]
Police career
It was during this time that Mahatma Gandhi had started his protests and Satyagrahas, which Sobha Singh had to quell, as he was made an honorary magistrate.[29] For three weeks during the aftermath of the Rowlatt Act, he helped cool the heated situation in different areas of Delhi and did not arrest nor baton charge any of the protestors.[29]
Post-partition
Urban Legends and Sayings
He was a part of what was nicknamed the Panj Pyare of Delhi (named after the Panj Pyare, the first 5 Khalsa Sikhs)- Sir Sobha Singh, Basakha Singh, Ram Singh Kabli, Narain Singh and Dharam Singh Sethi.[7]
"The only man expanding while contracting" was a popular joke at the time about his business.
He came to be described as "Adhi Dilli ka Malik" (the God of half of Delhi) as he virtually owned a half of Lutyens' Delhi, before or during its construction.[2][3]
Swatantra Party
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari noted that Sir Sobha Singh was an enthusiast of the Swatantra Party.[30] Sir Sobha Singh held the belief that the Indian National Congress was flawed, although the Swatantra Party held the key to saving and progression in India as it accepted India's history as it was.[30]
Asian Games
He was a part of the organizing committee for the Asian Games in New Delhi, 1951.[31] The committee was headed by Maharaja Sir Yadavindra Singh.
Business in Bhopal
Sir Sobha Singh was heavily invested in Bhopal owning many properties.[32] He worked from a bungalow called Kashiyana Alvi near the Upper Lake and was a close friend of last ruler of Bhopal, Nawab Hamiduallah Khan.[32] Nawab invited him to set up industries in Bhopal State, for which he was given a 36-acre (lease for 99 years, at Rs 1) near the old railway station.[32] In the property was the Narbada Ice Factory and an orchard.[32] It was here where his son wrote the famous story, Train to Pakistan.[33]
Charity work
Sardar Bahadur Sir Sobha Singh left a large part of his private estate to a charitable trust, the Sobha Singh Charitable Trust, which maintains homes and hospitals for the terminally ill and aged all over the country, most recently it built, a Dharamsala, within the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital complex, in New Delhi in 2005.[34] He also presided over some institutions funded by it like the Deaf and Dumb School. Among his last grants was one for Bhagat Puran Singh's Pingalwara home for the destitute in Amritsar.[35] He also became the head of the Central Public Works Department in Delhi. He also donated heavily to the Tuberculosis Association of India. He provided the Modern School with two plots of land, and he was the president of the Modern School Trust.