Fakir Azizuddin

Fakir Azizuddin (Faqir Aziz ud-Din, 1780 to 1845) was the physician, adviser and diplomat through whom Maharaja Ranjit Singh dealt with the British, the Afghans and the hill chiefs. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says that throughout the Maharaja's reign he was almost solely responsible for the foreign relations of the Sikh kingdom. He was the eldest son of a leading Lahore physician, Ghulam Mohy ud-Din, from a family said to descend from Arab immigrants from Bukhara who settled in Lahore as hakims. His brother Nur ud-Din governed Lahore and Gujrat, and another, Imam ud-Din, commanded Gobindgarh Fort.

When Ranjit Singh took Lahore in 1799, Azizuddin, trained under the Lahore physician Hakim Rai, treated the Maharaja's eye ailment. He was made the Maharaja's personal physician, given a jagir and set to draft Persian state papers, and in time became principal adviser on foreign affairs. He took the title Faqir as a sign of humility.

Key moments

• 1809: helps in the talks with the British envoy Charles Metcalfe that led to the Treaty of Amritsar. In 1810 he negotiates with David Ochterlony.
• 1813: settles Attock and arranges its transfer to the Sikhs by the Afghan governor, Jahandad Khan, who accepts a jagir.
• 1815 to 1824: talks with the rajas of Mandi and Rajauri and the Nawab of Bahawalpur (1815); collects tribute at Peshawar from Yar Muhammad Khan Barakzai (1823); brings Anirudh Chand of Kangra to pay homage at Nadaun (1824).
• 1827 and 1831: leads a goodwill mission to Lord Amherst at Simla, then joins a mission to Lord William Bentinck led by Hari Singh Nalwa and interprets at the Maharaja's meeting with Bentinck at Ropar in October 1831.
• 1838: conducts the negotiations for the Tripartite Treaty, meant to put Shah Shuja on the throne of Kabul, and interprets for the Maharaja in his meeting with Lord Auckland.
• 1839 and 1842: represents Maharaja Kharak Singh to Lord Auckland at Simla in December 1839, and waits on Lord Ellenborough at Ferozepur in December 1842 on the order of Maharaja Sher Singh.
• 3 December 1845: dies in Lahore, saddened by events and by the deaths of two of his sons.

Remembered for: staying in service under Maharaja Kharak Singh and Maharaja Sher Singh after Ranjit Singh while keeping out of the court's factions. The Encyclopaedia describes him as learned in Arabic and Persian, a polished and affable courtier, and records the description of him as the oracle of the Maharaja. Two of his brothers, Nur ud-Din and Imam ud-Din, also held senior posts in the Darbar.