Sham Singh Attariwala Ji was a sardar of Attari near Amritsar who served through the campaigns of the 1820s and 1830s. His daughter was married to Nau Nihal Singh, Ranjit Singh Ji's grandson.
At Sobraon on 10 February 1846 the Sikh position was already compromised by the conduct of its senior commanders. He put on white, told those around him he would not leave the field, and was killed in the entrenchments.
His body was recovered and taken back to Attari for cremation. His wife performed sati.
He is the figure Punjabi accounts of the First Anglo-Sikh War put at the centre, precisely because the war's other commanders were corresponding with the enemy. He is what the army was and they are what the durbar had become.
The village of Attari, on the border, is now known for the crossing and the flag ceremony rather than for the family that gave it its name.
He was one of the senior sardars of the old state and had been at the court since Ranjit Singh Ji's time. At Sobraon he commanded on a field where the army's own leadership was suspected of arranging its defeat.
The bridge of boats behind the Sikh position went during the battle, and the army fought with the Sutlej at its back and no way across.
His body was carried back to Attari and cremated there. The vaar about him is among the best known in the Punjabi heroic repertoire.