T he history of Amar Singh Kamboj and my ancestors starts with the Battle of Sirhind in 1710. Banda Singh Bahadur fought a valiant battle. As a result, Amar Singh’s ancestor, Ganesh, suffered at the hands of Wazir Khan’s henchmen. He finally decided to leave his farms and home and move with his family to Patiala, a safer place under the rule of Patiala’s maharaja, Baba Ala Singh. The family decided to live in what was known as old Patiala, taking whatever they could salvage on their move from Sirhind. To survive the difficult times, Ganesh and his son, Moti Singh, started farming again, and though they had a big land holding in Sirhind, it seemed that they would have to start again from the bottom up. The family members had, by then, entered the services of the Royal household of Patiala under various maharajas of Patiala until Sardar Kahn Singh, who had worked his way up in the Moti Bagh palaces, was appointed Nazim Lassi Khana (in charge of the royal kitchens, who certified the food as fit for royalty). Kahn Singh was much favoured by Maharaja Rajinder Singh, and the Maharaja and Sardar Kahn Singh grew very close. In addition to Nazim Lassi Khana, Rajinder Singh appointed him to be Deputy Commissioner Bhwanigarh as well. Sardar Kahn Singh and his wife, Sharda Devi, had two sons, Kishan Singh and Bishan Singh. Sardar Kishan Singh followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the royal durbar very young. During the reign of Maharaja Rajinder Singh,.