Udham Singh

Udham Singh was born as Sher Singh on 26 December 1899 to a Kamboj family in village Sunam in the then princely state of Patiala (presently Sangrur district of Punjab, India). His father, Tahal Singh Kamboj, was then employed as a watchman at a railway crossing in Upali, another village in the neighbourhood. Sher Singh and his elder brother, Mukta Singh, lost their parents at an early age; their mother died in 1901, and their father followed in 1907, leaving the two brothers with no option but to seek admittance to the Central Khalsa Orphanage at Putlighar in Amritsar on 24 October 1907. At the orphanage, they were initiated into Sikhism and consequently received new names; Sher Singh became Udham Singh while his brother took on the name of Sadhu Singh. Tragically, Sadhu Singh also died just a decade later in 1917, leaving the 17-year-old Udham all alone in the world.

In 1918, Udham Singh passed his matriculation examination and left the orphanage for good the next year. At that time, there was intense political turmoil in Punjab and young Udham was no stranger to the many upheavals taking place all around him.