1882–1926 · evidence-first digital heritage archive
Sardar Teja Singh Samundri
ਸਰਦਾਰ ਤੇਜਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਮੁੰਦਰੀ
One of the founding members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and one of the principal architects of the Gurdwara Reform Movement of the early 1920s. A man with a primary-school education who studied a statute line by line in a colonial prison, won, and then refused to be released on the state’s terms. He died in custody in Lahore eleven months later.
A claim on this site is never just a claim. Each one shows how strongly it is supported, where it comes from, whether it is contested, and what would settle the question.
Three ways in
- The Life The Organiser Born at Rai ka Burj, raised on new canal-colony land in the Sandal Bar, a cavalry Dafadar who resigned to build institutions: diwans, schools, a newspaper. Formal schooling ended at the primary stage; learning did not.
- The Movement The Hinge Rakab Ganj, the founding of the SGPC, Nankana Sahib, the Keys Morcha, Guru ka Bagh, Jaito — and a seat at once atop Sikh religious reform and inside the Indian National Congress.
- The Refusal The Fulcrum The Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925 was the victory. Release was offered for a signed undertaking. He refused, and remained in custody until his death eleven months later. What is firmly documented — and what is not.
Anchor dates
How to read the badges
- Strongly documented · 29 claimsIn the scholarly reference works and corroborated elsewhere. Published as fact.
- Well supported · 9 claimsIn one reference work, or in multiple independent press accounts, uncontested. Published as a plain statement.
- Partially supported — published only with attribution · 17 claimsPress-only, single-source, or contested between sources. Published only with attribution (“according to…”).
- Family testimony — oral or privately transmitted account · 4 claimsFamily oral history, undocumented. Never published as fact; only as explicitly labelled family account.
- Not established, conflicting, or unsuitable for publication as settled fact · 2 claimsAsserted somewhere but contradicted by better sources, or otherwise unresolved. Not published as settled fact.
A worked example
A claim, and what stands behind it
He was one of the founding members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. He died in British custody in Lahore on 17 July 1926; the reported cause was a heart attack, and some accounts subsequently questioned the circumstances. Where he was held at the time of his death is contested between two named locations and is not asserted here.
AStrongly documented BWell supported XNot establishedEvidence & sources for 3 claims
One of the founding members of the SGPCDOS-I.3
- Tier
- A Strongly documented In the scholarly reference works and corroborated elsewhere. Published as fact.
- Sources
- The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism — entry “Tejā Siṅgh Samundrī (1882–1926)”, Piar Singh, in Harbans Singh (ed.)
- Note
- The stronger single-founder framing is not used; see Sources & Method for the policy.
- Reviewed
- · PROJECT CONTROL STATE v1 §A1.5; Master Research Dossier Part II §11
Circumstances of deathDOS-I.5
- Tier
- B Well supported In one reference work, or in multiple independent press accounts, uncontested. Published as a plain statement.
- Sources
- The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism — entry “Tejā Siṅgh Samundrī (1882–1926)”, Piar Singh, in Harbans Singh (ed.); Teja Singh Samundri (Punjabi biography), Dr Piar Singh
- Contested
- The precise prison location and the full circumstances are not settled by primary evidence.
- Open question
- OQ-2
- Reviewed
- · PROJECT CONTROL STATE v1 §A1.7; Master Research Dossier Part II §21
Place of custody at deathDOS-I.6
- Tier
- X Not established Asserted somewhere but contradicted by better sources, or otherwise unresolved. Not published as settled fact.
- Sources
- The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism — entry “Tejā Siṅgh Samundrī (1882–1926)”, Piar Singh, in Harbans Singh (ed.); Teja Singh Samundri (Punjabi biography), Dr Piar Singh; “Sardar Teja Singh Samundri: A Century On”, K. B. S. Sidhu; “In memory of a rebel conscience” — The Tribune
- Contested
- Lahore Fort is asserted in a 2026 centenary essay; Lahore Central Jail in Tribune and Babushahi reports of the 2026 GNDU book launch and in the grandson’s remarks. No primary record has adjudicated between them.
- What would change it
- A Punjab jail admission or death register for 1926, or the Piar Singh biography’s source apparatus once read.
- Research-dependent
- Final confidence may change once the 2026 English biography is read — OQ-0
- Open question
- OQ-2
- Reviewed
- · PROJECT CONTROL STATE v1 §A1.8; Contested Points Register #4
Open any badge to see the sources, the tier rule, and what would change the claim. This is how every narrative page on the site works.
Where to go next
- Claim ExplorerEvery published claim with its tier, sources, contested status and a stable record URL. Researcher View adds review authorities.
- From the Family’s AccountSurety, mortgage, declined reimbursement, a partnership with Master Tara Singh — the most affecting material, kept in its own labelled register.
- Open Research QuestionsHis wife’s name. The exact place of custody. Whether the Sarhali school still teaches. Each with what would settle it and where to look.
- Sources & MethodThe tier rules, the source hierarchy, and what this archive declines to claim.
- PlacesThe historical geography of his life — Rai ka Burj, the Sandal Bar, Amritsar, Nankana Sahib, Rakab Ganj, Guru ka Bagh, Jaito, Lahore — with the contested places of custody shown as contested.
- ChronologyA research chronology of documented events from 1882 to 2026, each with its evidence tier, filterable by tier and category.
- About this archiveWhat this archive is, who it is not, how it treats evidence and testimony, how to propose a correction, and how it is preserved.
No portrait, deliberately
This archive currently holds no image with cleared provenance and public display permission. One candidate photograph is registered with rights status unknown. Rather than publish an unattributed image, this page shows none. An honest empty archive is preferred to an unauthorised one — see the image provenance policy and the Archive.
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
ਇਸ ਪੁਰਾਲੇਖ ਦਾ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ) ਸੰਸਕਰਣ ਤਿਆਰੀ ਅਧੀਨ ਹੈ। ਢਾਂਚਾਗਤ ਖਰੜਾ ਮੌਜੂਦ ਹੈ; ਇਤਿਹਾਸਕ ਸਮੱਗਰੀ ਮਾਂ-ਬੋਲੀ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਹੀ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ਿਤ ਹੋਵੇਗੀ।
Cite this page
- Permanent URL
https://tejasinghsamundri.org/- Chicago
“Sardar Teja Singh Samundri (1882–1926).” Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive. Reviewed September 10, 2026. https://tejasinghsamundri.org/.
- MLA
“Sardar Teja Singh Samundri (1882–1926).” Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive, September 10, 2026, https://tejasinghsamundri.org/.
- Plain text
Sardar Teja Singh Samundri (1882–1926) — Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive — https://tejasinghsamundri.org/ (page last reviewed 2026-09-10)
- BibTeX
@misc{tss2026, title = {Sardar Teja Singh Samundri (1882–1926)}, howpublished = {Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive}, year = {2026}, month = {sep}, url = {https://tejasinghsamundri.org/}, note = {Page last reviewed 2026-09-10} }- Last reviewed
Each historical claim also has its own stable record URL. Cite the claim record, not this page, when quoting a single statement — the Claim Explorer lists every one. Claim Explorer.