Desa Singh Majithia (1768–1832) was a Sikh jagirdar, military general, and statesman.[1][2] He was perhaps one of the earliestSikh patrons of artwork through the employment ofPahari artists during the period of 1810–30 when he served as governor of thehill states of the Punjab Hills.[3] Desa served as a jagirdar from 1788 to 1832.[1]
Desa was born in 1768 to Naudh Singh,[4] a feudal retainer of Amar Singh Bagga of theKanhaiya Misl.[4] After the death of his father in 1788, Desa took over the familialjagir (estate).[4] Desa would then serve Buddh Singh Bagga, who himself had succeeded Amar Singh Bagga for some years.[4]
Desa eventually joined the army of Ranjit Singh.[4] In 1804, Desa was given command over 400sowars.[4] In 1809, Desa Singh Majithia served in the military expedition to Kangra, which pushed the Gurkhas under the command ofAmar Singh Thapa out of the Punjab Hills region.[2][4] Thus, Desa was promoted to position of the governor of Kangra and the city of Amritsar.[2] Desa took over the role of governor of Kangra from Wazir Naurang, who had been the governor under Raja Sansar Chand.[5] Land formerly underSada Kaur was bestowed to Desa Singh.[6] In 1813, the area of Haripur, formerly under Raja Bhup Singh, ofGuler State, was taken over by Desa.[6] In 1818, Desa served in the Multan campaign.[2]Lehna Singh Majithia was the eldest of the three sons of Desa, and succeeded Desa to the administrative positions after Desa's death.[2][1]