46-430: Flying Sikh is the nickname of: Milkha Singh , a Sikh athlete who represented India in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics Joginder Singh (rally driver) , a successful endurance rally driver in the 1960s and 1970s Karamjit Singh , a Malaysian professional rally driver See also [ edit ] Flying Man (disambiguation) [REDACTED] List of people with
92-646: A dacoit but was instead persuaded by one of his brothers, Malkhan, to attempt recruitment to the Indian Army. He successfully gained entrance on his fourth attempt, in 1951, and while stationed at the Electrical Mechanical Engineering Centre in Secunderabad and he was introduced to athletics. He had run the 10 km distance to and from school as a child and was selected by the army for special training in athletics after finishing sixth in
138-712: A chief commissioner: At the time of independence in 1947, British India had 17 provinces: Upon the Partition of India into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan , eleven provinces (Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Bombay, Central Provinces and Berar, Coorg, Delhi, Madras, Panth-Piploda, Orissa, and the United Provinces) joined India, three (Baluchistan, North-West Frontier and Sindh) joined Pakistan, and three ( Punjab , Bengal and Assam ) were partitioned between India and Pakistan. In 1950, after
184-535: A clause stating that a share of the profits would be given to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust. The Trust was founded in 2003 with the aim of assisting poor and needy sportspeople. In September 2017, Singh's wax statue – created by sculptors of Madame Tussauds in London – was unveiled at Chandigarh. It depicts Singh in running posture during his victorious run at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. The statue
230-836: A college in Goa in 2014, he stated, "I rejected the Arjuna I was offered after I received the Padma Shri. It was like being offered an SSC [secondary school] certificate after securing a Masters degree." All of Singh's medals have been donated to the nation. They were displayed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi and later moved to a sports museum in Patiala , where a pair of running shoes that he wore in Rome are also displayed. In 2012, he donated
276-636: A compulsory cross-country run for new recruits. Singh has acknowledged how the army introduced him to sport, saying that "I came from a remote village, I didn't know what running was, or the Olympics". Milkha represented India in the 200m and 400m competitions of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. His inexperience meant that he did not progress from the heat stages but a meeting with the eventual 400m champion at those Games, Charles Jenkins , both inspired him to greater things and provided him with information about training methods. In 1958, Singh set records for
322-430: A few days earlier on 13 June 2021, also due to COVID-19. Singh was laid on his funeral pyre with a photo of his wife in his hands. Singh and his daughter, Sonia Sanwalka, co-wrote his autobiography, titled The Race of My Life . It was published in 2013. The book inspired Bhaag Milkha Bhaag , a 2013 biographical film of Singh's life. The film is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra , and stars Farhan Akhtar in
368-697: A former captain of the Indian women's volleyball team in Ceylon in 1955; they married in 1962 and had three daughters and a son, the golfer Jeev Milkha Singh . In 1999, they adopted the seven-year-old son of Havildar Bikram Singh, who had died in the Battle of Tiger Hill . Singh was promoted from the rank of sepoy to junior commissioned officer in recognition of his successes in the 1958 Asian Games. He subsequently became Director of Sports in Punjab Ministry of Education ,
414-432: A legislative power existed in such places. The same two kinds of management applied for districts. Thus Ganjam and Vizagapatam were non-regulation districts. Non-regulation provinces included: At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a governor or a lieutenant-governor. The following table lists their areas and populations (but does not include those of
460-575: A post he retired from in 1998. Also in 1958, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, following his success in 1958. In 2001, he turned down an offer of the Arjuna Award from the Indian government, arguing that it was intended to recognise young sports people and not those such as him. He also thought that the award was being inappropriately given to people who had little notable involvement as active sports people at all, and had become devalued. While sharing his experience in
506-617: A quarter of the population of the British Raj and two fifths of its land area, with the provinces comprising the remainders. In 1608, the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar issued a royal farman to the East India Company to establish a small trading settlement at Surat (now in the state of Gujarat ), and this became the company's first headquarters town. It was followed in 1611 by a permanent factory at Machilipatnam on
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#1732875773988552-477: A small part of Burma, and by 1886, almost two thirds of Burma had been made part of British India. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma was reorganized as a separate British colony. British India did not apply to other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka (then Ceylon ), which was a British Crown colony , or the Maldive Islands , which were a British protectorate . At its greatest extent, in
598-641: A world record of 45.8 seconds in France, shortly before the Rome Olympics in the same year but the official report of the Games lists the record holder as Lou Jones , who ran 45.2 at Los Angeles in 1956. At those Olympics, he was involved in a close-run final race in the 400m competition, where he was placed fourth. Singh had beaten all the leading contenders other than Otis Davis, and a medal had been anticipated because of his good form. However, he made an error when leading
644-580: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Milkha Singh Milkha Singh (20 November 1929 – 18 June 2021), also known as " The Flying Sikh ", was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army . He is the only athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games . He has won gold medals in
690-657: Is placed at Madame Tussauds museum in New Delhi, India. After winning India's first track and field gold medal at the 2020 Olympics , Neeraj Chopra dedicated his victory to Singh. British India The provinces of India , earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns , were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent . Collectively, they have been called British India . In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods: "British India" did not include
736-557: The Adidas shoes that he had worn in the 1960 400m final to be sold in a charity auction organised by actor Rahul Bose . Singh was admitted to the intensive care unit at Fortis Hospital in Mohali on 24 May 2021 with pneumonia caused by COVID-19 . His condition was, for a while, described as stable, but he died on 18 June 2021 at 11:30 pm in Chandigarh . His wife, Nirmal Saini , had died
782-606: The Battle of Buxar , the Company obtained the Diwani of Bengal, which included the right to administer and collect land-revenue (land tax) in Bengal , the region of present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar beginning from 1772 as per the treaty signed in 1765. By 1773, the Company obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal (the "exercise of criminal jurisdiction") and thereby full sovereignty of
828-579: The Bengal Presidency established in 1765—and the abolition of local rule (Nizamat) in Bengal in 1793, the company gradually began to formally expand its territories across India . By the mid-19th century, and after the three Anglo-Maratha Wars and the four Anglo-Mysore Wars , the East India Company had become the paramount political and military power in south Asia, its territory held in trust for
874-713: The British Crown . Company rule in Bengal (after 1793) was terminated by the Government of India Act 1858 , following the events of the Bengal Rebellion of 1857 . Henceforth known as British India, it was thereafter directly ruled as a colonial possession of the United Kingdom , and India was officially known after 1876 as the Indian Empire . India was divided into British India, regions that were directly administered by
920-577: The Coromandel Coast , and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies in Bengal in trade. However, the power of the Mughal Empire declined from 1707, first at the hands of the Marathas and later due to invasion from Persia (1739) and Afghanistan (1761); after the East India Company's victories at the Battle of Plassey (1757), and Battle of Buxar (1764)—both within
966-403: The Partition of India , Singh has become a sporting icon in his country. In 2008, journalist Rohit Brijnath described Singh as "the finest athlete India has ever produced". Singh died from complications of COVID-19 on 18 June 2021, at the age of 91, five days after his wife, Nirmal Saini . Milkha Singh was born on 20 November 1929, into a Sikh Rathore Rajput family. His birthplace
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#17328757739881012-530: The 1956 Olympics. Singh's time in the 1960 Olympics 400m final, which was run on a cinder track , set a national record that stood until 1998 when Paramjit Singh exceeded it on a synthetic track and with fully automatic timing that recorded 45.70 seconds. Although Singh's Olympic result of 45.6 seconds had been hand-timed, an electronic system at those Games had determined his record to be 45.73. As of 2012 , Singh lived in Chandigarh. He met Nirmal Saini ,
1058-556: The 1958 and 1962 Asian Games . He represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne , the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Singh was awarded the Padma Shri in 1959, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements. The race for which Singh was best remembered is his fourth-place finish in the 400 metres final at
1104-501: The 1960 Olympic Games, which he had entered as one of the favourites. He led the race till the 200m mark before easing off, allowing others to pass him. Various records were broken in the race, which required a photo-finish and saw American Otis Davis being declared the winner by one-hundredth of a second over German Carl Kaufmann . Singh's fourth-place time of 45.73 seconds was the Indian national record for almost 40 years. From beginnings that saw him orphaned and displaced during
1150-595: The 200m and 400m in the National Games of India , held at Cuttack , and also won gold medals in the same events at the Asian Games. He then won a gold medal in the 400m (440 yards at this time) competition at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games with a time of 46.6 seconds. This latter achievement made him the first gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games from independent India. Before Vikas Gowda won
1196-456: The British, with acts established and passed in the British parliament, and the princely states , ruled by local rulers of different ethnic backgrounds. These rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for recognition of British suzerainty . British India constituted a significant portion of India both in area and population; in 1910, for example, it covered approximately 54% of
1242-720: The Madras Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort St. George), the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort William)—each administered by a governor. After Robert Clive 's victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the puppet government of a new Nawab of Bengal , was maintained by the East India Company. However, after the invasion of Bengal by the Nawab of Oudh in 1764 and his subsequent defeat in
1288-509: The area and included over 77% of the population. In addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of two nations, the Dominions of India and Pakistan , the latter including East Bengal , present-day Bangladesh . The term British India also applied to Burma for a shorter time period: beginning in 1824,
1334-422: The company established its first factory at Hoogly in 1640. Almost a half-century later, after Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb forced the company out of Hooghly for its tax evasion, Job Charnock was tenant of three small villages, later renamed Calcutta , in 1686, making it the company's new headquarters. By the mid-18th century, the three principal trading settlements including factories and forts, were then called
1380-482: The defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War more of his territory was annexed to the Madras Presidency. In 1801, Carnatic , which had been under the suzerainty of the company, began to be directly administered by it as a part of the Madras Presidency. By 1851, the East India Company's vast and growing holdings across the sub-continent were still grouped into just four main territories: By
1426-438: The dependent native states): During the partition of Bengal (1905–1912), a new lieutenant-governor's province of Eastern Bengal and Assam existed. In 1912, the partition was partially reversed, with the eastern and western halves of Bengal re-united and the province of Assam re-established; a new lieutenant-governor's province of Bihar and Orissa was also created. In addition, there were a few provinces that were administered by
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1472-618: The early 20th century, the territory of British India extended as far as the frontiers of Persia in the west; Afghanistan in the northwest; Nepal in the north, Tibet in the northeast; and China, French Indochina and Siam in the east. It also included the Aden Province in the Arabian Peninsula . The East India Company , which was incorporated on 31 December 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on
1518-672: The east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612. The company rented a small trading outpost in Madras in 1639. Bombay, which was ceded to the British Crown by Portugal as part of the wedding dowry of Catherine of Braganza in 1661, was in turn granted to the East India Company to be held in trust for the Crown. Meanwhile, in eastern India , after obtaining permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal,
1564-714: The expanded Bengal Presidency . During the period, 1773 to 1785, very little changed; the only exceptions were the addition of the dominions of the Raja of Banares to the western boundary of the Bengal Presidency, and the addition of Salsette Island to the Bombay Presidency . Portions of the Kingdom of Mysore were annexed to the Madras Presidency after the Third Anglo-Mysore War ended in 1792. Next, in 1799, after
1610-514: The gold in 2014, Milkha was the only Indian male to have won an individual athletics gold medal at those Games. Singh was persuaded by Jawaharlal Nehru to set aside his memories of the Partition era to race successfully in 1960 against Abdul Khaliq in Pakistan, where a post-race comment by the then General Ayub Khan led to him acquiring the nickname of The Flying Sikh. Some sources say that he set
1656-469: The heat stages of the 4 x 400m. There have been claims that Singh won 77 of his 80 races, but these are spurious. The number of races in which he participated is not verified, nor is the number of victories, but he lost a 400m race at the 1964 National Games in Calcutta to Makhan Singh and he did not finish first in any of his four races at the 1960 Olympic Games or the aforementioned qualification races at
1702-417: The many princely states which continued to be ruled by Indian princes, though by the 19th century under British suzerainty —their defence, foreign relations, and communications relinquished to British authority and their internal rule closely monitored. At the time of Indian Independence, in 1947 , there were officially 565 princely states, a few being very large although most were very small. They comprised
1748-492: The pre-Games Olympic record of 45.9 seconds, set in 1952 by George Rhoden and Herb McKenley , with times of 45.5 and 45.6 seconds, respectively. The Age noted in 2006 that "Milkha Singh is the only Indian to have broken an Olympic track record. Unfortunately he was the fourth man to do so in the same race" but the official Olympic report notes that Davis had already equalled the Rhoden/McKenley Olympic record in
1794-563: The quarter-finals and surpassed it with a time of 45.5 seconds in the semi-finals. At the 1962 Asian Games, held in Jakarta , Singh won gold in the 400m and in the 4 x 400m relay . He attended the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he was entered to compete in the 400m, the 4 x 100m relay and the 4 x 400m relay. He did not take part in either the 400m or the 4 x 100m relay and the Indian team of Milkha Singh, Makhan Singh , Amrit Pal and Ajmer Singh were eliminated when they finished fourth in
1840-430: The race at 250m, slowing down in the belief that his pace could not be sustained and looking round at his fellow competitors. Singh believes that these errors caused him to lose his medal opportunity and they are his "worst memory". Davis, Carl Kaufmann and Malcolm Spence all passed him, and a photo-finish resulted. Davis and Kaufman were both timed at a world-record breaking 44.9 seconds, while Spence and Singh went under
1886-450: The same nickname This page lists people with the nickname Flying Sikh . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link to directly target the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_Sikh&oldid=1236292943 " Category : Nicknames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
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1932-492: The time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , and the end of Company rule, the developments could be summarised as follows: The British Raj began with the idea of the presidencies as the centres of government. Until 1834, when a General Legislative Council was formed, each presidency under its governor and council was empowered to enact a code of so-called 'regulations' for its government. Therefore, any territory or province that
1978-639: The title role, with Sonam Kapoor , Meesha Shafi and Divya Dutta in female lead roles. The film was widely acclaimed in India and won awards including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the National Film Awards , and 5 awards at the International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2014. The film made over ₹ 100 crores. Singh sold the movie rights for one rupee but inserted
2024-715: The troubles in Punjab, where killings of Hindus and Sikhs were continuing, by moving to Delhi, India, in 1947, Singh lived for a short time with the family of his married sister and was briefly imprisoned at Tihar jail for travelling on a train without a ticket. His sister, Ishvar, sold some jewellery to obtain his release. He spent some time at a refugee camp in Purana Qila and at a resettlement colony in Shahdara , both in Delhi. Milkha became disenchanted with his life and considered becoming
2070-519: Was Govindpura , a village 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Muzaffargarh city in Punjab Province , British India (now Kot Adu district , Pakistan ). He was one of 15 siblings, eight of whom died before the Partition of India . He was orphaned during the Partition when his parents, a brother and two sisters were killed in the violence that ensued between the villagers and Muslims who tried to convert them. He witnessed these killings. Escaping
2116-482: Was added by conquest or treaty to a presidency came under the existing regulations of the corresponding presidency. However, in the case of provinces that were acquired but were not annexed to any of the three presidencies, their official staff could be provided as the governor-general pleased, and was not governed by the existing regulations of the Bengal, Madras, or Bombay presidencies. Such provinces became known as 'non-regulation provinces' and up to 1833 no provision for
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