A question often intrigued me: exactly when did the Sikhs conquer Punjab, i.e., in which year did Punjab fall to them? Gradually, I realized that it did not happen as a result of a single battle or war between two clearly identified adversaries, as, for example, we can mention the Third Battle of Panipat, the starting point of the Mughal Empire in India. Rather, it was a lengthy struggle that continued for over a century, starting in the early 18th century. By the 1760s, the Sikhs had become the most important power in Punjab, and in the next half-century, they emerged as the supreme power in the region, controlling a vast area between the Yamuna in the east and the Khyber Pass in the west, and from Ladakh in the north to the border of Sindh in the south. The Sikhs gained their power through a long and protracted struggle against the Mughals and Afghans, but they lost it very rapidly to the British in the middle of the 19th century.
The saga of the Sikhs started with the birth of Guru Baba Nanak Dev Ji in 1469 at Nankana Sahib, the first guru and the founder of the Sikh religion. His mission and teachings continued under the nine gurus who succeeded him. The tenth and last guru died in 1708.
The purpose of this post is only to discuss the political history of the Sikhs, so I shall confine myself to the political role played by the gurus. If I am not wrong, during the first century after the first guru started his mission, up to the end of the 16th century AD, the Sikh population in Punjab was negligible. However, from the time of the fifth Guru, Arjan Dev Ji, their presence on the political map of Punjab started to be felt. He was the first guru who laid the foundations of the Harmandir Sahib in 1581 at Amritsar, or Chak Ram Das as it was known then, thus providing a religious and political centre to the Sikh community. It is widely believed that Guru Arjan Ji invited Hazrat Mian Mir of Lahore, a Muslim saint, to lay the foundations of this holy temple. He was also successful in his preaching missions and converted many people to his faith. His fame reached Emperor Akbar, who met him in 1598 while travelling in this part of his empire, was impressed by the Adi Granth compiled by him, and presented the guru with 51 gold mohurs.
Akbar died in 1605, and Jahangir ascended the throne. From the beginning, relations between the emperor and the guru soured. Prince Khusru rebelled against his father, Jahangir and met Guru Arjan, which greatly annoyed the emperor. Besides this incident, the rising popularity and influence of Guru Arjan were bound to arouse suspicion in the mind of an absolute monarch. This situation led to tragedy. The guru was arrested and sent to Lahore, where he died under torture or was drowned in the River Ravi. This was the first important political event with far-reaching consequences. The story of a certain Chandu Shah is also often quoted in relation to this incident, as he is accused of instigating the emperor against the guru due to a personal grudge.
After his death, his eleven-year-old son Har Govind was declared the sixth guru. The death of Guru Arjan was a profound shock to his son, his family, and his followers. He was the first guru to pay attention to acquiring military power by collecting arms, training a body of soldiers, and even constructing a fort at Lohgarh. His activities did not go unnoticed, and he was imprisoned in Gwalior Fort for a year or two. However, his influence continued to increase.
During the reign of Shah Jahan, troubles again erupted, and after several clashes between the followers of the guru and the Mughals, he left the plains and shifted to Kiratpur, a relatively safe place, in 1634, making it his headquarters. From that point, we can say that the Sikhs began their active resistance against the government and sought to gain political force and an independent state. His defiance and resort to arms made him even more popular. He died in 1644, and Har Rai became the next guru.
Here it is interesting to note that, despite the execution of his father, at some point he had cordial relations with Jahangir, and with his cooperation took revenge upon Chandu Shah for his role in the killing of Guru Arjan. According to Syed Abdul Latif, he even served in the army of Jahangir and accompanied him to Kashmir. Despite some occasional frictions with the government, no open confrontation took place during his time.
Before dying in 1661, he appointed his five-year-old son Har Krishan as the next guru. His elder brother, Ram Rai, disputed this decision, and Aurangzeb called both of them to Delhi for arbitration, where the young guru died of smallpox in 1664. At this time, as on some occasions in the past, the succession became disputed. However, eventually Tegh Bahadur was accepted as the new guru by the majority of the Sikhs, after he returned to Punjab following several years of travel in Awadh, Bihar, and Bengal.
After his return to Punjab, he probably created a law and order situation in the region. The famous writer Khushwant Singh quotes the following passage in his book A History of the Sikhs:
Professors Ganda Singh and Teja Singh have rendered the same passage in the following words:
‘Tegh Bahadur gathering many disciples became powerful and thousands of people accompanied him. A contemporary of his, Hafiz Adam, who was a fakir belonging to the order of Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi, had gathered about him a great multitude of followers. Both of these took to the practice of levying forcible exactions and moved about in the land of the Punjab. Tegh Bahadur took money from Hindus and Hafiz Adam from Mussalmans. The royal newswriters wrote to the Emperor that two fakirs, one Hindu and the other Muslim named so-and-so, had taken to that practice. It would not be strange if, with the increase of their influence, they created trouble.’
The Sikh version, however, is different. According to this account, a delegation of Kashmiri Brahmins approached the Guru to seek his help in their predicament. Allegedly, they had been ordered to accept conversion to Islam. The Guru is said to have advised them to tell the Mughal officials that if Tegh Bahadur agreed to convert, they would follow suit. Consequently, the Guru was summoned to Delhi, and on his refusal to renounce his faith, he was beheaded. This version is supported by Tegh Bahadur’s son, who was then old enough to know what was happening. However, it is not clear to me why the Kashmiri Hindus appealed to him. Was Guru Tegh Bahadur militarily strong enough at that point to act in support of the Kashmiri Pandits, far away from his area of activity and influence?
Syed Abdul Latif mentions the role of Ram Rai, a pretender to the guruship, in provoking Emperor Shah Jahan against the Guru for his activities, such as maintaining a large band of armed retainers and holding a splendid court at Kartarpur (not to be confused with Kartarpur in Pakistan) like an independent sovereign. He was summoned to Delhi but was allowed to leave, and he spent the next few years travelling in Bihar and Bengal. However, after returning to Punjab, he embarked on a career of loot and plunder. He also gave shelter to fugitives from the state. An army was eventually sent against him and his Muslim ally, Adam, and he was brought to Delhi as a prisoner.
Whatever the circumstances of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s death, his execution drove relations between the Mughals (and by extension, Muslims) and the Sikhs to new heights of bitterness and animosity. But perhaps it was still not too late. He was succeeded by his nine-year-old son, Gobind Singh, as the tenth and last guru. He spent his childhood in a small village, Paonta, near Anandpur Sahib, by then the de facto capital of a small Sikh state. He was educated with great care in four languages: Punjabi, Hindi, Persian, and Sanskrit. He further motivated the Sikhs toward armed struggle to preserve their freedom and ideals by advancing the concept of Dharma Yudh (holy war).
In 1687, he openly challenged the Mughals when, along with other rajas of the hill states, he fought against a Mughal army sent to collect revenues. The Mughals subdued the rajas, but Prince Muazzam, the future Emperor Bahadur Shah, ignored Gobind Singh. For the next twelve years, an uneasy peace prevailed. During this time, he organized his people and constructed several forts around Anandpur. Clearly, he was biding his time while Aurangzeb remained preoccupied in the Deccan, struggling to subdue the Marathas in the Western Ghats.
In 1699, he called a general congregation of Sikhs at Anandpur and introduced several religious edicts into Sikhism. He also transformed his followers into a martial brotherhood. This marked the beginning of the Khalsa.
At this point, even the neighbouring Hindu rajas, including his host, the Raja of Bilaspur, became uneasy due to his militant activities and tried to evict him from their territories. But by then he had become strong enough to thwart their efforts. It is pertinent to mention that at this time he was living the life of a semi-independent ruler, with considerable military forces under his command and many forts and strongholds between the Sutlej and the Yamuna under his control.
The rajas appealed to Aurangzeb, who ordered the governors of Lahore and Sirhind to take action against Gobind Singh. The Mughal army besieged Anandpur, and the Guru was forced to leave it. His followers and family scattered in the mayhem, and he himself took refuge at Chamkaur Sahib. But he was closely pursued by government forces. Somehow, with the help of two Pathan mercenaries, he managed to escape. During these running battles, two of his elder sons were killed, while his two younger sons, mere children, were executed by the governor of Sirhind.
Gobind Singh then made the area around Muktsar the centre of his activities. Despite these severe and tragic losses, his fame grew greatly, and a large number of people joined him. After exchanging some messages with Aurangzeb and demanding justice against the governor of Sirhind, Gobind Singh proceeded to the Deccan to meet Aurangzeb. However, Aurangzeb died before the meeting could take place.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Sadhana)
At the death of Aurangzeb, a war of succession broke out among his sons, and Gobind Singh sided with Prince Moazzam, who eventually won the struggle for the Mughal throne. At this juncture, relations improved, and Gobind Singh even accepted a gift of Rs. 60,000 from the emperor and stayed for four months at Agra. He also accompanied the emperor to the Deccan, where he was assassinated by two Pathans, who were themselves killed before their motive was known.
There are two versions regarding their motives: either they were sent by the governor of Sirhind to assassinate the Guru, or the Guru had a business dispute with their father over the purchase of some horses, which resulted in his death. He died at Nanded on 8 October 1708. He did not appoint any person as the next guru; instead, he ordered his followers to seek guidance from the holy book, the Granth Sahib. As noted above, all four of his sons had already been killed.
At that point, it was quite possible that the Sikh faith would have faded away in a few decades or become a sect of Hinduism. However, before his assassination, he took one step that was to change the course of Sikh history forever. After failing to persuade Emperor Bahadur Shah I to take action against Wazir Khan, the governor of Sirhind, for his role in executing his two sons, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He charged an ascetic, Lachman Das, whom he met in his hermitage at Nanded, to avenge the death of his sons and the persecution of the Sikhs.
Lachman marched north with a small band of followers, and near Delhi he heard about the death of the Guru. He then proceeded into Punjab and sent messengers conveying the Guru’s message to the Sikh communities. Calling himself Banda, or slave of Guru Gobind Singh, he became famous as Banda Bairagi—bairagi being the ascetic order to which he belonged. He proclaimed his mission to free all the downtrodden, including peasants, from their oppressors. He successfully turned his mission into not only taking revenge on government officials but also freeing peasants from the landowners.
He set about his mission with great fury, plunder, and violence. His first target was Sonipat, where he looted the state treasury and the wealthy of the town, distributing the wealth among his followers. Religious zeal and the opportunity to plunder the rich swelled his ranks. His next targets were Kaithal and Samana. Samana, a historic city, was attacked ferociously, looted, plundered, and destroyed, with ten thousand people massacred. Samana fell on 26 November 1709. Muslims of these areas were particularly targeted, as they were considered part of the ruling class or their supporters. From this point, it became more of a religious war between Sikhs and Muslims than simply a political conflict between a rebel and an emperor.
The next target, the real objective of the uprising, was Sirhind. Wazir Khan prepared for battle and sent a request for help to Bahadur Shah, who was in the Deccan. In the meantime, large numbers of Banda’s followers and peasants converged on Sirhind from all the districts of central Punjab. These multitudes defeated Wazir Khan on 12 May 1710 in the Battle of Chappar Chiri and completely sacked the historic city of Sirhind. Wazir Khan was killed in the battle, and the city was consigned to fire and sword. All kinds of atrocities were unleashed upon the opponents, particularly Muslims, by Banda and his fanatical supporters.
Now a large part of Punjab
had fallen to him and he declared himself a king and struck coins in the name
of gurus. The absence of organized resistance to his depredations emboldened
him further and he crossed Jamuna and attacked Saharanpur and plundered it ruthlessly. In
addition to that Behat,
Ambheta and Nanauta met the same fate
and panic and terror spread in the whole region. He returned soon to Punjab and
in the autumn of 1710 captured the whole Jullundur Doab. Soon disturbances reached the
environs of Lahore. The Majha region, from Amritsar to Pathankot was lost to this uprising.
Learning of this calamity, Bahadur Shah marched to the north, the Rajputs were
already in rebellion, but the emperor did not stop to subdue them and entered
Punjab and ordered a general mobilization of forces. This is how Khafi Khan
describes the grim situation:
'For eight or nine months and from two or three days march from Delhi to the environs of Lahore, all the towns and places of note were pillaged by these unclean wretches and trodden under foot and destroyed. Men in countless numbers were slain, the whole country was wasted, and mosques and tombs were razed. These infidels had set up a new rule, and had forbidden the shaving of the hair of the head and beard.... The revolt and ravages of this perverse sect were brought under the notice of His Majesty, and greatly troubled him'.
Firoz Khan was appointed commander of the campaign, and he launched his offensive vigorously. Within a month he recovered Thanesar, Karnal, and Shahabad, and by the end of 1710 Mughal rule was re-established in the Malwa region of Punjab (the districts south of the Sutlej). Banda retreated to his mountain hideouts. The Mughal army pursued him and surrounded him in his fortress at Mukhlisgarh, which fell on 11 December 1710, though Banda managed to escape.
Next, he made Kiratpur his centre of activities in the Siwalik Hills and sacked Bilaspur. In the summer of 1711, he again descended onto the plains and, besides other places, sacked Batala. At that time Bahadur Shah was at Lahore; he pursued Banda, but once again Banda escaped into the mountains. The emperor died on 28 February 1712, and a war of succession began, which gave Banda further respite. He made full use of this opportunity, recapturing Sadhaura and sending proclamations to his followers and sympathizers.
The next emperor, Jahandar Shah, after winning the struggle for the throne, took action against Banda, but soon his nephew Farrukh Siyar rebelled and toppled him. Farrukh Siyar appointed Abdus Samad Khan to suppress Banda. An able and energetic administrator and general, Abdus Samad Khan captured all of Banda’s strongholds, forcing him to retreat deeper into the mountains. The rebellion was almost over, but Banda remained at large. He went into hiding in the hills of Jammu and lay low for over a year. However, some disturbances continued in the area around Ropar.
After the suppression of this rebellion, the Sikhs lay low, though some bands of desperadoes remained active in loot and plunder. At this time, the governor Abdus Samad Khan and his son Zakaria Khan were largely on their own, without much help from the government in Delhi. The Mughal emperor was too occupied with his own problems and too weak to provide any effective support to Lahore. In this situation, the governor did what he could, pursuing a policy of both oppression and conciliation.
Restrictions on Sikh gatherings were relaxed, and they were allowed to meet twice a year in Amritsar. These assemblies gave the Sikhs an opportunity to reorganize their affairs and select their leadership. They divided their armed men into groups, each under a Jathedar (commander), and placed all these groups under a joint organization called the Sarbat Khalsa. In times of emergency, these bands could be combined into one national army, the Dal Khalsa.
In 1733, one of their sardars, Kapur Singh of Fyzullapur, was granted a jagir and the title of Nawab, marking the first official recognition of Sikh power in Punjab. Thus, during this period, the Sikhs were by no means idle: Amritsar was under their sway and served as their de facto capital. Many chiefs grew powerful in their respective spheres, especially in the hills and Malwa. Above all, they possessed a strong organization and an unshakable sense of purpose, fueled by religious fervour and military zeal.
After the suppression of this rebellion, the Sikhs lay low, though some bands of desperadoes remained active in loot and plunder. At this time, the governor Abdus Samad Khan and his son Zakaria Khan were largely on their own, without much help from the government in Delhi. The Mughal emperor was too occupied with his own problems and too weak to provide any effective support to Lahore. In this situation, the governor did what he could and pursued a policy of both oppression and conciliation.
Restrictions on Sikh gatherings were relaxed, and they were allowed to meet twice a year in Amritsar. These assemblies gave the Sikhs an opportunity to reorganize their affairs and choose their leadership. They divided their armed men into groups, each under a Jathedar (commander), and placed all these groups under a joint organization called the Sarbat Khalsa. In times of emergency, these bands could be combined into a single national army, the Dal Khalsa.
In 1733, one of their sardars, Kapur Singh of Fyzullapur, was granted a jagir and the title of Nawab. This was the first official recognition of Sikh power in Punjab. Thus, during this period, the Sikhs were by no means idle: Amritsar was under their sway and functioned as the de facto capital of the Sikhs. Many chiefs became quite strong in their respective areas, particularly in the hills and Malwa. Above all, they possessed a strong organization and an unshakable sense of purpose, sustained by religious fervour and military zeal.
Hence, the 1730s were not entirely free of troubles. Plundering raids continued on a smaller scale, as did clashes with government forces. In 1738, Bhai Mani Singh, manager of Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, applied to Zakaria Khan, the governor of Lahore, for permission to hold the Diwali fair in Amritsar. He was granted permission on the condition of paying Rs. 5,000 after the festival. Mani Singh, however, was unable to pay and was arrested and executed on 14 June 1738. At or near the site of his execution, a gurdwara still exists, known as Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj in Lahore. The killing of such a respected and senior priest caused deep resentment among the Sikhs.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1376374
Soon after this incident, an unexpected turmoil struck the region—one that greatly eased the task of the Sikhs. It was an opportunity they could hardly have foreseen. In 1739, Nadir Shah, King of Persia and Afghanistan, invaded India. Zakaria Khan, the governor of Lahore, submitted without resistance, while the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah Rangila was defeated at Karnal. Nadir Shah then entered Delhi unopposed.
A misunderstanding in the city soon led to a disturbance, and Nadir Shah ordered a general massacre. Delhi was thoroughly plundered. Along with the emperor’s fabulous treasures, priceless items such as the Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Peacock Throne were carried away. Wealthy nobles and traders of the city were also forced to yield riches beyond Nadir Shah’s imagination. Though he returned to Persia soon after, he left Punjab without any effective government. The Mughal emperor, already weakened by the secession of provinces like Bengal, Awadh, and the Deccan, and by the uprisings of Marathas, Jats, and Rajputs across India, was on his knees. Nadir Shah’s invasion shattered what little remained of imperial prestige and authority.
In these circumstances, the Sikhs grew bolder by the day. In some areas they began to assert authority openly and even started collecting taxes. They built a fort at Dalewal, somewhere along the banks of the Ravi, and armed bands moved openly to and from Amritsar. Zakaria Khan, however, still retained a firm grip on most of Punjab. He destroyed the fort, rounded up a large number of Sikhs, and had them executed in Lahore. The Sikhs were outlawed, and an order was issued for their complete suppression. They were regularly brought to Lahore and executed in the horse market, a place later renamed Shaheed Ganj, where a gurdwara now stands in memory of the martyrs. The Sikhs suffered great losses but remained defiant. Zakaria Khan died in 1745. He had been an able administrator, and his death was widely mourned by the people.
After his death, his son Yahya Khan was made the governor of Lahore and his younger brother Shah Nawaz of Multan. At this time, sensing an opportunity, Sikhs merged their smaller bands into larger cavalry groups and made Nawab Kapur Singh the commander of the whole Sikh army. Sikhs openly incited people to refuse to pay revenue to the government. This led to clashes, and Yahya Khan marched against the troublemakers and crushed a Sikh army north of Lahore, killing seven thousand and capturing three thousand more. His minister Lakh Pat Rai played an active role in the campaign to avenge the death of his brother at the hands of the Sikhs. During this operation in June 1746, Sikhs were pursued over a long distance starting from near Gurdaspur and ending at Lakhi Jungle near Bathinda. Sikhs remember this incident as Chhota Ghallughara (Smaller Holocaust). But the revolt of Shah Nawaz, the younger brother of the governor, gave a timely respite to the Sikhs. Shah Nawaz defeated his brother and in March 1747 entered Lahore. To strengthen his position, he sought the cooperation of the Sikhs and appointed a Sikh, Kaura Mal, his minister. To further consolidate his position, he invited Ahmad Shah Abdali to his aid. This turmoil gave a golden opportunity to the Sikhs to regroup and reorganize. They fully utilized it and constructed a fort near Amritsar, Ram Rauni.
Abdali did not need much persuasion and marched towards Punjab, entering Lahore on 12 January 1748. He plundered the suburbs and exacted a heavy tribute for sparing the rest of the city. After staying for a month in Lahore, he marched towards Delhi. The imperial forces, under Wazir Qamruddin, intercepted him at Manupur near Sirhind. Mir Qamruddin was killed in the battle, but his son Mir Muin-ud-Din, famously known as Mir Mannu, took command and forced the invaders to retreat. After this victory, he was appointed the governor of Lahore. The Sikhs took full advantage of this opportunity, and they not only plundered the retreating Afghan army but Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia also defeated the forces of Adina Beg near Hoshiarpur. Now the Sikhs were organizing themselves into very large bands called Misls, twelve in number, operating in and controlling vast tracts of land. All these bands united under the command of Jassa Singh, who was addressed as Padshah (king).
The position of Mir Mannu, however, was weak. Multan was under the control of the Afghans, Jammu under the Dogras, and vast areas in central Punjab under the marauding bands of Sikhs. He first recaptured Multan and then proceeded to Amritsar to reduce Ram Rauni. The fighting continued for two months, but before any conclusion of this campaign Abdali again invaded Punjab. Abdali advanced up to Wazirabad, where his further advance was blocked by Adina Beg, but he did not receive any help from Delhi. They reached a compromise, and areas west of the Indus were ceded to Ahmad Shah, and in addition to that he received the revenues of four districts: Sialkot, Pasrur, Gujrat, and Aurangabad, the last place I have been unable to find and locate. One of the reasons for the governor’s failure to control the Sikhs was the constant intrigues and conspiracies hatched by Wazir Safdar Jang in Delhi. The Wazir instigated two rebellions, in Sialkot and Lahore, against Mir Mannu, and he was compelled to placate the Sikhs and take their active help in repressing these revolts. Kaura Mal, the Wazir of Mir Mannu, was a Sikh, and many Sikhs entered government service while some others were granted jagirs. In the years 1749–1750 many peasants embraced the Sikh religion.
In the year 1752, Abdali again invaded Punjab. Mir Mannu raised a large army
but was defeated outside Lahore. Kaura Mal the wazir of Mir Mannu also died in
the fighting. Afghans extracted an indemnity of 3 million rupees. By the terms
of the treaty concluded between Abdali and the emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur Lahore and Multan were ceded to Afghanistan. However, Abdali kept Mir Mannu in
the position of the governor of Lahore. Before leaving for Afghanistan he also
conquered Kashmir.
Abdali embraced Mannu and addressed him as his brave son and the champion of India — Farzand Khan Bahadur, Rustam-i-Hind. This dialogue is recorded by most Persian and Punjabi historians.
After the third invasion of Abdali, the Sikhs spread disturbances across Punjab from Malwa to the Salt Range. Many skirmishes and battles were fought between the roving bands of the Sikhs and the government forces. Jullundur Doab and Bari Doab were particularly hard hit. Mir Mannu took very harsh measures against the Sikhs, and a large number of them were killed or brought to Lahore for execution. Anandpur was attacked, and the fort of Ram Rauni was also destroyed. He also offered a reward of Rs. 10 for each Sikh killed. But this campaign remained inconclusive due to the sudden death of Mir Mannu in November 1753 in a riding accident.
With his death, the administration of Punjab totally collapsed. His widow tried to run the affairs as the regent of Mannu’s infant son, but running the affairs of that turbulent province was far beyond her capabilities. The whole province fragmented into small principalities. Multan was still under the control of the Afghans, Jammu became independent, and Adina Beg was controlling Jullundur and Sirhind. Most of the other areas were under the sway of Sikh misls or local chiefs.
In the winter of 1754–55, the Sikhs further increased their activity of plundering raids in Punjab and even beyond. Now, instead of simply robbing the people, they offered protection and, in return, took one-fifth of their produce. Hence, for the first time, the Sikhs took over the administration of the areas under their influence.
Mughlani Begum, despite all odds and the intrigues of her adversaries, survived until March 1756, when she was replaced by Adina Beg. Although confined in Delhi, Mughlani Begum did not sit idle and sent a message to Abdali to conquer India, even promising to reveal to him the hidden wealth of the notables of Delhi, including her own relatives. Abdali did not need much persuasion; he saw his opportunity and descended on Hindustan once again.
Abdali crossed the Indus in November 1756 and invaded India for the fourth time. Adina Beg saw it prudent not to offer any resistance, and Abdali reached Delhi without opposition. He entered the city on 28 January 1757 and set upon plundering it and its inhabitants thoroughly. After ruthlessly pillaging Delhi, his next targets for loot and plunder were the Hindu holy cities of Mathura and Brindaban. The Mughal Emperor Alamgir II was a very weak person and a mere puppet in the hands of his Wazir, Imad ul Mulk.
Abdali and his son, after completing their mission, returned to Afghanistan loaded with booty. Sikh bands were ready along the way and, using guerrilla tactics, relieved his army of some of their loot and plunder. Abdali retaliated by blowing up the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, filling the holy pond with dirt, and desecrating it with the entrails of slaughtered cows. He handed the administration of Lahore to his son Timur Shah. The Sikhs, however, under Charat Singh of the Sukerchakia misl, harassed his army up to the Indus. The Sikhs tried to avenge the desecration but were again defeated, and the Afghan commander Jahan Khan once more sacked the Harmandir in Amritsar. The gurdwara at Kartarpur (probably the one near Kapurthala in Jullundur Doab) was also demolished. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia called on the misls to join forces to avenge the desecration of Amritsar, and he found an ally in Adina Beg, the administrator of Jullundur Doab, who was not on good terms with the Afghans. The joint forces defeated the Afghan army at Mahilpur, district Hoshiarpur. Prince Timur sent a second army, but that too was defeated. Now the situation became so bad that even the environs of Lahore, just outside the city walls, were not safe from the depredations of the Sikhs.
Adina Beg was an unscrupulous and very shrewd man. Next, he invited the Marathas, already entrenched in Delhi, to his aid to expel the Afghans from Punjab. The Sikhs were also a part of this tripartite alliance. The Marathas were offered large sums as an incentive for their troubles, besides the prospects of loot and plunder. In March 1758, the Marathas entered Punjab with a very large army. The Afghans were no match for this huge force, stated to be two hundred thousand, and abandoned Lahore and other areas without a fight. The Maratha chief, Raghunath, along with Adina Beg, entered Lahore in April 1758 and chased the Afghans out of Punjab completely. The Marathas soon left Punjab, richer by crores of rupees, after appointing Adina Beg as their governor on the promise of paying 7.5 million rupees per year. As soon as the Marathas were out of sight, Adina Beg attacked the Sikhs at Ram Rauni or Ram Garh and started a campaign to break their power, but he suddenly died in September 1758. The Marathas again entered Punjab and, with the help of the Sikhs, defeated an Afghan army that had entered Punjab to press its claim on the province.
The situation in Punjab compelled Ahmad Shah to invade the province for the fifth time. His main objective was to check the rising power of the Marathas in northern India. The Marathas fled before the powerful Afghan army without much resistance, and Abdali marched towards Delhi. After a year of manoeuvring and preparations, Abdali and the Marathas met at the famous battlefield of Panipat on 14 January 1761. Despite gaining a great victory at Panipat, Abdali could do little to crush the roving bands of Sikhs scattered almost all over Punjab. Small Sikh bands constantly attacked, harassed, and plundered the moving columns of the Afghan army on its return march to Afghanistan. Officials appointed by Abdali to deal with the Sikhs completely failed in their task, and they were utterly defeated near Gujranwala.
On the festival of Diwali, 22 October 1761, the Sikhs gathered in Amritsar. Such a congregation is known as Sarbat Khalsa, and they resolved to capture Lahore, the ultimate prize in Punjab. Afghan general Khawaja Obaid could not resist, and the Sikh chief Jassa Singh Ahluwalia captured Lahore without a fight. He was given the title of Sultan al-Qaum (the King of the Nation), and new coins were minted. However, Khawaja Obaid remained entrenched in the fort. Abdali could not ignore this grave situation and entered Punjab with speed. The Sikhs hastily evacuated Lahore and tried to scatter into far-flung areas. Abdali caught up with one large retreating band at Kup. The Sikhs tried to escape towards Barnala and fought a running battle. However, they suffered terribly, and most of them were slaughtered on 5 February 1762. The incident is known as Vadda Ghallughara (the Great Massacre).
According to Latif, while the Sikhs were besieging the city of Sirhind, Abdali came to rescue the city, chased them away, and inflicted a major defeat on them. The Harimandir Sahib at Amritsar was again blown up with gunpowder. For the next year, Abdali stayed mostly in Lahore or Kalanaur. But even during his stay in Lahore, Sikh bands raided and plundered villages from Jhelum to Karnal with impunity, and even dared to gather at Amritsar for Diwali. Abdali was helpless to suppress this anarchy, and he left Lahore on 12 December 1762 for Afghanistan.
Actually, Afghanistan was not a stable country, and whenever Abdali left it for a campaign in India, some trouble erupted behind him. After his departure, his nominated officials were unable to control the Sikhs, and they quickly captured large territories and towns in Sirhind, Jullundur Doab, Upper Bari Doab, and Rachna Doab. This time even large towns were permanently occupied. The towns of Rohtas, Jalalpur, Ahmadabad, Chakwal, and the most important town of this region, Pind Dadan Khan, also fell during this time.
In early 1764, they invested Lahore and were busy in the conquest of Punjab at full speed when Abdali came again to stem the tide of the rising Sikhs. This was his seventh invasion of Punjab. His target was again Amritsar, where the Harimandir Sahib was blown up and the pool filled with dead cows. But the Sikhs had already fled. Abdali chased the elusive Sikhs in Jullundur Doab and Sirhind, but they scattered and hid themselves. However, as soon as he started his return journey, they also began harassing his army with small guerrilla attacks. They never made a stand and relied on running battles, an art they had perfected.
Soon after the departure of Abdali, the Sikhs gathered for the annual festival of Baisakhi on 10 April 1765 in Amritsar, where they rebuilt the temple. They also planned to capture Lahore. On 16 April 1765, two Bhangi sardars, Gujjar Singh and Lehna Singh, entered Lahore. The next day, Sobha Singh Kanhya also joined them. This time the city was spared from loot and plunder. In the same year, the Sikhs crossed the Jamuna and raided the Rohilkhand region. They plundered and killed in all directions and returned with great wealth. In 1766, they captured the important town of Pakpattan and marched towards Multan.
This state of affairs was intolerable for Abdali, and he again entered Punjab for the eighth time. He overcame all resistance on the way and entered Lahore on 22 December 1766, unopposed, as the three sardars had already left the city. To chastise the Sikhs, he marched towards Sirhind. But the Sikhs dispersed their forces and resorted to their time-tested tactics of hit-and-run and plundering raids. They even attacked a large Afghan force near Amritsar under the command of Jahan Khan before Ahmad Shah could come to his aid. Soon Ahmad Shah’s energy was worn down, and he returned to Afghanistan.
The Sikhs again entered Lahore, this time permanently. By the end of 1767, they had reached as far as Rawalpindi, and the Salt Range was firmly under their control. Now they were the undisputed masters of Punjab. Even the surroundings of Delhi were not safe from their raids, and they were systematically collecting extortions in the villages of Rohilkhand. Abdali made his ninth and final attempt to stem the tide in 1769, but he could not go much further and returned to Afghanistan, where he died on 23 October 1772.
Khushwant Singh describes the epic struggle between Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Sikhs in the following words:
Abdali was the bitterest antagonist of the Sikhs and paradoxically their greatest benefactor. His repeated incursions destroyed Mughal administration in the Punjab and at Panipat he dealt a crippling blow to Maratha pretensions in the north. Thus he created a power vacuum in the Punjab which was filled by the Sikhs. Abdali failed to put down the Sikhs because they refused to meet him on his terms. They were everywhere and yet elusive; they displayed temerity in attacking armies much stronger than theirs and alacrity in running away when the tide of battle turned against them. Fighting the Sikhs was like trying to catch the wind in a net. The Sikhs were able to resort to these tactics because the people were behind them. The peasants gave them food, tended the wounded, and gave shelter to fugitives. The Sikhs were also fortunate in having leaders like Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Hari Singh Bhangi, and Charhat Singh Sukerchakia. By contrast, Abdali's son and generals were men of modest ability. Besides this, Abdali never had time to consolidate his conquests for he had to rush back to his own country to put down some insurrection or the other. Consequently, what he won by his military prowess was lost by the ineptitude of his deputies. Abdali spilled more Sikh blood than any other; but he also taught them that no people can become a strong and great nation without learning to shed blood.
1772 was a turning point in the history of Punjab. Abdali died in Afghanistan, and Delhi came under the protection of the Marathas. So now there was no power in the east or the west to contest the control of Punjab with the Sikhs. The Mughals were totally out of the game, and the Afghans were also on the retreat; for the next six decades they remained busy defending their areas in Punjab and along the western bank of the Indus. Sikh bands were now free to appropriate as much land as they could control. After the last invasion of Abdali, there was a race among the 12 misls to occupy as much territory from the local chiefs as possible. There was no power to stop them, from the Indus to the Jamuna, even to the Ganges in the east and Delhi in the south.
After the last failed invasion of Abdali, towns and principalities started to fall like dominoes before the rising tide of the Sikhs. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia occupied Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi in Bist Doab. Hill states of Kangra, Nurpur, Chamba, Basohli, and Mandi started paying tribute to the Sikh misls. Similarly, Jammu came under the influence of the Sikhs. The Sukerchakias increased their territories in all directions around Gujranwala. So far, the Bhangis were the strongest of all the misls; they had the two main cities of Punjab, Lahore and Amritsar, under their control. In 1772 they captured Multan, which remained under their occupation for eight years. Kasur too paid tribute to them. During the same year, Gujjar Singh Bhangi established himself at Rawalpindi and captured Attock, Fateh Jang, and Pindi Gheb as well. The famous town of Rasulnagar fell in 1778 to Maha Singh Sukerchakia. It was an important victory and raised the power and prestige of the Sukerchakias. Another important town, Alipur, was also captured in this campaign. The names of these cities were changed to Ramnagar and Akalgarh, respectively. The original names were restored after 1947.
At the same time, in the east of the Jamuna, Sikhs were regularly looting and plundering rural and big urban areas. Zabita Khan was the ruler of Rohilkhand; he was so hard pressed by the Sikhs that he was compelled to enter into an alliance with them and pay a large amount. Together, their forces looted the environs of Delhi. From 1775 onwards, Sikhs remained quite active and fought many battles as allies of the Rohillas against Delhi forces and their Maratha allies. In 1778 they even succeeded in entering Delhi for some time. Delhi finally took action against the Sikhs in the autumn of 1779, but the campaign failed to achieve any major success. In 1781, another campaign was launched against the Sikhs under Mirza Shafi, but again without much success, and Delhi had to concede their right to exact taxes in districts between Panipat and Delhi and in the upper Gangetic Doab. At this time, Delhi was at their mercy, but the Sikhs chose to concentrate on the upper Gangetic Doab and reached as far as Dehra Dun.
In March 1783, Baghel Singh encamped in the suburbs of Delhi and constructed four gurudwaras in commemoration of their gurus. During these years, marauding bands of Sikhs remained busy looting, plundering, and exacting rakhi in the areas of the Ganges Doab and around Delhi. Even big cities like Saharanpur, Nanauta, Meerut, Hapur, etc. were not safe. Northern India was being contested at that time by the Mughals, Marathas, Rohillas, and Awadh, backed by the English. Sikhs manoeuvred among them successfully, and in 1787 we find them as allies of Ghulam Qadir Rohilla. As his allies, they plundered areas between Agra and Delhi. The chaotic conditions of northern India were ideal for the Sikhs. In 1788, Ghulam Qadir entered Delhi and let loose a reign of terror. Atrocities of unspeakable nature were committed on the emperor Shah Alam II and his family. The females of the imperial family also did not escape his beastly nature. Before leaving the city, Ghulam Qadir mercilessly looted the imperial family and blinded the ageing emperor on 10 August 1788. However, it should be noted that the Sikhs did not participate in this episode in any way.
Now even the British-protected Awadh was not safe, as the Sikhs made incursions across the Ganges, and in January 1791 a Sikh sardar, Bhanga Singh of Thanesar, captured a British colonel and released him only after exacting a ransom of Rs. 60,000. However, after 1795, due to the constant efforts of the Marathas, the Sikhs were pushed back across the Jamuna into Punjab.
Meanwhile, in the west, especially in central Punjab, the Sikh misls were now fighting among themselves over the spoils. For example, the rich state of Jammu was a bone of contention among them. A historian describes the situation in the following words:
In the country of the Punjab from the Indus to the banks of the Jumna there are thousands of chiefs in the Sikh community. None obeys the other. If a person owns two or three horses he boasts of being a chief, and gets ready to fight against thousands. When a village is besieged by the Sikhs to realise tribute which the zamindars cannot afford, they intrigue with other Sikhs and the Sikhs begin to fight between themselves. Whoever wins receives money according to the capacity of the villagers. (Imamuddin, Husain Shah!, 242-3; H. R. Gupta, II, 19--20.)
The sordid game of ganging up, sometimes with one and sometimes with the other, went on. Among the most successful was Maha Singh Sukerchakia. With his unbounded energy and strong right arm, he raised the house of Sukerchakia to the second most powerful among the misls. He was rapidly rising to the top when his career of conquest was cut short by his untimely death in 1792.
It was clear by the end of the 18th century that the chaos and anarchic conditions, with dozens of petty states engaged in infighting over the spoils of plunder, could not last for long. At this time, the Sukerchakia misl, based at Gujranwala, began to rise. After the death of Maha Singh, his twelve-year-old son Ranjit Singh became the chief of the misl. His ascendency marked the beginning of a new epoch in the history of Punjab. His grandfather, Charat Singh, who had assumed the leadership of the Sukerchakia misl in 1752, made Gujranwala his headquarters and constructed a fort, thereby laying the foundation of the city. At the time of assuming leadership of his principality, his main rivals were the sardars of the Bhangi Misl, the strongest of all in Punjab, who controlled Lahore, Amritsar, Gujrat, and areas of the Potohar region.
In 1793, Zaman Shah became the King of Afghanistan and twice attempted to invade Punjab: the first time he advanced only as far as Hassan Abdal, and the second time he reached Rohtas Fort. Both campaigns failed to achieve any tangible results. On the Sikh side, Ranjit Singh confronted him during the second campaign and regained Rohtas Fort as soon as Zaman Shah returned to Afghanistan. However, in 1796, his third invasion was comparatively more successful, as he entered Lahore and stayed in the city for some time. Yet, he was forced to return to Afghanistan due to political instability at home. The Sikhs soon regained all the areas they had lost. Ranjit Singh played a leading role in resisting the Afghans, and after their departure, he emerged as a hero.
Zaman Shah, however, returned soon and this time sacked Gujrat and Gujranwala. The Sikhs had already fled, hence, according to Khushwant Singh, his victims were Muslims. Shahdara was also destroyed. On 27 November 1798, Shah Zaman entered Lahore. This was going to be the last time a Muslim ruled the city; it would not happen again for 149 years, until 1947. Nizamuddin of Kasur, Sansar Chand of Kangra, and even the Sikh ruler of Patiala, Sahib Singh, supported Shah Zaman. Ranjit Singh led the Sikh side and repulsed an Afghan attack on Amritsar, forcing them to retreat to Lahore. He also cut off food supplies to the city. Seeing no prospect of victory, Zaman Shah left Punjab, never to return. This was a historic moment because, since 1799, no one has successfully invaded India from the northwest. Thus ended an epoch that had begun 800 years earlier with the invasions of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. The next time an Afghan king came to Punjab, it was as a refugee.
As soon as Shah Zaman left Lahore, the Sikhs reclaimed all their estates and pursued the Afghan army. Ranjit Singh regained Gujranwala and chased the Afghans as far as Attock. After this success, Ranjit Singh’s fame rose rapidly throughout Punjab. He was now regarded as the most important among the dozens of Sikh chiefs. Since 1765, Lahore had been ruled by three Sikh factions. The citizens of Lahore were unhappy due to their internal squabbles and mismanagement. The leading citizens of the city sent a secret petition to Ranjit Singh—signed by Hakim Hakam Rai, Bhai Gurbakhsh Singh, Mian Aashak Mohammad, Mir Shadi, and other notables—inviting him to take the city. Ranjit Singh accepted the offer and deputed his agent, Qazi Abdul Rahman, for further negotiation. After settling all the details, Ranjit Singh entered the city on 7 July 1799. The three sardars could not put up much resistance. The conquest of Lahore, the imperial city of the Mughals and capital of Punjab, greatly enhanced Ranjit Singh’s prestige. People rallied around him, and he set about organizing the administration of his state and restructuring his army on modern lines.
(https://www.dawn.com/news/1491672)
Once Lahore in his firm
control, he started his campaign of enlarging his state. The first target was
the Raja of Jammu, he submitted and agreed to pay tribute. He also took the
towns of Narowal and
Akalgarh at the
same time. Now he was the most prominent power in Punjab and to further
establish his political influence he took the title of Maharaja on Baisakhi
day, 12 April 1801. Taking this title enabled him to claim sovereignty over all
territories that were once part of Lahore and gave tributes to its ruler. He
established a mint in Lahore and issue new coins on this occasion. He also
reorganized the administration of the city and appointed Imam Bakhsh as kotwal of the city.
Soon he captured Pindi Bhattian, Chiniot and made further
inroads in Potohar, taking territories of the Muslim chiefs. Clashes with
Nizamuddin of Kasur also continued. He attacked Multan and forced his ruler to
pay tribute to Lahore instead of Kabul. His most important victory was the
conquest of Amritsar. Besides its religious importance, the city was a
significant trade centre. Many factions ruling this city jointly could not put
up much resistance.
After this victory, his prestige and resources increased further, and he embarked upon creating an army on modern lines. He raised infantry battalions of Punjabi Mussalmans and Hindustanis, and hired British-trained deserters to train them. Before this, the Sikhs looked down upon infantry and took pride in being cavalrymen, but after seeing the results, they too began to enlist as infantrymen. He employed Muslims in the artillery and appointed Ghaus Muhammad Khan (Mian Ghausa) to train and command it. These new units were ready by October 1803.
The first target was Ahmad Khan Sial of Jhang in 1803. The city was captured after severe fighting, but Ahmad Khan was reinstated as a vassal of the Lahore Darbar. The towns of Shiwal (district Sargodha) and Garh Maharaja were also forced to pay tribute.
The same year, in 1803, some dramatic changes occurred in northern India. The East India Company defeated the Marathas in a series of battles, took Agra and Delhi from them, and placed the Mughal Emperor under their protection. Thus, they reached the borders of Punjab. The next year, they captured Rohilkhand as well. From this point onward, the British started playing a role in the politics of Punjab. The Sikh chiefs of Malwa began depending on British support to save their states from the expanding power of Ranjit Singh. In 1806, a serious dispute arose between Patiala and Nabha over the possession of a village. Both sides rallied their allies, but finally invited Ranjit Singh for arbitration. The Maharaja settled the issue, and hence the Malwa sardars also accepted his position as the most important ruler in Punjab and assured him that they looked upon him as their sovereign. The same year, when the Gurkhas invaded Kangra, Raja Sansar Chand requested help from Ranjit Singh. He marched against the Gurkhas, forced them to retreat, and in return received tribute from Kangra.
In 1806, Ranjit Singh toured the areas south of the Sutlej to settle disputes between Nabha, Patiala, and other Sikh chiefs. He exacted large tributes and also confiscated many small estates and jagirs. During the same campaign, he took the city of Ludhiana from the widows of Rai Ilias Khan of Raikot. Besides that, he also captured the towns of Thara, Jhanadala, Jagraon, Raikot, Baddowal, Talwandi, Dhaka, and Basia. Thus, this Muslim state finally succumbed to the Sikhs. It is indeed a matter of surprise that it survived so long in the heartland of the Sikh Confederacy. However, another state, Malerkotla, survived until 1947. The aim of this article is to narrate the rise of the collective power of the Sikhs, so I am not going into the details of Ranjit Singh’s victories against other Sikh states or chieftains.
After the death of Nizamuddin, his brother Kutubuddin took his place and declared independence. Ranjit Singh launched a campaign to subdue this state and in February 1807 besieged Kasur. After a siege of one month, the city fell and Kutubuddin was arrested. Ranjit Singh granted the ruling family a jagir at Mamdot and annexed the state. On this occasion, the city was thoroughly plundered and atrocities were committed against the vanquished people. Immediately afterward, he attacked Multan to punish Muzaffar Khan for his support to Kasur. Muzaffar Khan paid an indemnity of Rs 70,000 to make a peace deal with the Maharaja. Later in the year, Tara Singh Gheba, sardar of the Dallewalia misl, died. Ranjit Singh annexed his territories, including the towns of Rahon and Nakodar in the Bist Doab. Soon afterward, Pathankot was also taken. Before the year was over, Ranjit Singh captured Sialkot, Gujrat, and Sheikhupura from the local Sikh chiefs.
1809 was an important year for Ranjit Singh. The British had already entrenched themselves in Delhi in 1803, and soon Karnal and Hissar also came under their control. The rulers of the Sikh states saw a good opportunity to protect themselves against the rapidly rising power of Ranjit Singh, and they requested the East India Company to take their territories under its protection. The Company too wanted to consolidate its position in northern India, and by agreeing to a common border between Lahore and the EIC, it stabilized the situation in south-eastern Punjab and avoided conflict in the area. Although this arrangement checked the expansion of the Lahore state in that direction, it gave Ranjit Singh a free hand to expand in the north and west without worrying about his rear.
Under this treaty, the river Sutlej was agreed upon as the boundary between the territories of the East India Company and the Khalsa Darbar of Lahore. At the same time, the EIC moved its forces northward and established a cantonment at Ludhiana, south of the Sutlej. As a result, the four main states of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, and Kaithal in Malwa came under the protection of the East India Company. Of these, the first three survived until 1947.
Soon afterward, in early 1810, he turned westward to abolish autonomous or independent estates. The Bhangis were completely expelled from Gujrat, and he also took the towns of Bhera, Miani, Shahpur, Khushab, and Sahiwal (district Sargodha), thus almost completely securing the Chaj Doab. The last two were taken from local Muslim chiefs by the Sikhs for the first time. Scattered territories of Sikh sardars in Bist Doab, the Jammu region, etc. were incorporated into the Lahore Darbar. Towns like Daska, Mangla, Hallowal, and Wazirabad fell in the same campaigns. Territories of the Kanhya misl, including the towns of Chunian, Dipalpur, Kamalia, and Sharakpur, were also taken. This whirlwind campaign only ended at Multan. The city was captured, but the citadel withstood desperate Sikh attacks, and Ranjit Singh had to lift the siege and retreat. However, Muzaffar Khan, the ruler, promised to pay a nominal tribute. Similarly, the attack on Shujaabad was also repulsed with heavy losses.
The same year, Shah Zaman returned to Lahore, a city he had twice conquered, but this time as a refugee, along with his own and his brother Shah Shuja’s families. Shuja would join him soon afterward. He came seeking Ranjit Singh’s help and support to reclaim his throne.
In 1812 Ranjit Singh turned his attention to Kashmir. Bhimbar and Rajauri were taken from their Muslim chiefs. At that time the Kashmir Valley was under the rule of the Afghans, but Afghanistan was constantly suffering from the infighting of rival factions, and one of those factions, led by Abdali’s grandson Shah Shuja, was taking shelter in Lahore. Shah Shuja himself was a prisoner of the Kashmiri governor in Srinagar. The Maharaja’s assistance was sought by one Afghan faction to conquer Kashmir from its rivals. This campaign did not bring many benefits to Ranjit, but Shah Shuja was freed and joined his family in asylum in Lahore. However, the campaign was not entirely a failure, as Ranjit Singh succeeded in taking the important fort of Attock.
As we have already noted, the family of Shah Shuja, including his wife Wafa Begum, was residing in asylum in Lahore. Ranjit Singh gave them Mubarak Haveli for residence and also some allowance for expenses. She had offered the famous Koh-i-Noor to Ranjit Singh in exchange for her husband’s freedom. They later showed great reluctance in keeping the promise, but under Ranjit Singh’s pressure, finally handed over the diamond to him on 1 June 1813.
To secure the occupation of Attock, the Sikhs established themselves at Haripur in 1813. The Afghans tried to take back Attock but were defeated at Mansar. Meanwhile, throughout that year preparations continued to capture Kashmir. The campaign was launched in the summer of 1814, and two large armies invaded Kashmir. The main thrust went as far as Shupian, but the whole campaign ended in failure. However, the next year the towns of Bhimbar, Rajauri and Kotli were retaken. Later in the year, Lahore forces made further gains in the Kangra region. The following year the direction of the military campaign turned southwards, and Bahawalpur, Multan and Mankera were forced to pay their arrears in tribute. To press their demands, the Sikhs devastated many areas and committed severe atrocities at several places. The district of Uch was also captured.
In 1818 Ranjit Singh achieved a major success when he captured the important city of Multan. Many towns and areas in South Punjab were already under the control of the Lahore Darbar. A big army under the command of Misr Dewan Chand, with heavy artillery under Elahi Bakhsh, was sent to Multan. Preparations for this campaign were made on a large scale. Before attacking Multan, Dewan Chand took the forts of Khangarh and Muzaffargarh. After a long and hard battle, the city fell on 2 June 1818. The ruler, Nawab Muzaffar Khan, died fighting valiantly along with his five sons. He refused to surrender and preferred to die as a free man. The people of Multan suffered greatly, and the situation is described by Muhammad Latif in the following words:
The city and fort were now given up to be plundered by the Sikh troops. Great were the ravages committed by the Sikhs on this occasion. About 400 to 500 houses in the fort were raised to the ground, and their owners deprived of all they had. The precious stones, jewellery, shawls and other valuable belonging to the nawab were confiscated to the State and were carefully packed by Dewan Ram Dayal, for the inspection of the Maharaja. The arms were all carried away. In the town many houses were set on fire, and nothing was left with the inhabitants that was worth having. Hundreds were stripped even of their clothes. Outrages were committed on the women, many of whom committed suicide by drowning themselves in the wells, or otherwise putting an end to their lives, in order to save themselves from dishonour. Hundreds were killed in the sack of the city, and indeed there was hardly a soul who escaped both loss and violence.
Shujaabad fell soon after. It was a great victory, and the power of the Muslim states in the region was broken. Soon afterward, Ranjit Singh scored another major success when he captured Peshawar and himself entered the city in November 1818. But as soon as he left the area, Dost Mohammad Khan of Afghanistan regained control of the city by expelling the governor nominated by Ranjit Singh. He, however, agreed to pay Rs. 100,000 as annual tribute.
After failing twice to capture Kashmir, Ranjit Singh invaded it again in 1819. The Afghans were, as usual, embroiled in civil wars, and the passes leading into the Kashmir valley were already in the hands of the Sikhs. The invasion was launched from two directions—Rajauri and Bhimber. Both invading armies met at Shupiyan on 3 July 1819. The Afghans could not withstand the superior artillery of the Sikh state and were decisively defeated. This time Ranjit Singh finally succeeded and annexed this beautiful and rich region to his empire. Thus ended nearly five centuries of Muslim rule in the Kashmir valley. Even now, after the passage of two centuries, the Muslims have been unable to regain their independence, despite constituting more than 98% of the population in the valley.
The next target of Ranjit Singh was southwestern Punjab. He stayed at Multan, and his forces captured Dera Ghazi Khan. He handed over the area to the Nawab of Bahawalpur at the annual payment of Rs. 300,000. But due to disturbances in Hazara, Ranjit Singh returned, leaving the mission incomplete. He sent many forces to quell this rebellion, which was suppressed with brutal use of force.
However, he returned in the autumn of 1821, and this time his target was the vast state of Mankera in Sindh Sagar Doab, which also had territories across the Indus River, including the city of Dera Ismail Khan. Bhakkar and Leiah were other important cities. The Maharaja reached Khushab in October 1821. Bhakkar surrendered without a fight, and the Maharaja sent forces to Leiah and Dera Ismail Khan; both cities surrendered without much resistance. Then all the forces converged on Mankera, the capital. Mankera is situated amidst a vast desert with scarce sources of water. The shortage of water added to the difficulties of this campaign. The city was surrounded by huge mud walls, strong enough to withstand even very heavy gunfire. The Sikh forces besieged the city, and a general exchange of cannon and musketry fire began. After a siege of twenty-two days, Nawab Hafiz Ahmed Khan surrendered on the promise of permission to reside in Dera Ismail Khan and a jagir.
(http://pakgeotagging.blogspot.com/2019/08/098-nawab-sar-buland-khan-and-his-fort.html)
In 1823, the Afghans tried to take Peshawar by expelling Yar Mohammad, a tributary of Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh invaded the Peshawar valley in March 1823 and decisively defeated the Afghans and their local allies at Pir Sabak near Nowshera. Three days later, Ranjit Singh entered Peshawar and reinstated Yar Mohammad as his nominee, with an increased annual tribute of 110,000 rupees. The city was spared, but vast areas around Peshawar were plundered. Sensing the hostile feelings of the people, Ranjit Singh prudently decided to hand over the city to Yar Mohammad, acting as his tributary.
In 1826, a military operation was conducted under the command of Prince Kharak Singh, and areas around Bannu also came under the sway of the Khalsa Raj, with nazranas extracted from the local tribes. In the same year, a rebellion in Hazara was suppressed at Gandgarh, and Sirikot was occupied.
Troubles continued in this region, especially after the appearance of Syed Ahmad of Rai Bareilly in 1827 in the Peshawar valley. He came from India to liberate the Muslims of this region from Sikh rule. He declared Jihad against the infidels and remained active in the area for many years. Initially, he arrived with a force of 500 Hindustani Muslims and sought the help of the local Muslims. At Panjtar, 13 km north of Swabi, he raised the green standard of the Holy Prophet and declared Jihad against the Sikhs.
He remained active in the area and, in 1830, even occupied Peshawar after defeating Sultan Muhammad Khan, brother of Yar Muhammad Khan, the governor of the city appointed by the Barakzais of Afghanistan but also a tributary of the Lahore Darbar. Ranjit Singh himself took the field and marched towards Peshawar. On his approach, Syed Ahmad vacated the city and fled to the hills. Ranjit Singh restored Sultan Muhammad to his position and returned to Lahore.
However, as soon as he returned, Syed Ahmad again occupied the area. Sultan Muhammad, being unable to resist him, submitted to Syed Ahmad and accepted his supremacy. Soon after, the officials appointed by Syed Ahmad were killed, and he lost his influence over the city. Failing to achieve success in this area, Syed Ahmad shifted his activities to the Hazara region. On 6 May 1831, he was finally defeated and killed at Balakot.
Now the only way open for expansion was in the direction of Sindh, but a tripartite trade agreement between Sindh, the East India Company, and Punjab was reached. This compelled the Maharaja to renounce his ambition to expand towards the sea. However, from the mid 1830s, the Sikh state started making inroads into the Ladakh region.
On 6 May 1834, Hari Singh finally captured Peshawar permanently and garrisoned the city with his own troops. Barakzai sardars fled or were expelled from the city. In the south, Ranjit Singh’s forces occupied Mithankot and Rojhan in 1836. The next year, Afghanistan’s king made another attempt to recover Peshawar, but his forces, led by his sons, were defeated at Jamrud on 30 April 1837. His son Afzal Khan died in the battle, but the Sikhs also lost one of their best generals, Hari Singh Nalwa. This was the last major battle in the life of Ranjit Singh. He died on 27 June 1839 after a prolonged illness.
At this point, the power of the Sikhs was at its zenith, but signs of an ominous future were already visible. During the last forty years, since 1799, the year Ranjit Singh captured the throne of Lahore, the political situation in India had undergone a complete transformation. Mysore, Bengal, and Awadh had fallen, and the Nizam of Deccan had already become part of British India. The once-powerful Maratha confederacy had been thoroughly defeated and subdued, and the Rajput states had also come under British protection.
It was now widely expected that the next target would be the last remaining independent state of Punjab. Especially after the fall of Sindh in 1843, there was no doubt left. The British authorities, too, were eager to expand their control up to the “natural” frontiers of India—namely, the Indus River and the Khyber Pass. The British were merely biding their time, and it would not be long before they acted.
After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, chaos and anarchy reigned supreme in the Lahore Darbar, and the British managed to provoke a war with Punjab. Both sides were fully anticipating this final showdown. The British declared war on 13 December 1845, and the first battle was fought at Mudki on 18 December 1845, which remained inconclusive. A few days later, on 21 December, another battle took place at Ferozeshahr. The British suffered heavy losses but managed to avoid defeat. A British officer described the situation in the following words:
"That frosty night, the fate of India trembled in the balance."
Different columns of the two forces clashed again at Buddowal and Aliwal on 21 and 28 January respectively. However, the final decisive action occurred at Sabraon on 10 February 1846, where the Khalsa army was decisively defeated. The tenacity and bravery of the Khalsa army astonished the British. It must be noted that, had the Khalsa army possessed better leadership, the outcome could have been quite different. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister Lal Singh and Commander-in-Chief Tej Singh were in contact with the British and played a major traitorous role in the defeat of their own army. Two days later, British forces crossed the river Sutlej and occupied Kasur.
The Lahore Darbar appointed Gulab Singh of Jammu to initiate peace negotiations. Treaties were signed in Lahore on 9 and 11 March 1846. Under these agreements, the Lahore government was compelled to cede the Jullundur Doab to the British, pay an indemnity of Rs 15 million, and accept the appointment of a British Resident at the Lahore Darbar to oversee government affairs. The size of the army was also drastically reduced to 32,000 soldiers.
Punjab was unable to pay such a large indemnity and therefore had to agree to cede the entire Kashmir Valley along with some territories in present-day Himachal Pradesh. For political and administrative reasons, the British deemed it prudent to “sell” Kashmir to the Raja of Jammu for Rs 7.5 million, recognizing his independent status from Punjab. Practically, however, the state was administered by British officers, while Maharaja Dalip Singh remained the nominal ruler. In December 1846, a subsequent treaty formalized British control over the administration, leaving the minor Maharaja Dalip Singh powerless to resist encroachments on his authority.
This arrangement, however, did not last long, as was perhaps inevitable. Troubles began at Multan when the governor, Mulraj, was replaced by Kahan Singh. Upon his arrival to assume office, a disturbance broke out on 18 April 1848, during which the two British officers accompanying him were killed. The rebellion quickly spread to other parts of Punjab, setting in motion a chain of events that ultimately led to the full-scale British invasion of the region.
In fact, the British had encouraged certain sardars to rebel, aligning with their ultimate objective of annexing Punjab. To take advantage of the hot weather and allow time for full preparations, the British planned to launch their decisive campaign in winter. Nevertheless, some British officers stationed around Multan began taking preliminary measures with the support of local allies, including the state of Bahawalpur.
(http://pakgeotagging.blogspot.com/2017/06/samadhi-of-diwan-mulraj-chopra.html)
This time, the Sikhs were in a significantly weaker position. The Khalsa army had been reduced to 20,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. Heavy artillery was largely absent, as most of the guns had been surrendered to the British following the First Anglo-Sikh War. In contrast, the British had assembled an army of nearly 70,000 to invade Punjab. At the start of the campaign in November 1848, rebel forces controlled areas west of the Chenab and around Multan.
The first battle of the Second Anglo-Sikh War took place at Ramnagar (now Rasulnagar) on 22 November 1848, where the Sikhs attempted to prevent the British from crossing the Chenab. The most significant engagement, however, was the Battle of Chillianwala on the banks of the Jhelum, fought on 13 January 1849. Both sides fought fiercely, and the Sikhs inflicted severe losses on the British, dealing a heavy blow to their morale. Despite this, the following day the Sikhs retreated toward Gujrat, where the decisive battle occurred on 13 February 1849. The Sikhs were decisively defeated and retreated toward Rawalpindi.
Ultimately, their commander, Sardar Sher Singh Attariwala, surrendered on 12 March near Rawat (likely at Humak). Mulraj had already surrendered Multan on 12 January 1849. Punjab was formally annexed on 29 March 1849, marking the end of the last sovereign state in India. The territory was incorporated into British India as a province, including the newly annexed areas and regions south of Malwa. In 1858, following the revolt of 1857, even Delhi was placed under Punjab’s administration, a structure that lasted until 1911, when Delhi was separated and made the new capital of British India.
With the fall of Punjab, the Sikhs lost most of their political power in the region, though it did not vanish completely. Five Sikh princely states، Patiala, Nabha, Kapurthala, Faridkot, and Jind، survived under British suzerainty until 1947.
This account has relied primarily on the works of Khushwant Singh and Muhammad Latif. I have endeavored to present the history as objectively as possible and welcome any suggestions for improvement.
Doha - Qatar.
October 25, 2020.
