One who is embarked upon the search for truth, is a Sikh.The fifth Master, Guru Arjan says:ਮੈ ਬਧੀ ਸਚੁ ਧਰਮ ਸਾਲ ਹੈ॥ਗੁਰਸਿਖਾ ਲਹਦਾ ਭਾਲਿ ਕੈ॥(SGGS, P. 74)“I have established the temple of truth. I search and assemble therein God’s devotees”.In this hymn (shabad) Guru Arjan Dev has defined the term ‘Sikh’ as the seeker of truth.Those who consider the term ‘Sikh’ to be based on the Sanskrit term ‘Shishya’, meaning student or disciple, seem to have altogether missed the real point. To be a disciple one needs a teacher. Thus begins the race of every disciple to adopt a teacher or a guru.Only he/she is a Sikh who believes in and is committed to one Supreme Being (Akaal Purakh), ten Divine Masters (Guru Nanak through Guru Gobind Singh), Guru Granth Sahib (the Shabad Guru) and their collective teachings and does not believe in any other religion or doctrine.A Gursikh is free from devotion to any god/goddess.According to Mahan Kosh (Bh. Kahan Singh) a Sikh is one who follows the path delineated by Guru Nanak; who accepts Guru Granth Sahib as his/her scripture and considers the ten Gurus as one. The third Master, Guru Amar Das says:ਆਪੁ ਛਡਿ ਸਦਾ ਰਹੈ ਪਰਣੈ ਗੁਰ ਬਿਨੁ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਜਾਣੈ ਕੋਏ॥ਕਹੈ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਸੁਣਹੁ ਸੰਤਹੁ ਸੋ ਸਿਖੁ ਸਨਮੁਖੁ ਹੋਏ॥(SGGS, P. 919)“Listen God’s devotees! Only that seeker abides in the Master’s presence, who discards his/her ego, leans on the preceptor and puts his/her trust in none else”.Thus Sikh is not one who claims to have adopted someone as his/her Guru. Rather a Sikh is one who has accepted truth and truthful living as the foremost principle of life (as taught by our great Gurus).Nanak to Gobind Singh, who created out of the disunited and emasculated fabric of Society in Northern India a well-knit homogeneous body of people devoted in a bold and selfless spirit to the service of their countrymen. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born at Talwandi Rai Bhoi (Now called Nankana Sahib) to the south-west of Lahore (Pakistan) in April 1469. He was a revolutionary religious and social reformer according to whom the political and cultural domination of the people by the ruling and priestly classes was chiefly responsible for their degeneration. Their emancipation, he thought could only be brought about by a new consciousness which should instill into them the unity and fatherhood of God and the equality and fratenity of man. He refused to recognise the distinctions between Man and Man and between the sexes created by the old caste systems and other orthodox social conventions and proclaimed that all women born were equal in the eyes of God.He felt that the real cause of the misery of the people was their disunity born of diversity of belief. He sought, therefore, to bring them together both in thought and deed. He inculcated a common mode of worship and a common social organization based on equality of man. He laid the foundation of SANGAT, or mixed congregations, where his disciples met in the evenings as brothers-in-faith, sang the hymns of the Guru and derived inspiration for remoulding their lives. He also established a free community-kitchen GURU KA LANGAR where all sat and ate together in the same row (PANGAT) regardless of distinctions of caste, creed or status in life. The Hindus and the Muslims, the Brahmins and the Sudras were thus brought by Guru Nanak to a common social level.Unlike many other saints and reformers of India Guru Nanak did not confine himself exclusively to a life of prayer and devotion. He refused to sit idle in slumbering meditation while his people groaned under the heel of the oppressor. He awakened them to a new consciousness and upbraided the rules of his day, saying, “kings are butchers, cruelty their knife Dharma or the sense of duty and responsibility, has taken wings and vanished.” According to him it was only fools and idiots who ruled’ with little regard to the good of the people. The kings, according to Guru Nanak should be the dispensers of equality and justice.This was a message of hope to the people to shake of the cowardice and dependence and to have faith in God, who could in an instant, demolish the old kingly edifices and raise the lowest of the lowly to the highest pedestal’. His institutions of SANGAT & PANGAT brought before the people the vision of a classless democratic society where all could claim equal status. This made Guru Nanak a symbol of manly independence and self-reliance, which as history shows, helped create a people whose like in indomitable courage and dogged tenacity in war and peace has yet to be seen.Guru Nanak was a great traveler. For forty years, he travelled throughout the length and breadth of India to preach his message, and went to Mecca and Baghdad in the west and to Burma and China in the East, Wherever he went he proclaimed that their was but one God not of the Hindus or of the Mussalmans but of all mankind. Under whatever name He is worshipped or remembered…..Rama, Allah, etc. – He is THE ONE, formless, invisible, uncreated creator, fearless and, friendly great and boun-tiful. The worship of God is not the exclusive privilege of a priestly class. He is best worshipped in selfless service of humanity wherein every man and woman should participate to deserve his blessings. He protested against idolatry blind, superstition and empty ritual which had sapped religious and morality and parted the hearts of men from their Creator.In the doctrines of Nanak says C.H. Payne, “Morality holds a higher place than is those of any other Hindus reformer. Few, even of the world’s great philosophers, have laid down a more exalted moral code than is to be found in the pages of the GRANTH SAHIB (the Sikh scripture). Purity of life is set forth as the Highest object human endeavour….. Loyalty, chastity, honesty, justice, mercy and temperance are among the virtues on which vital stress is laid”.Guru Nanak did not advocate renunciation or asceticism. Towards the end of his life he settled down with his family and sons at Kartarpur (Pakistan) opposite to Dera Baba Nanak in the Gurdaspur District. He was a prophet of the people whose service to him, was the greatest happiness of life. He lived amongst them, shared their sorrows and pleasures and taught them the way of honest and truthful living. “Truth is higher, but higher still is truthful living,” said he.He wished his disciples to be servant of God and His people. “Having created the human body God has installed His very self therein, said he. And, ‘this world is the chamber of God wherein the True one resides. Ih Jagg Sachehe Ki Hai Kothri Sachche ka Vich Vas. Therefore, with his human body. Let us be of service in this world so that we may find a seat in the court of the Lord,-Vich Dunniya Sev Kamayie, Tan Dargeh Baisan Paiye.He was held in affection not only among his Sikh disciples but also among his Hindus & Muhammadan countrymen who honoured him as a holy Saint and called him Baba Nanak or Nanak Shah. On his death in 1539 at Kartarpur he was claimed by both as their own, and they both in their own fashions raised mausoleums in his memory with a common wall between them-a thing unique in the history of religions.
Guru Nanak’s torch was taken up by his nine devoted successors in the following order-1. Guru Nanak1469-15392. Guru Angad1539-15523. Guru Amar Dass1552-15744. Guru Ram Dass1574-15815. Guru Arjun1581-16066. Guru Hargobind1606-16457. Guru Har Rai1645-16618. Guru Har Krishan1661-16649. Guru Tegh Bahadur1664-167510. Guru Gobind Singh Guru Angad was a zealous preacher who strengthened the1675-1708unifying institutions of SANGAT and PANGAT set up by the first Guru & Popularized the Punjabi script the GURMUKHI, by recording there in the biography and hymns of the Master. Guru Amar Das was a great social reformer. He stood for the emancipation of women and opposed the practice of Pardah the veiling of women, and led a vigorous campaign against sati, the burning alive of widows on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands. Guru Ram Das; the fourth Guru, gave to the Sikhs rallying centre at Amritsar, where in 1574; he laid the foundation of the present city and excavated the famous tank three years later.Guru Ram Das died in 1581 and his son and successor Guru Arjun, the fifth Guru added to the fame and glory of the town. He had the tank built in lime masonry and constructed a temple in the centre of it. This temple, the Darbar Sahib, now knows as the Golden Temple, is a symbol of the culture and conduct of the Sikh people. It enshrines a liberal religious tradition consecrated by noble deeds of piety, sacrifice and heroism. Unlike the old Indian temples with a single entrance, it has four doors opening out in four difference directions offering welcome to all without any discrimination of class or creed. Dedicated to no particular deity, with no idol or image installed in it, it has no sectarian bias.
On the banks of this sacred tank and in the precincts of the holy temple Guru Arjan composed and sang his hymns and preached his message. He was a saint and scholar of rare piety and literary attainments. His compositions bespeak the great depth of his mind and sublimity of his thoughts, full of divine love and human sympathy. It was reserved for him to compile and install in the Sikh sanctuary the holy book of the Sikhs which is the only object of religious reverence and worship for them. The GURU GRANTH SAHIB, as this great book is called, which includes not only the hymns of the Sikh Gurus but also of a number of Hindu, Muslim and the so called untouchable saint and sages of India, may rightly be called the bible of the people. The most remarkable thing about it is that it is written in the spoken language of the people to whom the Masters delivered their message of devotion to God and service to humanity. In addition to its cosmopolitan character and outlook it is the only scripture which has come down through the generations in its original form without the change of a single letter or a vowel sign. Its first manuscript is preserved in GURDWARA Sheesh Mahal at Kartarpur in the Jallandhar District. The teachings of the Gurus the abolition of the dividing distinctions of caste and creed and the establishment of Sikh congregations through-out the country, with Amritsar as their Mecca and the GRANTH SAHIB as their Bible, made the Sikhs a living community devoted to the moral and social regeneration of the people. The spirit of service and self-sacrifice engendered by the teachings of the Gurus crystallized at the time of Guru Arjan into distinct natihnal traits.The increasing popularity to Guru Arjun among Hindus and Muslims aroused suspicions in the mind of Emperor Jahangir, who wrote in his autobiography the TUZK-I-JAHANGIRI that “a Hindu, Arjun by name lived in the garb of a PIR and Shaikh and captivated the hearts of many simple minded Hindus, and foolish and stupid Muslims by his ways and means…. They called him Guru, and from all directions fools and fool-worshippers were attracted towards him and expresses full faith in him. From three or four generations they had kept this shop warm. For years the thought had been presenting itself to me that I should either put an end to this false traffic or that he (Guru Arjan) should be brought into the fold of Islam.” Then referring to the allegation against the Guru having blessed his rebellions son Khusro, he said: “I FULLY KNEW HIS HERESIES. I ordered that he should be brought into my presence, having handed over his houses mansions and children to Murtaza Khan and having confiscated his property, I ordered that he should be put to death with tortures.” The orders were carried out and the Guru was tortured to death in1606 A.D.Guru Arjan thus suffered martyrdom at the alter of his faith. His successor, Guru Hargobind seeing that the tyranny of the Mughal authority in India had became unbeatable relegated the rosary to the treasury and accorded sanction to the use of steel in the defence of DHARMA and for the protection of the oppressed. He himself wore two swords on the occasion of his succession at AKAL TAKHT at Amritsar as emblems of spiritual and temporal authority-PIRI and MIRI-the combination of DEG and TEGH-the kettle to supply food to the needy the sword to smite the oppressor. This was the first step towards the transformation of Sikhism into a militant Church.Mohsin Fani, a contemporary of Guru Hargobind, tell us in his DABISTAN-I-MAZAHIB that the Guru had seven hundred horses in his stables; and three hundred cavaliers and sixty artillerymen were always in his service.’ This was the first corps of Sikhs volunteers raised by the Guru at Amritsar. It was near the site of the Khalsa College that the Sikhs fought in 1628 their first battle against the Mughal forces of Emperor Shah Jahan.But Guru Hargobind was not a mere soldier. He was primarily a saint, a GURU the sixth in direct spiritual inheritance from Guru Nanak. He had taken to martial ways with a view to creating among his people a will to resistance and preparing them to stand up to the tyranny and oppression of the ruling race. Guru Hargobind’s reply to a question by the Maratha saint, SHRI SAMRATH RAMDAS is very significant. During his rambles in Northern India, SAMRATH RAMDAS met Guru Hargobind at Srinagar in about 1634. Fully armed and riding a horse, the Guru had just returned from a hunting excursion. ‘I had heard that you occupied the Gaddi of Guru Nanak,; said Ramdas. Guru Nanak was a TYAGI SADHU-a saint who had renounced the world. You are wearing arms and keeping an army & horses. You allow yourself to be addressed as SACHA PATSHAH, the true king. What sort of a Sadhu are you?’ asked the Maratha Saint. Guru Hargobind replied; internally a hermit and externally a prince. Arms mean protection to the poor and destruction to the tyrant. Baba Nanak had not renounced the world but had renounced MAYA i.e. self and age-गुरु हरि गोबिंद कहया बातन फकीरी, जाहर अमीरी; शस्तर गरीब की रक्खिया, जरवाणे की भक्खिया। बाबा नानक संसार नहीं त्यागया था, माया त्यागी थी।These words of Guru Hargobind found a ready response in the heart of Ramdas, who, as quoted in POTHI PANJAH SAKHIAN spontaneously said, ‘this appealth to my mind-YEH HAMRE MAN BHAVTI HAI.’ He found in the words of the Guru an expression of his own inner spirit and latent ideas. He seems to have realized that the Marathas, who had much in common with the people of the Punjab in their physical and spiritual make-up could well imbibe the spirit of the Guru and collaborate with the Sikhs in resisting and vanquishing the intolerant Mughals.The vision of Guru Hargobind and Samrath Ramdas was fulfilled in the eighteenth century.
Guru Hargobind was a great missionary as well, and it was a result of his own work and that of the orders of Udasin and Masandas and other organizations encouraged and strengthened by him, that the faith of Sikhism spread beyond the boundaries of India. To this Mohsin Fani bears witness saying that there were not many cities in the inhabited countries where some Sikhs were not to be found.Guru Hargobind was succeeded Guru Har Rai whose assistance to the fugitive philosopher-prince Dara Shikoh exited the royal wrath Aurangzeb wreaked his vengeance upon Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru, who had espoused the cause of the Kashmiri Hindus Accusing him of proselytizing activities and of association with sufi saints such as Hafiz Adam and others, for whom he harboured in his mind the deepest hatred, the Emperor ordered the Guru to be put to death and his body to be cut in four pieces and hung at the four gates of the fort of Delhi.Guru Gobind Singh the tenth and last of the Gurus, has been rightly called the soldier-saint of India in his youth he applied himself closely to self-education and was deeply impressed by the idea that the God had been sending saviours from time to time to uphold righteousness and to destroy evil. He felt that he himself had this mission to perform in his own country which suffered under the yoke of religious and political tyranny. The teachings of his predecessors and the unique examples of martyrdom had elevated the spirits of the Sikhs. But the old social shackles of the Hindu community, such as caste system, had not yet been completely broken. This hindered the growth of homogeneous well knit class of people inspired by a common national ideal. In fact, the idea of nationalism had not yet been born in this country. The ancient idea of the division of labour had created among the people well marked groups and classes which, with the passage of time, had developed into rigid castes with deep-rooted prejudices. The Sikh institutions of SANGAT and PANGAT had gone a long way towards demolishing caste. But the difference in the social level of the low caste Sudras and the high born Brahmins and Kshatriyas was so great that they could not join together in any common cause. These differences and prejudices could only be abolished by a bold reformer, ready to fight at once the religious fraternities and the political rulers of the land.The first thing to do was to change the psychology of the people the Guru achieved by introducing a new form of baptism, and enjoining upon the baptized Sikhs to be called the Khalsa, the master’s Own, to wear, in future, the same five signs, all beginning with the letter K-KESH (uncut hair), KANGHA (a comb), KACHHA (a pair of shorts), KARA (an iron bracelet) and KIRPAN (a sword). Bravery, as much as truth and purity, was to be their religion. The Khalsa were inspired by a sense of divine mission, and no fear of an earthly power was to defect them from their duty. A tremendous change was thus brought about in the character of the people. The lowest of the low in society, the sweepers, the barbers and the confectioners, were transformed, as if by miracle, into doughty warriors who, along with the baptized Jats and Khatris, fought under the Guru’s command as many as fourteen battles, in twelve of which they were distinctly successful against the imperialist forces.In addition to being a great soldier, Guru Gobind Singh was a versatile scholar, possessing an eloquent and forceful style of writing, with a sword dangling by his side and a bow and arrows ready at hand, he would write his verses in the field of battle while directing the moments of his men in action against the enemy. There is hardly any literary subject that he has not treated with grace and facility in all the three languages then current in Northern India-Persian, Punjabi and Brije, He has written in praise of God, enunciating his own beliefs and doctrines as a monotheist. He has extensively translated and summarized the ancient religious literature of India and has given us an autobiography, His writings cover about 1300 large- size pages and are available under the title of Sri Dasam Granth or the book of the tenth Guru. The aim of Guru Gobind Singh in founding the Khalsawas to build up a nation of the Purified Ones who would be free from fear and selfishness. But the rulers of the time the Hindu rajas of the Shivaliks and the Great Mughal of Delhi, saw in the activities of the Guru a threat to their own power. At their own initiative and also under orders from the Emperor Aurangzeb, the Hill rajas and the Governor of Sirhind launched a regular war against him. Inspite of the heavy odds, the Guru continued struggle. After his Twelth battle he had to leave his ancestral home Anandpur for Malwa territory, south of the Sutlej. Two of his sons were killed fighting in the battle of Chamkaur while the younger two, eight and six years old; betrayed by a servant, were butchered to death under the orders of the Governor of Sirhind in the Xmas week of 1704. But they have left a permanent imprint on the pages of history. True to the spirit of their grandfather and great-grandfather and the teachings of their faith, they stood unshaken against the tyranny of the ruling fanatics. No threats of tortures and no fear of death could frighten them, nor could the promises of a comfortable future allure them to adjure their faith. Bricked up alive and suffocated to unconsciousness, they resolutely refused to embrace Islam and accepted the butcher’s knife with which they were slowly done to death.But how great and unrevengeful was Guru Gobind Singh ! He had taken to the sword only as a last resort. He readily accepted the invitation of the dying Aurangzeb and set out for the Deccan to see him for peaceful negotiations to solve the problem of the struggling Punjab. And After the death of the Emperor he would not seek to destroy his enemy’s sons in distress, but like a true saint soldier he stood for justice and lent a helping hand to the rightful heir Prince Muazzam Bahadur Shah against his usurping brother. The new emperor Bahadur Shah gratefully acknowledged the assistance of the Guru in the battle of Jajau and presented to him on July 23, 1707, at Agra a rich address of honour. The negotiations could not, however, be resumed as Bahadur Shah was not yet free from his difficulties and had to march to the South to suppress the rebellion of his younger brother Kam Bakhsh. The Guru, therefore, accompanied him to the Deccan, and before the negotiations could come to a successful conclusion, he was fatally stabbed at Nanded by an agent of the Nawab of Sirhind. He died on October 7, 1708.The line of religious succession ended with the tenth Guru Gobind Singh. The Master’s word in the holy GURU GRANTH SAHIB was henceforth to be the spiritual guide of the Sikh people who were to recognize in the Joint personality of an assembly of five true baptized Singhs the spirit of The Guru. The community at large or through their elected representatives assembled in a congregation, deliberating in the mystic presence of the Guru, represented by the Holy book, was to be considered ‘the GURU-PANTH’ the supreme religious and secular authority of the Sikhs in all matters and at all times. This democratic secularization of religion, as we shall presently see, greatly influenced the life and conduct of the Sikh people who, like their spiritual Masters became the pioneers of freedom movements in Northern India, establishing in the eighteenth Century, socialistic republics, in the form of Sikh MISALS and PANCHAYATS in the Punjab.Guru Gobind Singh had, before his death, declaimed at Nanded an ascetic BAIRAGI. Madho Das, converting him to his faith with the name of Banda Singh end reluming him with promethean fire to continue his struggle for freedom of the Punjab from under he oppressing yoke of the Mughals.The Sikh under his command soon embarked on a career of conquest and within a few months of his arrival in the Punjab dislodged the Mughal power from the Cis-Sutlej territories, Samana, Shahabad and Sadhaura were among the first important places to fall to Banda Singh who occupied the fort of Mukhlisgarh to the North-East to Sadhaura to make it his capital. He next moved in the direction of Sirhind whose governor, Wazir Khan, come out to meet him with a large force and an innumerable host of Muslim crusaders, The battle was fought on the plain of Chapper Chiri on May 12. 1710, The cold blooded murder of the young sons of Guru Gobind Singh associated with the town and its governor was still fresh in the memory of the Sikhs, They made so strong and sweeping an attack that the enemy could not stand against them, Wazir Khan was killed in the battle and the capital of the Sirhind was occupied on the third day.The victory of Sirhind placed at the disposal of the Sikhs the entire province” from Karrnal to Ludhiana and broke the first sod in their ultimate conquest of the punjab in the days to come. Sardar Baj Singh, a companion and counsellor of Banda Singh, was appointed the governor of the conquered territory with Aali Singh of Salaudi as his deputy. Fateh Singh of Bhai ke family was given the charge of Samana and Ram Singh, brother of Baj Singh, that of Thanesar, jointly with Baba Binod Singh.Banda Singh fixed upon Mukhlisgarh as his head quarters, repaired its old fort and renamed it Lohgarh, or the Iron Castle. He assumed royal authority; not in his own name but in the name of the Guru, whose KHALSA and BANDA, or chosen slave, he proclaimed himself to be. He as struck coins in the name of Guru Nanak-Gobind Singh with the following inscription in Persian on the obverse:
By the grace of the True Lord is struck the coin in the two worlds;The sword of Nanak is the greater of all boons and victory is of (Guru) Gobind Singh, the king of kings.
The reverse had the following words in praise of his newly founded capital:
Struck in the City of Peace, illustrating the beauty of civic life, and the ornament of the blessed throne.He also introduced an official seal for State documents and letters patent. It contained the following inscription expressive of his deep sense of devotion and loyalty to the Gurus :
The greatness of Guru Nanak is visible, as well as invisible.The king of the spiritual as well as temporal world is the True Lord himself. This was later on changed to:
The Kettle and the Sword the Symbols of service and Power -, Victory and ready Patronage have been obtained from Guru Nanak Gobind Singh.He started his own regional year from the date of his conquest of Sirhind.He had no time to organize any regular administration. But he knew the woes of the peasantly, groaning under the oppression of the landlords, and took immediate steps to a abolish the Zimidari system, This was a revolutionary measure which exer-cised a great influence on the future fiscal history of the Punjab. A socialist in his thinking and a communist in the methods he employed. Banda Singh was over two centuries ahead of his times. As a result of the application of his method the tillers of the soil soon became masters of their holdings and in the course of time the course of the Zimidari system which till very recently afflicted many parts of India, was lifted from the Panjab. Banda Singh was a great political leveller and a thoroughsocial uplifter. Wherever he went, he raised the downtrodden to position of authority and social prestige. “In all the parganas occupied by the Sikhs’, says William Irvine on the authority of contemporary writers, ‘the reversal of the previous customs was strining and complete. A low scavenger or leather dresser, the lowest of the low in Indian estimation had only to leave home and join the Guru (meaning Banda Singh) when in a short space of time he would return to his birth-place as its ruler, with his order of appointment in his hand. As soon as he set foot within the boundaries, the well-born and wealthy went out to great him and escort him home. Arrived there, they stood before him with joined palms, awaiting his orders…. Not a soul dared to disobey an order, and men, who had often risked themselves in battle-fields, became so cowed that they were afraid even to remonstrate.’ The Sikhs were fired with a strong zeal to root out the Mughal tyranny from the land of the Indus, and such was the confidence inspired them in the minds of the non-muslim people that they came to be looked upon as defenders of their faith and their country. Every complaint from the oppressed people excited the Sikhs against the Mughal official and aristocrats. Receiving complaints from across the Jamuna, Banda Singh led an expeditionary force to the east of that river and occupied Saharanpur. He was still busy in the Gangetic plain when the Sikhs of Jullundur Doabrose as one man to throw of the yoke of the Mughals. Being on the border of the province of Sirhind, they were the first to be electrified with the spirit of revolt and independence. They were successful in their enterprise. Sayyad Aslam Khan, the Governor of Lahore, was now seized with terror, He appealed to the religious sentiments of the Muslim population and raised the HAIDRI flag for a Jahad against the Sikhs. But so heavy was defeat inflicted by the Sikhs upon the crusaders at Bheelowal that with the exception of the city of Lahore, practically the whole of Majha and Riarki feel into their hands. The Sikhs were now masters of the Punjab. East of Lahore, According to Iradat Khan there was no noble man daring enough to March against them from Delhi.’ ‘If Bahadur Shah had not quitted the Deccan which he did in 1710, there is every reason to think says Malcolm’, that the whole of Hindustan would have been subdued by these invaders’. But the Mughal empire, with its inexhaustible resources inmen and munitions of war, was too strong for the infant community of the Sikhs. Emperor Bahadur Shah moved with a manimoth army against them. They had to retire from Sirhind and Thanesar to the fort of Lohgarh. This hilly retreat of Banda Singh’s forces was closely invested by over sixty thousand imperial horse and foot, including troops of the Rajput princes. The Sikhs soon ran short of provisions, and by a determined sally on the night of November 30, 1710, they disappeared into the hills of Nahan. The Emperor had to move in dismay to Lahore of make it the base of his future operations against them. Frustrated in his efforts to get at the Sikh leader. Bahadur Shah issued edicts to his FAUJDARS on December 10, to kill the disciples of Nanak (the Sikhs) wherever they were found-NANAK PRASTAN RA HAR JA KIH BA-VATAND BA GATI RASANAND.Within a fortnight of his escape, Banda Singh and has comrades were again active. In response’ to a HUKAMNAMA issued by him on December 12, the Sikhs from all directions flocked to him at Kiratpur and he was able to lead an expedition against some of the Hill rajas who had been troubling the last Guru. They were reduced to submission without much opposition. The Governor of Jammu was defeated on May 25, 1711. Kalanaur and Batala also fell to the Sikhs. But the occupation of these places was only temporary. Banda Singh was constantly pursued by Imperial generals and he had again to retire to the hills.The death of Bahadur Shah at Lahore on February 18, 1712, and the period of internecine struggle between his successors offered a favourable opportunity to the Sikhs to re-establish their power. Lohgarh once again became the capital of the Sikh Kingdom.’ The armies of Emperor Farrukh Siyar again drove away Banda Singh to the hills from where he reappeared in the plains in the beginning of 1715. But he was not destined to be free for long. In the absence of a strong position for defence, he was brought to bay at the village of Gurdas-Nangal. Here he was closely besieged in an enclosure, ‘But such was the terror of the Sikhs and their chief,’ says Iradat Khan, ‘that the commanders of the Imperial army prayed that God might so ordain things that Banda Singh Should seek his safety in flight from the siege.With food and supplies run short, the situation soon became desperate. They had to slaughter animals and the flesh raw. When all grass was gone they gathered leaves from’ trees. ‘When these were’ consumed’, says ‘Irvine, ‘they stripped the bark, and broke off the small shoots, dried them ‘ground them down and used them instead of flour, thus keeping body and soul together. They also collected the bones of animals and used them in same way. Some assert that they saw a few of the Sikhs cut flesh from their own things roast it and eat it’. ‘Inspite of all this; says Kanwar Khan, ‘the internal Sikh chief and his men withstood all the military force that the Great Mughal Empire could muster against them for eight long month’s. But how long could this last? The Sikhs were reduced to mere Skeleton, and when no physical resistance was possible, they were made prisoners and taken to Delhi, Emperor Farrukh Siyar ordered them all, 794 in number, to be put to the sword at the rate of one hundred a day.The carnage began on March 5, 1716 and ‘it is not a little remarkable’, write Johan Surman and Edward Stephens on in their letter of March 10 with what patience they undergo their fate, and to the last it has not been found that one has apostatised from this new formed religion.
The details of Banda Singh’s execution are too horrible to relate. The executioners hacked his son Ajai Singh to pieces in front of him and, dragging out of his quivering heart, thrust it into the Mouth of the father, who stood unmoved, completely resigned to the will of God. Then came his own turn. First of all, he was deprived of his right eye and then of his left. Then his hands and feet were cut off, his flesh was torn with red-hot pincers and finally his head was chopped off, ‘Banda Singh remained calm and serene up to the last, ‘glorying’, says Elphinstone, ‘In having been raised up by God to be the scourge to the inequities and oppressions of the age.’ This too place on June 9, 1716.Banda Singh has been accused by some ill-formed writers of anti-muslim bias. Five weeks after his historic victory at Sirhind we find him telling Jan Muhammad of Buriya (Gulab Nagar) on June 23, 1710. “I have forgiven your crime and appointed you Zamindar of the whole pargana. You should proceed with your men and bring in Sardar Khan of Chundla. Then you will accompany me for the chastisement of Jalal Khan. There was no change in his policy even after the royal edict of December 10 ordering and indicriminate massacre of the Sikhs wherever found. Although he was then himself pursued from place to place, he would not let his struggle assume the shape of a communal strife. This was a political struggle for the emancipation of his country from the tyranny of the Mughals, who happened to be Muslims by faith. He would not therefore impose any religious restrictions upon the Muslims as such.They in fact, flocked to him in large numbers for protection and service. The news sheet presented to his Majesty. Emperor Bahadur Shah through Hidayatullah Khan (on April 8, 1711) tells us:The wretched disciple of Nanak (Banda Singh) has his camp in the town of Kalanaur up to the 19th (Rabi-ul awwal, 1123, April 16, 1711. During this period he has promised and proclaimed, “I do not oppose the Muslims,” Accordingly, for any Muslim who approaches him, he fixes a daily allowance and wages, and looks after him. He has permitted them to read KHUTBA and NAMAZ, with the result that five thousand Muslims have gathered round him, Having entered into his friendship, they are free to shout their call and say their prayers in the army of the wretched (Sikhs).This is also mentioned in a later news-sheets and in confirmed by one received by the Emperor on May 20, saving “whoever from amongst the Hindus and Muslims comes to him for service is looked after and fed.”Although the successes of Banda Singh were but tempo-rary, there was a revolution effected in the minds of people of which history often faints to take notice. A will was created in the ordinary masses to resist tyranny and to live and die for the national cause. The example set by Banda Singh and his companions in this respect was to serve as a beacon light in the darker days to come. The idea of a national state, long dead, once again became a living aspiration and although suppressed for the time being by relentless persecution, it went on working underground like a smoldering fire and came out forty years later with a fuller effulgence, never to be suppressed again.The history of the Sikhs from the fall of Banda Singh to the establishment of the Sikh Power in the Panjab in 1764-65 is a record of the titanic struggle between the Khalsa on the one hand and the Mughals and the Durranis on the other in it the sons of the soil not only fought for their very existence, but were also able after long and determined suffering to assert their superior right to rule over their own land.After the defeat and death of Banda Singh every measure was taken not only to destroy the power of the Sikhs but to extirpate the community as a whole. The edict of Emperor, Bahadur Shah ordering a general massacre of the Sikhs-men, women and children-was repeated by Farrukh Siyar and a money reward was offered for the head of every Sikh brought to Lahore, dead or alive. This continued for three years. Such were the results of the exertions of Abdus Samed Khan the governor of Lahore that for time it appeared as if the boast of the imperialists to wipe out the name of Sikhs from the land was going to be fulfilled. The death of Emperor Farruk Siyar in September 1719 gave them some respite. But on the transfer of Abdus Samed Khan to Multan in 1726, during the reign of Muhammad Shah, his youthful son and successor Zakariya Khan became the governor of Lahore determined to exterminate the whole nation of the Sikhs. He sent out moving columns in all directions to hunt them out and to bring them to Book. In hundreds and thousands they were daily brought in chains and executed in the streets of Lahore. They were tortured in different ways: broken on the wheel, flayed alive or cut up limb by limb.What provoked the Sikhs to a relentless retaliation against the official of Lahore was their attack on one Tara Singh of Van, who was killed fighting in self-defence. He was very popular with them on account of his religious character and helpfulness in times of distress. The Sikhs rushed out of their hiding places and fell on government treasures and caravans. They made it impossible for revenue from villages to reach the Government treasury and still more impossible for the forces of the Government to catch the outlaws as they ran away to their rendezvous in forests or other places difficult of access.On the representation of Zakariya Khan in 1733, the Delhi government approved of the grant of a Jagir to the leader of the Sikhs with the title of Nawab. The offer was made through one Subeg Singh of Jambar who appeared before the Khalsa at Akal Takhat, Amritsar. But no leader would accept it. The Khalsa was destined to rule free they said, and could not occupy a subordinate position. The Guru had promised them RAJ, and his word must be fulfilled. The Jagir was therefore, tossed from man to man, without being accepted. At last at the pressing entreaties of Sabeg Singh, it was suggested that it might be given to someone noted for service. Kapur Singh of Faizullapur was the waving a big fan over the assembly. He was selected for the honour. But he would not have it before it had been sanctified by the touch of five Khalsa’s feet.In giving them a Jagir, the Government had expected that the Sikhs would beat their swords into ploughshares and turn into peaceful peasants. But they were not made of such pliable stuff. They had tasted of political liberty and nothing short of it could satisfy them. They were pledged to free their land from foreign domination and they could not be sidetracked from their ultimate object. They availed themselves of this breathing time to organise the scattered Khalsa into strong and well-knit divisions, easy to maintained in days of, scarcity and readily available in time of emergency. To begin with, two main divisions were recognised-the Buddha Dal the Army of the Elders and the Taruna Dal, the Army of the Young. The Buddha Dal consisted of veterans many of whom had seen the days of Guru Gobind Singh and had fought under the command of Banda Singh. They were led by Nawab Kapur Singh, with Sham Singh of Naroke, Gurbakhsh Singh Roranwala, Bagh Singh Hallowalia and Bhamma Singh as prominent members. The TARUNA DAL was led by Dip Singh and others. It was however discovered, especially after the death of Diwan Darbara Singh in July 1734, that the Army of Young needed further sub division to provide for its leaders greater opportunities of service and fewer of friction. This was, therefore, split up into five JATHAS under the leadership respectively of (i) Dip Singh, (ii) Karam Singh and Dharam Singh of Amritsar, (iii) Kahan Singh and Binod Singh of Goindwal, (iv) Dasaundha Singh of Kot Budha and (v) Biru Singh and Jiwan SinghRANGHRETAS. While the Buddha Dal was comparatively more stationary, the Taruna Dal was always on the move, spreading into the Bari Doab and going further afield up to Hansi and Hissar. This renewed energy of the DAL, alarmed the government and led to the confiscation of the JAGIR in 1735 Persecution of the Sikhs began again & thousands of them must have fallen under the executioner’s sword. Among them was Bhai Mani Singh, a revered Sikh saint and scholar of the time, who had to pay with his life for his efforts to bring the Sikhs together at Amritsar. He was hacked to pieces joint by joint at Lahore on November 15, 1737.Sikh entry into the temple and tank of Amritsar was banned and sentries were posted all round the city to watch out for them. But these oppressions failed to vanquish the Sikhs. They shot out with vengeance whenever they found a chance. Some performed their pilgrimage in secret and in disguise; but in general according to a contemporary Muhammedan author, says Johan Malcolm the Sikh horseman were seen riding at full gallop towards their favourite shrine of devotion. They were often slain in making this attempt, and sometimes taken prisoners, but they used, on such occasions, to seek, instead of avoiding, the crown martyrdom, and the same authority states that an instance was never known of a Sikh in his way to Amritsar, consenting to adjure his faith.”
The homeward returns of Nadir Shah from Delhi through the Shivalaks, laden with the riches of the Mughal empire, offered a favourable chance to the Sikhs to replenish their resources. Driven away by Zakariya Khan from their homes and hearths in the plains, they had taken shelter in these hills. The Sikhs fell upon Nadir’s rear and relieved him of much of his booty, Astonished at this, Nadir Shah called a halt at Lahore and enquired about the whereabouts of the people who had dared to rob the robber of Delhi. Who are these mischief-makers? asked he, they are a group of fakirs who visit their Guru’s tank (at Amritsar) twice a year, and bathing in it disappear’, replied Zakariya, ‘But where do they live? was the next question of Nadir Shah Their homes are their saddle,’ was the reply. ‘Take care then, ‘Nadir warned him, the day is not distant when these rebels will take possession of the country.’ This remark cut Zakariya Khan to the quick and he resolved to launch an all-out campaign against the Sikhs. The previous orders were now repeated with greater emphasis and rewards were offered for the capture and destruction of Sikhs. The more daring and desperate people being out of thereach of Government, the wrath fell on peaceful, innocent Sikhs living in towns and villages. They were brought to Lahore in hundreds and where offered the choice of Islam or the sword. There were no exceptions made Saints and scholars, peasants and trances-men, women and children, all who were long hair and followed the path of Sikhism were condemned to the same fate. On refusing to give up his faith, the hair of Bhai Taroo Singh, a pious and devoted Sikh, were scraped off his head with a cobbler’s scraper. Sabeg Singh of Jambar, who had persuaded the Khalsa to accept a Jagir, was also caught and broken on the wheel along with his young son, Shahbaz Singh. The situation for the Sikhs became worse during the governorship of Yahiya Khan, the son and successor of Zakriya Khan, who had died on July 1, 1745. “The Governor, Yahiya Khan says Syed Muhammad Latif in his HISTORY OF THE PUNJAB, ‘now issued a proclamation for a general massacre of all Sikhs, wherever they could be found. Death was to be the punishment of all persons who invoked the name of Guru Gobind, and a reward was offered for the heads of Sikhs, Thousands were put to death daily and their heads brought before the Subedar of Lahore for rewards.’ It was during this time that all Sikhs living in Lahore were arrested and made over to sweepers for execution on March 10, 1746. A huge army under the personal command of Yahiya Khan and his diwan Lakhpat Rai marched against the Sikhs in May, and Some ten thousand of them were estimated to have been killed in a few days. This holocaust is known in Sikhs history as the first GHALUGHARA.The interencine quarrels between Yahiya and his brother Shah Nawaz followed by the invasion of Ahmed Shah Durrani of Afghanistan, gave the Sikhs chance to emerge from their ride-outs. Their leader Jassa Singh or Adina Beg Khan, Faujdar of Jullundur, and took possession of Amritsar from Salabat Khan In their holy city, they celebrated the BAISAKHI festival on March 29, 1748 & choose, at the suggestion of Nawab Kapur Singh, Sardar Jassa Singh the leader of the Dal Khalsa, which was reorganized and declared to be a state. The feeling of the new leader was that they could no longer trust their safety to bushes and caves and that they must provide themselves with a regular fort. The/selected a piece of land in the neighbourhood of their sacred temple and threw up a small enclosure of mud walls and called it Ram Raoni which was later named Ramgarh. Sikhs now began so assert their rule in different parts ofthe central Panjab. They established themselves in the rural parts of Rachna, Bari and Jullundur DOABS. The New governor, Mian-Mul Mulk popularily known as Mir Mannu (appointed on April 11, 1748) tried to placare them and secured, through Diwan Kaura Mall, their assistance against the afghan governor of Multan Zahid Khan, whom the Durrani had left there after his first invasion of India. But when he was fully settled in his seat governor, both of Lahore and Multan, after his submission to Ahmed Shah Durrani in March 1752, he changed his attitude towards the Sikhs. He ordered Adina Beg Khan to round them up in the Jullundur and Bari DOABS and destroy them root and branch. At times Mir Mannu himself rode out for the hunt and brought in the large bag of Sikhs. Finding the homes of the Sikhs depleted of men, their women were seized and brought to Lahore. The dark and narrow dungeons where they were imprisoned, starved and tortured, and where their little babies were cut to pieces and placed in their laps can still be seen in the gurdwara Shahid Ganj in the Landa Bazar, Lahore. It was in the midst of one of his SHIKARS of Sikhs, that the hunter, Mir Mannu was brought down by the mighter hunter, Death. On November 2, 1753, his horse shield at the sound of a return volley of the Sikhs and threw him off his seat. Before he fell to the ground, he got entangled in the stirrup and was dragged along the earth to fatel unconsciousness. He died on November 4.
The renewal of persecution by Mir Mannu had once again driven the Sikhs to their old ways and they had begun their bid for Independence. The submission of Mannu to Ahmed Shah had converted Lahore and Multan into provinces of Afghani-stan. The Sikhs had now to fight against two powers, the Mughals to the south of the Sutlej and the Afghans to the north of it. The death of Mir Mannu and the period of chaos and confusion that followed came to the Sikhs as god ends. They fully availed themselves of this situation not only in establishing themselves in various parts of the country and in expanding and strengthening their power. But also in resisting the re-establishment of Mughal authority or the strenghtening of the Afghan rule in the Panjab. They foiled the attempts of Mughlani Begam, the widow of Mir Mannu, and of Khwaja Ubaidullah and Adina Beg Khan to maintain themselves Lahore, and drove away the Afghans from the Land of the Five Rivers.Ahmed Shah Durrani came to India for the fourth time in November-December 1756 and brought the great Mughal empire to its knees. On his way back he saked the Sikh towns and temples of Kartarpur and Amritsar and left his son Prince Taimur as his viceroy at Lahore, evidently to re-establish the Afghan rule in the Panjab. But the Sikhs had by this time become virtual masters of central rural Panjab. Only Lahore and a few principalities in the neighbourhood of the towns were, held by Muslims Sardar Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkia (grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh), who, had established himself at Gujranwala. was at times found to be very active in harassing Ahmad Shah on his homeward journey right up to the Indus.Prince Taimur could not for long stay in the country. The combined forces of the Sikhs and Marathas (invited by Adina Beg) drove the Afghans away both from Sirhind and Lahore in March-April 1758. Adina Beg held Lahore for about four months, while the Maratha contingents continued to stay there up to November 1759, when they fled away before the advancing Afghans during the fifth invasion of Ahmad Shah. The Sikhs, however, gave a better account of themselves and In a battle fought in the neighbourhood of Lahore inflicated a heavy loss on the Shah.On his return to Afghanistan, after the battle of Panipat Ahmad Shah Durrani appointed Zain Khan as a governor of Sirhind recognized Sardar Ala Singh of. Patiala (March 29 1761) as the ruler of the territories held by him.The years 1757 to 1761 were favourable to the Sikhs. While the Bhangi, Sukkarchakkia and the Ahluwalia Sardar were able to expand and strengthen their power to the north of the Satluj. Sardar Ala Singh of Phulkian family carved out a principality for himself in the south. The arrangements made by Ahmad Shah for the administration at the Panjab on his return to Afghanistan in May 1761 were all upset by the Sikhs as soon as he left Lahore. Khwaja Mirza Jan of the Chahar Mahal was defeated and killed and Nur-ud-Din Bamezai an Afghan general was worsted at Sialkot. In his attempt of reduce Gujranwala Khwaja Ubaid Khan was routed and shut up in Lahore. The Sikh Sardar followed up this victory and trium-phantly entered the city and without yet completely establishing themselves in the capital, proclaimed Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia the king of Lahore, with the title of SULTAN-UL-QUAM. This fulfilled the wishes of their saintly leader, the late Nawab Kapur Singh, the organizer and first leader of the joint DAL KHALSA.The Sikhs now decided by a national resolution, known as GURMATA, passed in a general assembly of the Khalsa at Amritsar on the occasion of Diwali on October 27, 1761, to liquidate the Indian alies and supporters of Ahmad Shah in the Panjab since they were a hindrance to the release of the, country from the yoke of the Afghan invader, The nearest at hand was Aqil Dass of Jandiala, twelve miles 10 the east of Amritsar. But they had to raise the seige (January 1762) on hearing that Ahmad Shah was rushing against them with a huge Army. They crossed the rivers Beas and Satluj to arrange for the Safety of their families in the hills of Anandpur and then return unencumbered to meet the Shah. This was a fatal mistake. As soon as the Shah heard from Bhikhan Khan of Malerkotla of the presence of the Sikhs in that area, he rushed down from Lahore and flung a surprise on them on the morning of February 5. 1762. Taken unawares, and attacked on all sides by the Afghan is and the forces of Sirhind and Malerkotla the Sikh fine of defence was broken and Over ten thousand lives, mostly women, children and old men, were lost in the struggle” This fearful carnage is called the WADA GHALUGHARA, the second Great Holocaust, to distinguish it from the first GHALUGHARA of 1746.On the 10th of April, a day before the Baisakhi festival, the shah appeared at Amritsar and ordered the Sikh temple to be blown up with gun powder and the sacred tank to desecrate with the blood and bones of men and cows and filled up with the debris of the demolished edifices.All this, however, failed to, depress the Sikhs. It only added to their determination and fervour. Within three months, while the Shah was still at Lahore, they were once again up in arms against Zain Khan of Sirhind and inflicted a defeat upon him (April-May 1762).On October 16, 1762 a day before Diwali, the Shah himself suffered a defeat at their hands in a pitched battle at Amritsar. At this time arrived news of disturbances in Afghani-stan and he had to return home (December 12,1762).No sooner did the Durrani leave the Punjab than the Sikhs rushed out of the Lakhi Jungle and other places and resumed their struggle against the Government. The Buddha Dal led by Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia went about the country establish-ing Sikh thanas, while the Taruna Dal under younger leaders such as Sardar Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkia established itself at Amritsar and undertook to cleanse the holy tank and restore the ruined templeHaving defeated and killed Bhikhan Khan of Malerkotla in an action in December 1763, the Sikhs turned to Sirhind to square up their accounts with Zain Khan. They were now at the fullest of their strength the two Dals having come together. United under the flag of Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia they made a determined attack on Sirhind on January 14, 1764 the third anniversary of the third battle of Panipat, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Afghans. Zain Khan was killed and his troops fled in all directions. With this victory, the entire province of Sirhind from the Sutlej in the north to the districts of Karnal and Rohtak in the south and from the boundary of Bahawalpur state in the west to the Jammuna in the east, came into the possession of the Sikhs.In February, the Afghan governor of Lahore, Kabuli Mall yielded to the pressure of the Sikhs and agreed to keep with him an agent of theirs. One Tek Chand by name, to advise him in the conduct of affairs and to receive ten rupees a day as his allowance. While Sardar Charhat Singh pushed on the north west beyond the Jhehlum, Sardar Hari Singh Bhangi went up to Multan, crossed the Indus and over ran the Deras.Hearing of the Sikh eruptions in the Panjab and the failure of his general and governors to resist them, Ahmad Shah Durrani, rushed down upon them in the winter of 1764-65 with a combined army of over thirty thousands Afghans and Baluchis. But he could not get at them. Successfully dedged and vexingly harassed by the Sikhs he had to return home disappointed at the end of March 1765, leaving the Punjab to be parceled out among the various Sikh confederacies.On the Baisakhi day of Samvat 1822 B.K., April 10, 1765, the Sikhs decided by a Gurmata at Amritsar to take possession of Lahore. All opposition was brushed aside in a week and they were the masters of Lahore on the morning of April 17. The Khalsa now stood supreme in the Panjab. They looked upon this achievement as a mark of the Guru’s special favour and proclaimed it as such in all humility in the inscription on their coin, saying:
Deg O Tegh O Fateh O Nusrat be-dirang Yaft as Nanak Guru Gobind Singh.The couplet was borrowed from the seal of Banda Singh the coin of Jassa Singh.and The two Dals had by this time been divided into twelve important commands, popularly known as Misals of confedera-cies, They wereTo the north of the Sutlej.(i) Ahluwalia(ii) Bhangi(iii) Dallewalia(iv) Faizullapuria(v) Kanhaiya(vi) Nakei(vii) Ramgarhia(viii) SukkarchakkiaTo the South of Sutlej(ix) Karorsingia(x) Nishananwalis(xi) Phulkian(xii) ShahidThe Sikh Misals were republican in character. Each ‘Misal’, in the words of Sir George Campbell’ elected its own supreme chief and sub-chief, and every horseman had his rights and shares in the common conquests. The combined Misals formed the Khalsa or Sikh common wealth just as in Germany the tendency was to an elective supreme chief who had very little power, and whose place was not hereditary. But the chiefs of Misals, and minor chief’s gradually acquired a hereditary footing like the dukes and barons of Europe.”The trans Sutlej Misals were integrated into the sovereign state of the Punjab by Ranjit Singh. Born heir to one of these confederacies, he had the foresight to visualize a united Sikh kingdom. By his superior political understanding and military genius, he succeeded in reducing the existing states to subjection and joining the people of the Panjab into a strong nation.Ranjit Singh the only son of Sardar Mahan Singh Sukkarchakkia, was born of Bibi Raj Kaur, also known as Mai Malwain, on November 13, 1780. He was in his tenth year when his father died. Ranjit Singh showed uncommon ability and tact in administering the affairs of his small principality and won the confidence of his followers by his wise and courageous manner. He took part in the campaigns against Shah Zaman, the king of Kabul and a grandson of Ahmed Shah Durrani, who invaded India with a view to re-establishing the Durrani power. Once as the Shah was in occupation of the Lahore fort. Ranjit Singh, according to two contemporary historians, Sohan Lal and Bute Shah, thrice rushed upon the Samman Burj of the fort with a handful of Sardars, challenging him to an open combet. “Come on, O grandson of Ahmed Shah” shouted he “and meet the grandson of the Great Sardar Charhat Singh.” But there was no response from the other side and Ranjit Singh had to retire without a trial of strength with the Durrani.A real opportunity came Ranjit Singh’s way when leading citizens of Lahore, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, tired of the Bhangi Sardars and dreading an attack from their neighbour Nizam-ud-Din of Kasur, sent him a petition to came and occupy the city. He marched with his army and took Lahore (July 7, 1799) without much resistance from its masters, the three Bhangi Sardars, who were treated with consideration and given Jagirs. The occupation of Lahore by Ranjit Singh marked the beginning of a just and peaceful government after decades of unrest and chaos. Once in possession of the capital, he started enlarging the limits of his dominions. He conquered the powerful provinces of Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar, eventu-ally carrying battle to the home of the invaders who had incessantly come down upon India with the object of plunder and conquest Ranjit Singh’s name thus occupies a most hunoured place in the national history of the country; for the stemmed for ever the tide of invasions from the north-west and taught his countryman how to fight for patriotic cause. Ranjit Singh not only founded a vast Kingdom, but alsoestablished a sound and enlightened system of administration. His government was completely secular in character and he recognized no distinctions of religion or creed when making appointments to offices of state. This is most remarkable considering that the Sikhs had just passed through a period of ruthless religious persecution. Ranjit Singh’s chief minister was a Muslim, Faqir Aziz-ud-Din by name. So was his personal physician. Faqir Nur-ud-Din, Dina nath, a Hindu was another minister to the Sikh court. The Sikh sovereign’s most trusted officer in the palace was a Hindu Jamadar Khushhal Singh, who held the office of Deorhiwala or chamberlain. The police administration of the capital was in the hands of a Muslim. A Muslims officer, General Ilahi Bukhsh was incharge of the Artillery. Another, Imam-ud-Din, looked after the fort of Gobindgarh at Amritsar, where Ranjit Singh kept most of the munition of war. There were Dogras, Gorkhas and Muslims in his armies besides foreigners, including French, Italian, Ameri-cans and Russians. Througout his career of war and conquest, Ranjit Singh was never known to have ravaged a city, desecrated a place of religious worship or shown harshness to vanquished enemy.Ranjit Sngh was a very shrewd ruler and perhaps no one in India then understood the designs and diplomacy of the British better than he. His dealings with Charles Metcalfe, who kept following him for months with the draft of a treaty without being able to secure an interview, show to what advantage Ranjit Singh could have used his diplomatic skill and astuteness if his situation and circumstance had been more favourable.But the British had distinct advantage over him. They were an older power, much more firmly established. They had practically the whole of India under their rule and were gradually closing in on the Panjab. The Cis-Sutlej Sikh chiefs had accepted their suzerainty and allowed them to extend their boundaries right up to Ranjit Singh’s dominions and establish a cantonment at Ludhiana. The British were also cleverly laying their net in the Sikh state and, when the mighty Ranjit Singh was gone (June 27, 1839), their machinations began to unfold themselves in a more sinister manner. Their friends, the Dogra brothers and the Sandhawalia Sardar set in motion a series of the courtly conspiracies which resulted in the destruction of the Sikh dynasty. Ranjit Singh’s successors, one after the other, fell victims to foul intrigue. His son, Kharak Singh was poisoned to death by Dhian Singh. His grandson, prince Nau-Nihal Singh, became the target of fatal plot as he was returning after his father’s cremation. Maharaja Kharak Singh’s widow, Maha-rani Chand Kaur, had her head beaten to pulp by her maid servants who ere secretary in the pay of Dogras. Ranjit Singh’s second son Maharaja Sher Singh was assassinated by Ajit Singh Sandhawalia, who pretending to show to his sovereign the carbine he had got from an English man while on a visit to Calcutta, emptied the barrel into the Maharaja’s chest, killing him on the spot, A little distance away, Sher Singh’s young son, prince Partap Singh, barely 13 years old was simultaneously put to the sword by Attar Singh Sandhawalia. Many more princes, ministers and Sardars were engulfed in this bloody carnage. Ranjit Singh’s kingdom lay in ruin and chaos when the Brithish launched their first war upon it.The British had made sure of victory before they fired their first shot. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, their dream of conquering the Panjab had acquired clearer and more definite lineaments and they had set in train an elaborate political and diplomatic conspiracy for its realization. Memoranda and plans were drawn up: armies were assembled on the Sikh frontier; guns, stores and other munitions were collected; officers of the Lahore Darbar were seduced and won over and spies and traitors were set to work to create conditions favourable for a successfuloccupation of the country. And all this when they were committed by treaties and agreements to be friendly towards the Lahore government. The Sikhs, on the other hand, remained true to their plighted word and scrupulously observed to the last the terms of alliance made with the British. They were openly provoked by the British frontier officers such as George Broadfoot. The latter behaved as if the Lahore territories to the South of the Sutlej belonged to the British and attacked a party of Sikh Sardars visiting their dominions on official duty.The climax came when the Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge ordered the troops from Ambala, Meerut and some other stations in the rear to move up to their frontier. The Sikhs decided to move their troops only when they learned that the Governor-General and the Commander-in-chief were marching up to their border. They crossed the Sutlej (December 12, 1845) a whole week after the actual movement of British troops had started. Even this involved no violation of the British frontier, since the Sikhs and landed in their own territories. But the Governor-General proclaimed war on the Sikhs (December 13) and confiscated Maharaja Daleep Singh’s possessions on the left bank of the Sutlej.Five battles took place-Mudki (December 18) Ferozshahr (December 21), Baddowal (January 21, 1846), Aliwal (Janaury 28) and Sabraon (February 10). The Sikhs fought with their usual spirit of courage, chivalry and patriotism and came very close to victory at some decisive moments. But the last minute desertions and treacheries of the Poorbias and Dogras saved the British many a desperate situation and eventually enabled them to claim success after the battle of Sabraon. The British troops marched upon the Sikh capital arriving there on February 20. Two days later a portion of the royal citadel was garrisoned by English regiments. A treaty was signed at Lahore on March 9, followed by another on March 11, which secured the British a few more territorial concesions. The British troops were to remain in Lahore till the close of the year. But a fresh treaty (Bharowal, December 16, 1846) was foisted on the Darbar extending the British lease up to September 4, 1854-the day Maharaja Daleep Singh was to attain the age of 16. The resident at Lahore how ruled on behalf of the minor King with “full authority to direct and control all matters in every Department of the State.”The Panjab of course was never intended to be an independent country again, and although according to treaties the British were to stay in Lahore, only during the minority, they were gradually strengthening their control and spreading their net with a view to completely subjugating the control. A rising in Multan was at last made the excuse for usurpation. As regents of the young Sikh ruler, it was the duty of the British to quell any disorder. But they let the Multan disturbances grow, deliberately postponing action. The act of restoring order in a few districts of the state, was given the name of war. In the two battles (Chelianwala, January 13, 1849 and Gujarat, February 21, 1849), the Lahore troops and members of the Sikh Council of Regency, with the solitary exception of Sardar Sher Singh, co-operated with the British, who fought as guardians of the Sikh Maharaja. But when they were victorious, they deposed and repudiated their ward and annexed his kingdom. A British writer’s comments on this transaction are significant:”This is perhaps the first instance on record in which a guardian has visited his own misdeeds upon his ward. The British Government was the self-constituted guardian of the Rajah, and the regent of his kingdom, a rebellion was provoked by the agents of the guardian it was acknowledged by the guardian to be a rebellion against the government of his ward and the guardian punished that ward by confiscating his dominions and his diamonds to his own use.” John Sullivan in Are We Bound By Over Treaties?Soon after the annexation of the Panjab the young Maharaja Daleep Singh was placed under guardian-ship of Dr. John Login and removed to Fatehgarh in the U.P. Here, under Caristian influences, he was converted to Charitianity and presented by Lord Dalhousie with the Divine book of the Lord’ in place of the temporal kingdom of the Panjab of which he had been deprived. In 1854 he sailed for England, never to see the land of his birth again. He came to India twice for short periods. In January 1861, he came to Calcutta to see his ailing mother and as she refused to be parted from him, he took her along to England. For the second time he came in 1864 to return her ashes to the soil of India in compliance with her last wish that her bones should not be allowed to rot in the heartless land of the English; “Merian Haddian Is Nirdei Dharti Vich Na Rul Jan.”A careful study of original documents and relevant literature during his stay in England had convinced the Maharaja that he had been cheated out of his kingdom and defrauded of his property by the British administrators of India. He began to agitate for the restoration of his sovereign rights over the Panjab and for the return of the diamond Koh-i-noor appealed to Her-Majesty Queen Victoria and England’s Prime Minister the Marquis of Salisbury, for Justice and requested for the appointment of a competent Court of Law Lords of the House of peers to pronounce a judgment upon the conduct of the East India Company’s administration towards him. This was refused. Frustrated and disgusted, he decided to return to India to live and die in the land of his ancestors. But he was not allowed to touch the shores of his motherland. He was disembarked at Aden and ordered back to Europe. During his short stay at Aden he renounced Christianity and rejoined the faith of his forefather, receiving the Sikh baptism at the regimental Gurdwara there. On his return to Europe, he made frantic efforts to seek the assistance of the Russian, but he was not successful. He died of a broken heart at Paris on October 22, 1893. He had a large famlily of ten of whom only his eldest daughter princes Bamba Sutherland survives.*Having deprived the Sikhs of political power in 1849 theDied issuless on 10 March, 1957.
British tried to break their morale. The leading Sardars were either exiled or imprisoned. Their lands and properties were confiscated and their forts and mansions were raised to the ground. The Sikh leaders were reduced to non-entities to be humiliated and ridiculed by those who while in their service, had betrayed the cause of the Punjab and had now been raised to positions of authority by the new rulers of the land.Then came to mutiny of 1857. The Sikhs had not been taken into confidence. They had neither been consulted nor invited. The poorbias had not the moral courage to approach them for assistance since they had themselves helped the British destroy the independent kingdom of the Panjab in 1845-46 and reduce it to British subjection in 1848-49. Moreover, the offensive airs of the poorbia garrison in the Panjab were particularly galling to the martial Sikhs. The behavior of the poorbia soldiers during their first march from the theatre of war to the capital of Lahore and during the British occupations of the country before and after the annexation had caused such deep wounds n the hearts of the people as could not be healed in so short period. The Sikhs could not volunteer to help these erstwhile enemies of their country, nor could they, for evident reasons, espouse the cause of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah, whom the mutineers had raised to the throne. For ever two centuries they had fought against the Mughal tyranny and they could not now be persuaded to support an alliance which might have resulted in its re-establishment.The Sikhs however were not considered to be above suspicion by the British even after the suppression of the mutiny.The activities of the Sikh reformist movements of the Nirankaries and the Namdharis were closely watched. They had both taken birth in the north-west the Nirankaries at Rawalpindi and the Namdharis at Hazro (attack) and they both aimed at maintain-ing the purity and glory of Sikhism. After the death of their first leader, Bhai Balak Singh of Hazro, the Namdharis, originally known as Jagiasis and Abhiasis (seekers and meditator) and later called the Kookas, assumed greater Importance under Baba Ram Singh of Bhaini and spread in the central and cis-Sutlej districts and states in the eighteen-sixties they attracted the attention of the British authorities and were suspected of disloyal activities aiming at the re-establishment of the Sikh rule. Baba Ram Singh was a peace-loving saint Much against his wishes, some of his over-zealous followers committed murders of cow-killing butch-ers, and in Janauary 1872 a batch of them marched upon malaud Malerkotla for arms. Their attempts failed and the whole batch of them was arrested. Mr. L. Cowan, the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, who perhaps, wished to be known as defender of the British empire in India; interpreted this venture as the beginning of another rebellion in India and, without any trial ordered forty-nine of the Kookas to be down away from the guns on January 17, 1872. Similarly, the Commissioner of Ambala. Mr. Douglas, Forsyth, blew away the remaining sixteen of them the next day. This calculated cold blooded murder sent a thrill of horror through the country and both of them were removed from service by the Government of India, Baba Ram Singh with twelve of his lieutenants was exiled from the Panjab and he died at Rangoon on November 29, 1884. The headquarters of the Namdharis at Bhaini were placed under police surveillance which lased until December 10, 1920 when the Government finding them opposed to the Akali agitation against the Panjab authorities withdrew the restrictions.The awakening created by the Nirankaris and Namdharis gave birth to the Singh Sabha movement which, under the guidance of the Khalsa Diwan Lahore and the Chief Khalsa Diwan, Amritsar has to its credit the spread of education among the Sikhs including the establishment of the Khalsa College at Amritsar. The efforts of these institutions supported by the writings of Giani Gian Singh, Bhai Dit Singh and Bhai Vir Singh brough about a renaissance in the community and introduced a number of religious and social reforms.During the last two decades of the nineteenth century and the first two of the twentieth the Sikhs and Sikhism had to face the most fanatical attacks of the Arya Samajistis who not only abused and insulted their Gurus but also ridiculed the community by publicly shaving a number of Sikhs at Lahore and other places. It was all the more painful to the Sikhs as it was they who had first invited the founder of the Arya Samaj, Swami Dayananda, to the Panjab, had arranged for his lectures at Jullundur, Amritsar etc. and had protected him against the Sanatan Dharmi Hindus on whom he poured abuse in his writings and speeches. The present day opposition of the Panjab Arya Samajists to the language and culture of the Panjab in only a projection of their old inimical fanaticism against the Sikhs.The spring and summer of 1907 saw the beginnings of a new political awakening and agitation among the Sikhs. It was in connection with the Colony Bill of 1907 which had been passed in the Panjab Legislature against the advice of most of the Indian members. Some of its provisions were unduly oppressive to the agriculturist Colonists of the Lyallpur district who were mainly Sikhs. The a stirring poems of Banke Dayal (like the Pagri Sambhal O Jatta Pagri Sambhal O) and the fire breathing speeches of Sardar Ajit Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai, who took up the cause of the colonists, worked up the Sikh agriculturists against the Government. Ajit Singh and Lajpat Rai were departed. The agitation, was however, successful in persuading the Viceroy, Lord Mintor to withhold his sanction to the Bill.Ajit Singh disappeared to Persia and then to the United States of America. There he got in touch with the Hindustan Ghadar Party of San Francisco. This party had been organized on June 2, 1913, under the presidentship of Baba Sohan Singh of Bhakna (Amritsar) with the object of freeing India from under the British yoke and establishing a Panchayat Raj (Rebulican tate). Its official organ, the Ghadar begain publication as aWeekly on November 1, 1913. Indian emigrants to Canada were in those days subjected to many humilating restrictrions. To comply with the require-ments of the Canadian government Baba Gurdit Singh chartered a Japanese ship KAMA-GATA-MARU (renamed as GURU seventy-NANAK JAHAZ) and set sail with three hundred and six passengers. But they were not allowed to land at Vancouver. On their return to India they were received at Baj Baj on September 26, 1914, by the police who would not allow them to go to Calcutta and insisted on their leaving for the Panjab by a special train kept ready for them. In the tumult a shot was fired. In the firing that followed, between forty and fifty Sikhs were killed. Baba Gurdit singh escaped with some of his companions. The orders were rounded up, brought to the Punjab and lodged in different jails. Similarly 173 passengers mostly Sikhs from America, Japan, Manila and Shanghai, arriving at Calcutta by TASU MARU On October 28, 1914, were intered in the Central Jails of Montgomery and Multan. This gave a powerful Istimulus to the Ghadar propaganda in the country.At this time a large number of Ghadries slipped in through the ports unobserved & poured into the panjab, Bhai Kartar Singh Sarabha was a prominent figure among the revolutionaries who were to lead an armed rebellion with the help of sympathetic army units stationed in different cantonments. Rash Bihari Bose was to direct the operations, 21st of February, 1915, was the date fixed for the rising. it was changed to February 19, But the secret leaked out and the timely precautions taken by the Government proved an effective chech. The leaders and active workers were all arrested and tried under three different cases in 1915-16 Seventeen of them were hanged and a large number of them was sent to Jail for life. In addition to these some to dozen other Sikhs were sentenced to death for offences connected with the Ghadar movement by civil and military courts.The year 1914 also saw the beginning of the Rikab Ganj Gurdwara agitation which further widened the gulf between the Sikhs and the Governement. This Gurdwara is sacred to the41 memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur and stands on the site where his headless body was cremated after his execution in 1675. Early in 1914 the Government of India pulled down a part of its inclosing wall to suit the plan of the new Viceregal Lodge for which they had acquired from the Mahant the whole land lying between the Gurdwara and the outer wall. There was a great agitation among the Sikhs, but it was suspended during the war of 1914-18 It was, however, again taken up after the war by Sardar Harchand Singh and Master Sunder Singh of Lyallpur and Sardar Sardul Singh Kaveeshar of Lahore. As the Govern-ment refused to respect the sentiments of the Sikhs, it was decided to send a SHAHIDI JATHA (a batch of martyrs) to rebuild the demolished wall and face the consequences of official wrath. The Government then realized the seriousness of the situation. Before the JATHA arrived at Delhi. Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha ‘the patriot prince’ intervened in the matter and arranged for the reconstruction of the wall on behalf of the Government of India.The indiscriminate massacre of people by General Dyer in the Jallianwala Bagh at Amritsar on April 12, 1919, set ablaze the smouldering fire of political discontent against the British Government in India. It hardened the people of the Panjab and particularly the Sikhs to open defiance of low for the restoration of people’s rights, to begin with, in the management of their religious institutions. The custodians of Sikh temples had fallen into evil ways and the Government invaribly stood for the maintenance of vested interests. The process of law was dilatory and expenses prohibitive. The Sikhs had tried the experiment of litigation and had begun to despair. They had failed to release their tample at Sialkot from the clutches of an apostate who openly flouted Sikh religion. They found themselves helpless against the Mahant of Nankana Sahib. The Government would not withdraw its own control from the temples of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. The Government of the Panjab opposed in 1920 the introduction of a bill in the Imperial Legislature to Secure to the people a little more effective control of religious and charitable endowment.
Finding the existing law of no avail and the Governmentindifferent, the Sikhs adopted the new technique of sending JATHAS of peaceful Akali volunteers for assert their inherent right of managing their temples or Gurdwaras. The success gained at Rikab Ganj, Delhi, and at Sialkot on October 5, 1920 encouraged the Sikhs to apply this technique to the Gurdwaras at Amritsar, Panja Sahib (Husan Abdal) and many other places. Alarmed at the successes of the Sikh reformists, some of the officials began to connect their movement with the political agitation in the country. Mr. King the Commissioner of Lahore Division, In an official letter encouraged the priests to put up resistance against the reformists, with the result that clashes begun to occur between the priests and the reformers. At Taran Taran volunteers were attacked and two of them were killed. The bloodiest event occured on February 20, 1921, at Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak where Mahant Narain Das butchered about 130 unarmed and non-violent volunteers in cold blood with axes and guns. The dead and dying were gathered up into piles and were burnt with kerosene oil. The whole world was shocked to hear the news. The Government were now left with the only alternative of handing over the control of the Gurdwara to an elected representative committee of the Sikhs known as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.But the attitude of the Government became hostile and they adopted coercive measures to suppress the movement. Instructions were issued to District magistrates to attack a Gurdwara whenever there appeared an apprehension of inter-ference on the part of the Akalis, in November 1921 the keys of the Golden Temple, Amritsar, were snatched away from itsmanager and all those who protested were taken into custody. Hundreds went to jails at the bidding of the S.G.P.C. and remained perfectly non violent. Failing to find any one to become to manager on behalf of the Government or to set up a rival committee, the Government was obliged to return the keys to the S.G.P.C. and release the prisoners unconditionally on January 17, 1922. This triumphed non-violence and self-sacrifice over tyranny and power madness, and Mahatama Gandhi congratulated the Sikhs in a telegram to the president of the S.G.P.C., saying: First Decisive Battle of India’s Freedom won, congratulations.There was yet another trial of strength to come to Guru Ka Bagh about twelve miles from Amritsar. The Mahant having gone back upon his pledges, the Shiromani Committee took charge of the institution in its own hands. The Government stepped in on behalf of the Mahant and arrested and convicted on August 8, 1922, the Akali volunteers for cutting firewood from a grove of trees. The Sikhs took this as a challenge and began to pour in to court arrest. The Government arrested the leaders of the S.G.P.C., closed all approaches to the Guru ka Bagh and belaboured with lathis all those who proceeded to the place, leaving them unconscious on the ground. A party of 100 Sikhs daily took solemn vow at the holy Akal Takhat of Amritsar to go for sacrifice and under all circumstances to remain non-violent in word and deed. On their refusal to disperse at Guru ka Bagh, they were mercilessly beaten by the police and thrown in muddy ditches to be picked up by medical relief parties. The reports of eye witnesses and the letters of the Rev. C.F. Andrews sent to the press from the place of occurrence stirred the conscience of the world and convinced the people that there was something far greater involved in this struggle than a mere dispute about land & property. In the words of the Rev. C.F. Andrews, A new heroism, learnt through suffering has arisen in the land. A new lesson in moral warface has been tought to the world.’With some two thousand Sikhs beaten to unconsciousness and 5605 arrested up to November 16, 1922, the Government failed to overawe them. It was in a fix and was in search of away out, At this stage. Sir Ganga Ram a retired engineers came to the rescue of the Government, He took the land in dispute on lease from the Mahant and wrote to the Government that he did not require the protection of the police. Thus did the Government wriggle out of an untenable position,The next struggle was only partially religious. It began on September 14, 1923, when the continuous reading (AKHAND PATH) of Guru Granth Sahib going on at Jaito in Nabha State, for the benefit of the desposed Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, was interrupted by the State authorities. The State was then ruled by a British administrator. Mr. Johnston Wilson. The JATHAS sent by the S.G.P.C. for restarting the interrupted reading were arrested by the state police and left in farflung and out-of-the-way places. After some 500 men had been treated in this way, a big SHAHIDI JATHA of 500 was sent. On its arrival at Jaito on February 21, 1924, it was mercilessly fired upon by the State forces causing some 300 casualities including about 100 killed. The members of the Jatha seeing their comrades fall dead or wounded rushed forward to seek martyrdom and, in the words of an eye-witness, they literally ran into the jaws of death. Many more JATHAS followed. They were all arrested and not tired upon. The struggle dragged on upto July 21, 1925, when the restrictions on the AKHAND PATH were removed and the Sikhs were allowed to perform the ceremony uninterrupted.Negotiations had in the meantime been going on with the Government of the Panjab for a permanent solution of the Gurdwara problem. With the strenuous efforts of Bhai Jodh Singh, M.A., and his colleagues in the Punjab Legislative Council, the Gurdwara Act 1925 was passed on July 7, and came into operation on November 1925. It placed the control of all Historical Gurdwaras in the hands of an elected board which was named the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. This brought to an end the long drawn struggle between the Sikhs and the Government on this issue. Thirty thousand Sikhs are estimated to have gone to jail during the Gurdwara movement, paying some fifteen lakhs of rupees as fines, with the loss of about five hundred lives. In the field of politics, the Sikhs have always been in the vanof patriots. The activities of Bhai Maharaj Singh after the annexation, of Maharani Jind Kaur during her exile, of Baba Ram Singh Kooka and of Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, as well as those of Maharaja Daleep Singh in Europe, are all links in the chain of Sikhs struggle for freedom from British domination. The unrest created in the Punjab colony areas by Sikh agriculturists and the attempt of the Ghadar Party to raise an armed rebellion in the country point to the same direction. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 added fresh fuel to the smouldering fire of political agitation against the British domination and the Sikhs jumped into the arena with the first session of the Central Sikh League held at Amritsar in 1919 along with the session of Indian National Congress. In the special session of the Congress held at Calcutta in September 1920 was passed Mahatama Gandhi’s resolution of non-violent non-co-operation with British. The sponsors of the Central Sikh League were greatly impressed by Gandhi Ji’s move and they invited him to their second session at Lahore on October, 20, 1920 under the Presidentship of Sardar Kharak Singh. The sincere and enthusiastic appeal of the venerable Sardar carried the day and the Non-violent, Non-cooperation resoultion was adopted with the traditional vigour of the Khalsa. In the words of Lala Lajpat Rai, as regards non-violence, with its attendant conception of self-sacrifice, they have given the most amazing proofs at Nankana Sahib and later at Ajnala and Amritsar. They have proved themselves worthy descendants of their Gurus, and the example they have set of self-sacrifice calm courage, devoid of swagger in the face of provoca-bion will be hard to beat.When Lala Lajpat Rai, the then president of the Punjab Provincial Congress; was imprisoned in February 1922, Baba Tharak Singh became its president. As a result of the Government policy of repression against the Congress, Mahatama Gandhi was sent to jail for six years and Baba Kharak singh was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment for delivering sedition speeches in December 1922 he discared his clothes as a protest against the order of the Government not to allow the prisoners in jails to wear black turbans or Gandhi caps. The Government tried to divide the Hindus and Sikhs and withdrew the ban on black turbans. But Baba Kharak Singh remained unshaken and wore clothes only in June 1927, after four and a half years when he was released from the jail. He was one of the top most leaders in the Punjab who led demonstrations against the Simon Commission in 1928 and refused to agree to accept Dominion Status for India. He stood for complete independence for which a resolution was passed in the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress on December 31, 1929 under the presidentship of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.In February 1930 Mahatama Gandhi decided to launched the Civil Disobedience, campaign for which the Shiromani Akali Dal offered, on March 5, five thousand Akali volunteers. The campaign could not, however, by pushed forward on account of Hindu-Muslim riots at Calcutta and Poona.In 1932 the Sikhs under the leadership of Master Tara Singh refused to accept the Communal Award of the British Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald. But as they were in a negligible minority in the country their protest remained unheeded like a cry in the wilderness.During this period Sir Sunder Singh Majithia tried to solve the political problems of the Sikhs in co-operation with the Government. A section of the Sikhs, like that of the Congress was persuaded for political reasons to help the British government during the Second World War while a considerable number of them joined the Quit-India Campaign of 1942 and went to jail.The part played by the Sikhs in the organisation and maintenance of the Indian National Army. [The Azad Hind Fauj at first under the command of General Mohan Singh and then of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, 1942-45 deserves a special mention. Thousands of them in the Fat East sacrificed that all in its cause and thousands laid down their lives at its call. And all hounour to the I.N.A. for its contribution to the achievement of Indian Independence.The Sikhs were the staunchest advocates of Akhand Hindustan, the undivided India. In the course of negotiations of the division of India in 1946-47 the Sikh leader Master Tara Singh refused the offer of Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah for a separate state in Pakistan, and decided to sink or swim with India. If Master Tara Singh had not protested against the inclusion of the Punjab in Pakistan and had not raised his sword-arm in its defence, the land of five rivers would, perhaps have been completely lost to India.True to the spirit of his great ancestors of the eighteenth century, Maharaja Yadavindera Singh offered his entire resources for the service of those who were driven out of West Panjab. And this offer came as a God-send to the bewildered refugees. The timely organization set up by the Maharaja for the relief and rehabilitation of the uprooted Panjabis was a great source of hope and encouragement to them and gave time & inspiration to the Government of the Panjab and the central Government of India to set up machinery for their settlement in India.The service rendered to India by the Patiala troops in Kashmir in October-November 1947 shall remain writ large on the pages of history. The tribal Pathans from the north-west aided by regular Pakistan troops had attacked the valley. The procras-tination of the Dogra ruler. Maharaja Hari Singh had laid his subjects open to arson, bloodshed loot and rape by the Pakistanis.Soon after he signed on October 26, 1947, the instrument of Accession to India the 1st Sikh Regiment was flown to its defence. These brave sons of the Panjab were able to check the advance of the Pakistanis. Then more Indian troops arrived, and in due course the valley of Kashmir was saved for India.
God Willing the problems of the Panjab will be soon solved to the satisfaction to all and there shall be peace and prosperity in the Land. Amin.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh