Ans. The minor holocaust occurred between January 1, 1746 and June 30, 1746 at reedy marshes of Kaahnuwaan.
Nawab Yahya Khan and his Hindu Diwan, Lakhpat Rae, with a huge army under their command, invaded the Sikhs with vengeance. According to one estimate about ten thousand Sikhs courted martyrdom. Bhai Ratan Singh Bhangoo has described the situation thus:
“A son could not find his father and a brother could not find his brother. The food was so scarce that Sikhs ate raw or half-baked (whatever was available) chapaties, cooked on their shields that were warmed by placing on hot sand Still they thanked God”.
The major or great holocaust occurred on February 5, 1762 in the morning at Kupp (near Maler Kotla) in an open field. Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded the Sikhs. About thirty thousand Sikhs were martyred. However, they did not lose their resolve and stayed in high spirits (Charhdi Kala).
The same evening when the remaining Sikhs, at the end of their evening prayer (Rehraas Sahib), sounded aloud the customary slogan (Jaikara – Sat Sri Akaal), at that time a Nihang Singh was heard to say aloud, “the Tatt (pure) Khalsa has remained now, we have been cleansed of all the impurity”.
In this holocaust the condition of the Sikh army was that all the Sardars (the leaders of Sikh forces) were wounded. There was no exception. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia sustained twenty-two and Sardar Charat Singh Sukarchakia, nineteen wounds on his body. This has been described in the “Prachin Panth Prakash”, where it is said that in spite of these wounds they kept on fighting. Also worth remembering are the words that Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia said in reply to a suggestion by Sardar Charat Singh Sukarchakia.Sardar Sukarchakia suggested that each Misl (Sikh group) commander should gather his group under his banner and fight. Sardar Ahluwalia replied, “This is no time to divide our forces. We must all stand together and save the Panth at this critical time.
Another episode is also worth mentioning. While fighting, Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia got surrounded by the enemy soldiers. At that point his bodyguard suggested to him to whip his horse and get out. To this the Sardar replied, “When the Panth hears that I whipped my horse and ran away from the battle-field, I will become the subject of jokes. How will I then be able to sit in the congregation when everyone makes a fun of me? I want the Khalsa to become ruler but you want it to be coward”.
It should be remembered that no one has been able to exterminate the Sikhs. They will always keep going and progressing as the water is underneath the earth – quiet but keeps flowing. Several times the rulers had the wrong impression that they had exterminated the Sikhs. Each time the Sikhs came out with greater force and ultimately established their own empire by defeating the same rulers.
- Those days the total population of Sikhs could be counted in thousands.