Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (3 May 1718 – 23 October 1783) was a Sikh leader during the period of the Sikh Confederacy, being the supreme leader of the Dal Khalsa. He was also Misldar of the AhluwaliaMisl. This period was an interlude, lasting roughly from the time of the death of Banda Bahadur in 1716 to the founding of the Sikh Empire in 1801. He founded the Kapurthala State in 1772.
Early life
Jassa Singh was born on 3 May 1718 CE in a Kalal Sikh family in the Ahlu village near Lahore, Punjab.[6] Originally known as Jassa Singh Kalal,[7] he styled himself as Ahluwalia after his ancestral village.[8]
Jassa Singh is described as a member of the Kalal or wine distiller caste.[9][10][11][12][13][14] During the period of Kharak Singh (r. 1870-1877) a Bhatti Rajput origin story was also created.[15] According to this tradition, one of the Bhatti Rajputs Rana Har Rai had to leave the throne of Jaisalmer for refusing to marry his niece to the Mughal emperor Akbar. However, there is virtually no evidence of this account. According to this account, Har Rai migrated to Punjab, where his descendants married with the Jats, and gradually they became Jats.[16] Starting with Sadhu Singh (also called Sadho or Sadda Singh), they married with Kalals, and the family came to be known as "Ahluwalia Kalal". British administrator Lepel Griffin, who wrote an account of the rulers of Punjab, dismissed this tradition as fictitious.[17]
According to the dynasty's account, Sadhu's Singh's great-grandson Badar Singh and his wife remained childless for a long time, and sought blessings from Guru Gobind Singh. As a result, Jassa Singh was born to them.[18]
Gilded equestrian painting of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Punjab Plains, circa 1850
In 1733, Zakariya Khan Bahadur attempted to negotiate peace with the Sikhs by offering them a jagir, the title Nawab to their leader, and unimpeded access to the Harmandir Sahib. After discussion at a Sarbat Khalsa, Kapur Singh was elected leader of the Sikhs and took the title of Nawab. He combined the various Sikh militias into two groups; the Taruna Dal and the Budda Dal, which would collectively be known as the Dal Khalsa. Sikh militias over 40 years of age would be part of the Budda Dal and Sikh militias under 40 years were part of the Taruna Dal.[19] The Taruna Dal was further divided in five jathas, each with 1300 to 2000 men and a separate drum and banner.[20] The area of operations of each Dal, or army, was Hari ke Pattan, where the Sutlej river and Beas River meet; the Taruna Dal would control the area east of Hari ke Pattan while the Budha Dal would control the area west of it.[21] The purpose of the Budda Dal, the veteran group, was to protect Gurdwaras and train the Taruna Dal, while the Taruna Dal would act as combat troops. However, in 1735, the agreement between Zakariya Khan and Nawab Kapur Singh broke down and the Dal Khalsa retreated to the Sivalik Hills to regroup.
Later the command of Dal Khalsa was taken by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia who was an able and powerful administrator, even displaced & brought Mughal’s centre of power at the time (Red Fort) under Khalsa flag.
He made the foundation of Khalsa firm for future generations to lead.[citation needed]
In 1739, Nadir Shah, the Persian ruler, invaded much of Northern India, including Punjab, defeating the Mughals at the Battle of Karnal in 1739, he plundered the city of Delhi (Shahjahanabad) robbing it of treasures like the Peacock throne, the Kohinoor diamond and the Darya-i-Noor diamond. Meanwhile, all the Khalsa bands got together and passed a resolution that Nadir shah had plundered the city of Delhi and now he is taking Indian women as slaves to his country. Sikhs made a plan to free all the slaves. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was 21 years old at that time, he planned raids to free all slaves. He along with other Sikh bands attacked Nadir shah forces, freed all slaves and sent those slaves back to their families safely.[22][23]
Ahluwalia participated in many battles as well where he proved himself to be a natural leader. In a 1748 meeting of the Sarbat Khalsa, Nawab Kapur Singh appointed him as his successor. His followers awarded him the title Sultan-ul-Qaum (King of the Nation).[24]
Starting from December 1747 till 1769, Abdali made a total of nine incursions into the north India. His repeated invasions weakened the Mughal administration of North India. At the Third Battle of Panipat, he along with Nawab of Oudh and Rohillas, defeated the Marathas, who after a treaty signed in 1752 became the protector of the Mughal throne at Delhi and were controlling much of North India, and Kashmir.[25] However they were never able to subdue the Sikhs in the Punjab.[25]
Help of Sikhs to Jats of Bharatpur
Suraj Mal (1707–63) was the founder of Jat State of Bharatpur. He was killed on 25 December 1763 near Delhi by Najib ul Daulah, the Ruhilaa chief who had been appointed Mir Bakshi and Regent at Delhi by Ahmed Shah Durrani. Suraj Mal’s son Jawahar Singh sought help from Sikhs who responded with a Sikh force of 40,000 under the command of Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The Sikhs crossed the Yamuna on 20 February 1764 and attacked the surrounding areas. Najib ul Daulah rushed back to Delhi thereby relieving the pressure on Bharatpur. Najib ul Daulah suffered another defeat at hands of Sikhs under Ahluwalia after a battle that lasted 20 days in the trans-Yamuna area at Barari Ghat, 20 km north of Delhi. He retired to Red Fort on 9 January 1765 and within a month Sikhs defeated Najib ul Daulah again in Nakhas (horse market) and in Sabzi Mandi.[26]
Jawahar Singh also engaged 25,000 Sikh forces under command of Sardar Jassa Singh against the Rajput Raja of Jaipur in the Battle of Maonda and Mandholi and the Battle of Kama and was defeated in both.[27][28]
Rescue of Maratha women by Sikhs
An account appearing in the 19th century texts, Munshi Kanhaiyya Lal's Tareekh-e-Punjab and Gian Singh's Shamsher Khalsa, credits Jassa Singh with rescuing Hindu women captured by Ahmad Shah Durrani after the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. According to this account, after defeating the Marathas, Abdali captured thousands of prisoners, totaling around 22,000 captives in total, who were being taken to Afghanistan as slaves, including Hindu women destined for the Afghan harems.[29] When Jassa Singh learned of it, he attacked the Afghan army at Goindval on the Sutlej river, rescued over 2,000 of the captured women, and sent them back to their families.[29] Thereafter, he was known as Bandi chhor, or the Liberator of captives.[30][24]
The Sixth Abdali Incursion, 1762
Print of a painting of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, as published in the Mahan Kosh (1930)
In early 1762, Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded India to crush Sikhs power[31][32] Ahmad Shah Durrani with his Soldiers reached Malerkotla, west of Sirhind, then attacked a 20,000 Sikh army escorting 40,000 women and children, along with the elderly. In one of their worst defeats—known as Vadda Ghalughara—the Sikhs lost perhaps 5–10,000+ soldiers and had 20,000 civilians massacred. The Afghan forces of Ahmad Shah Durrani came out victorious with the night ambush on the large convoy.[33][34]
Despite the Ghalughara disaster, by the month of May, the Sikhs were up in arms again. Under Jassa Singh, they defeated the Afghan faujdar of Sirhind in the Battle of Harnaulgarh.[35] By autumn, the Sikhs had regained enough confidence to foregather in large numbers at Amritsar to celebrate Diwali. Abdali made a mild effort to win over them and sent an envoy with proposals for a treaty of peace. The Sikhs were in no mood for peace and insulted the emissary. Abdali did not waste any time and turned up at the outskirts of Amritsar.[citation needed]
The Battle of Pipli Sahib was fought in the grey light of a sun in total eclipse. It ended when the sunless day was blacked out by a moonless night with the adversaries retiring from the field: The Sikhs to the fastness of the jungles of the Lakhi (the forests of a hundred thousand trees located in Central Punjab) and Abdali behind the walled safety of Lahore.[36]
Conquest of Jalandhar and Malerkotla
In June 1763, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia marched towards Jalandhar, Sadat Yar-Khan, the Governor of Jalandhar so much terrified he did not stir out of his capital, Jassa Singh sacked Jalandhar, In December 1763, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia defeated and Killed Bhikhan Khan, the Nawab of Malerkotla, and plundered Morinda,[37]
Conquest of Sirhind
In January 1764, Dal Khalsa under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia attacked Sirhind, Zain Khan Sirhindi, the Governor of Sirhind was killed, Sikhs captured Sirhind and divide Province between themselves, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia captured the territories of Jagaon, Bharog, Fatehgarh,[37]
In 1765, Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded India for seventh time in the winter of 1764–1765, During this campaign he constantly harassed by Sikhs, Qazi Nur Muhammad who was present in the Afghan army describes the numbers of engagements between Sikhs and Afghans, a battle was fought on the western bank of the Satluj opposite Rupar, it was morning and the Afghan army was hardly gone 3 km from the western bank of the Satluj, when they attacked by the Sikhs, The Afghans immediately stopped marching and got into regular formation of battle, Ahmad Shah Durrani was in the center with 6,000 choice soldiers, Shah Vali Khan, Jahan Khan, Shah Pasand Khan, Anzala Khan and others at the head of 12,000 troops were on the right Nasir Khan with 12,000 Baluchis was on the left, The Dal Khalsa also organised themselves in regular battle army Jassa Singh Ahluwalia fearlessly stood like a mountain in the center close by him was Jassa Singh Thokah, looking like a lion in stature,[37]Charat Singh, Jhanda Singh, Lahna Singh and Jai Singh positioned themselves on the right, and Hari Singh Bhangi, Ram Das, Gulab Singh and Gujar Singh positioned on the left.[39][40]
furious battle took place with the Sikhs overpowering the right wing of the Durrani army after applying their usual tactic where Hari Singh dashed upon Shah Vali Khan and Jahan Khan and then retired to draw the Afghans to pursue them, where the Sikhs would then return and ambush the Afghans.[40][39] Ahmad Shah who was quite aware of the usual tactics of the Sikhs of hit and retiring and then returning to attack again, called and warned Nasir Khan about this stratagem of the Sikhs.[40][39] But despite the warning, Nasir Khan and his soldiers rushed in pursue only for another contingent of Sikh soldiers to rush to position themselves in between, cutting off both Ahmad Shah and Nasir Khan and then circling the retreating Baluchis army where a close bloody combat took place.[41][42] The whole battle ended due to nightfall with both parties retiring.[41][42]
Next morning, with sunrise, the Afghans moved onward but right after 5 km, they again came across the Sikhs who attacked the Durranis from all sides.[41][42] The formation of the Sikhs was reversed whereas Ahmad Shah applied same formation as previous day.[41][42] Ahmad Shah told Nasir Khan and the whole army to not move a step without his order as he was aware of tactics of the Sikhs, and after waiting for some time, Ahmad Shah ordered an assault but the Sikhs resorted back to their tactics and retired, only for Afghans to pursue them for next 3 miles when the Sikhs returned, circled them and attacked them from all sides after scattering themselves.[41][42] Upset Ahmad Shah shouted at Nasir Khan to stick to his spot and attack the Sikhs only when they come closer to him and he advised all the remaining soldiers the same.[41][42] Again with the nightfall, the battle came to a close.[41]Throughout the march through the Jullundur Doab from the bank of Sutlej to river Chenab, the Durranis were harassed and assaulted for seven days where the Sikhs returned again and again only to retire in same prevalence, as this was their war tactic.[43][44]
In March 1783, Dal Khalsa under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Baghel Singh was advancing upon Delhi,[45][46]Jassa Singh Ramgarhia Joined Dal Khalsa at March 10, 1783, On 11 March, Dal Khalsa entered in the royal palaces in the red fort, In the Diwan-e-Am Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was placed on the throne of Delhi as Badshah Singh of Delhi by Sikhs, Through Ramgarhia was in minority, yet he challenged the Ahluwalia and called upon him to get down immediately. Both sides drew out swords and were about to pounce upon each other when Jassa Singh Ahluwalia at once renounced the honour,.[45][46]
Mughals agreed to construct 7 Sikh Gurudwaras in Delhi for Sikh Gurus.[47][48][49][50]
Death and legacy
Photo of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia's haveli, circa early 20th century
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia died on 23 October 1783 in Amritsar.
He (Jassa Singh Ahluwalia) had the great privilege of conquering Lahore and issuing his own coin ... [and] sitting on the throne of the Mughal Emperors in the Red Fort at Delhi [after conquering it]. He fought a number of times face to face with Ahmad Shah Durrani, the greatest Asian general of his days. The invader tried to win him over in vain. The Maharajas of Patiala and Jind stood before him in all reverence and humility. The Rajas of Nalagarh, Bilaspur, Kangra Hills and Jammu touched his knees. The Nawabs of Malerkotla and Kunjpura paid him homage. And yet he remained a humble and docile disciple of Guru Gobind Singh. In the person of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, the Guru actually made a sparrow kill hawks. Jassa Singh was a great warrior, mighty general and eminent organiser. He bore thirty-two scars of sword cuts and bullet marks on the front part of his body and none on his back. He was a giant in body. ... Qazi Nur Muhammad who saw him fighting against Ahmad Shah Durrani called him a mountain.
He was a great warrior, mighty general and eminent organiser. He bore thirty-two scars of sword cuts and bullet marks on the front of his body and none on his back. He was a giant in body. His breakfast consisted of one kilogram of flour, one half kilogram of butter, one quarter kilogram of crystalline sugar slabs ( misri ), and one bucketful of butter-milk (lassi). One he-goat sufficed him for two meals…. These were the days of physical prowess, and only men possessed of indomitable will power could compete with ferocious Afghans on better footing. He was wheatish in colour, tall, fat, with a broad forehead, wide chest, loud and sonorous voice which could be clearly heard by an assemblage of 50,000 men….. The horses under him must have been the size of an elephant. This is why he could be clearly seen by Qazi Nur Muhammad in a body of fifty or sixty thousand men. His long arms came down to his knees. This enabled him to strike his sword right and left with equal valour.
^Low, D.A. (1968). Soundings in Modern South Asian History. University of California Press. p. 70. ISBN978-0-520-00770-3. Retrieved 14 August 2022. With the rise to political power of Jassa Singh Kalal, the most famous Sikh chiefofthe eighteenth century, the importance of the Kalals had increased and there had been a tendency among them to abandon their degrading hereditary occupation…In addition to abandoning their hereditary occupation the Kalals tried to raise their status by changing their caste names and by claiming more respectable social origins. Jassa Singh Kalal had styled himself Ahllu- walia from the name of his ancestral village, a title which was still borne by his descendants, the royal family of the Native State of Kapurthala in British times; and one which the Sikh Kalals generally adopted as the name of their caste. By the early twentieth century some of the Ahlluwalias had gone further by claiming Khatri or Rajput origin.
^Gandhi, S.S. (1980). Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty. Gur Das Kapur. Retrieved 4 August 2022. The Ahluwalia Misl is also interesting for the same reason as it was led by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, a member of Kalal caste, or distillers of palm wine . The Kalals rank among the artisans castes of the Sikhs
^M. L. Ahluwalia (1989). Life and Times of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. Punjabi University. p. 3. ...the original homeland of Jassa Singh's ancestors was Mauza Mullu Sadhu-Ke in Majha. His qaum (caste) was Kalal alias Tulsi (sub-caste).
^Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod Singh, eds. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 21. ISBN978-1442236004. ...the ruling family of Kapurthala (the descendants of Jassa Singh Ahluvalia) was also Kalal. So successful have they been that today their Kalal antecedents have been largely forgotten [...] Jassa Singh Ahluvalia, though not a Jat, was regarded as the principal misl chieftain
^Sohan Singh Seetal (1981). The Sikh Misals and the Punjab States. Lahore Book Shop. Everybody had been dubbing the Kapoorthala dynasty as Kalaals, meaning wine vendors. But, during the time of Raja Kharak Singh, the penultimate chief of the state, an attempt was made to relate this dynasty to the Bhatti Rajput Rajput rulers of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
^Ganda Singh 1990, p. 1With the passing of time, they got mingled with the Jats who constituted at that time the majority community of this area. They began to enter into matrimonial alliances with them. Thus, gradually they also became Jats.
^Herrli, Hans (2004) [1993]. The Coins of the Sikhs (2nd ed.). Munshiram Manoharlal publishers Pvt ltd, New Delhi. p. 233. In December 1765 Jawahir singh marched against Jaipur with 25000 sikhs who were bought off by Raja Mado Singh, but in March 1768 Jawahir Singh, supported by 20000 Sikh mercenaries, again attacked and routed Mado Singh"
^Hooja, Rima (2006). A History of Rajasthan. New Delhi: Rupa Publication. pp. 726, 736.
^ abSingh, Khushwant (1963). A History of the Sikhs: 1469–1839 (Vol. 1). Princeton University Press. p. 151.
^Ganda Singh 1990, p. 106: "...he became famous as a Liberator of bonded women. (Ghanaya Lal, Tareekh-i-Punjab-100; Gian Singh, Shamsheer Khalsa, 145/507"
^Bhagata, Siṅgha (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Publication Bureau, Punjabi University. pp. 271–282. Baghel Singh, Baghel Singh took the leadership of karorisingha misl.
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