Jassa Singh Ahluwalia

Honorable Jathedar
Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
ਮਾਣਯੋਗ ਜਥੇਦਾਰ
ਸਰਦਾਰ ਜੱਸਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਆਹਲੂਵਾਲੀਆ
ਸੁਲਤਾਨ-ਉਲ-ਕੌਮ
Sultan-Ul-Quam
5th Jathedar of Akal Takht
In office
1753–1783
Preceded by Kapur Singh
Succeeded by Phula Singh
4th Jathedar of Buddha Dal
In office
1753–1783
Preceded by Kapur Singh
Succeeded by Naina Singh
Personal details
Born Jassa Singh
May 01, 1718
Ahlu, Lahore, Panjab
Died 1783 (age 64-65)
Amritsar, Panjab
Nationality Sikh
Father Badar Singh
Known for Establishing Independent Sikh state, Kapurthala
Freeing slaves from Nadir Shah (1739)
Liberation of Amritsar (1741)
Capture of Lahore (1761) Liberation of captives (1761)
Sikh Occupation of Delhi and Red Fort alongside Baghel Singh[1]
Religion Sikh

Jassa Singh Ahluwalia also known as Jassa Singh Kalal (1 May 1718 – 1783)[2] was a prominent Sikh leader during the period of the Sikh Confederacy. He was also Misldar of the Ahluwalia Misl. 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 Ahluwalia was born at a village called Ahlu in the Lahore District of Punjab (modern day Pakistan).[2] Hence, the name Ahluwalia stuck to him. Mata Sundari instructed him to study the art of sword and Sikh scriptures. He studied Sikh scriptures under Bhai Mani Singh. Later, Mata Sundari asked Nawab Kapur Singh to take charge of the promising youth. Nawab Kapur Singh was pleased with Jassa Singh's supreme devotion to the faith and a sense of duty and humility. He appointed him as a storekeeper with his forces.

Nadir shah 's invasion

In 1739, Nadir shah the Turkic ruler of Persia, attacked north and northwestern India, including Punjab. He defeated the Mughals in the Battle of Karnal in 1739. He plundered huge wealth and robbed peacock throne, Kohinoor diamond and Darya i noor diamond and massacred 20,000 Mughals in the old Delhi city(Shahjahanabad) and was taking Mughal slave to his country. 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 send those slaves back to their families safely.[3]

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).[2]

The raids of Ahmed Shah Abdali

Ahmed Shah Abdali, Nadir Shah's seniormost general, succeeded to the throne of Afghanistan, when Shah was murdered in June, 1747. He established his own dynasty, the Sadozai, which was the name of the Pashtun khel to which he belonged to.

Starting from December, 1747 till 1769, Abdali made a total of nine incursions into the northwestern India. His repeated invasions destroyed the Mughal administration of the Punjab and the rest of Northwestern India. At the Third Battle of Panipat, he along with Nawab of Oudh and Rohillas, defeated the Marathas, who after treaty signed in 1752 became the protector of the Mughal throne at Delhi and were controlling much of North India, including Punjab and Kashmir.[4] Thus he created a power vacuum in the Punjab, which was filled by the Sikhs.

The Sixth Afghan Invasion, 1762

On February 5, 1762, the Sikhs were especially the target of Ahmad Shah Abdali's sixth invasion into India. News had reached him in Afghanistan of the defeat of his general, Nur-ud-Din Bamezai, at the hands of the Sikhs who were fast spreading themselves out over the Punjab and had declared their leader, Misldar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, king of Lahore. To rid his Indian dominion of them once and for all, he set out from Kandahar. Marching with alacrity, he overtook the Sikhs as they were withdrawing into Malwa after crossing the Satluj.[5]

The moving caravan comprised a substantial portion of the total Sikh population and contained, besides active fighters, a large body of old men, women and children who were being escorted to the safety of the interior. Surprised by Ahmad Shah, the Sikhs threw a cordon round those who needed protection, and prepared for the battle. In this formation and continuing their march, they fought the invaders and their Indian allies (The Nawabs of Malerkotla, Sirhind, etc.) desperately. Sardar Charhat Singh Sukerchakia (the grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh), Sardar Hari Singh Dhillon and Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia led their forces with skill and courage. Jassa Singh sustained sixty-four wounds on his body, but he survived. Kalamala (30 kilometer far away from Kup) Sikh Sangat worked like hospital to the injured Sikhs, there were full darkness during daytime. The injured Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was admitted here for treatment. Sardar Charhat Singh rode to exhaustion, five of his horses one after another.

Ahmad Shah succeeded, in the end, in breaking through the cordon and carried out a full scale massacre. His orders were for everyone in native dress to be killed at sight. The soldiers of Malerkotala and Sirhind were to wear green leaves of trees on their heads to distinguish themselves from the Sikhs. Near the village of Kup, in the vicinity of Malerkotla, about 20,000 Sikhs died at the end of a single day's action (February 5, 1762) and round about 35,000 in total during The Great Holocaust. This battle is known in Sikh history as the Wadda Ghalughara (The Great Holocaust).

Battle of Amritsar

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 Sihind at Harnaulgarh. 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.

The Battle of Amritsar (1762) 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.[6]

The formation of the Dal Khalsa and the Misls

Until now, the Sikh forces were divided into 65 jathas (bands). Baron Nawab Kapur Singh reorganised them into twelve bands, each of with its own name, flag and leader. These Armies or jathas, which came to known later on as Misls (literally "equal", also "an example") together were, however, given the name of the Dal Khalsa (or the Army of the Khalsa). Baron Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was nominated as the Supreme Commander of the Sikh Confederacy in addition to being Baron of the Ahluwalia Army (misl).

The Eighth Afghan Invasion, 1766

Ahluwalia Fort

In November 1766 Abdali came to the Punjab for the eight time with the avowed object of "crushing the Sikhs". The Sikhs had recourse to their old game of Dhai-phut ('hit, run and turn back to hit again') tactics (later made famous at the Battle of Chillianwala against the British). They vacated Lahore, but faced squarely the Afghan general Jahan Khan at Amritsar. The Sikhs inflicted a humiliating defeat, and forced him to retreat, with five thousand Afghan soldiers killed. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia with an army of about twenty thousand Sikhs roamed in the neighbourhood of the Afghan camp, plundering it.

Death

Jassa Singh continued with his campaigns. After Abdali's ninth and last invasion in 1769, Jassa Singh wrested Kapurthala in 1774 from Rao Ibrahim Bhatti and made it his headquarters. Jassa Singh died in Amritsar in 1783 AD. Being issueless, he was succeeded by Bhag Singh, whose son, Fateh Singh became a close collaborator of Ranjit Singh.

Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Government College (NJSA Government College) in Kapurthala, established in 1856 by Randhir Singh of Kaputhala is named after him.[7] A commemorative postage stamp on 'Baba Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was issued by Government of India on April 4, 1985.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Singhia, H.S. (2009). The encyclopedia of Sikhism. New Delhi: Hemkunt Press. ISBN 978-81-7010-301-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Singhia 2009, p. 111
  3. ↑ Rajmohan Gandhi, Revenge and Reconciliation, p. 118
  4. ↑ Gordon, Stewart. The Marathas 1600–1818, Volume 2. Cambridge University Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0-521-26883-7.
  5. ↑ Fenech, E. Louis, Mcleod, H. W. Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  6. ↑ "A Concise History of Afghanistan in 25 Volumes, Volume 14". Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "College of excellence, 150 years ago". The Tribune. October 1, 2006.

Bibliography

Preceded by:
Nawab kapoor singh
 Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Followed by:
Baba Naina Singh
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