ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>&#256L&#256 SI&#7748GH B&#256B&#256 (1691-1765)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="L,SIDGH,BB,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279&#256L&#256 SI&#7748GH, B&#256B&#256 (1691-1765), Sikh <i>misl</i> leader who became the first ruling chief of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, was born in 1691 at Ph&#363l, in present-day Ba&#7789hi&#7751&#7693&#257 district of the Punjab, the third son of Bh&#257&#299 R&#257m Si&#7749gh. His grandfather, B&#257b&#257 Ph&#363l, had been as a small boy blessed by Gur&#363 Hargobind, N&#257nak VI. &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh's father and his uncle, Tilok Si&#7749gh, had both received the rites of initiation at the hands of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh who conferred on their family the panegyric, "Your house is mine own. "</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh was married at an early age to Fateh Kaur, popularly known as M&#257&#299 Fatto, daughter of Chaudhar&#299 K&#257l&#257 of Kh&#257n&#257, a <i>zam&#299nd&#257r</i> of the village K&#257leke, now in Sa&#7749gr&#363r district of the Punjab, and had three sons, Bh&#363m&#299&#257 Si&#7749gh, Sard&#363l Si&#7749gh and L&#257l Si&#7749gh, all of whom died in his lifetime, and a daughter, B&#299b&#299 Pardh&#257n.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh's career of conquest began soon after the execution of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur in 1716 when central Punjab lay in utter confusion. &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh was living at Ph&#363l about 40 km from Ba&#7789hi&#7751&#7693&#257. He gathered around him a band of dashing and daring young men. In 1722, he set up his headquarters at Barn&#257l&#257, 32 km farther east, and his territory comprised 30-odd villages. At Barn&#257l&#257, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh defeated in 1731 R&#257i Kalh&#257 of R&#257iko&#7789, an influential chief with a large force at his command. Aided by roving bands of the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, he ransacked and annexed several villages belonging to the Bha&#7789&#7789&#299s. He also founded several new villages such as Chh&#257jal&#299, Di&#7771b&#257, Lau&#7749gov&#257l and Shero&#7749. For a period &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh remained in the custody of 'Al&#299 Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n Ruh&#299l&#257, Mu<u>gh</u>al governor of Sirhind from 1745-48, and was released only when the latter fled his capital at the approach in February 1748 of the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n invader Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299. In the battle fought on 11 March 1748, near M&#257n&#363p&#363r, 15 km northwest of Sirhind, between the Mu<u>gh</u>als and Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh sided with the former. He cut off Durr&#257n&#299's supplies and captured his camels and horses. In 1749, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh defeated and repulsed Far&#299d <u>Kh</u>&#257n, a R&#257jp&#363t chieftain, who had sought the help of the imperial governor of Sirhind and stopped the construction by him of a fort at Bhav&#257n&#299ga&#7771h. Three years later, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh, captured the district of Sanaur, called <i>chaur&#257s&#299</i>, lit. eighty-four, from the number of the villages it comprised. One of these where he built a fort in 1763 and which was thenceforth his permanent seat, became famous as Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. At the end of 1760, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh possessed 726 villages including many towns. On the eve of the battle of P&#257n&#299pat (1761) when the Mar&#257&#7789h&#257s' camp was blockaded by Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh helped them with foodgrain and other provisions. In the Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 or Great Carnage of February 1762, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh remained neutral. Ahmad Sh&#257h punished him with the devastation of the town of Barn&#257l&#257. &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh, who presented himself in the Sh&#257h's camp, was ordered to shave off his head and beard. This he declined to do and offered instead to pay a sum of one and a quarter lakh of rupees. The Sh&#257h accepted the money but had him taken to Lahore where he secured his freedom by paying another five lakh of rupees.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh took the <i>p&#257hul</i> in 1732 at the hands of Naw&#257b Kapur Si&#7749gh, leader of the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. He was an ally of Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 in the attack on Sirhind in 1764. Later he purchased this town from Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Si&#7749gh to whom it had been assigned by the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. On 29 March 1761, Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 had already recognized by a written decree the sovereignty of &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh over the territories held by him. At the time of his seventh invasion of India, he confirmed him in the government of Sirhind (1765) and granted him the title of R&#257j&#257, with the robes of honour as well as with a drum and a banner as insignia of royalty.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh died on 7 August 1765 at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and was cremated in the Fort, now inside the city.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Kirpal Si&#7749gh, <i>Life of Maharaja Ala Singh and His Times</i>. Amritsar, 1954<BR> <li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel, <i>The Rajas of the Punjab</i> [Reprint]. Delhi, 1977<BR> <li class="C1"> Latif, Syad Muhammad, <i>History of the Panjab</i>. Delhi, 1964<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Bhagat Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>