ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GUJJAR SI&#7748GH BHA&#7748G&#298 (d. 1788)</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="GUJJAR,SIDGH,BHADG*"> <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">&#65279GUJJAR SI&#7748GH BHA&#7748G&#298 (d. 1788), one of the triumvirate who ruled over Lahore for thirty years before its occupation by Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, was son of a cultivator of very modest means, Natth&#257 Si&#7749gh. Strong and well-built, Gujjar Si&#7749gh received the vows of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 at the hands of his maternal grandfather Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh Ro&#7771&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257, who presented him with a horse and recruited him a member of his band. As Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh was growing old, he made Gujjar Si&#7749gh head of his band. Soon the band was united to the force of Har&#299 Si&#7749gh, head of the Bha&#7749g&#299 <i>misl</i> or chiefship. Gujjar Si&#7749gh set out on a career of conquest and plunder. In 1765, he along with Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh, adopted son of Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh, and Sobh&#257 Si&#7749gh, an associate of Jai Si&#7749gh Kanhaiy&#257, captured Lahore, from the Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns. As Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh was senior in relationship, being his maternal uncle, Gujjar Si&#7749gh allowed Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh to take possession of the city and the fort, himself occupying eastern part of the city, then a jungle. Gujjar Si&#7749gh erected a mud fortress and invited people to settle there. He sank wells to supply water. A mosque was built for Muslims. The area, the site of present-day railway station of Lahore, still bears his name and is known as Qil&#257 Gujjar Si&#7749gh. Gujjar Si&#7749gh next captured Emin&#257b&#257d, Waz&#299r&#257b&#257d, Sodhr&#257 and about 150 villages in Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257 district. He then took Gujr&#257t from Sult&#257n Muqarrab <u>Kh</u>&#257n whom he defeated under the walls of the city in December 1765, capturing both the city and the adjoining country, and making Gujr&#257t his headquarters. Next year, he overran Jamm&#363, seized Isl&#257mga&#7771h, Puñchh, Dev Ba&#7789&#257l&#257 and extended his territory as far as the Bhimbar hills in the north and the M&#257jh&#257 country in the south. During Ahmad Shah Durr&#257n&#299's eighth invasion, Gujjar Si&#7749gh along with other Sikh <i>sard&#257rs</i> offered him strong opposition. When in January 1767, the Durr&#257n&#299 commander-in-chief Jah&#257n <u>Kh</u>&#257n reached Amritsar at the head of 15, 000 troops, the Sikh <i>sard&#257rs</i> routed the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n horde. Soon afterwards Gujjar Si&#7749gh laid siege to the famous fort of Roht&#257s, held by the Gakkha&#7771s, with the assistance of Cha&#7771hat Si&#7749gh Sukkarchakk&#299&#257, who was on the most amicable terms with him and who gave his daughter, R&#257j Kaur, in marriage to his son, S&#257hib Si&#7749gh. Gujjar Si&#7749gh subjugated the warlike tribes in the northwestern Punjab and occupied portions of Po&#7789hoh&#257r, R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299 and Hasan Abd&#257l.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gujjar Si&#7749gh died at Lahore in 1788.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Seetal, Sohan Singh, <i>The Sikh Misals and the Punjab</i>. Ludhiana, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. II. Delhi, 1978<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>, vol.I. Princeton, 1963<BR> <li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, <i>Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab</i>. Lahore, 1909<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sard&#257r Si&#7749gh Bh&#257&#7789&#299&#257<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>