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<p class="C1">&#65279<i>JA&#7748GN&#256M&#256</i>, by Q&#257z&#299 N&#363r Muhammad, is an eye-witness account in Persian verse of Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299's seventh invasion of India, 1764-65, for which it is the only major source of information. A copy of the manuscript in the hand of one <i>Kh</i>air Muhammad of Guñj&#257b&#257 was preserved at the District Gazetteer Office at Que&#7789&#7789&#257 in Bal&#363chist&#257n from where Karam Si&#7749gh, state historian of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, made a transcript which was utilized by Dr Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh in producing an edited version of the Persian text, with a preface and a brief summary in English. The work was published by the Sikh Historical Research Department, <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, in 1939.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	Ahmad Sh&#257h had planned his seventh invasion as a <i>j&#299h&#257d</i> or crusade against the Sikhs, who had, since his previous invasion, not only captured Sirhind (January 1764) but had also threatened Lahore and ravaged twice during that year the territories in the Ga&#7749g&#257Yamun&#257 Do&#257b of Naj&#299b udDaulah, his ally and agent at Delhi. Ahmad Sh&#257h invited M&#299r Muhammad Nas&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n, ruler of Kal&#257t in Bal&#363chist&#257n (175095), to join him. Q&#257z&#299 N&#363r Muhammad, son of Q&#257z&#299 Abdullah Kil&#257war of Guñj&#257b&#257, accompanied Nas&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n, who at the head of 12,000 Bal&#363ch&#299s, met the Sh&#257h at Emin&#257b&#257d, 50 km north of Lahore. The combined force, 30,000 strong, did not meet any opposition up to Lahore, where it arrived towards the end of November 1764. The Sh&#257h was holding a council of war the next morning when a fast riding messenger came to report that the Bal&#363ch&#299 vanguard was under surprise attack from a strong Sikh force. M&#299r Nas&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n immediately went to the help of his troops. Q&#257z&#299 N&#363r Muhammad, relating the events of this first encounter with the Sikhs, describes the tactics adopted by the latter thus: "A troop advances and, firing a volley from some distance, retires to reload their muskets while another troop starts firing from another flank. Thus, while they can relax somewhat by turns, they do not allow any respite to their enemy." The battle raged throughout the day and came to an end only at the fall of darkness. The Sikhs did not resume the attack the following morning. The Sh&#257h marched upon Amritsar whither the Sikhs had been reported to have withdrawn. But when he reached there on 30 November 1764, not a single Sikh was to be seen. Next day, a band of 30 Sikhs sallied from a fortified house (<i>bu&#7749g&#257</i>, in Punjabi) and attacked the, Sh&#257h's camp. "These dogs [as the author disparagingly calls the Sikhs] were only thirty in number. They were not in the least afraid. They had neither the fear of slaughter nor the dread of death. They grappled with the <i><u>gh</u>&#257z&#299s</i> or crusaders and, in the engagement, spilt their blood and sacrificed their lives for their Gur&#363" [This small Sikh contingent was led by Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh Shah&#299d]. Ahmad Sh&#257h returned to Lahore where he held another council of war at which M&#299r Muhammad Nas&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n expressed the opinion that they should advance to Sirhind where they should stay awaiting further news from Naj&#299b udDaulah, who had been besieged in Delhi by R&#257j&#257 Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh of Bharatpur and his Sikh allies of the Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal under Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257. Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 resumed his march but, conscious as he was of the might of the roving Sikh bands, he followed a circuitous route through Ba&#7789&#257l&#257, Hoshi&#257rpur and Ropa&#7771 and, avoiding Sirhind altogether, proceeded via Piñjore, Nar&#257inga&#7771h and Jag&#257dhr&#299 reaching Kuñjpur&#257, near Karn&#257l, by the middle of February 1765 after meeting with stiff resistance at many places <i>en route</i>. By then a rapprochement had been arrived at between Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh and Naj&#299b udDaulah and the siege had been lifted. Ahmad Sh&#257h decided to return to Afghanistan. The Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal had also meanwhile returned to join the <i>misld&#257rs</i> comprising the Taru&#7751&#257 Dal. At Sirhind, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh of the Ph&#363lk&#299&#257&#7749 <i>misl</i> met the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n king. The Sh&#257h received him with cordial respect and bestowed on him a <i><u>kh</u>ill'at</i>, a robe of honour, and <i>tablo'alam</i>, drum and standard, as emblems of authority. He also tried, through &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh, to come to terms with the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, but the latter turned down the overtures and decided instead to give a standing battle to the invader. The Sikhs barred his way at Phillaur and Talvan ferries, on the likely route of the Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns' retreat. The Sh&#257h tried to bypass them and crossed the Sutlej at Ropa&#7771, but the Sikhs, moving rapidly, caught up with him. Q&#257z&#299 N&#363r Muhammad gives a detailed account of the three days of battle that followed. Not mentioning any event of the next three days, he recounts the Sikh attack on the seventh day on the southern bank of the River Be&#257s. The Sikhs did not pursue the hastily retreating Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns further, and the Sh&#257h reached the River Chen&#257b by the middle of March, without touching Amritsar and Lahore on the way. While crossing the last two torrential currents of the Chen&#257b, he suffered heavy losses in men, material and animals. N&#363r Muhammad writes: "When I recall that day, I tremble with the fear of the Doomsday." On reaching Roht&#257s across the Jehlum, M&#299r Nas&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n parted company to go to Bal&#363chist&#257n, while Ahmad Sh&#257h continued his journey back to Afghanistan.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	The <i>Ja&#7749gn&#257m&#257</i> is divided into sections under 55 sub-headings including the first six sections devoted to praising God and Prophet Muhammad and to eulogizing Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 and M&#299r Nas&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n. The remaining sections, starting with the origin and ancestry of the Bal&#363ch&#299 people and preparations of Nas&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n for the crusade, narrate the events of the invasion based on the personal observation of the author. Sections 41 and 42 are specially pertinent to Sikh history. In these he praises the warlike qualities and high moral character of the Sikhs and gives account of the territorial possessions of various <i>sard&#257rs</i>.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	N&#363r Muhammad refers to the Sikhs in imprecatory language, but cannot help proclaiming at the same time their many natural virtues. In section XLI of his work, for example, he says, "Do not call the "dogs" dogs [his rude term for the Sikhs], for in the field of battle they are courageous like lions.... It should be understood that <i>si&#7749gh</i> is their title. It is not just to call them <i>sags</i> [dogs]. In Hindustan&#299 <i>si&#7749gh</i> means a lion. In battle they are veritable lions and in peace they excel H&#257tim [in bounty]." After extolling their mastery in the use of weapons such as sword, spear, battle-axe, bow and arrow, and musket, he praises the moral standards of the Sikh warriors. "They never kill a coward... and never pursue one who flees the field; they never attack or plunder a woman, be she a lady or a slave-girl; adultery is unknown among them and so is theft."</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	About the Sikh religion, the Q&#257z&#299 says: "The Sikhs are disciples of the pious man who lived in <i>Chakk</i> (Chakk Gur&#363, Amritsar) . After him came his successor, Gobind Si&#7749gh, from whom they derived the title Si&#7749gh. The dogs are not from the Hindus; the path of these evil ones is different." Then he lists some of the Sikh leaders and their respective territories. Here he mixes up some of the names and places, but taken together he mentions almost the entire central Punjab, from Roht&#257s in the north to D&#299p&#257lpur in the south and from Mult&#257n in the west to Sirhind in the East as having come under Sikh domination. "Besides," he adds, "they collect taxes even from the &#7692er&#257j&#257t (districts of &#7692er&#257 Ism&#257'&#299l <u>Kh</u>&#257n and &#7692er&#257 <u>Gh</u>&#257z&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257n across the Indus), and are afraid of none.'</p>
</ol><p class="CONT">Gurbax Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR>
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