ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>JASS&#256 SI&#7748GH &#256HL&#362V&#256L&#298&#256 (1718-1783)</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="JASS,SIDGH,HLjVL*,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">&#65279JASS&#256 SI&#7748GH &#256HL&#362V&#256L&#298&#256 (1718-1783), founder of the <i>misl</i> or chiefship of the &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257s, remnants of which lasted until recent years in the form of the princely state of Kap&#363rthal&#257, and commander of the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 who proclaimed in 1761 the sovereignty of the Sikhs, was born the son of Badar Si&#7749gh at the village of &#256hl&#363, near Lahore, on Bais&#257kh <i>sud&#299</i> P&#363ranm&#257sh&#299 1775 Bk/3 May 1718. Since his father had died when he was barely five years of age, he was taken by his mother and her brother B&#257gh Si&#7749gh to Delhi where he grew up under the care of M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299, widow of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. On the eve of his return to the Punjab in 1729, M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299 bestowed upon him a sword, a mace, a shield, a bow and a quiver full of arrows, a dress and a silver staff predicting that he would rise to eminence. On his arrival in the Punjab, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh joined, at Kart&#257rpur, the <i>jath&#257</i> or military band of (Naw&#257b) Kap&#363r Si&#7749gh who was deeply impressed by the young man's courage and ambition. When during his first invasion of the Punjab in January 1748, Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 moved southwards from Lahore, the Sikh <i>sard&#257rs</i> under Naw&#257b Kap&#363r Si&#7749gh and Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 caused him much harassment at N&#363r d&#299 Sar&#257i and Vairov&#257l. Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh was one of the leading <i>sard&#257rs</i> who two months later defeated a strong Mu<u>gh</u>al force commanded by Sal&#257bat <u>Kh</u>&#257n in an action at Amritsar.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On the Bais&#257kh&#299 of 1748, a general assembly of Sikhs was convened at Amritsar which resolved to consolidate the sixty-five roving Sikh <i>jath&#257s</i> into one command called Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 under Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh. Its 11 subdivisions were called <i>misls</i>; the twelfth <i>misl</i> Ph&#363lk&#299&#257&#7749 traced a separate origin. Persecution by the ruling Mu<u>gh</u>al authority meanwhile became more virulent. Under M&#299r Mann&#363 (Mu'&#299n ud-D&#299n), <i>s&#363bahd&#257r</i> of Lahore from 1748 to 1753, numerous punitive detachments roamed the country to hunt out the Sikhs. After the death on 7 October 1753 of Naw&#257b Kap&#363r Si&#7749gh, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh started seizing villages and towns in the Punjab thrown into confusion with the passing away of M&#299r Mann&#363 in November 1753 and established the system of <i>r&#257kh&#299</i>, protection cess or tax received for the secuity provided. The Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, under Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh, routed in April 1754 an Af<u>gh</u>&#257n force from Lahore which had laid siege to Amritsar. In 1757, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh struck at the rearguard of Taim&#363r Sh&#257h whom his father, Ahmad Sh&#257h, had appointed governor of Lahore and who was marching towards the city after sacking Kart&#257rpur.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In response to the request of &#256d&#299n&#257 Beg, who, after his dismissal from the governorship of Lahore, was attacked by the Durr&#257n&#299s from Lahore under Mur&#257d <u>Kh</u>&#257n and Buland <u>Kh</u>&#257n, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh came to his rescue and defeated the Durr&#257n&#299s at M&#257halpur, in the Jalandhar Do&#257b. In March 1758, the combined force of &#256d&#299n&#257 Beg, the Mar&#257&#7789h&#257s, and the Sikhs ransacked Sirhind and then marched upon Lahore. The Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, led by Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh and other <i>sard&#257rs</i>, took a decisive part in reinstalling, in April 1758, &#256d&#299n&#257 Beg in Lahore.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In October 1759, Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 crossed the Indus and invaded northern India for the fifth time. For 15 months he was occupied subjugating the Mar&#257&#7789h&#257s and the J&#257&#7789s of Bharatpur. On 17 January 1761, he finally defeated the Mar&#257&#7789h&#257s at P&#257n&#299pat. During this period the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 established its authority in the M&#257lv&#257 and M&#257jh&#257 regions, exacted <i>r&#257kh&#299</i> and levied <i>nazar&#257n&#257s</i> on Mu<u>gh</u>al as well as on Af<u>gh</u>&#257n satraps. The Sikhs under the leadership of Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh made a surprise attack on the Sh&#257h's force near Amritsar in March 1761 and rescued 2,200 women captives whom the invader was carrying in his train as slaves. A combined force of Sukkarchakk&#299&#257, Kanhaiy&#257 and Bha&#7749g&#299 <i>sard&#257rs</i> worsted the troops of <u>Kh</u>w&#257j&#257 Ubaid <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n governor of Lahore, near Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257 in September 1761, victorious Sikhs pursuing him to the walls of Lahore. The city was besieged and occupied by the Sikhs without any resistance. Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 was proclaimed King of Lahore with the title of Sult&#257n ul-Qaum (King of the Nation). A coin was issued in the name of Gur&#363 N&#257nak-Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh commemorating the Sikh victory with the inscription taken from the seal of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur:</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Deg o te<u>gh</u> o fateh o nusrat be diring</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Y&#257ft az N&#257nak Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh</i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (Prosperity, power and unfailing victory received from N&#257nak and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On hearing the news of the fall of Lahore, Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 hastened towards the Punjab. This was in 1762 -- his sixth incursion into India. The Sikhs retired to the south of the Sutlej. The Sh&#257h sent orders to all his <i>faujd&#257rs</i> in the Punjab to join forces with Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the governor of Sirhind. He set out from Lahore with a mammoth army estimated at 1,50,000 strong, and covering a distance of about 250 km in fewer than 36 hours reached M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257 on 5 Feburary. The Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, under the leadership of <i>sard&#257rs</i> such as Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh, Shi&#257m Si&#7749gh and Cha&#7771hat Si&#7749gh lay encamped at Kup, 9 km from M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257. In the battle which followed about 25,000 Sikhs (figure given in the Persian source <i>Tahm&#257s N&#257mah</i>) were killed, Jass&#257 Singh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 sustaining twenty-two wounds on his body. The battle of Kup is still remembered in Sikh history as Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 or the Major Holocaust. Returning to Lahore, Ahmad Sh&#257h marched to Amritsar and had the Holy Harimandar blown up with gunpowder. Under the shadow of the carnage at Kup and the disaster at Amritsar, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh, with the remnants of the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, was waiting for his opportunity. While the Sh&#257h was still in Lahore, he fell upon Sirhind on 17 May 1762 and exacted <i>naz&#257ran&#257</i> from Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the <i>faujd&#257r</i>. In April 1763, he marched into the Jalandhar Do&#257b and, after defeating the <i>faujd&#257r</i>, Sa'&#257dat <u>Kh</u>&#257n, occupied K&#257&#7789hga&#7771h and Ga&#7771hsha&#7749kar. The Bha&#7749g&#299s and the Sukkarchakk&#299&#257s joined Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh, and their combined force defeated the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n commander, Jah&#257n <u>Kh</u>&#257n, near Si&#257lko&#7789, in November 1763. The Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 was again active and the Kanhaiy&#257, R&#257mga&#7771h&#299&#257, Bha&#7749g&#299 and Sukkarchakk&#299&#257 forces assembled under the command of Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh at Ropa&#7771. They occupied Kur&#257l&#299 and Mori&#7751&#7693&#257, and attacked Sirhind on 14 January 1764. The Af<u>gh</u>&#257n <i>faujd&#257r</i>, Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n, was killed and the town laid waste.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On 17 April 1765, Sikhs reoccupied Lahore. The Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 had during the preceding year carried their arms into the trans-Yamun&#257 territories of Naj&#299b ud-Daulah, the <i>vak&#299l-i-mutliq</i> (plenipotentiary) of Emperor Sh&#257h &#256lam of Delhi. When in 1765, the Durr&#257n&#299 came again, he was obliged to be conciliatory and he wrote to Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh and other <i>sard&#257rs</i> seeking an agreement with regard to the future political set-up in the Punjab, but the <i>sard&#257rs</i> spurned his overtures. Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh and the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 now had time to consolidate their conquests. The Indian empire of the Durr&#257n&#299s lay in ruins. Naj&#299b ud-Daulah, alarmed at the growing influence of the Sikhs, resigned, and Emperor Sh&#257h &#256lam opened correspondence with Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh and other Sikh chiefs with a view to securing his trans-Yamun&#257 territories against their raids. The new <i>waz&#299r</i> of the emperor, Abdul Ahad <u>Kh</u>&#257n, who had led an imperial force against R&#257j&#257 Amar Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 in 1779, was beaten back by Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh. He returned the entire tribute collected from the Sikhs and paid Rs 7,00,000 as an indemnity to the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As a leader of the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh had organized the Sikhs militarily, overthrown Af<u>gh</u>&#257n power in northern India and won from the Mu<u>gh</u>al emperor the right for Sikhs to rule independently over territories they had wrested from the Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns. The <i>s&#363b&#257</i> of Sirhind came under the Ph&#363lk&#299&#257&#7749 chiefs; Lahore, the capital of the Punjab, was given over to the Bha&#7749g&#299s; the Jalandhar Do&#257b was parcelled out among several of the <i>misls</i>; and the foundations of the &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 principality laid firmly at Kap&#363rthal&#257. Besides his leadership in the military and political spheres, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh was widely revered for his deeply religious and pious character. It was considered especially meritorious to receive <i>amrit</i>, the Sikh rites, at his hands. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Amar Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 was among those who sought him to administer to them the vows of initiation.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh died on 20 October 1783 at the age of 65 and a <i>sam&#257dh</i> or cenotaph in his honour stands in the precincts of Gurdw&#257r&#257 B&#257b&#257 A&#7789al, near the Golden Temple at Amritsar.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> R&#257m Sukh R&#257o, <i>Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh Binod</i> (MS.)<BR> <li class="C1"> Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sard&#257r Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257</i>. Patiala, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. IV. Delhi, 1982<BR> <li class="C1"> Seetal, Sohan Singh, <i>The Sikh Misals and the Panjab</i>. Ludhiana, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. I.Princeton, 1963<BR> <li class="C1"> Latif, Syad Muhammad, <i>History of the Punjab</i>. Delhi, 1964<BR> <li class="C1"> Gopal Singh, <i>A History of the Sikh People</i>. Delhi, 1979<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>