ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>KH&#256LS&#256 N&#256MAH</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 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<i><u>KH</u>&#256LS&#256 N&#256MAH</i>, by Ba<u>kh</u>t Mall, a Persian manuscript prepared during 1810-14, is a history of the Sikhs from the time of Gur&#363 N&#257nak (1469-1539) to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Copies of the manuscript, unpublished so far, are preserved in British Library; Royal Asiatic Society, London; Pañj&#257b University, Lahore; <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar; and in Dr Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh's personal collection at Punjabi University, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. The author came of a Kashm&#299r&#299 Br&#257hma&#7751 family some of whose members had served at the Mu<u>gh</u>al court during the reign of Emperor Sh&#257h Jah&#257&#7749 (1628-58). One of Ba<u>kh</u>t Mall's ancestors, Lachchh&#299 R&#257m or Lachhma&#7751 D&#257s, came to Lahore during the reign of Emperor Muhammad Sh&#257h (1719-48), shifting soon after to Delhi. Ba<u>kh</u>t Mall received his education in Persian and Arabic at Delhi and worked for a time as <i>munsh&#299</i> or clerk to D&#299w&#257n Ga&#7749g&#257 R&#257m, a representative of the Sikh government. He also served briefly Bh&#257&#299 L&#257l Si&#7749gh, ruler of Kaithal. Upon the occupation of Delhi by the British in 1803, Ba<u>kh</u>t Mall took up service under them. In 1805, when Lord Lake came to the Punjab in pursuit of the Mar&#257&#7789h&#257 chief, Jasvant R&#257o Holkar, Ba<u>kh</u>t Mall, who was then on the staff of Sir John Malcolm (1769-1833), accompanied his master to Amritsar. It was during his short stay in the Punjab that he collected information later to write his history of the Sikhs which, as he himself records, he prepared at the instance of John Malcolm. He states that he had attempted two books on the history of the Sikhs, a detailed one and an abridged one. The former, when only half-finished, was stolen, and the latter was taken away by John Malcolm. What he rewrote has come down to us as <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 N&#257mah</i>. John Malcolm relied upon this work a great deal in the writing of his own <i>Sketch of the Sikhs</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The author's foreword in <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 N&#257mah</i> is followed by an account of the Sikh Gur&#363s; war of succession among the sons of Aura&#7749gz&#299b; activities of Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n of Sirhind; the passing away of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh; destruction of Sirhind by Sikhs; capture of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh; rise of Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 and his invasions of India; Mu'in ul-Mulk (M&#299r Mann&#363); persecution of the Sikhs; the rise of Sikhs to power in the Punjab; Mar&#257&#7789h&#257 excursions into Sikh territories; rise and fall of George Thomas; rise of the British power in India; Holkar's flight to the Punjab and his truce with Lord Lake; and the affairs of the cis-Sutlej Sikh chiefs. The lives of the Gur&#363s are narrated in the traditional style, but the author is on a surer historical ground as he approaches his own time. His account of events in the cis-Sutlej region around the turn of the eighteenth century is especially significant.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Besides <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 N&#257mah</i>, Ba<u>kh</u>t Mall wrote some other books as well, among them <i>Gulist&#257n-i-<u>Kh</u>ay&#257l, B&#257<u>gh</u>-o-bah&#257r, Louis N&#257mah</i> and <i>H&#257l-Mu<u>kh</u>tisar lbtid&#257i-i-Firqah-i-Sikh&#257&#7749</i>. The last named manuscript, a brief account of the lives of the Gur&#363s, is available in the personal collection of Dr Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">Kirpal Singh, <i>A Catalogue of Sanskrit and Persian Works</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Bhagat Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>