ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>LAKHPAT R&#256I (d.1748)</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="LAKHPAT,RI"> <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">&#65279LAKHPAT R&#256I (d.1748), <i>d&#299w&#257n</i> or revenue minister at Lahore under two successive Mu<u>gh</u>al viceroys, Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n (1726-45) and Yah&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n (1745-47). He came of a Hindu Khatr&#299 family of Kal&#257naur, in Gurd&#257spur district of the Punjab. In 1736 when Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n organized a mobile column of 10,000 to scour the country in search of Sikhs then condemned to indiscriminate murder and slaughter, Lakhpat R&#257i and Mu<u>kh</u>lis <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the governor's own nephew, were put in command of this force. The Sikhs with their fighting force, the Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal, were driven to take refuge in the jungles south of the Sutlej. They, however, soon struck back and Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal and Taru&#7751&#257 Dal jointly fell upon Lakhpat R&#257i, defeating his mobile column at Hujr&#257 Sh&#257h Muq&#299m, near Lahore. Among the Mu<u>gh</u>al officials killed was Lakhpat R&#257i's nephew, Dun&#299 Chand. In 1736, Lakhpat R&#257i was deputed to proceed to Amritsar to molest Sikhs gathering for the D&#299v&#257l&#299 festival permission for holding which had been secured from the governor himself. This caused confusion and the failure of the revered Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh to pay the stipulated amount to the Mu<u>gh</u>al satrap owing to attenuated attendance was made an excuse for his capture and execution (AD 1737). In the eyes of the Sikhs, Lakhpat R&#257i was principally responsible for Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh's martyrdom.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; N&#257dir Sh&#257h's invasion of 1739 dealt a severe blow to the Mu<u>gh</u>al government. Light cavalry bands organized by Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n to suppress the Sikhs impoverished the peasantry by their extortions as a result of which revenues dwindled and the treasury became empty. Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, holding D&#299w&#257n Lakhpat R&#257i responsible for this financial breakdown, imprisoned him for his failure to discharge the dues of the army. But Lakhpat's brother, Jaspat R&#257i, himself an influential courtier paid a large sum from his personal treasure and secured Lakhpat's release and reinstatement. Lakhpat R&#257i continued as <i>d&#299w&#257n</i> under Yah&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, when he succeeded Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n in 1745. The death of his brother, Jaspat R&#257i, at the hands of the Sikhs in1746 greatly enraged him and he vowed revenge, declaring that he would not put on his headdress, nor claim himself to be a <u>Kh</u>atr&#299 until he had "scourged the entire Sikh Panth. "As a first step, he had the Sikh inhabitants of Lahore rounded up and ordered their execution. Intercession by a group of prominent Hindu nobles led by D&#299w&#257n Kau&#7771&#257 Mall was of no avail. Lakhpat R&#257i ignored the request even of his <i>gur&#363</i>, Sant Jagat Bhagat Gos&#257&#299&#7749, that the killing should not be carried out at least on the Am&#257vas, the last day of the dark half of the month which, falling on a Monday, is especially sacred to the Hindus. Executions took place as ordered on that very day, 13 Chet 1802 Bk/10 March 1746. The angry D&#299w&#257n then set out at the head of a large force, mostly cavalry supported by cannon, in search of the Sikhs who were reported to have taken shelter in the swampy forest of K&#257hn&#363v&#257n, on the right bank of River Beas, 15 km south of Gurd&#257spur. He also mobilized the local populace in these operations. The besieged Sikhs put up a determined fight but were severely outnumbered and scattered with heavy losses. They were chased into the hills and, "to complete the revenge" says Syad Muhammad Latif, the Muslim historian of the Punjab, "Lakhpat Rai brought with him, 1,000 Sikhs in irons to Lahore, and having compelled them to ride on donkeys, barebacked, paraded them in the Bazars. They were, then, taken to the horse-market, outside Delhi Gate, and there beheaded one after another without mercy." On this site was later raised a memorial shrine known as Shah&#299d Gañj.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; More than seven thousand Sikhs lost their lives at K&#257hn&#363v&#257n (1 May 1746) . In Sikh history, this devastation is referred to as Chho&#7789&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 or Minor Massacre as distinguished from Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 or the Great Massacre that took place on 5 February 1762. Lakhpat R&#257i, in order to ensure total extinction of the Sikhs, ordered their places of worship to be destroyed and their holy books burnt. He decreed that anyone uttering the word <i>gur&#363</i> should have his belly ripped. Considering that the word <i>gu&#7771</i>, meaning jaggery, sounded like <i>gur&#363</i>, he prohibited its use.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When in March 1747, Sh&#257h Naw&#257z <u>Kh</u>&#257n, brother of Yahiy&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n and governor of Mult&#257n, occupied Lahore, he imprisoned Yahiy&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n and Lakhpat R&#257i, but Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 who seized Lahore in January 1748 set up a local government in the Punjab, with Jalhe <u>Kh</u>&#257n as governor and Lakhpat R&#257i as his <i>d&#299w&#257n</i>. The Durr&#257n&#299, defeated by the Mu<u>gh</u>als in the battle of M&#257n&#363pur on 11 March 1748, beat a hasty retreat to his own country, and Mu&#299n ul-Mulk, commonly known as M&#299r Mannu, became the governor of Lahore. M&#299r Mann&#363 imprisoned Jalhe <u>Kh</u>&#257n and Lakhpat R&#257i and appointed Kau&#7771&#257 Mall his deputy and <i>d&#299w&#257n</i>. He demanded from Lakhpat R&#257i an indemnity of three lakh rupees which he was not able to pay. D&#299w&#257n Kau&#7771&#257 Mall, who had opposed Lakhpat R&#257i's repressive policy towards the Sikhs in 1746, now offered to make up the balance provided the prisoner was handed over to him. M&#299r Mann&#363 agreed and transferred charge of Lakhpat R&#257i to Kau&#7771&#257 M&#257ll, who gave him into the custody of the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. He was thrown into a dungeon where he died a miserable death after six months of indignity and torture (1748).</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Bha&#7749g&#363, Ratan Si&#7749gh, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>. Amritsar, 1914<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Gur&#363 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257</i> [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sard&#257r Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh Ahl&#363v&#257li&#257</i>. Patiala, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. II. Delhi, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. I. Princeton, 1966<BR> <li class="C1"> Gandhi, Surjit Singh, <i>Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty</i>. Delhi, 1980.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Surj&#299t Si&#7749gh G&#257ndh&#299<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>