ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PH&#362L&#256 SI&#7748GH AK&#256L&#298 (1761-1823)</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="PHjL,SIDGH,AKL*,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">&#65279PH&#362L&#256 SI&#7748GH AK&#256L&#298 (1761-1823), Sikh hero and an eminent religious figure of the time of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, was born in 1761 at the village of Sh&#299h&#257&#7749, now in ruins, about 5 km west of M&#363&#7751ak, in present-day Sa&#7749gr&#363r district of the Punjab. His father, lshar Si&#7749gh, an associate of the Nish&#257n&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299 <i>misl</i>, died in 1762 fighting Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 in Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257, the Great Carnage, leaving his infant son to the care of B&#257b&#257 Narai&#7751 (Nai&#7751&#257) Si&#7749gh who belonged to the Sh&#257h&#299d <i>misl</i>. B&#257b&#257 Narai&#7751 Si&#7749gh brought him up and instructed him in the Sikh texts as well as in the methods of warfare. He also administered to him the initiatory vows of <i>Kha&#7751&#7693e d&#299 p&#257hul</i>. As he grew up, Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh joined the <i>jath&#257</i> of B&#257b&#257 Narain Si&#7749gh at Anandpur and took part in many an expedition. After the death of B&#257b&#257 Narai&#7751 Si&#7749gh, he was elected leader of the <i>jath&#257</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the midst of soldierly occupation, Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh showed concern about the manner in which the Sikh shrines were being administered, and denounced some of the prevalent usage. In 1800, Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh; along with members of his <i>jath&#257</i>, moved to Amritsar. When in January 1802, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, attacked Amritsar to wrest control of the city from the Bha&#7749g&#299s, Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh mediated between the clashing groups and averted bloodshed. He took charge of the holy shrines there and began levying charges on the <i>sard&#257rs</i> and officials of the Sikh court for their maintenance. As provost of the Ta<u>kh</u>t Ak&#257l Bu&#7749g&#257, he once imposed punishment on Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh for infraction of the Sikh code.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh's Ak&#257l&#299s distrusted the foreigners Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns as well as Feringhees. In 1809, they were involved in an attack on the Muhammadan escort of Charles Metcalfe, the British envoy to the court of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. The same year Lieut F.S. White, a British officer, who was proceeding through the Sikh country with 80 troopers to survey the cis-Sutlej region on the authority of the Ph&#363lk&#299&#257&#7749 chiefs, was challenged by Ak&#257l&#299 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh's <i>jath&#257</i> at Patto K&#299. Timely intervention by the N&#257bh&#257 chief saved the life of Lieut White.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh appointed Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh commander of the Ak&#257l&#299 troops in his service. These troops, not fully subservient to the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's authority, were the most daring of his soldiers. In February 1807, Ak&#257l&#299 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh and his <i>jath&#257</i> fought valiantly at Kas&#363r and helped the Lahore forces subjugate the P&#257&#7789h&#257n governor, Qutb ud-D&#299n <u>Kh</u>&#257n. As a reward, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 gave Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh's force regular barracks at Amritsar which later developed into the headquarters of the Niha&#7749g sect and became known as Ak&#257l&#299&#257&#7749 d&#299 Chhau&#7751&#299 or the Ak&#257l&#299 Cantonment.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1816, when Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's armies made their sixth attack upon Mult&#257n, Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh led a storming party of his Ak&#257l&#299 zealots. The Ak&#257l&#299s fought with reckless courage and took the Fort in the final assault they launched in 1818. Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh and his band of Ak&#257l&#299s also participated in the Pesh&#257war (1818) and Kashm&#299r (1819) campaigns. In January 1823, Am&#299r Muhammad 'Az&#299m <u>Kh</u>&#257n marched from K&#257bul with a strong host bent upon occupying Pesh&#257war and chastising the Sikhs. A Sikh army under Prince Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh rapidly moved northwards and converged on Naushehr&#257, midway between Attock and Pesh&#257war. In the fierce action fought at Naushehr&#257, the Ak&#257l&#299 contingent, 1500 strong, made a desperate charge and was soon in the thick of the battle. Suddenly, Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh's horse was struck by a bullet and died. Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh was also hurt, but he shifted on to an elephant and pressed forward. The Af<u>gh</u>&#257n militia made him their main target and he fell under a heavy shower of bullets. Although Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh and most of his men had been killed, the battle was won and the Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns had to flee Naushehr&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ak&#257l&#299 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh had met with a hero's death on 14 March 1823. He was cremated at P&#299rsib&#257q, 6 km east of Naushehr&#257, with full military honours. A <i>sam&#257dh</i> was built on the site and the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 attached to it a <i>j&#257g&#299r</i> for its maintenance. Another monument in Ak&#257l&#299 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh's honour stands at Amritsar in the form of Burj B&#257b&#257 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> S&#363r&#299, Sohan L&#257l, '<i>Umd&#257t-ut-Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u></i>. Lahore, 1885<BR> <li class="C1"> Latif, Syad Muhammad, <i>History of the Panjab</i>. Calcutta, 1891<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, <i>Life and Times of Ranjit Singh</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1977<BR> <li class="C1"> Prem Si&#7749gh, B&#257b&#257, <i>J&#299van Brit&#257nt B&#257b&#257 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh Ak&#257l&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1914<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Mohinder Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>