ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>RUH&#298L&#256-SIKH RELATIONS</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="RUH*L,SIKH,RELATIONS"> <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">&#65279RUH&#298L&#256-SIKH RELATIONS, The Ruh&#299l&#257s came from the Y&#363safza&#299 tribe of Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns originally belonging to Roh, a tract of land south of Chitr&#257l in the North-West Frontier region. They established themselves in the early years of the eighteenth century as a semi-independent power in the district lying between the River Ganges and the Kum&#257o&#7749 hills and extending eastwards up to Sh&#257hjah&#257npur. Their first powerful chief, 'Al&#299 Muhammad, received from the Emperor Muhammad Sh&#257h a <i>Mansab</i> or rank of the 4,000 grade and was appointed <i>faujd&#257r</i> of Sirhind in 1745. &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh, the founder of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state, made alliance with him and joined him in a campaign against the Muslim chief of R&#257iko&#7789. But 'Al&#299 Muhammad suddenly attacked &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh's capital, Barn&#257l&#257, which was given over to plunder. &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh himself was taken prisoner and detained in the Fort of Sun&#257m, but he escaped through a stratagem in 1747. 'Al&#299 Muhammad died in September 1748.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The next great leader of the Ruh&#299l&#257s was Naj&#299b <u>Kh</u>&#257n who started life as a foot soldier under 'Al&#299 Muhammad, but rose in rank soon after his master's death. He received from the Mu<u>gh</u>al Emperor '&#256l&#257mg&#299r II the <i>mansab</i> of 5,000 <i>z&#257t</i> and <i>sow&#257r</i> and the title Naj&#299b ud-Daulah. Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299, before returning homewards after his fourth invasion, 1756-57, appointed him M&#299r Ba<u>kh</u>sh&#299 or paymaster of the army and his own <i>mu<u>kh</u>t&#257r</i> or agent plenipotentiary. While the plunder of Delhi was being transported to Lahore under prince Taim&#363r, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh attacked him at Sanaur and again at M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257 and robbed him of a considerable part of the treasure. &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh had also supplied provisions to the Mar&#257&#7789h&#257 army on the eve of the battle of P&#257n&#299pat, January 1761. The Durr&#257n&#299, therefore, sacked Barn&#257l&#257 soon after P&#257n&#299pat and forced &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh to become a tributary. For this reason, &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh did not give any active support to the Sikhs during what is known as Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 or the Great Holocaust perpetrated on them by Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 on 5 February 1762. Yet &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh was summoned to present himself before the Sh&#257h. He was saved only through the intervention of Naj&#299b ud-Daulah.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But Naj&#299b ud-Daulah being the Durr&#257n&#299's agent was not the Sikhs' favourite. Following their conquest of Sirhind in January 1764, the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 or federated force of the Sikh <i>misls</i>, under their leader, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257, poured into the Ga&#7749g&#257-Yamun&#257 Do&#257b in the middle of February 1764 and plundered the country up to Mur&#257d&#257b&#257d and Chandausi in Ruhilkha&#7751&#7693, the land of the Ruh&#299l&#257s. Naj&#299b ud-Daulah had to pay a heavy sum of 11,00,000 rupees to persuade them to go back to the Punjab early in March. This was, however, only the first of the Sikhs' biannual raids into the territories of Naj&#299b and the Emperor. In November-December 1764, the J&#257&#7789 ruler of Bh&#257ratpur, Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh, solicited the Sikhs' help against Naj&#299b ud-Daulah. 15,000 Sikhs already in the Ga&#7749g Do&#257b, joined him and defeated Naj&#299b twice during January-February 1765, after which they retired to the Punjab at the news of a fresh invasion of their country by Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299. During the Sikhs' raid on the Do&#257b later in the year, a severe battle lasting several days took place between them and the Ruh&#299l&#257s, with Naj&#299b personally in command, near Sh&#257ml&#299 in present-day Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. The periodic raids of the Sikhs and skirmishes with the Ruh&#299l&#257s continued till Naj&#299b's death on 31 October 1770. His son and successor, Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, inherited his father's title and office, but he did not have his father's strength of character. With the Emperor now under Mar&#257&#7789h&#257 control and Ruhilkha&#7751&#7693 conquered by the Naw&#257b of Oudh in 1774 with British help, Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n's influence was restricted to a small area around <u>Gh</u>ausga&#7771h in the upper Ga&#7749g Do&#257b. He came to terms with the Sikhs conceding to them the right to collect <i>r&#257kh&#299</i> or protection levy. The Sikhs in May 1776 frustrated the Naw&#257b of Oudh's efforts to wean them away from Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, and instead assisted the latter to occupy Mu<u>gh</u>al territories. The Emperor took away his titles of M&#299r Ba<u>kh</u>sh&#299 and Am&#299r ul-Umar&#257 and sent a force to bring him to book. Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n helped by his Sikh friends withstood the onslaught for several months, but was finally defeated on 14 September 1777. He fled to the Sikh camp and escaped, under their protection, across the Yamun&#257 while his entire camp, family and treasure fell into the hands of the victors. To strengthen his alliance further he became a convert to Sikhism and assumed the name of Dharam Si&#7749gh. Najaf <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the Regent of the Empire, considered it advisable to conciliate Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n with a view to keeping the Sikhs in check through him. He called Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n to Delhi and restored his family and territories to him. Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n in turn gave his daughter in marriage to Najaf <u>Kh</u>&#257n. But the Sikhs were alienated from him, for they had not been consulted during these proceedings.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Sikhs, passing through the Do&#257b in December 1778, entered Ruhilkha&#7751&#7693 despite opposition by the troops of the British East India Company guarding the fords and ferries on the Ga&#7749g&#257, and returned after plundering several villages with impunity.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Z&#257bit&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n died on 21 January 1785. His son and successor, <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Q&#257dir, tried to re-establish friendly relations with the Sikhs. His <i>vak&#299l</i> or agent waited upon the <i>sard&#257rs</i> who were again out on a plundering raid in Ruhilkha&#7751&#7693 in January-February 1785, and persuaded them to withdraw promising to pay <i>r&#257kh&#299</i> money. The Sikhs withdrew but <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Q&#257dir did not honour his part of the agreement. Having waited for two years, during which period, the <i>r&#257kh&#299</i> arrears rose to 1,00,000 rupees, the Sikhs invaded his territories in February 1787. <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Q&#257dir paid to some chiefs their share of the dues. In July 1787 he persuaded Sard&#257r Baghel Si&#7749gh and some other chiefs to join him in an attack upon the imperial capital. Their combined force entered Delhi on 5 September 1787. The Emperor, finding himself helpless, conferred the office of M&#299r Ba<u>kh</u>sh&#299 with the title of Am&#299r ul-Umar&#257 on <u>Gh</u>lam Q&#257dir. But the Ruh&#299l&#257 chief&#8217s haughtiness and his secret parleys with Begum Samr&#363 led to disaffection among the Sikhs, who once again pillaged his territories in the Do&#257b in 1788. <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Q&#257dir was ultimately captured by the Mar&#257&#7789h&#257s in December 1788, and put to death on 4 March 1789. Mu&#8217in ud-D&#299n <u>Kh</u>&#257n alias Bhamb&#363 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the younger brother of <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Q&#257dir, and his mother were given refuge by Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh R&#257mga&#7771h&#299&#257 in his estates in Gurd&#257spur district of the Punjab.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Bha&#7749gu, 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 &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257</i>. Patiala, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Gandhi, Surjit Si&#7749gh; <i>Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty</i>. Delhi, 1980<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Har&#299 R&#257m Gupta<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>