ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SIKHS RELATIONS WITH HILL STATES</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="SIKHS,RELATIONS,WITH,HILL,STATES"> <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">&#65279SIKHS' RELATIONS WITH HILL STATES lying between the Ga&#7749g&#257 and the Chen&#257b rivers from the time of the Gur&#363s to the reign of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh fluctuated from guarded friendship to open hostility. Gur&#363 N&#257nak (1469-1539) and later his son, B&#257b&#257 Sr&#299 Chand, had preached the Sikh tenets in the hill tract east of the Punjab proper. Under the order of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s (1479-1574), his nephew, S&#257van Mall, had gone to Har&#299pur (Guler) state, to preach as well as to send down the River Be&#257s timber needed for the new habitation being raised at Goindv&#257l. Gur&#363 Hargobind (1595-1644) came in contact with some of the chiefs of these R&#257jp&#363t states in the Gw&#257l&#299or Fort where he, along with them, was held captive under the orders of Emperor Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r. He also helped Dharam Chand, a prince of Ha&#7751&#7693&#363r (N&#257l&#257ga&#7771h) to regain his throne after his release from Gw&#257l&#299or. He, through his son, B&#257b&#257 Gurditt&#257 (1613-38), founded the township of K&#299ratpur in Kahl&#363r (Bil&#257spur) state to which place he himself repaired in 1635. K&#299ratpur remained the seat of the Gur&#363s until Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur founded, in 1655, Chakk N&#257nak&#299, later renamed Anandpur. The rulers of Kahl&#363r treated the Gur&#363s with reverence until R&#257j&#257 Bh&#299m Chand, who ruled from 1665 to 1692, became jealous of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's royal style and growing repute. The Gur&#363 withdrew temporarily from Anandpur, and accepting, in 1685, the invitation of the friendly ruler of Sirm&#363r, took up residence in his territory. R&#257j&#257 Bh&#299m Chand forced upon him a battle which was fought at Bha&#7749g&#257n&#299, 11 km northeast of his new abode, P&#257on&#7789&#257, on 18 September 1688. The R&#257j&#257 and his allies were repulsed. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh returned to Anandpur later in 1688. Bh&#299m Chand made his peace with him. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh in fact took sides with him in his battle against a Mu<u>gh</u>al commander fought at Nadau&#7751 on 20 March 1691. Bh&#299m Chand was succeeded in 1692 by his son, Ajmer Chand, who, intent on evicting Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh from his territory, revived the old animosity. In alliance with some other hill monarchs and soliciting help from Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b, he attacked Anandpur successively in 1700, 1703 and 1705. The last assault took the form of a protracted siege, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh eventually evacuating the Fort. The hill chiefs and the imperial troops came in pursuit up to Chamkaur.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh before his death at N&#257nde&#7693 on the banks of the River God&#257v&#257r&#299 in Mah&#257r&#257sh&#7789ra in November 1708, deputed Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur (1670-1716) to chastise the <i>faujd&#257r</i> of Sirhind and the hill chieftains for their part in the persecution of the Sikhs. Band&#257 Si&#7749gh during his whirlwind campaign sacked Sirhind and reduced the hill states. Following a period of sustained persecution, the Sikhs emerged as a political power. They reconquered Sirhind in January 1664 and struck coins at Lahore in the following year. Their raids into the Ga&#7749g Do&#257b and beyond beginning in 1764 brought the people to submission and they agreed to pay <i>r&#257kh&#299 </i> or protection money to them twice a year. The R&#257j&#257 of the Himalayan state of Ga&#7771hw&#257l bought peace by paying to the Sikhs an annual tribute of 4,000 rupees. As George Forster, <i>A Journey from Bengal to England</i>, testifies, only two Sikh horsemen were enough to overawe a Ga&#7771hw&#257l officer into readily paying the tribute. R&#257j&#257 of Sirm&#363r paid as tribute Rs 2,000 per annum to the Bha&#7749g&#299 Sard&#257rs of B&#363&#7771&#299&#257 regularly until 1809 when this state passed under British protection. The first Sikh chief to invade K&#257&#7749g&#7771&#257 hill states was Sard&#257r Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh R&#257mga&#7771h&#299&#257, who reduced K&#257&#7749g&#7771&#257, N&#363rpur and Chamba to tributary states, yielding together about 2,00,000 rupees annually. K&#257&#7749g&#7771&#257, the strongest of the hill states, was ruled by R&#257j&#257 Sa&#7749s&#257r Chand Ka&#7789och from 1775 to 1823. In 1783, Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh helped by the Kanhaiy&#257 <i>sard&#257r</i>, Jai Si&#7749gh, besieged K&#257&#7749g&#7771&#257 Fort which had been in Mu<u>gh</u>al possession since 1619. The Fort was ultimately occupied by the Kanhaiy&#257s in 1783. In 1803-04, Sa&#7749s&#257r Chand twice invaded Sikh territories in the region of Hoshi&#257rpur and Bijv&#257&#7771&#257 but was pushed back by Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh (1780-1839), who occupied the K&#257&#7749g&#7771&#257 Fort itself on 24 August 1809. All the hill states north of the River Sutlej accepted his suzerainty, and he appointed Des&#257 Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257 as his <i>n&#257zim</i> or governor of the territory.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jamm&#363 was the principal state lying between the Rivers R&#257v&#299 and Chen&#257b. Its most famous ruler was Ra&#7751j&#299t Dev who ruled from 1750 to 1781. He became a tributary of Sard&#257r Jha&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh of the Bha&#7749g&#299 <i>misl</i> in 1770. During the time of his successor, Brij R&#257j, Jamm&#363 was sacked twice by Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh Sukkarchakk&#299&#257, father of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. Brij R&#257j was killed in battle in 1787, and his son, Samp&#363ran Dev, made a complete submission to the Sikhs.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Hutchison, J., and J. Ph. Vogel, <i>History of the Punjab Hill States</i>. Lahore, 1933<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1978-82<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Guru Gobind Singh</i>. Chandigarh, 1966<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, <i>Life and Times of Ranjit Singh</i>. Nabha,1977<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>