ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>ZAIN KH&#256N (d. 1764)</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="ZAIN"> <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">&#65279ZAIN <u>KH</u>&#256N (d. 1764), an Af<u>gh</u>&#257n, was appointed governor of Sirhind in March 1761 by Ahmad Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299. Earlier he had acted as Faujd&#257r of Ch&#257r Mah&#257l ---the four districts of Si&#257lko&#7789, Gujr&#257t, Pasr&#363r and Aura&#7749g&#257b&#257d. This was from 1759 when Kar&#299m D&#257d <u>Kh</u>&#257n was appointed governor of the Punjab by the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n invader. For his relentless campaign against the Sikhs and for his part in the Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 (5 February 1762), or Great Carnage, at the village of Kup-Rah&#299&#7771&#257 near M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257, Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n had become a special target of their vengeance. Within four months of the Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 they attacked Sirhind with a strong force, inflicting upon him a severe defeat and laying him under tribute. In January 1764, the Sikhs under the leadership of Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 invaded Kur&#257l&#299 and looted Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n's <i>d&#299w&#257n</i> Lachhm&#299 Nar&#257i&#7751. Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n, apprehending an attack on his capital, opened negotiations with &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 offering <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> to Sikhs if they would withdraw from his country. &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh, according to Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>, deputed his agent N&#257n&#363 Si&#7749gh Grev&#257l to the Sikh chiefs, who forthwith turned down the terms he had brought, saying, "Authority does not come by charity... The Gur&#363 has assigned sovereignty to us. The <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 had won it by bargaining away their heads for it."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On 14 January 1764, the Sikhs besieged Sirhind. Jass&#257 Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 commanded 10,000 horse of his own <i>misl</i> or clan. As head of the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, he had under him troops of seven <i>misls</i>, six of these belonging to the Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal and the seventh being the Bha&#7749g&#299 <i>misl</i> of the Taru&#7751&#257 Dal. In the battle that took place at P&#299r Jain about 10 km from Sirhind, Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n was wounded. He fled the field on horseback and entered a mango grove to hide himself. A Sikh soldier, T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh of M&#257&#7771&#299, who was pursuing him spotted him and cut off his head. The territory of Sirhind, a vast tract of plain country, 350 km long and 250 km wide, extending from the Sirmur hills and the River Yamun&#257 in the east, to the borders of R&#257jasth&#257n in the west, and from the River Sutlej in the north to Pan&#299pat in the south, now fell into the hands of the Sikhs.</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>. 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"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. IV. Delhi, 1982<BR> <li class="C1"> Gandhi, Surjit Singh, <i>Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty</i>. Delhi, 1980<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhagat Singh, <i>Sikh Polity in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sard&#257r Si&#7749gh Bh&#257&#7789&#299&#257<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>