Gujjar Singh Bhangi
Sardar Gujjar Singh Bhangi (died early 1790; alternatively spelt as Gurja or Gujar)[1] was a Sikh warrior of the Bhangi Misl,[2] and one of the triumvirates who ruled over Lahore prior to the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.[3]
Biography[edit]
Bhangi hailed from a village near Khemkaran, India. His father Natha Singh Sandhu was a Jatt Sikh farmer. He, along with his three brothers, was baptised to Sikhism in his teenage by his maternal grandfather Gurbakhsh Singh.[4] He established a fortress, Qila Gujar Singh, just east of present-day Lahore, and also completed the construction of a mosque.[3]
Gujjar Singh's maternal grandfather was Sardar Gurbaksh Singh of village Roranwala in Amritsar (near the Wagah border) and his mother daughter of Gurbaksh, one of the greatest Sikh warriors under the Bhangi Misl then led by Sardar Hari Singh Bhangi.
Sardar Gurbaksh Singh had adopted as his son a young runaway, Sardar Lehna Singh Kahlon[5][note 1] of village Mustfapur, near Kartarpur, Jalandhar (Sir Leppel Griffin, the Panjab Chiefs). The young man grew up to be a great fighter and military commander of the Bhangi Misl.
Gujar and his adopted uncle split Gurbaksh Singh's inheritance of 40 villages taking half each, with Lehna keeping Roranwala and Gujar founding a new village rangarh in amritsar where his descendents may be found.
The two sardars took Lahore in 1765, with Lehna taking Lahore Fort and Gujar building his own fort Qila Gujar Singh in his part of the city – a third share was given to Sardar Soba Singh Sandhu of village Kanha known as Kanhaiya (same village as Jai Singh Kanhaiya of the Kanhaiya Misl).
Lehna Singh Kahlon was to take Multan in 1772, but Gujar being much more restless and a great warrior embarked on conquest of north west Punjab taking towns such as Gujrat (his main residence) as well as Rawalpindi and many towns to Attock, some places he conquered with help of his best friend Sardar Charat Singh Sukarchakia, grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, with whom he contracted a marriage alliance with his second son Sahib marrying Charat's daughter, Raj Kaur.
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Not to be confused with Lehna Singh Majithia
References[edit]
- ^ Gupta, Hari Ram. History of Sikhs – Vol. IV, The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls.
- ^ A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province: A.-K. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. 1997. ISBN 978-81-85297-69-9.
- ^ a b Sheikh, Majid (28 June 2015). "HARKING BACK: Amazing genius of Gujjar Singh and his Lahore 'qila'". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ Gupta, Hari Ram (2001) [1982]. History of the Sikhs. Vol. IV: The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 224. ISBN 978-81-215-0165-1.
Gujar Singh of Lahore was the son of Natha Singh, a poor cultivator Sandhu Jat of village Bhuri Asal also called Borahsal situated near Khem Karan on the western border of district Firozpur. Natha Singh had four sons, Gujar Singh, Garja Singh, Nusbaba Singh, and Chait Singh. As young men still in their teens they were tempted to become Sikhs. They went to their maternal grandfather Gurbakhsh Singh Bhangi of village Roranwala, 2 kms from Atari, took pahul from him and became Singhs.
- ^ Singh, Bhagat (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Publication Bureau, Patiala Punjabi University. p. 67.
Further reading[edit]
- Gupta, Hari Ram (2001) [1982]. History of the Sikhs. Vol. IV: The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls. Munshiram Manoharlal. pp. 224–234. ISBN 978-81-215-0165-1.
- Singh, Bhagat (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Punjabi University. pp. 102–108. OCLC 622730722.
- Bhāṭīā, S.S. (2011). "GUJJAR SIṄGH BHAṄGĪ". In Singh, Harbans (ed.). The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Vol. II (3rd ed.). Punjabi University. p. 116. ISBN 978-81-7380-204-1. OCLC 881709311.