Later Mughals v1.c9.s18.t1: The Sikh Spiritual Succession.
Later Mughals v1.c9.s18.t1
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The Sikh Spiritual Succession.
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The Sikhs, as a body, deny the spiritual authority of any one who came after Guru Govind Singh. But in a modified form he had successors, and as a conclusion to this section, I will add a few words carrying on the story into the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719-1748).
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Govind Singh left no surviving natural issue. But at his death in 1708, as already stated, a boy named Ajit Singh was brought forward by the disciples as his adopted son. After receiving an imperial mansab, he was raised to the seat of authority as the head of the sect. He finally found his way to Dihli, in charge of Govind Singh's widow, Mata, or Mother, Sundari. In Farrukh-siyar's reign, when he grew up to manhood, evil advisers persuaded him to set up entirely on his own account. Mata Sundari was turned out, and necessarily a schism arose, she claiming for herself a separate spiritual head-ship. Many Sikhs forsook Ajit Singh and followed her. At length in the seventh year of Muhammad Shah, a false accusation was brought that one of the Wearers of Patches* had been killed by him. Some two to three thousand Muhamadans raised a disturbance and with much clamour brought their complaint to Qamr-ud-din Khan, Itimad-ud-daulah, the Wazir. Fearing a serious riot, the Wazir sent some troops, who captured Ajit Singh and he was executed.†
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∗ The place is familiarly known to us as the Qutb Minar.
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† Rai Chatarman, Chahar Gulshan, my copy fol. 143a, and Tarikh-i-Mhdi, year 1137, "Guru Ajit Singh, son of Guru Govind Singh, successor of Nanak, killed on Friday the 4th Jamadi I. (=18th January 1725) at Shahjahanabad for rebellion, by the Emperor's order."
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Jahi Singh, son of Ajit Singh, was at that time very young. His well-wishers, fearing that some harm might come to him, carried him off to Mathura and in 1173 H. (Aug. 1759—Aug. 1760) when Chatarman wrote, he was still living there. Many believed in and followed him, but some of the sect had betaken themselves to others.
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Mata Sundari, Govind Singh's widow, when the quarrel with Ajit Singh took place, started on her own account and drew many after her. On her death, her party transferred their allegiance to Sahib Dei, known as the Kuwara Dula or the Virgin Bride. She was the daughter of some hill-rajah, who had sent her to Govind Singh. Before her arrival, he had departed to the other world. But she refused to take any other husband and adopted the life of a religious mendicant. On Mata Sundari's death, Sahib Dei succeeded, but after a year she too died. These two ladies had continued to live in Dihli. In 1173 (1759-60) the only religious leader of the Sikhs, was Jahi Singh, son of Ajit Singh, who then lived in Mathura with a good following of from one to two hundred persons. [Chahar Gulshan, 143a.]
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∗ Khirkahposh = Religious mendicant or dervish.
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SEC. 20.—THE JAT CAMPAIGN, (SEPTEMBER 1716—APRIL 1718).
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We have now to deal with another branch of that wide-spread Jat race, which formed such a large proportion of the Sikh fighting line. Without entering into Colonel James Tod's speculations about their identity with the Goths or Getæ, it may be assumed as a certainty that, for many hundreds of years, a branch of this people has been settled in the country south of the Jamuna, between the cities of Agra and Dihli. This region, ending on the east at the Chambal river or a little beyond it, marks the eastern limit of their advance from the west. East and north-east of that point there are practically no Jats. Their position on the flank of the high road between two great capitals and of the routes from both those places through Ajmer onwards to the Dakhin, must in all ages have given this robust race an opening for plundering on the highways, a temptation which they found it impossible to resist.*
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Without attempting to carry very far back the history of these Jat depredations, we find, without question, that in the reign of Shah Jahan (1047 H., 1637), they killed Murshid Quli Khan, the faujdar of Mathura, during an attack on one of their strongholds. In the next reign, that of Alamgir, they several times gave trouble. In Zul Hijja 1079 H. (April 1669) another faujdar, Abdun-nabi, lost his life in an attack on a village called Sorah, the home of a Jat freebooter named Gokala, who had raided the town of Sadabad in the Duaba. Alamgir marched in person from Agra, and sent on before him a new faujdar, Hasan Ali Khan, son of Allah Wirdi Khan. Gokala and a follower of his, Sanki, were captured and executed, limb being torn from limb; Gokala's daughter was married to the Emperor's favourite slave, and his son was made a Muhammadan. [Sarkar's History of Aurangzib, iii. ch. 35.]
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∗ A lively picture of the dangers of this road early in Bahadur Shah's reign is given by Yar Muhammad, Dastur-ul-insha, 130. Between Mathura and Dihli the road had been entirely stopped for two months, and a crowd of many hundred travellers, including the wife of Amin-ud-din Sambhali, had collected. In 1712 the Dutch envoy and his party also found the road infested by robbers, who were, no doubt, Jats, F. Valentyn iv.
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³⁰² The same state of things is reported in the diary of our own envoy, John Surman, a year or two afterwards, Orme Collections, p. 1694, entries of the 8th, 16th, and 30th June 1715.
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Alamgir's prolonged absence in the Dakhin speedily weakened the imperial authority in Northern India. In their master's absence the provincial governors took their ease and winked at abuses. Favoured by this negligence, the Jats resumed their depredations. At length in 1099 H. (1687-8) Khan Jahan, Zafar Jang, Kokaltash, and Prince Bidar Bakht, son of Azam Shah, were sent from the Dakhin to restore order. At this time the chief stronghold of the Jats was at a village called Sansani, eight miles south of Dig, and sixteen miles north-west of Bharatpur. This place was taken on the 15th Ramzan 1099 H. (14th July, 1688), the chief, Raja Ram, was killed, and his head sent to the Emperor. Prince Shah Alam, when he was put in charge of the Agra subah in the thirty-ninth year, i.e., 1106 H. (1695), also had trouble with the Jats. Bhajja, the father of Churaman, is the next leader of whom we hear, and his abode was also at Sansani. In the forty-ninth year of Alamgir's reign, 2nd Rajab 1117 H. (19th October, 1705), Sansani was destroyed a second or third time by Mukhtar Khan, the then subahdar of Agra; and shortly afterwards, on the 18th Ramzan 1119 H. (13th December, 1707), Riza Bahadur attacked it again, sending in ten carts filled with weapons and one thousand heads.*
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When Bahadur Shah and his brother, Azam Shah, took the field against each other and met between Agra and Dholpur, Churaman collected as many men as he could, and hung about the neighbourhood of both armies, ready to pillage the vanquished. In the end, so much plunder fell into his hands, that he became from that time forth a most formidable partisan leader, with whom it was necessary to reckon in such troublous times. While Bahadur Shah was at Agra, Churaman came in, and professing to have repented of his turbulent ways, was granted the rank of 1500 zat, 500 horse. In Ramzan 1120 H., (November 1708), he helped Riza Bahadur, the imperial *faujdar*, in an attack on Ajit Singh, zamindar of Kama, where Churaman was wounded and Riza Bahadur was killed. In 1122 H. (1710) Churaman joined the Emperor at Ajmer, and took a part in the campaign against the Sikhs at Sadhaura and Lohgarh. He went on with Bahadur Shah to Lahor, and was present during the fighting which took place there after that Emperor's death (March 1712). He also seems to have fallen upon and plundered the baggage of both sides impartially, when Jahandar Shah and Farrukh-siyar met in battle array near Agra in Zul Hijja 1124 H. (January 1713).
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∗ Chura, or more politely Churaman, son of Bhajja, of Sansani, had by this time succeeded to the leadership of the Jats. Masir-i-Alamgiri, 311, 498; Danishmand Khan, under above date; Khafi Khan ii. 316; Masir-ul-umara, i. 809.
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Early in Farrukh-siyar's reign Chabela Ram, then *subahdar* of Agra, received orders to march against Churaman, and efforts to reduce his power were continued for a long time without success, owing to the underhand opposition of the Wazir and his brother. The next holder of that Government, Samsam-ud-daulah Khan Dauran, not feeling strong enough to use force, tried to make terms. Churaman agreed to come to Court, and on the 16th Ramzan (5th October, 1713), when he arrived at Barahpula near the city, Rajah Bahadur Rathor, son of Azim-ush-shan's maternal uncle, was sent out to meet and escort him. Churaman marched in at the head of 3,000 to 4,000 horsemen, and was conducted to the *Diwan-i-khas* by Samsam-ud-daulah in person. Charge of the royal highway from Barahpula near Dihli to the crossing on the Chambal, was made over to him, and he soon returned home. But by slow degrees he fell into disfavour, the extent of the country he took possession of was thought excessive, his realization of road dues was objected to, and his interference with *jagir*-holders was disliked. All that a *jagirdar* could collect from him was a little money thrown to him as if it were an alms. These things were repeated to the Emperor in detail, over and over again, until they produced an effect, and he resolved that some action must be taken. The difficulty was to find any one competent to undertake such an arduous task. Churaman had meanwhile constructed a new stronghold at a place called Thun.[*]
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∗ Thun does not seem to be well known now. Can it be the Toond of the Indian Atlas, sheet 50, between Dig and Gobardhan? Or is it
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At length in the fifth year of the reign, Jamadi II. 1128 H., May—June 1716, Rajah Jai Singh Sawai returned to Court* from his Government of Malwa. Finding out Farrukh-siyar's secret desire to get rid of Churaman, he offered himself as ready to undertake and carry out the work. Early in Shawwal (September 1716) he received his orders, and started on the 9th of that month (25th September 1716), being the Hindu festival of the Dasahra. Some troops under Sanjar Khan and Shamsher Khan, of the Wala-shahis, were posted at Palwal, thirty-six or thirty-seven miles from the city, to keep communications open, and provide convoys from that place to Hodal in one direction, and Faridabad in the other. A large sum in cash was disbursed to Rajah Jai Singh from the imperial treasury, and he sent for troops from his own country. Serving under him were Maharao Bhim Singh Hada, of Kota, Rajah Gaj Singh Narwari, and Maharao Rajah Budh Singh Hada of Bundi.†
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† Kamwar Khan, 140, 168; Shiu Das, 11b.
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Thun having been completely invested, the siege began on the 5th Zul Hijja 1128 H. (19th November, 1716). The fort was provided with lofty walls and a deep ditch filled from springs, and round it spread a thick and thorny jungle "through which a bird could hardly make its way." Supplies were abundant; indeed, (though this is probably an exaggeration), there was said to be grain, salt, ghi, tobacco, cloth, and firewood sufficient for twenty years. When the siege was imminent, Churaman had forced all merchants and traders, with their families, to quit the place, leaving their goods behind them. Churaman made himself personally responsible for their compensation if he gained the day, and as the property could not be removed, the owners gave their consent without much demur.‡
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‡ Kamwar Khan, 168; Shiu Das, 12b. Hodal, 18 or 19 m. s. of Palwal Indian Atlas, sheet No. 50; Faridabad, Indian Atlas, sheet No. 49 s.e. ;
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Jatolee Thoon, 8 miles west of Sansani? An 18th century writer remarks: "Il y a encore (1767) un Thoun, mais dans un autre endroit, peutétre pour conserver la mémoire d'une place qui, quoique malheureuse, n'a pas donne peu de reputation aux Jats," Orme Collections, p. 4218.
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∗ Mace-bearers were sent to fetch him on the 27th Rabi II. 1128 H. (19th April, 1716), Kamwar Khan 140, 163; Masir-ul-umara; Mirza Muhammad, 293.
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Churaman's son, Muhkam Singh, and his nephew, Rupa, issued from the fort and gave battle in the open. In his report of the 7th Muharram, 1129 H. (21st December, 1716), the Rajah claimed a victory. He next cut down all the trees round the fort, and erected a large number of small guard-houses, in which he placed his men. A large cannon, said to throw a ball weighing a Shahjahani maund, was sent to him, being escorted with great ceremony from Palwal to Hodal, whence it was taken on to Thun by Nusrat Yar Khan, the deputy governor of Agra. Three hundred maunds of gunpowder, one hundred and fifty maunds of lead and five hundred rockets were ordered to be sent from the arsenal at Agra. At first Abdus-samad Khan, governor of Lahor, was recalled from the Panjab, but after he had reached Dihli, the idea of sending him was abandoned, and Sayyid Muzaffar Khan, Khan Jahan, maternal uncle of the two Sayyids and then governor of Ajmer, was summoned to take his place. The Sayyid was despatched to Thun on the 30th Muharram 1129 H. (13th June, 1717).*
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In spite of the investment of Thun, the roads were not cleared of robbers. The other zamindars and villagers took Churaman's part; they pillaged travellers and plundered villages. For instance, a caravan of merchants arrived at Hodal, consisting of thirteen hundred carts loaded with leather bottles full of clarified butter. Instead of giving the usual notice to Sanjar Khan, the owners started for Palwal, in the belief that their own one thousand matchlockmen would suffice. When two or three kos from Hodal, they were surrounded, the armed guards threw down their guns and fled, while the Jats and other plunderers drove off the carts into the neighbouring villages. About twenty lakhs' worth of property, as the owners asserted, had been taken. Sanjar Khan soon reached the spot with his troops, but he was afraid to enter the villages, because they were in the jagirs of the Wazir, Qutb-ul-mulk, and of Khan Dauran. [Kamwar 168-175.]
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Narwar, Thornton, 685, 210 m.s. of Dihli, the Narwar Rajah was a Kachhwaha; Bundi, Thornton, 1410, 245 m. s. w. of Dihli; Kota, Thornton, 525, 265 m. s. of Dihli; Palwal, Indian Atlas, sheet No. 49 s. e.
* Abdus-samad Khan reached Dihli on the 12th Muharram, Sayyid Khan Jahan on the 25th, (Kamwar Khan, 169). Khafi Khan, ii. 777, says, Rajah Jai Singh Sawai was never distinguished as a soldier or general in the field, and in spite of all he could do, the siege dragged on for twenty months. The rains of 1717 were very late in coming, prices rose very high, and great expense fell upon the Rajah in bringing supplies from his own country of Amber. In Safar 1130 H. (January 1718), the Rajah reported that he had many encounters with the Jats, in which he had overcome them, but owing to support given to them at Court, they were not inclined to yield. And, no doubt, the presence of Khan Jahan, a near relation to the Wazir, caused a division of authority which was fatal to success. At length Churaman made overtures to Qutb-ul-mulk through his agent at Dihli, offering a tribute of thirty lakhs of Rupees to the Government and a present of twenty lakhs for the minister himself. Thereupon Qutb-ul-mulk espoused the Jat's cause. He represented to Farrukh-siyar that Rajah Jai Singh had received a large amount of money and that the monthly expenses were very heavy. Yet, although twenty months had elapsed, no definite result had been arrived at. Very reluctantly Farrukh-siyar consented to the terms offered. Sayyid Khan Jahan was written to, directing him to bring Churaman to Court, with his sons and brothers' sons, after having protected the whole of his property from pillage. At the same time a flattering farman was despatched to Rajah Jai Singh, thanking him for his exertions, informing him that Churaman had made overtures which had been accepted, and that all hostilities must cease. By this time Rajah Jai Singh believed that victory was within his grasp, and now, by this negotiation over his head, the whole fruit of his labour was taken from him! Although inwardly raging, he obeyed orders, withdrew his men, and raised the siege.*
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Qutb-ul-mulk's ill-will to Rajah Jai Singh is said to have arisen in the following way. When the Rajah first came to Farrukh-siyar's Court, he found himself very favourably received by the new Emperor. In former reigns a noble, when he found the sovereign gracious to him, never thought of paying court to any one else. Believing himself secure in the Emperor's good graces, Rajah Jai Singh neglected to ask for the support and favour of Qutb-ul-mulk. The Wazir resented this neglect. He was further vexed about the campaign against Churaman, a matter on which his advice had not been asked. Thus he privately applied himself to prevent the Rajah from reaping the reward of his undertaking. He instructed Khan Jahan, his kinsman, accordingly, and it is said that Churaman was secretly aided with supplies of food and powder. After more than eighteen months of exertion, nothing had been effected. Farrukh-siyar grew angry, as he believed the conquest to be an easy one; and on several occasions, Qutb-ul-mulk made covert allusions to the effect that the task was one beyond Jai Singh's strength. In the end Churaman's proposals were brought forward and accepted as already stated. [M. M. 352.]
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∗ Shiu Das 14b, 15b (where there is a copy of the hasb-ul-hukm, and 15a (copy of farman); Khafi Khan, ii. 777; Mirza Muhammad, 352.
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On the 10th Jamadi I. 1130 H. (10th April, 1718) Khan Jahan arrived at Dihli with Churaman and his nephew, Rupa. They went first to visit Qutb-ul-mulk, which angered Farrukh-siyar very much. On the 19th (19th April, 1718) the formal presentation to the Emperor took place, the introduction being made by Qutb-ul-mulk. Farrukh-siyar granted this audience very ungraciously, and absolutely refused to see Churaman a second time. Two days afterwards Sayyid Khan Jahan, in return for his services, received the addition to his titles of the word Bahadur and was promoted to 5,000 horse. On the 30th (30th April, 1718) it was settled through Qutb-ul-mulk that the Jat leader should pay fifty lakhs of Rupees in cash and goods, to be liquidated by instalments. Rajah Jai Singh and Maharao Bhim Singh returned to Dihli from Thun on the 29th Jamadi II. (29th May, 1718). [Kamwar 177, K. K. 777.]