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Death of the
Wuzeer of Lahore
The Illustrated London
News - 29/11/1845
It is significant to state
that after the death of Maharaja Kharak Singh and Naunihal
Singh in November, 1840, and the dispute for the throne
between Sher Singh and Chand Kaur having been resolved,
the relation of the army to the state, according to Cunningham
had become wholly altered by the middle of 1841. "It
was no longer the willing instrument of an arbitrary and
genial government, but it looked upon itself and was regarded
by others, as the representative body of the Sikh people,
as the 'Khalsa' itself assembled by tribes for centuries
to take its part in public affairs. The efficiency of the
army as a disciplined force was not much impaired, for a
higher feeling possessed the men, and increased alacrity
and resolution supplied the place of exact training. They
were sensible of the advantages of systematic union, and
they were proud of their armed array as the visible body
of Gobind's commonwealth. As a general rule, the troops
were obedient to their appointed officers, so far as concerned
their ordinary military duties, but the position of a regiment,
of a brigade, of a division, or of the whole army, relatively
to the executive government of the country, was determined
by a committee called 'Regimental Panchayat' composed of
men selected from each battalion, or each company, in consideration
of their general character as faithful Sikh soldiers, or
from their particular influence in their native villages".[1]
An example of how these 'Regimental Panchayats' acted when
things went wrong may be quoted with advantage. During the
period Hira Singh (son of Dhian Singh Dogra) was the minister
at Lahore (September 1843-December 1844) with Missar Jalla
as his Chief advisor, great harassment was caused to princes
Peshaura Singh and Kashmira Singh (sons of Maharaja Ranjit
Singh) besides many other Darbar dignitaries opposed to
the Dogra hegemony. This aroused the Khalsa against the
Dogras. 'Army Panchayats' held meeting on 21st-23rd March,
1844, when Hira Singh's administration was subjected to
a searching examination. They decided, therefore, that unless
Hira Singh conceded certain demands he must be forced to
resign. Four representatives of these Panchayats appeared
before him in the open darbar and claimed they had come
on behalf of the Sarbat Khalsa and conveyed to him the 'Hukam'.
It said that he must release Jawahar Singh (brother of Maharani
Jindan) remove the guard placed on the house of Missar Beli
Ram, set free his relations and dependents, raise the seige
of Sialkot and Kuryanwala, both garrisons of princes Peshaura
Singh and Kashmira Singh and give an undertaking that the
princes will not be ill-treated in future. They also demanded
the surrender of Missar Jalla, Sheikh Imam-ud-Din and Lal
Singh. "If he hesitated or refused," the delegates
added, "The order was that Hira Singh himself be seized".[2]
Hira Singh judging from the language and temper of the message
and the firm manner in which it was conveyed in the open
Darbar, readily promised compliance. But using his superb
cunning and tact, accompanied of course with the gold at
his disposal, Hira Singh manoeuvered to get a breather which
postponed his doom for a while.
Again, when Maharani Jindan collected a number of articles
of gold and silver to give in charity on the first day of
the new month (Shangrat) 12 December, 1844, as was the custom,
Missar Jalla questioned her right for such charitable actions.
He is said to have even used abusive language for her. The
Maharani thus extremely troubled at heart, appealed to the
Khalsa for protection. Besides this, Hira Singh and Missar
Jalla's actions had offended the Sikh psyche beyond toleration
in more than one way, such as the brutal massacre of the
highly venerated Sikh Saint Bhai Bir Singh and his devoted
associates in thousands in May 1844, when the Saint was
reciting the holy scripture, which brought matters to a
speedy climax. Accordingly, some of the Khalsa regiments
moved out of the cantonment to open space near the fort.
Once more they demanded the surrender of Jalla. This was
refused. Instead, according to Sohan Lal Suri, the court
chronicler, "In the early hours of 21 December, 1844,
Hira Singh and party loaded with cash and jewellery on elephants
stealthily left their residence for Jammu. But hardly had
they passed the Taxali Gate, when they were noticed by a
company of Sikh soldiers". The news was flashed to
the military lines and a body of 6000 troopers led by Sham
Singh Attari went in persuit. They overtook the fugitives.
Hira Singh and his companions put up a fight but the odds
against them were heavy. Among the one thousand slain were
Hira Singh, Jalla, Mian Sohan Singh son of Gulab Singh Dogra,
Mian Labh Singh and many others.[3]
According to Cunningham, "The regimental panchayats
sincerely aimed at maintaining discipline among the soldiers
and protecting national interests is further provided by
the fact that as soon as the decision to mobilize against
the British was made, they voluntarily stopped functioning
by an agreement with the executive heads of the State, realising,
the necessity of unity of counsel in the affairs of war."
1.Ganda Singh, The British Occupation of the Punjab, Sikh
History Society, Amritsar-Patiala, 1955. pp. 76-77
2.Sita Ram Kohli, Sunset of the Sikh Empire, Ed. Khushwant
Singh, Orient Longmans Ltd., New Delhi, 1967, p. 74.
3.Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Vol. 2, Oxford
University Press, London,1966. p. 35
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