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In 1750, Shah Nawaz Khan was appointed to the independent charge of the province of Multan by the Delhi rulers much to the chagrin of Mir Manna, whose authority was thus severely curtailed. He despatched Kaura Mall to Multan with an army including some forces of Adina Beg Khan and newly recruited contingents of Sikhs under the command of Jassa Singh Ahluvalia. Kaura Mall defeated the Multan army, cut off the fallen Shah Nawaz's head and sent it as a trophy to Mir Manna. A grateful Manna bestowed upon him the title of Maharaja Bahadur and made him governor of Multan. The Diwan who believed that he owed his success mainly to the Sikh soldiers, rewarded them generously. By the autumn of 1751 the Punjab was rife with rumours of another Afghan invasion. Mir Manna had failed to pay the revenue of the four districts ceded to the Durrani and, in the middle of November, advance units of Afghan army under General Jahan Khan crossed the Indus; Ahmad Shah followed closely behind. Mir Manna summoned Kaura Mall from Multan and Adina Beg Khan from Jalandhar and made preparations to join battle. In December 1751, he crossed the Ravi to check the Afghans. Instead of joining Jahan Khan, Ahmad Shah made a detour, and closed in on Lahore from the northeast. Manna quickly retraced his steps and entrenched himself outside the city walls. Hostilities between the two armies opened on 5 March 1752. Kaura Mall fell on the second day of the battle while Adina Beg quietly disappeared from the field. Mir Manna fought as long as he could, and then laid down arms. The Afghans extracted an indemnity of thirty lakh of rupees in cash from Manna. By the terms of the treaty, ratified by the Mughal emperor on 13 April 1752, Lahore and Multan were ceded to Ahmad Shah Durrani. The death of Kaura Mall snapped the only link
between Mir Manna and the Sikh sardars. They had taken advantage
of the conflict between the Afghans and the Mughals to spread out
in the Bari Doab, Jalandhar Doab and across the Sutlej as far as
Jind, Thanesar and beyond coming within 50 miles of Delhi. Manna
discovering how Sikhs had occupied large parts of his territory,
now resumed his policy of repression. Prices were once again laid
on their heads and strict orders were passed against giving refuge
to them anywhere. Skirmishes between Sikh bands and Mannu's roving
columns took place in different parts of the province. Mannu's musketeers
combed the villages for Sikhs. The able-bodied from among them were
killed fighting; the non-combatants including women and children
were brought in chains to Lahore and slaughtered in the horsemarket.
The fighting and reprisals went on until the death of Mannu on 4
November 1753 of an accidental fall from his horse. With Mannu's
death ended yet another attempt to quash the rising power of the
Khalsa. A Punjabi doggerel which became current among Sikhs in those
days sums up how light they made of the atrocity Mannu heaped upon
them. |
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