The Sikh Generals in History
@
This is the text of the maiden speech by Preet Raj Kaur, at the Sikh
Youth Symposium 2003, Vaisakhi Session, conducted at Gurdwara Madison Heights,
Michigan, USA, for which the final would be held in Toronto in August 2003.
This symposium is conducted by Sikh Youth Federation of USA. The book
prescribed for this age group (11-13 years), is: The
Sikh Generals, by Gurbax Singh.]
* The
youthful writer is granddaughter of Sr. Kulwant Singhji. Email: [email protected].
The freedom we
enjoy today, as a Sikh community is largely attributable to the great
Khalsa generals of the 18th
and 19th centuries. Sikh
history is full of legendary warriors and generals who exemplified the
“Saint Soldier” concept, which is the heart of our Sikh way of life. They
never gave up their Sikh faith, even under the most difficult circumstances.
In addition to fighting for their own freedom and self-rule, they also helped
others who were oppressed.
Today, I will highlight the courage, strength and
sacrifices made by some of these generals. I will also present to you some of
the strategies used by these generals in winning wars against tyrant rulers
and bringing peace to the common people of Punjab. It was the honest and
daring acts of the Khalsa Panth that made it acceptable as the legitimate
ruler of Punjab. Finally, I will highlight a lesson from Sikh history that is
as important today as it was then - fighting for our own freedom and
self-rule.
Guru Gobind Singh ji
created the Khalsa, also known as “Akaal Purakh Ki Fauj”, or the
army of the Almighty. Through the initiation ceremony of “Khanday Ki
Pahul”, he woke all the ‘sleeping lions’ and turned them into great
warriors. These warriors were willing to sacrifice their lives for fighting
the tyrants of that time and freeing the oppressed people from their tyranny.
The first general was
Banda Singh Bahadur. He was born in Jammu in the year 1670 as Lakshman Das. He
grew into a strong man with wrestling, horseback riding and hunting as his
main hobbies. After a life-changing incident in his youth, he became a very
holy person - meditating upon God’s name all the time. He became a disciple
of a Bairagi Sadhu and was given the name of Madho Das. He moved to Nanded
with a group of Sadhus and settled there. It was here, in 1708, when he met
Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
Madho Das was thoroughly
impressed by Guruji’s personality and teachings. When asked by Guruji,
“Who are you?”, he replied with great humility - “your Banda”.
He took Amrit and became popularly known as Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.
Guru ji sent him with 5 other sikhs, to fight state terrorism in Punjab.
By the time he reached
Punjab, he had an army of 500 men and had many victories, such as the ones at
Samana, Sonepat, Kaithal, Mustafabad and Sadhora. When he was ready to attack
Wazir Khan, the governor of Sirhind, other Sikh jathas joined him.
Banda Bahadur’s army attacked and killed Wazir Khan, who had killed the two
youngest sahibzadey. He also returned the land to the local farmers who
were its rightful owners.
In similar ways, he
punished many tyrants. This scared the Mugals. His victories led to the
establishment of Khalsa rule in Punjab. The Sikhs obstructed flow of trade and
communication between Delhi and Lahore for the Mugals. Emperor Bahadur Shah
was upset and sent huge armies to defeat Banda Bahadur. After long-fought
battles and inability to stop him, they planned a trick to capture him. They
finally arrested him and offered freedom if he converted to Islam. He refused
and was martyred in June of 1716.
As time progressed and the
Mugals realized that they could not defeat the Sikhs, they tried to befriend
the sikhs. Sikhs were now allowed to own land and could live without a price
on their heads. A large estate was given to the Sikhs and Sardar Kapoor Singh
became the Nawab of this land. Being a visionary leader, he knew that this
peace would be short lived. He developed strategies to strengthen the
community and lay the foundation for the future Sikh nation. He established
communication links to unite Sikhs and create a strong community.
He created the Dal Khalsa,
which reorganized itself into two divisions - the Budha Dal for Sikhs above
the age of 40, and the Taruna Dal for people fewer than 40. The Budha Dal was
responsible for preaching gurmat and managing the Gurdwaras. The Taruna
Dal became the main fighting force of the Khalsa. A Common Khalsa Fund was
established which would provide money for arms, horses and clothes. Common langar
for both Dals was also started. Every Sikh was ordered to respect and report
to their jathedars. Through the preaching efforts of the Budha Dal and
the safety provided by the Taruna Dal, their membership quickly increased to
12,000 men.
The Mugals were not happy
with the way the Khalsa Panth was growing. Two years after the estate was
given to the Sikhs, they attacked the Sikhs and repossessed the estate. Bounty
was put on the head of each Sikh. People were rewarded for help in arresting
Sikhs and punished for providing them food or shelter. Nawab Kapoor Singh felt
that the time had come for the Khalsa to establish its self-rule. With the
approval of the Panth, he decided to recapture the estate as well as the rest
of Punjab.
The Khalsa generals had to
use clever strategies to win their battles because their armies were much
smaller compared to the Mugal armies. In the battle with the Lahore army,
Nawab Kapoor Singh told a few soldiers to retreat with him while the Taruna
Dal lay in trenches dug into the ground and waited for the Lahore army.
Thinking that the Khalsa army was retreating, the Mugals advanced. The Khalsas
came out of the trenches and attacked them, killing 3 Mugal generals as well
as many of their officers and soldiers. The Mugals were defeated and forced to
retreat. In later years, Akali Phoola Singh also successfully used this
“retreat and draw” tactic to win Peshawar.
Another battle strategy
effectively used by the Khalsa generals was guerilla warfare. These were
fierce surprise attacks that weakened the opponents
as well as accomplish
intended missions. These were also used against Nadir Shah and Abdali.
The Sikhs were highly
respected in their communities because they always helped the oppressed people
even when they themselves were in very difficult circumstances. For example,
during Nawab Kapoor’s time, Nadir Shah tortured the people of Delhi killing
approximately 100,000 people. He stole great quantities of gold and valuables;
and also kidnapped many girls to become slaves. Thinking that no one was going
to attack him, Nadir Shah relaxed his forces. Was he wrong? The Sikhs, using
guerilla type warfare attacked his forces, freeing all the prisoners and
taking a huge chunk of his loot.
Another act of courage
shown by the Sikhs was in March of 1761 when, under the command of Jassa Singh
Ahluwalia, they freed 2000 women prisoners from Abdali’s caravan. In the
words of the author of my book, “The people felt that the Sikhs deserved to
be the rulers of Punjab. They alone could protect the people and their honor
from the invaders. “
History repeats itself.
Today, the time has come for it to do so. The whole world is trying to fight
terrorism and tyrant rulers. It is time that we stand up for the oppression
all over the world, including our homeland of Punjab. We need to put our
differences aside and come together as a strong community, which we are. We
need to follow the footsteps of the great Khalsa generals of the past. Khalsa
ji, I have no doubt in my mind that with God’s grace, and becoming true
Khalsas, the Sikh community can help a great deal in getting rid of terrorism
and oppression in today’s world. Khalsa ji, I also have no doubt that,
sitting amongst us, might be one or more future generals who could help us
accomplish this mission.
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