Dr Fauja Singh Department of Punjab Historical Studies
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
SIRHIND THROUGH THE AGES Edited by DR FAUJA SINGH DEPARTMENT OF PUNJAB HISTORICAL STUDIES PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA f ' I I SIRHIND THROUGH THE AGES \ SIRHIND THROUGH THE RGES / Edited by DR. FAUJA SINGH . A ' •r.- i *MUM< MWIMW* PATIALA - DEPARTMENT OF PUNJAB HISTORICAL STUDIES PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA Ail Rights Resirved Copies 550 September 1972 I Printed and Published by : S. OURCHARAN SINGH, REGISTRAR, PUNJABI UNIVERSITY. PATIALA AT THE PHULKIAN PRESS, PATIALA . ' v Contents ' • INTRODUCTION DR FAUJA SINGH 1. ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF SIRHIND RN VOHRA RAMESH WALIA 2. SIRHIND DURING THE SULTANATE PERIOD FAUJA SINGH 3. SIRHIND DURING THE MUGHAL PERIOD GURBUX SINGH A PPENDIX FAUJA SINGH M. S. AHLUWALIA 4. NAQSHBANDIS OF SIRHIND M. S. AHLUWALIA 5. OTHER SAINTS AND SCHOLARS OF SIRHIND DURING THE MUGHAL PERIOD FAUJA SINGH M. S. AHLUWALIA 6, SOME EMINENT MUGHAL ADMINISTRATORS AND HIGH OFFICIALS OF SIRHIND FAUJA SINGH M. S. AHLUWALIA TABLE FAUJA SINGH M. S. AHLUWALIA 7. SIRHIND IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY GANDA SINGH 8. SIRHIND UNDER PATIALA ADMINISTRATION FAUJA SINGH GURSHARAN SINGH M APPENDIX I GURSHARAN SINGH A PPENDIX II 9 9 SIRHIND SINCE 1956 FAUJA SINGH * C. L. PATTA MONUMENTS OF SIRHIND KIRPAL SINGH FAUJA SINGH APPENDIX I 1 . APPENDIX II A PPENDIX III ILLUSTRATIONS 1. FIRUZSHAH TUGHLAQ Facing Page 2. AKBAR THE GREAT 11 3. SULTAN AHMAD (PRESENT SIJDA NASHIN) f r 4. BANDA SINGH BAHADUR i / 5. JASSA SINGH AHLUWALIA / / 6. BABA ALA SINGH fj * ' 7. MAHARAJA KARAM SINGH If OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS t t • ** INTRODUCTION In the pursuit of historical research in India we have now arrived at a point where any further progress in this direction is to a very large extent contingent upon advancement in our knowledge of local history. Local history here stands not only for regional history, such as history of Punjab, Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra etc., it also stands for the history of individual towns, villages, educational institutions, manufacturing units, temples, mosques and Khanqahs. The bits of new knowledge yielded by microscopic studies involved in historical research on subjects of local impor- tance are essential elements in the production of a macroscopic picture having in its purview the historical canvas of the entire country. It is a matter of real gratification that historians of India are now fully seized of the matter and already several organizations have been set up with firm commitment to research in local . history. Notable among these research bodies is our own depart- ment of Purjab Historical Studies which during its brief existence of nine years 1 as got nearly forty publications to its credit. Work on individual historic towns and cities is one of the v many research projects undertaken by us. A few years back such a work, our fust, was brought out on the city ofPatiala. The * present work on Sirhind is second in the series. God willing, this will be followed, one after another, by similar attempts.on Ropar, Samana. Sunam, Bhatinda and other such towns lying * within the jurisdiction of our University. # There are few towns in India and certainly very few in the * * m b, which present a more entrancing, as also more chequered, history than the city of Sirhind. A place of great strategic import, Sirhind (Sairindh in the Ancient Period, Sehrind in the early Medieval Period and Sirhind in the later Medieval Period and the Modern Period) served as a base of opera- lions in the struggles for power fought successively between VIII S1RHIND the Hindushahis and the Ghaznavids, the Chauhans and the Ghorids, the Lodhis and the Khokhars, the Mughals and the Afghans, the Sikhs and the Mughals, and the Sikhs and the Durranis. Whether the narrow strip of territory forming the link between the Punjab on the one side and Delhi and the Yamuna-Ganga Doab on the other, or operations were intended somewhere in the Shivalak Hills or in the plain-belt around Ludhiana, Malerkotla and Jullundur, the great utility of Sirhind as a military base was never lost sight of. The main reason for that, apart from its geographical location, was that it had excellent road connections. The most important of these roads were those which linked it with Delhi, Lahore, Kangra, Saharanpur and Dipalpur. Probably, this factor was the main reason that this city was usually selected as the headquarters of either a whole state, or an administrative unit thereof. But the history of Sirhind is not merely noted for the mom entous role it has played. Antiquity and continuity are its other important hallmarks. The origin of the place dates back to remote times and is shrouded in obscurity. While traces of the earlier stages of its existence are available, Sirhind acquired prominence only in the seventh century when it became th^-cgpital of the Satadru Kingdom. Again under the later Hindushahi rulers the place was elevated to the exalted status of a state capital. From the eleventh to the beginning of the thirteenth century the city occupied the position of a major frontier defence post. This position, however, changed with the establishment of Turkish monarchy in North India. Henceforward, the city was reduced to the position of headquarters of a subordinate administrative division and was one of the eight such units west of Delhi. Under the Khaljis it lost even that modicum of importance though only tor a short period because in the time of Firuzshah Tughlaq it regained its place to a certain extent as the seat of administration of a lg of a tide in its fortunes, who fourteenth century conver- * INTRODUCTION IX ted it into a major citadel of their power, a sort of springboard which they used to capture the sovereignty of Delhi. The rising importance of Sirhind passed on to the Mughals as part of their heritage. Under Akbar the process of history was reversed when the Sarkar headquarters were shifted to Sirhind and both Sunam and Samana were incorporated as subordinate Parganas in the Sarkar of Sirhind. From now onwards right till its final conquest by the Sikhs in 1764 Sirhind remained the seat Of administration of a Sarkar of the Suba of Shahjahanabad. The period from Akbar to Aurangzeb is considered the golden period in the history of this city. Never before this period and never after that did the glory of Sirhind reach a higher watermark than the one touched during these years. It was then one of the most flourishing towns of the Mughal Empire having 360 mosques, tombs, sarais and wells. But in 1705 a single act of barbarity committed by the Fuujdar of Sirhind, Wazir Khan —execution of two innocent sons of Guru Gobind Singh—doomed the fate of the city as nothing else had done before in its long and chequered career. The revenge which the followers of the great Sikh Guru took in the eighteenth century for this atrocious act was almost unparalleled in the history of mankind. In consequence, the city was devastat- ed out of all recognition. Even then the Sikh prejudices against the place remained deep-seated till very recently. After over two centuries that the city of Sirhind has lain under the shadow of a doom, another turning of the tide in its fortunes is under way. An upward trend is now definitely dis- cernible. Economic factors have combined with cultural and political factors to create a favourable milieu for ihe present and future prosperity of the place. Old prejudices, too, are now on the way out, so that the Sikhs who were the main hindrance to its progress are now themselves most keen on the acceleration of the process of its development. X SIRH1ND i As will be seen, the purpose of the present work is not to provide an exhaustive study of the subject; rather it has been undertaken with the humble object of furnishing a pioneer study in the form of a monograph to researchers and general readers. And if this study succeeds in provoking a measure of interest in this subject and other subjects of an allied nature, its real object will have been more than fulfilled. In the end 1 must offer grateful thanks to the Vice-Chancellor, Sardar Kirpal Singh Narang, for his abiding interest in the pro- motion of historical research, more particularly in local and regional history. My grateful acknowledgements are also due to my colleagues in the departments of History and Punjab Historical Studies, as also to my friends Shri R.N. Vohra and Dr Ramesh Walia. I am also thankful to Sardar Anup Singh of the University Press and the proprietor and staff of the Phulkian Press for their valuable help. PATIALA FAUJA SINGH September, 1972 1 ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF SIRHIND r Sirhind is among Ihe oldest historical places of the Punjab. But its antiquity is buried in obscurity and its origin much dis puted. Nuruddin Sirhindi in his Rauzat-ul-Qayuml says that "Sirhind was founded in the time of Ferozshah III, at the suggestion of Sayyid Jalaluddin Bokhari, the King's pir, by Rafiuddin, an ancestor of Mujaddad Alf Sani." According to him, this place was specially established to receive the gift of Mujaddad Alf Sani whose birth was prophesied, The new settlement being situated in a lions' forest was called Sihrind (Sih means lion, rind means forest). Waliullah Sidiqi, author of Aina-i-Brarbans, offers the view that it was Sahir Rao or Loman Rao, 116th in descent from Lord Krishna, and of the Yadva dynasty, ruling at Lahore about 531 Sambat, who was the founder of the settlement,2 Then, there are a few legends referred to by Alexander Cunnin gham.