Glossary of Names
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GLOSSARY OF NAMES 'Abd us-Samad Khan (d. 1737). Governor of Lahore fi·om 1713-1726. He served at the court of Aurangzeb and then Farrukh-Siyar. Most notably, Samad Khan was charged with the capture of Banda Bahadur ( q.v. ), which he succeeded in doing. Descended from a notable family ofSamarkand, his son was Zakariya Khan (q.v.). 'Abd ul-Ahad Khan. The deputy waz'ir (minister) of the Mughal empire in 1773, appointed by Mirza Najaf Khan, the grand waz'ir. He was the second m'ir bakhsh'i (paymaster general), since the first paymaster general, Zabita Khan, was generally absent fi·om the royal court. Adina Beg Khan (d. 1758). Appointed naz'im (administrator) of the Jalandhar Doab in 1739 by Zakariya Khan (q.v.), then governor ofLahore. He later becamefaujdar (military leader) of Jalandhar under Mu'in ul-Mulk (q.v.). When Ahmad Shah Durrani ( q .v.) plundered the Punjab for the third time, he directed Adina Beg to direct his energies towards wiping out the Sikhs who were frustrating Ahmad Shah's baggage trains. Throughout his career, Adina Beg had a paradoxical relationship with the Sikhs, killing large numbers of Sikh pilgrims at Anandpur Sahib in 1753 and later admitting Jassa Singh Ramgarhia (q.v.) into his army. Ahmad Shah Abdali, Ahmad Shah Durrani (1722-1772, reigned 1747-1772). Ahmad Khan was a distinguished combatant in Nadir Shah's (q.v.) army, rising to the rank of commander of Nadir's Abdali contingent. After the Shah's death in 1747, Abdali took advantage of the power vacuum and assumed leadership of the Afghans and earned the appellation "Shah". From his base in Kandahar and as tacit heir to Nadir Shah's eastern dominions, he invaded India nine times between 1747 and 1769. The Shah's sixth invasion of 1762, was directed toward the Sikhs who had for years been attacking his lines of communication and baggage caravans. On his return fi·om Punjab, the Shah took out his final revenge on the Harimandar Sahib, blowing it up and defiling the sarovar (tank). His eighth invasion was once again directed at the Sikhs, this one even more fi·ustrating than the last as the days of Sikh guerrilla warfare were at their zenith. Alumgir II, Muhammad Aizuddin (1699-1759, reigned 1754-1759). One of the lesser Mughals to sit on the throne of Delhi. The son of]ahandar Shah, he was placed on the throne by Wazir Ghazi-ud-din Imad-ul-mullc He adopted the same title as the Emperor Aurangzeb, and called himselfAlumgir II. An impotent ruler who was sub servient to the rule of a wazir-kingmaker within his own court, his attempt to assert himself resulted in his ruin, and lead to his gruesome death at the hands of the waz'ir. Amar Singh, Raja ( 1748-1782). Raja of Patiala succeeded Ala Singh, founder of the royal house ofPatiala. Amar Singh's father, Sardi:H Singh, died before his grandfather Ala Singh and, thus, Amar Singh became regent. Aged just nineteen when Ahmad 350 GLOSSARY OF NAMES Shah Durrani invaded the country, Amar Singh played deft politics with the Abdali king and secured the governorship of Sirhind with the title Raja-i-RaJgtin. With his credentials established, Amar Singh expanded Patiala to make it the most powerfi.1l state of its day between the Yamuna and the Sutlej. Angad, Gunl. (1504-1552, Guruship 1539-1552). Second Gum of the Sikhs. His name before he became Guru was Lahina but was changed to An gad (limb) by Guru Nanak (q.v.) at the time of his succession in 1539. On the advice of Guru Nanalc, Guru Angad moved to Khadur. He started a regular system of collecting oHerings to meet the expenses of langar ( q .v.). He was a keen promoter of physical fitness amongst the growing Sikh community. At the time of his demise, he nominated a seventy-three year old disciple, Amar Das, to succeed him as the third Guru. Arjan, Guru (1563-1606, Guri"1ship 1581-1606). Fifth Guri"1 of the Sikhs and son of Guru Ram Das ( q.v. ). His first task as the Guru was the establishment of the Harimandar Sahib (often referred to as the Golden Temple) in Chak Ram Das, the original name of Amritsar. For this, he asked all Sikhs to donate a tenth of their income. Amritsar came to be the premier spiritual and commercial centre of the Punjab. In 1604, he was responsible for compiling the spiritual writings of all the ear lier Gurus and renowned Hindu and Muslim holy men in the Guru Granth Sahib (q.v.), the present GurtJ of the Sikhs. The Mughal Emperor Akbar (q.v.) visited Guru Arjan in 1598, and was persuaded to remit the annual peasants of the district who had been hard hit by the failure of the monsoon. But Akbar's death in 1605 brought a sudden reversal in the attitude of the Mughals. His son and successor, Jahanglr ( q.v. ), put an end to the growing popularity of Gum Arjan by charging him with trea son and torturing him to death. Aurangzeb, Emperor (1618-1707, reigned 1658-1707). The third son ofEmperor Shah Jahan, he was originally named Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad 'Alumgir, but was given the name Aurangzeb "Ornament of the Throne" while still a prince. Following a bloody struggle for the succession with his brother, he ascended the throne in 1658, adopting the title Alumglr "conqueror of the world." Conflict and martyrdom dominate interactions between the Sikhs and Aurangzeb. It was during the reign of Aurangzeb that Guru Har Rai was summoned to the royal court. GurtJ Har Krishan's investiture did not suit the emperor and he too was summoned to Delhi. Struck down with smallpox, the eight-year-old Guru died. His successor, Guru Tegh Bahadur (q.v.), also suffered at the hands ofAurangzeb's policy of religious persecu tion. The GurtJ was arrested and executed in Delhi. The tenth Guru, Gobind Singh ( q .v. ), was continually harassed by imperial troops although there is little evidence that the two ever met. After the fiercest encounter in 1705, which was marked by the duplicity of the Mughalleadership in rescinding a settlement, the GurtJ wrote a let ter to the Emperor titled Zafarntimah (epistle of victory). The emperor responded with a Jarman to the deputy governor of Lahore to make peace and a request for a personal meeting between the GurtJ and the emperor (Ahkam-i-Alamg'irz). Aurangzeb died on February 20, 1707 before this could take place. Babar, Emperor (1483-1530, reigned 1526-1530). A contemporary of Guru Nanak ( q.v. ), his full name was Zahir ud-Din Muhammad, the founder of the Mughal empire of India and descendant of Timur (Tamerlane) and of Jenghiz Khan. Responding to an invitation in 1525 from the governor of the Punjab to overthrow the Sultan of Delhi, Babur began his raids into India. He launched an invasion and GLOSSARY OF NAMES 351 defeated the Sultan at Panipat in 1526, capturing Agra and Delhi. Later, he con quered nearly all of North India. He was succeeded by his son, Humayl"m. Baghel Singh Karorasinghia (1730-1802). Leader ofKarorasinghia mislin 1765, at the head of 12,000 men. Renowned for being a good soldier and political nego tiator, he was able to win over the Mughals, the Rohlllas, the Marathas, and British, who all sought his friendship. In 1764, Sikhs in a body of 40,000 under the com mand of Baghel Singh, overran the territory of Najib ud-Daula ( q.v. ), the Rohilla chief In 1775, Baghel Singh with two other Sirdtirs crossed the Yamuna to occupy that country, then ruled by Zabita Khan ( q.v.) who in desperation offered Baghel Singh large sums of money and proposed an alliance to plunder the crown-lands. The following year, Baghel Singh's forces defeated the Imperial Mughal Army near Muzafhrnagar, leaving the entire Yamuna-Gangetic Doab at their mercy. In 1783, the Sikhs entered the Red Fort in Delhi. The tearful Mughal emperor, Shah Alum II ( q.v. ), had no choice but to agree to Baghel Singh's plans to raise gurdwtirtis ( q.v.) on Sikh historical sites. Bahadur Shah, Emperor (1643-1712, reigned 1707-1712). The son and successor of Aurangzeb (q.v.). Born Prince Muhammad Mu'azzam but also known as Shah Alum I, he was governor of Kabul when his father died and fought a bloody succes sion battle with his brother. Mu'azzam ascended the throne under the title of Bahadur Shah when he was sixty-four years old and died tive years later. During his lifetime, the empire was already falling to pieces through internal dissensions. Banda Bahadur ( 1670-1716 ). The military successor to Gurtl Go bind Singh who exacted revenge on Wazir Khan and was executed in Delhi in 1716. Sikh tradition maintains that Banda Bahadur was born into a Rajput family in northern Punjab. Although some accounts refer to him meeting Guru Gobind Singh in the Punjab, it is more likely that the first meeting took place in the Deccan in 1708, shortly before the GurtJ died. Banda assumed the role of military leader of the Khalsa and sought revenge against those who had executed the Guru's two younger sons. By 1710, Banda had gathered a peasant army and reached Saman and Sashaura from the Deccan, sacked them and confronted Wazir Khan ( q.v.) near Sirhind. Here, he fought his most decisive battle, killing Wazir Khan, sacking the town, and minting coins in the names of the Gurus.