Sarkar Kfiafsa The Great Drama of Rea f Guru Nanak ...........tail; wv n ^ Jl Dr. Kufcfip Singh, FRCS Chandigarh I Digitized bv Paniab Digitat Library WWW. Sarkar Khalsa The Great Drama of Real Guru Nanak Dr. Kuldip Singh, FRCS 2080, Sector 15C, Chandigarh Ph. 2772980, email - [email protected] l I Dedication Dedicated to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II In Commemoration of her Visit to Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar The Site of Operation Bluestar, Where the Real Guru Nanak Revealed Himself:“The Light of the Lord Himself was called Guru Nanak.” Recorded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib is True. 2 SARKAR KHALSA THE GREAT DRAMA OF REAL GURU NANAK I The Enigma of Sarkar Khalsa During last few years of 18th Century several different armies were fighting for occupying Lahore. The three main groups were Leaderless Mughal Army, Remnants of Afghani and the various Sikh misls. In the chaotic conditions with complete break down in Law and Order in 1799, the Muslim and other Leaders of Lahore approached a totally illiterate 17th year young Ranjit Singh who was an expert horse rider and sword tighter to take over the Government and provide peace. The Sikh Misl Leaders including Jathedar Akal Takhat were advised by Sahib Singh Bedi who enjoyed the great respect to accept Ranjit Singh as Head of Sarkar Khalsa. Who advised this totally illiterate* Ranjit Singh to commence a sovereign State with a meteoric rise, which soon came to the notice of the British who had occupied most of the India and the European Countries? (*Who could not read and write any language) Following the capture and execution of Banda Bahadar along with his 740/780 soldiers in March 1716, the Sikhs were scattered. The Sikhs started regrouping with the Mughal forces trying to liquidate them. Sikhs had their sympathizer amongst the Hindu majority of Punjab. Several Hindus on 3 the other hand were cooperating with the Mughals to get rewards for in forming them about the Sikh hideouts. The harrowing brutalities faced by the Sikhs are still recounted in the daily Ardas. The brave Khalsa Sikh soldiers of other Missals came forward to rapidly extend the domain of the Sarkar Khalsa. The fervour and death defying Khalsa soldiers was recorded by Ghulam Jilani in his “Jang-i-Multan ^(1818): “that a cannon lost one of its wheels and could not be properly fired without support. The Durbar soldiers wrangled among each other to have the honour of supporting the cannon on their shoulders. Many were killed with the recoil of the gun.” Kashmir was next Captured, July 1819 and by 1822 most of the West Punjab was under Sarkar Khalsa. Mohkam Chand, Hari Singh Nalwa, Misr Dewan Chand andAkali Phula Singh were the successful commanders. The fame of Sarkar Khalsa spread to Europe. At the same time Maharaja Ranjit Singh commenced employing European officers to give a modem look to his Army. Over 50 European officers were in the Sarkar Khalsa Army at the time of demise of Maharaja in the 1839. After the death of Akali Phula Singh in 1823 Maharaja changed his lifestyle. He married the two young daughters of the Kangra Raja and became addicted to opium alcohol and entertainment by dancing girls. Ranjit Singh gave large offerings to temples and mosques and celebrated Hindu and Muslim festivals. Sarkar Khalsa was a peaceful secular state and Maharaja enjoyed love and affection of all Punjabis. Everyone mourned him. In spite of universal love of his subjects, the Sarkar Khalsa came to an end within ten years. What were the factors, which lead to its meteoric rise and its rapid decline? Only the soldiers of Sarkar Khalsa gained the reputation of being invincible on the battlefield. 4 Digitized wwwjjanjtMiailib^om SARKAR KHALSA THE GREAT DRAMA OF GURU NANAK n True Story of Eclipse of Sarkar Khalsa According to the admission made by Sir Robert Cust, in his logbook entry, dated 22nd December 1845, the British Command had formally decided at night to “Surrender unconditionally” the next morning before the Khalsa army. Lord Hardinge, the British Governor General, who took part in this battle, also thought that everything was over\ After making his will, he handed it to his son, who was his ADC, together with his sword-a present from the Duke of Wellington and 1/ which once belonged to Napoleon, his Star of the Bath, and ordered him to escape in the night to Ferozepore, saving “if the day were lost, I must fall.” “THE TRUTH: Why did Lord Harding decided at night to “Surrender unconditionally” the next morning before the Khalsa army?”He had witnessed the killings of the British soldiers at the hands of the Sarkar Khalsa soldiers. r No Britishj>oldier was prepared to face the Khalsa soldiers ' and they had deserted from the field^l Why and how did this j happen? If asked to surrender the British had no option because the British soldiers were not there to fight. Nanaksdas visualized how a soldier of Sarkar Khalsa would hold the bayonet of the British soldier with his left hand saying loudly “SATNAAM” and wielding his sword with his right hand was shouting “ WaheGuru” while severing his 5 neck. The speed of cutting of the British necks was realty staggering. Many dozens were killed per hour. The Sarkar Khalsa soldiers never thought about their own life”. The above note” THE TRUTH... own life” is by Nanaksdas written on deep contemplation. This was based on the memory which was too old had gone much below consciousness. The surrender did not take place because the already “Contracted Sikh Generals” made the victorious Khalsa soldiers to surrender to the British. The British always shuddered at the thought of the manner in which the soldiers of the Sarkar Khalsa were cutting the necks of the British soldiers as if they were cutting a cauliflower crop. 6 Digitized by PaniahMaitaUjbran^wwwu^ SARKAR KHALSA THE GREAT DRAMA OF GURU NANAK m The Truth of Anglo Sikh Wars 1845 “The ill-equipped, ill-fed and in gloriously betrayed Sikh soldiers fought the enemy with such bravery and ferocity that the enemy had to make hurried special contacts with Generals Lai Singh and Tej Singh to save the situation for them.’’(Kapur Singh, Parasara Prasana pp 248-249) Lord Gough then told the whole truth when he added, “Certain it is that there would have been a different story to tell if the body of men had not been commanded by traitors.” (The life and Campaigns of Viscount Gaugh, p. 108) Out of the once 54 European officers in the Khalsa army, only two, namely Col. Mouton and Col. Harbon took part in the First Anglo - Sikh War. Col. Mouton, a Commander of Regular Cavalry and a French officer, published a report in Paris in 1846, which Inter-alia, records, “Very little was needed to conquer the British, at least in the north of India. Without treason a campaign of one month would have lead us to Delhi.” Shame, therefore, to all those who enriched by the great Maharaja or his successors, preferred dishonour and the breaking up of the kingdom to a glorious war and the sharing of its perils. (Dr. Ganda Singh (ed.) the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845- 46). Punjab Past and Present, Serial No. 29, April 1981, p 127) 7 1849 The British Subaltern wrote, “The Sikhs fought like devils.... Such a mass of men I never set eye on and as plucky as lions they ran right on the bayonets of the 21st (Regiment) and struck at their assailants when they were transfixed. (Sita Ram Kohli, Sunset of the Sikh Empire 1967 p. 175) When the remnants of Sikh soldiers, without any backing from their state, challenged in battle the British army at Chillianwala on 13th January, 1849, the rout of British was so decisive and complete that even patriotic British historians are obliged to admit that they were defeated. The great grand- father of the writer of these lines, who fought in this battle used to narrate that the Sikhs, for full twelve hours pursued the scattered British soldiers in all directions, who when overtaken would fall on their knees to beg for mercy, saving” hum tumhara sei.” (I am like a defenceless cow to you), on the sight of a Sikh soldier. (Kapur Singh,Parasara Prasana p. 249) General Thackwell, who was present, wrote, “In this action as well as at Chillianwala, Sikhs caught hold of the bayonets of their assailants with their left hands and closing with their adversaries, dealt furious sword blows with their right. This circumstance alone will suffice to demonstrate the rare species of courage possessed bv these men. The fidelity displayed by the Sikh gunners is worthy of record: the devotion, with which they remained at their posts, when the atmosphere around them was absolutely fired by the British guns, does not admit description. (Sita Ram Kohli, Sunset of the Sikh Empire 1967 p. 178) 8 The fight at Gujrat was a disaster though, the coup de erace was, however, delivered again bv the Arch Traitor. Gulab Singh Dogra. (Sita Ram Kohli, Sunset of the Sikh Empire 1967 P-179) After the death of Akali Phula Singh in 1823 Maharaja changed his lifestyle. He married the two young daughters of the Kangra Raja and became addicted to opium alcohol and entertainment by dancing girls. SARKAR KHALSA THE GREAT DRAMA OF GURU NANAK IV The Training of the Sarkar Khalsa Soldiers There is no doubt in both the Anslo-Sikh wars of 1845 and 1849. The British successes had been on account of the treason of General Lai Sinsh and Tei Singh 1845 and by the Arch Traitor, Gulab Sinsh Dosra in 1849.