Early Nineteenth Century Pan jab I Early Nineteenth Century Panjab From Ganesh Das’s Char Bagh-i-Panjab Translated and Edited by J. S. Grewal & Indu Banga DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY GURU NANAK UNIVERSITY AMRITSAR 1975 Published by : S. Bharpur Singh Registrar, Guru Nanak University, Amritsar. Printed by : S. Teja Singh Sethi Tej Printing Press, Katra Sher Singh, Amritsar. Cover design : S. Dalip Singh Price : Rs. 25—00 s) Foreword The Persian text of Ganesh Das’s Char Bagh-i-Panjab was published some years ago for the benefit of the Persian-knowing historian of the Panjab. Its Panjabi translation is being prepared by the Department of History, Guru Nanak University, for those who do not know Persian, or find Panjabi more familiar than any other language. A substantial part of the Char Bdgh, perhaps the most useful to the historian, is being published in English translation for those who do not know Persian or Panjabi. This work was assigned to Dr J. S. Grewal and his colleague Dr Indu Banga in the Department of History. They have aimed at presenting a meaningful version rather than a literal rendering. Also, they have given an illuminating introduction to Ganesh Das’s description of the Panjab. I have no doubt that this publication will prove useful to the students of regional history. It may also serve as an incentive for publishing similar source material on the history of the Panjab or on the history of other regions in the country. I thank the editors for undertaking this work on behalf of the University and I congratulate them for having completed this assignment so well in a short time. Bishan Singh Samundri Vice-Chancellor Guru Nanak University, Amritsar. Contents Preface 9 Introduction 13 Translation 35 Appendix 145 Glossary 156 Classified Index 161 Map <7 P r e fa c e In 1965 the Char Bagh-i-Panjab was published at Amritsar as the only work on the kingdom of Ranjit Singh containing information on social, religious and cultural life of the Panjab, besides a historical account. Its author, Ganesh Das, had completed this work in 1849, soon after the annexation of the kingdom of Lahore to the British empire. One copy was presented to Richard Temple, the settlement officer of Gujrat for a couple of years in the early 1850s, which is preserved in the India Office (now. Commonwealth Relations Office) Library in London. Another copy is preserved in the Punjab University Library in Lahore. Another copy, which according to S. Kirpal Singh, the editor of the Char Bagh-i-Panjab is the best, is in possession of Dr Ganda Singh in Patiala. The published text is based on these three copies of the work. In connection with her research work on ‘the agrarian system of the Sikhs’, Dr Indu Banga found the Char Bagh to be a very useful source of information and actually translated about fifty pages into English. That translation came to serve as the basis of the present publication. Narrating the events of Ranjit Singh’s reign, Ganesh Das stops at the year 1815 to give a 10 Early Nineteenth-Century Panjab description of the Panjab in one hundred and fifty pages before taking up the conquest of Multan and Kashmir. It is this part of the Char Bagh that furnishes most of the topographical, sociolo­ gical and cultural data on the Panjab. And it was this part that had been selected for translation into English. We thought of completing the translation for publication by the Guru Nanak University and the Vice-Chancellor readily gave his approval. The largest number of pages in the entire description of the Panjab are given to the Rachna Doab. Next comes the Chaj. These two doabs were the best known to Ganesh Das, and more than a hundred pages are devoted to these two. Next comes the Bari Doab, with the cities of Lahore and Amritsar which were known to Ganesh Das rather well. But he gives hardly eleven pages to the Sind Sagar Doab and only four to the Bist Jalandhar. Furthermore, nearly one third of the entire description is given to Gujrat, Sialkot, Wazirabad, Eminabad, Lahore and Amritsar. There is, thus, a strong element of disproportion in his description. Indeed, he can give a number of pages to one pargana and a single sentence to another. He can describe a village in the space of a paragraph but barely mention a ta'alluqa or a town. Obviously, his information is not only disproportionate but also inadequate, But, paradoxically, the usefulness of his information consists precisely in this : that he has given only what he regarded as authentic. It is this authenticity of his information that lends weight and value to what he says. The basic significance of evidence presented by Ganesh Das in his description of the Panjab is discussed by us in the introduction that follows. Here we may mention a few things about the translation itself. One-third of the description is given actually to the stories of Sohni and Mahiwal, HIr and Ranjha, Mirza and Sahiba, Haqiqat Rai’s execution, Radhi the sati and to an account of the author’s ancestors. This part of his description of the Panjab has not been included in the translation. However, an outline of these popular tales is given in the appendix. Preface 11 In addition to the original headings of the manuscript, the editor of the Char Bagh has given several sub-headings in the published text. In the original, the author or the copyist has given headings for the description of cities, towns and important villages of each of the five doabs, All these have been retained in the translation, but only as sub-headings. Two other headings of the original have been retained in the translation as sub-headings : ‘the towns and important villages of Gujrat’ and ‘the description of Amritsar’. In the original, headings are given only for two doabs : the Chaj and the Bist Jalandhar. In the translation, headings for the other three doabs have been added. Consequently the doab-headings appear like the chapter-headings of a book. All the sub-headings provided by the editor in the published text have been excluded from the translation. Also, the pattern of paragraphs entirely our own. We have tried to give the essential meaning of the text without straying far away from it. Our preference for meaningful translation over literal rendering would be clear from a comparison of the original with the translation. The annotation is largely confined to clarifying the text. In the use of diacritics we have been guided by the principle of necessity rather than uniformity. Ganesh Das has used in his work many native words like dhaular, said, purohit, langar, sadawart, sati, panch, tilla, baoli, akhara, ber, dhdni, lungi and sddh. Several such words have been retained in the translation. We have given at the end a glossary of all the native words used by Ganesh Das in his description of the Panjab. On the assumption that a classified index may be more useful to researchers, we have adopted this unconventional form for the index. We are thankful to S. Mohinder Singh, S. Amarwant Singh and S. Jaswant Singh for their help in preparing the manuscript for publication. S. Mohanjit Singh and S. Amarwant Singh have been very helpful to us in preparing the index and looking after the work of printing. S. Teja Singh Sethi of the Tej Printing Press, and his son Gurmeet Singh, have been very careful and cooperative 12 Early Nineteenth-Century Punjab in printing the book. The map for this book has been adapted from one originally prepared for Dr Indu Banga’s doctoral thesis. We are thankful to our colleague Mr B. R. Batra, Head of the Guru Ram Das Post-Graduate School of Planning, for his keen cooperation in getting the map prepared. Above all, we are thankful to Sardar Bishan Singh Samundri, Vice-Chancellor of the Guru Nanak University, for his foreword ; we are grateful to him for his kind interest in the publications of the Department of History. J. S. Grewal Tndu Banga Amritsar, January 1, 1975. INTRODUCTION Ganesh Das, a khatrl of Badhera subcaste, introduces himself as the qanungo of the pargana of Gujrat and a zamtndar of that town in the Chaj Doab. Many of his ancestors had served the goverment of their times. Kaka Mai, the founder of the family, had immigrated from Pattan in ‘Gujrat-Dakhkhan’ to serve in the civil administration of Sialkot, first under Biram Dev of Jammu and then under Sikandar Lodi. His sons were given the qanungoi and sarishtadarl of the pargana of Sialkot by Islam Shah. Murar Das, fifth in descent from Kaka Mai, served Raja Man Singh as the diwan of his jagir in Sialkot; his younger brother, Shankar Das, was patronized by Jahangir ; and the youngest, Sawindar Das, too was a mansabdar. Two of Kaka Mai’s great grandsons were given a share in the qanungoi of the pargana of Bahlolpur. One of his great grandsons, Malik Jetha, left Sialkot for Gujrat to become its qanungo in the reign of Akbar. Ganesh Das was ninth in descent from Malik Jetha whose descendants had adopted Gujrat as their home. Ganesh Das recalls the respectable position of his ancestors with a certain amount of pride, without betraying any regret or resentment over the fact that several of them had accepted Islam. Their intellectual attainment as well as their social position and record of service was a source of gratification to Ganesh Das. 14 Early Nineteenth-Century Panjab Two of them had been well known for their calligraphy ; one of them had made his mark in mathematics; another, iii composition ; one of them had been proficient in music and poetry ; and another, in history.