1 Recovers the Bhangi
2 top.
3 Wars with Jay Singh
4 the Kanhia, and Charat
5 Singh the Suker-
6 chakia,
7 Is assassinated, 1774,
8 Succeeded by Gandé
9 Singh his brother.
10 Who enlarges and
11 beautifies the town of
12 Amritsar,
13 Wars agajnst the
14 Kanhias,
15 Marches against
16 Pathankot.
17 Dies.
18 Charat Singh, his
19 nephew, succeeds,
20 Is killed,
21 Desa Singh succeeds,
22 298 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
23 proceeded to Ramnagar, where he recovered the famous zamzama,* or
24 Bhangi gun, from the Chattas, After this he marched on Jammu, at the
25 head of a large army, and made war on Jay Singh, the rising leader of the
26 Kanhia misl, and Charat Singh of the Sukerchakia misl, for their having
27 aided Brij Rdj Deo, the rival claimant of the Jammu chiefship, against his ally
28 and tributary, Raja Ranjit Deo, father of the refractory chief. The fighting
29 was carried on for several days without any decisive result. At length
30 Charat Singh, Sukerchakia, was accidentally killed by the bursting of his
31 own matchlock. At one time the Bhangis appeared likely to win the day,
32 but the death of Jhandé Singh, (who was shot by a Mazabhi Sikh, one of his
33 own followers who had been bribed to do so by Jay Singh), decided the
34 contest in favour of the Kanhia msl.
35 After the assassination of Jhanda Singh, Ganda Singh, brother of the
36 deceased, was unanimously appointed to the leadership of the msl, now in
37 the zenith of its power. Ganda Singh collected a large number of workmen,
38 completed the works of improvement which had been commenced by his
39 brother at Amritsar, finished and strengthened the Bhangi fort, and enlarged
40 and beautified the town with many noble edifices.
41 The treachery of the Kanhias, which had brought about the death of his
42 brother, rankled in the mind of Ganda Singh, and a pretext for giving vent
43 to his injured feelings was not long wanting. Jhanda Singh had bestowed
44 Pathankot, on one of his mislddérs, Nand Singh, who died about the same
45 time as his chief, leaving a widow and a beautiful daughter. The widow
46 .gave her daughter in marriage to Taré Singh, brother of Hakikat Singh,
47 Kanhia. She also gave the Pathankot jdgir to her son-in-law. Both these
48 acts very much annoyed Ganda Singh. He asked the Kanhias to deliver
49 Pathankot over to him, but they insisted upon holding it as their rightful
50 possession. Thereupon Ganda Singh, collecting a large army, and taking
51 with him the Bhangi gun, proceeded to Pathankot, vid the Batdla road, and
52 was joined by many of the Ramgarhia sardars. Tara Singh and Hakikat
53 Singh were joined by the Kanhia mis/, under Gurbaksh Singh, son of Jay
54 Singh, Kanhia, and Amar Singh Bhugga. The two armies met at Dina-
55 nagar, and fought for several days, without decisive result. Hostilities
56 ceased after-ten days’ incessant fighting, in consequence of the sudden death
57 of Ganda Singh, from illness. His son, Desa Singh, being a minor, the
58 soldiers elected his nephew, Charat Singh, to the command of the msi.
59 In one of the early engagements, however, Charat Singh was killed at
60 Pathankot. His death spread dismay among the troops of the Bhangi msi,
61 who fled, leaving Pathankot and the surrounding country in the hands of
62 the Kanhias. The Bhangis then elected Desa Singh, son of Ganda Singh,
63 as their leader, and returned to Amritsar, with Gujar Singh, the new minister
64 of Desa Singh. It was hardly to be expected, however, that the chiefs who
65 had been inured to campaigning, and whose pride it was to lead their forces
66 against the enemy, under Sardars Hari Singh and Jhandé Singh, would
67 tamely submit to be governed by a stripling. Many sardars became
68 independent, among them being Bhég Singh, Hallowalta. The tribute
69 from Jhang was stopped, and Multdn was soon after lost. Muzaffar
70 Khan, son of Shuja Khan, assisted by his ally, the Bahawalpur chief, made
71 an attempt to recover Multan in 1777. He was, however, repulsed by
72 Diwan Singh, the governor of Jhanda Singh, though not without great
73 * This was the large gun captured by Sir Henry Hardinge at the head of Her Majesty’s
74 80th Foot and lst European Light Infantry at Feroze Shahr, on the night of 2Ist December 1845.
75 It is still at Léhore, being placed in front of the gate of the Central Museum, an object of great
76 historical interest to the curious visitor.
77 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com