1 Which is made over
2 to the Bhangis.
3 Fall of Sirhind.
4 Victory gained over
5 the Moghal general in
6 the neighbourhood of
7 Delhi, 1768.
8 Extent of Jassa
9 Singh's possessions.
10 He is called Badshih,
11 or king, by his
12 followers.
13 His coin.
14 His policy.
15 He joins a coalition
16 against the Ram-
17 garhias, 1776.
18 His death, 1783.
19 His character.
20 His personal
21 appearance.
22 316 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
23 Ramgarhia and Kanhia misls, sacked Kastr, defeating Alif {han, the
24 Pathan leader, and killing Kamal-ud-din Khan and Hassan Khan, his lieute-
25 nants. The territory of Kasur was made over to the Bhangi misl, who
26 retained it till 1774. The confederacies then, collecting an army of 23.000
27 men, made an expedition to Sirhind, which they razed to the ground, kill-
28 ing the Afghan Governor, Zen Khan, and his deputy Lachmi Narain, the
29 second in command. This was the most important victory gained by the
30 Sikhs, who, on the fall of Sirhind, made themselves masters of all the sur-
31 rounding country. Jassa Singh then returaed to Amritsar, where he built
32 the Ahluwalia Bazar, which exists to this day, the most attractive part of
33 that commercial capital of the Panjab, and assisted in the restoration of
34 the golden temple, or Darbar Sahib, which Ahmad Shah had defiled with
35 the blood of the sacred cows. In 1768, Jassa Singh overran Ghaziuddinnagar ~
36 and Antip Shahr, in the neighbourhood of Delhi, and defeated the Moghal
37 General, Mirza Sukhan, who was sent against him. In 1771 he seized Rai-
38 kot, then held by the Pathans and Rajputs of Barwdal, and, six years after-
39 wards, captured Kapurthalla from Rae Ibrahim Bhatti, and made it his head-
40 uarters.
41 : Thus, the Kalél Ahluwalia became the greatest sardar among’the Sikhs
42 of the Bist Jalandar. His possessions extended on both sides of the Sut-
43 lej and also to the east. He was the first to proclaim the sway of the army
44 of the new theocracy, or the Dal of the Khdlsd, the army of the soldiers of
45 God, and was called Badshéh (king) by his dependants and followers,
46 though not by the Sikhs generally. He struck a coin in his name bearing
47 the following inscription :—
48 JIS Lane wdyS saat elle — JW} Lad: wlaoe oh bho
49 ** Jassa, the Kaldi, having seized on the country of Ahmad, struck coin in the world through
50 the grace of the Immortal.”
51 He possessed immense wealth and military resources. His policy was
52 liberal, and he was friendly to the Mussalmans, many of whom held offices
53 of trust under him.
54 In 1776, Jassa Singh entered into a league with Jay Singh, Kanhia, the
55 Bhangis, Sukerchakias and other sardars, to expel Jassa Singh, Ram-
56 garhia, from the Panjab, so as to avenge an attack made on him by the
57 Ramgarhias. A severe fight took place between the Ahluwalias, assisted
58 by other confederacies, and the Ramgarhias, the result of which was
59 disastrous for the lastnamed misl, for their chief was compelled to fly. to
60 Hariana, and his possessions north of the Sutlej were seized by the
61 Ahbluwalias.
62 Jassa Singh died at Amritsar in 1783, at the age of 65. A monument
63 was erected to his memory in Dera Baba Attal, in the Amritsar golden
64 temple, near that of Nawab Kapur Singh Fyzullapuria. The Sikh authors
65 have praised the sardar highly for his saintly and generous disposition. He
66 was a successful general in the field, and, though never acknowledged by
67 the Sikhs generally as their king, yet was invariably intrusted with the
68 command of the combined forces of the confederacies, when a joint action
69 against the enemy. was contemplated. His influence among the Sikhs was
70 great, in consequence, chiefly, of his saintly position and orthodoxy, and the
71 greatest sardars considered it an honour to be baptized by him.
72 In person, Jassa Singh was tall and handsome. It was, indeed, his noble
73 features and attractive looks which, in his infancy, captivated Nawab Kapur
74 Singh, who brought him up as his own gon, which helped him on throughout his
75 future career, His arms were of unusual length, and he was a good marks-
76 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com