The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab

by Khushwant Singh

  Troop movements on either side of the frontier spread uneasiness in the countryside. The rich began to send their money and jewellery to British India and many families of noblemen fled the Punjab on the pretext of going on pilgrimage to the Ganges. Amongst those who left was Lehna Singh Majithia.

  Taking advantage of this state of unrest, Princes Peshaura Singh and Kashmira Singh proclaimed their right to the throne. Hira Singh asked his uncle Gulab Singh Dogra to proceed against the recalcitrant Princes at Sialkot. Gulab Singh undertook the expedition with alacrity as Sialkot adjoined his own territory and would fall into his lap after the Princes had been expelled. Peshaura and Kashmira Singh put up stout resistance and after being ejected from Sialkot toured the Majha country, fraternised with the Sikh peasantry, and then joined Bhai Bir Singh at his camp at Naurangabad. They whipped up anti-Dogra feeling in the army by pointing out that Hira Singh had virtually usurped the throne. The Panches called on Hira Singh and demanded, amongst other things, that Dalip Singh should be crowned Maharajah of the Punjab, Peshaura Singh and Kashmira Singh should have their estates restored, and Dogra contingents brought to Lahore should be ordered to return to the hills. Hira Singh agreed to all the demands of the Panches: he had learned to say ‘yes’ to everything without having any intention of doing anything about it. But he was shrewd enough to know that he could not trifle with the army.

  The court astrologer, Pandit Madhusudan, fixed 2nd February 1844 as an auspicious day for the coronation and prophesied that the young Maharajah ‘would indeed become as great as Alexander.’ The Pandit’s reckoning of the auspicious day proved as wrong as his prophecy of Dalip’s future. On the morning of 2nd February there was a violent hailstorm followed by a heavy downpour which made the coronation a damp and chill affair. Rani Jindan was indignant. A week later, she took her son to Amritsar, had him baptised as a Khalsa and another investiture carried out by Sikh rites. The Maharajah’s uncle, Jawahar Singh, who had been imprisoned by the order of Hira Singh, was released. Kashmira Singh and Peshaura Singh had their estates confirmed and were received in the durbar with the honour due to Princes of royal blood.

  The next challenge to Hira Singh’s stewardship came from his uncle, Suchet Singh Dogra, who believed that Rani Jindan and her brother, Jawahar Singh, would manage a palace revolution for him. Suchet Singh and his lieutenant, Rai Kesri Singh, turned up at Lahore with a small escort of forty-five Dogras and asked the Khasla Army to dismiss Hira Singh and Pandit Jalla.

  Hira Singh rose to the crisis. He went to the barracks and pleaded with the men. He asked to be forgiven his trespasses, protested his devotion to the Khalsa and hinted that he might accept baptism in the near future. He convinced the Panches that a victory for Suchet Singh would be a triumph of pro-British elements in the Durbar as Suchet Singh had invested large sums of money in the British enterprise in Afghanistan and had been in friendly intercourse with the Sandhawalias when they were in British territory. He said:

  ‘Khalsa ji! The son of your old minister and the adopted son of your old Maharajah now stands in your presence as a suppliant. Tell him, I beg of you, what fault he has committed, to punish which, you have invited his uncle, his greatest enemy and your own inveterate foe, being, as you are aware, a staunch ally of the feringhi. If you want to kill me, here is the sword, and I give you full liberty at once to sever my head from my body. It would be an honour for me to die at the hands of the brave Khalsa. But, for the Guru’s sake, do not allow me to suffer a death of shame. If you have not called my uncle from the hills, and are not disposed to help him, support me and fight for my cause as good and brave soldiers, and you will receive the blessings of the Guru.’

  Hira Singh supplemented his passionate harangue with promises of reward. He gave a gold butki worth Rs. 5 to each soldier and a gold necklace to every officer. The Khalsa soldiers went over to his side.

  Infantry and cavalry units with 56 guns marched out and surrounded Suchet Singh and his forty-five Dogras at the mausoleum of Mian Wadda not far from the city; The Dogras made a heroic stand. Suchet Singh sat impassively, listening to a recitation of the Gita while the Durbar’s cannon blasted the walls of the mosque and mausoleum; his men went out in turns to cross swords with the assailants. When most of his companions had fallen, Suchet Singh himself went out. He railed his attackers: ‘Relying on your good faith, I came to Lahore at your special invitation. You have forsaken me and have now come to kill me in such numbers. I beseech you at this moment to behave with me like true soldiers. Come on, my friends, come on, one by one, and let the world see the worth of a Rajput soldier.’

  Both Suchet Singh and his lieutenant, Rai Kesri Singh, fell fighting to the last. This was on 27 th March 1844.

  Hira Singh visited the mausoleum soon after the action was over. Kesri Singh, who was still alive, greeted the young minister with ‘Jai Dev’ and asked for water. ‘The water of the Jammu hills is clear and cool,’ replied Hira Singh sarcastically, ‘you will soon get it.’ But when he saw his uncle’s corpse riddled with bullets and covered with sabre wounds, he broke down and cried. The Dogras were given an honourable funeral at Lahore.

  Hira Singh did not gain anything by the death of Suchet Singh. Gulab Singh assumed all the deceased’s estates in the name of his son Ranbir Singh (adopted by Suchet) and refused to consider Hira Singh’s claim to an equal share. A substantial portion of Suchet Singh’s treasure, which was in British territory, was attached by the Agent to be subjected to a judicial enquiry. The Army felt that it had been misused by the Dogras to settle a private quarrel. Tension between Sikhs and Dogras mounted and many Sikh soldiers went over to Bhai Bir Singh’s purely Sikh camp.

  On 9th April 1844, Lahore and Amritsar were shaken by a severe earthquake. To superstitious people this forbode evil days to come. On Baisakhi, which fell two days later, the bazars of Amritsar which were normally festooned for the occasion, remained closed for fear of riots. Instead, the people flocked in their thousands to the camp of Bir Singh and heard the Bhai’s sermon on the vanishing glory of Ranjit Singh’s Empire.

  Durbar circles were far removed from the grim realities of the mounting crisis. On 18th April the palace cat had a litter of kittens and the infant Maharajah desired that a salute should be fired in honour of the occasion. The Chief Minister thereupon ordered miniature guns to be discharged to announce the feline nativity to the citizens of Lahore.

  Rumours of an impending war continued to spread. The British were reported to be massing a large army in the Simla Hills to invade the Punjab. Intelligence reports of April 1844 stated that Attar Singh Sandhawalia, who was living in Thanesar in British territory, was in regular communication with Bhai Bir Singh and was contemplating an attack on Lahore. The Durbar army was ordered to keep a watch on the fords and ferries and prevent the Sandhawalia from coming in. But in May, the Sardar managed to elude the Durbar’s sentries, crossed the Sutlej and joined the Bhai’s camp at Naurangabad, He was welcomed by the Bhai with the words: ‘The throne of the Punjab awaits you.’

  The Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, admitted that the British were at fault in letting Attar Singh cross over into Sikh territory. In a letter to Queen Victoria dated 10th June 1844 he wrote: ‘It is much to be regretted that Attar Singh should have been permitted to move from Thanesar to the Sutlej with the known object of acting against the Lahore Government. This error of the British Agent renders it impossible to protest against the violation of the strict letter of the treaty which was committed by the Sikhs, whose troops were sent to the left bank to intercept Attar Singh and, under all the circumstances, it has been deemed expedient to make no representation upon the subject, but to allow the whole matter to be forgotten.’

  Princes Kashmira Singh and Peshaura Singh also left Sialkot and came to Bhai Bir Singh’s camp. They promised to support Attar Singh Sandhawalia. Amongst the Sardars known to be in communication with the Bhai were Sham Singh Attariwala, Lehna Singh Majithia and Jemadar Khushal Singh. Naurangabad thus became the ce
ntre of a Sikh revolt against the Dogra-dominated Lahore Court.

  Hira Singh Dogra again harangued the soldiers and told them that the Sandhawalia’s hands were soiled with blood; that he had been with the English for the last six months and had promised to give the British six annas of each rupee collected in revenue if his venture succeeded; that Suchet Singh’s widow had undertaken to finance the revolt from the money her husband had invested in British India; and that Bhai Bir Singh and the Princes had unwittingly become tools in the hands of traitors. The Panches agreed to side with Hira Singh and Durbar troops marched out to Naurangabad. They were commanded by a Dogra Officer, Mian Labh Singh.

  Prince Peshaura Singh left the Bhai’s camp and made his submission to the Durbar. A little later, he left the Punjab and sought asylum with the British.

  Bhai Bir Singh’s efforts were now directed to bringing about an amicable settlement between the Durbar and the two men who had sought shelter with him; Attar Singh Sandhawalia and Prince Kashmira Singh. He invited the Durbar’s troops to be his guests and slaughtered five hundred goats to feed them. The Bhai’s attempt at conciliation was undone by Attar Singh Sandhawalia, who lost his temper and killed one of the Durbar’s emissaries, Gulab Singh Kalkattea. Durbar artillery opened fire and blasted the Bhai’s camp, killing six hundred men, including Attar Singh Sandhawalia and Prince Kashmira Singh. A cannon-ball broke Bir Singh’s thigh.

  Before he died, the Bhai spoke to the Sikh officers who had written to him asking him to support Attar Singh. ‘When you and your chiefs and officers wrote these letters to me, with the most solemn promises, both to myself and Attar Singh, I relied on your good faith, and agreed to your proposals, in the hope of obtaining for Attar Singh and his family the means of a quiet livelihood. You have proved yourselves a vile, treacherous and unfaithful race, without pity or religion. Still, my dying prayer to heaven is, may even your wickedness be requited by good.’ Bir Singh asked that his corpse be thrown in the Sutlej and died with a curse on his lips. ‘Let not my body rot in this land of iniquity . . .’

  The Khalsa soldiers were filled with remorse when they discovered that they had killed a large number of men, women and children. General Court’s battalion, which had taken the leading part in the fighting, was promptly doubed Gurumar—killers of the Guru. Mian Labh Singh further exasperated the Sikhs by arresting Rani Daya Kaur, widow of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and the mother of Princes Kashmira Singh and Peshaura Singh. Troopers shot the Dogra Colonel put in charge of the Rani and liberated her. The men clamoured for vengeance. Mian Labh Singh had to flee for his life.

  Hira Singh realised that the killing of Bir Singh had aroused violent passions. He gave Rs. 5,000 for Karah Pershad in memory of the Bhai and proclaimed his intentions of accepting baptism to the Khalsa fraternity. The Punjab News Letter of 14th May 1844 reported that ‘Raja Hira Singh endeavours to keep the soldiers in good humour.’ The Sikh soldiers took the gifts but said, ‘We killed our Guru and we get two rupees, what sort of men are we?’

  Once more extraneous events came to Hira Singh’s rescue and he was able to avert destruction at the hands of the soldiers. Maharajah Dalip Singh contracted small-pox and was reported to be dying. The people did not want another violent change in the administration while the very existence of the State was in jeopardy. The British were said to be laying in more supplies in their cantonments and examining the fords over which they would cross the Sutlej. The newswriter from Kasauli reported that large quantities of ammunition had been forwarded to Ludhiana and Ferozepur. Reports from Ferozepur said that zamindars had been advised not to sow an autumn crop as a very large army was to assemble there.

  Although the immediate crisis was averted, communal tension continued to mount. The Sikhs now focussed their hatred on the Brahmin Pandit, Jalla. On 22nd June 1844, there was a stormy scene in the durbar when Hira Singh Dogra reprimanded Attar Singh Kalianwala for rudeness to Jalla: the Sardar had only taken his seat next to the Pandit. All the Sikh Sardars, including Bhaia Ram Singh and Sham Singh Attariwala left the court with loud cries of ‘Wah Guru ji ka Khalsa, Wah Guru ji ka Fateh’. Later a conspiracy to murder Hira Singh Dogra and Pandit Jalla was unearthed. Amongst the Chiefs concerned was Sham Singh Attariwala.

  Disloyal elements took advantage of Hira Singh’s discomfiture. In the South, Fathe Khan Tiwana shook off allegiance to the Punjab Government. Julraj, son of Dewan Sawan Mal, Governor of Multan, was sent against him. An action was fought at Mitha Tiwana on 17th June 1844 in which nine hundred men were killed on both sides, one of the casualties being Fateh Khan’s son. Tiwana submitted and asked to be forgiven. Then Gulab Singh Dogra, who had already proclaimed the seizure of all Suchet Singh’s property, refused to send revenue to Lahore.

  Pandit Jalla urged the Durbar to take action against Gulab Singh Dogra as it had taken action against Fateh Khan Tiwana. Gulab Singh countered the move by offering to pay if the Pandit was handed over to him; he had gallows put up in Jammu to tell the people what he intended to do to Jalla. The Panches were reluctant to commit the army in what they believed was a private feud between the Dogras. Hira Singh tried to convince them that his uncle was in league with the British. Gulab Singh incited the frontier tribesmen to revolt against the Durbar and plunder Peshawar. This act of disloyalty convinced the Panches that there was substance in Hira Singh’s allegations and they used their influence to get the army to march on to Jammu. Gulab Singh submitted without a fight and made peace with his nephew by sending his son Sohan Singh as hostage to Lahore.

  In July 1844, Lord Ellenborough was replaced by Sir Henry Hardinge. The appointment of the tunda lat (the one-armed Lord), who was a distinguished soldier, as Governor-General caused nervousness in Durbar circles. When the news was read out in court, Pandit Jalla remarked; ‘Lord Auckland had crushed Afghans and his successor, Lord Ellenbrough, had invaded Sindh and Gwalior and now the new Lord was no doubt, willing to invade the Punjab.’ The remarks were occasioned by the information received a week earlier that the Council at Calcutta had, at its secret sitting, regretted the death of Attar Singh Sandhawalia because, if he had lived, the British would have acquired the Punjab without a fight. Deserters from the Company’s forces said that the British planned to cross the Sutlej in September. September passed without any incident but when the Commander-in-Chief of the Company’s forces came up to inspect the British troops at Ludhiana and Ferozepur in October, the Punjab army was alerted against a possible invasion. Frontier outposts on the river were quickly garrisoned and a twenty-four-hour watch kept on the opposite bank.

  The British did not invade the Punjab that autumn, and after a few weeks the tension eased. The Punjab army returned to the cantonments at Lahore and was quickly involved in Court intrigues. The relationship between the Sikhs and Dogras became tense again. This time it was caused by Pandit Jalla’s reflections on Rani Jindan’s character. The Rani’s name had been linked with many courtiers, the latest being Misr Lal Singh by whom she was reported to have become pregnant. The pregnancy was aborted but the Rani became very ill. It was said in open court that if Jindan died, Lal Singh would be executed. Jindan, however, survived the operation. She sent for her brother Jawahar Singh from Amritsar. The Rani and her brother took Dalip Singh with an escort of Ventura’s dragoons to the cantonment. In an impassioned speech the Rani asked the soldiers to choose between her son, Maharajah Dalip Singh, and the Dogra-Jalla regime. The soldiers were incensed against Hira Singh because only a day earlier he had dismissed five hundred of their comrades and confiscated their pay. They acclaimed Jindan and her son, and swore to drive Hira Singh and Jalla out of the Punjab.

  Hira Singh, realising his precarious position, turned to his uncle for help. Gulab singh hurried down from Jammu with 1,000 Dogras. The news of the descent of the hillmen precipitated matters and the army clamoured for blood. Hira Singh and Jalla came out of the fort on the pretence of going to the cantonment to talk to the Panches, but suddenly turned from their course and crossed the Ravi to Sha
hdara; with them were a couple of thousand Dogras and several elephant-, horse-, and cart-loads of treasure. A detachment of Durbar troops went in hot pursuit.

  The Durbar troops caught up with the fleeing Dogra and his mentor, fourteen miles from Lahore and a running battle commenced between the two forces. Amongst the earliest casualties was Pandit Jalla, who fell off his horse from physical exhaustion and was cut down by the pursuers. Mian Labh Singh made a rearguard stand in the hope that his master would be able to join the Dogras coming to his rescue. The Durbar troops did not lose much time in disposing of Mian Labh Singh and again caught up with Hira Singh who had entrenched himself in a village. The pursuers set fire to the village and forced the hillmen out in the open. Over one thousand Dogras perished in the fight. The heads of Hira Singh, Jalla, Mian Labh Singh and Sohan Singh (son of Gulab Singh) were impaled on spears and paraded through the streets of Lahore. This took place on 21st December 1844.

  Hira Singh Dogra, like his eminent father, was a very controversial figure. According to Col. Gardner, he was ‘crouching and mean to his superiors; silent and suspicious with his equals; proud, supercilious, and arrogant to his inferiors; subtle and deceitful to all. Too much puffed up to return or even notice the salutations of better men than himself; reared as the lapdog of Ranjit Singh and his dissolute companions; with a smattering of English, Persian and Sanskrit, and pretending to a perfect knowledge of all three languages.’ That is, however, not the impression one gets from his conduct of affairs. On the contrary, he appears to have been endowed with talent, tact and courage. If circumstances had been different, he might well have become the first Dogra-Sikh Maharajah of Lahore. Hira Singh’s memory is preserved by the locality where he lived, being named after him as Hira Mandi. During British rule this became the prostitute quarter of the city. But it was Pandit Jalla, the éminence grise of the Durbar, who led to the downfall of Hira Singh. Jalla’s memory came to be execrated: