22-04-2018
#2018
Qila Gujjar Singh, a residential area located within the boundaries of Lahore, gained its name from being designated as a "fort" in April 1765. During that time, the city was divided among three Bhangi Sardars: Gujjar Singh, Lahina Singh, and Sobha Singh. The portion of land outside the walled city of Lahore, approximately five square miles towards the Shalamar side, was allocated to Sardar Gujjar Singh.
To demarcate his "kingdom," Sardar Gujjar Singh constructed an entrance gateway, and since then, the area has been known as Qila Gujjar Singh (Fort Gujjar Singh). Although ruled independently by Sardar Gujjar Singh, the enclave remained part of the city of Lahore. During the British era, the railway station and police lines were built in this area.
Gujjar Singh Bhangi, one of the triumvirate who ruled over Lahore for thirty years before its occupation by Ranjit Singh, was the son of a modest cultivator named Nattha Singh. Strong and robust, Gujjar Singh received the vows of the Khalsa from his maternal grandfather Gurbakhsh Singh Roranvala, who gifted him a horse and enlisted him as a member of his band. As Gurbakhsh Singh grew older, he appointed Gujjar Singh as the leader of his band. Soon, this band merged with the force led by Hari Singh, the head of the Bhangi Misl of chiefship. Gujjar Singh embarked on a career of conquest and plunder.
In 1765, along with Lahina Singh (adopted son of Gurbakhsh Singh) and Sobha Singh (an associate of Jai Singh Kanhaiya), Gujjar Singh captured Lahore from the Afghans. As Lahina Singh held a senior relationship, being his maternal uncle, Gujjar Singh allowed Lahina Singh to take possession of the city and the fort, while Gujjar Singh himself occupied the eastern part of the city, which was then a jungle. Gujjar Singh built a mud fortress and invited people to settle there. He also dug wells for water supply and constructed a mosque for the Muslim population. The area, where the present-day railway station of Lahore is located, still bears his name and is known as Qila Gujjar Singh.
Gujjar Singh went on to capture Eminabad, Wazirabad, Sodhra, and around 150 villages in Gujranwala district. He then seized Gujarat from Sultan Muqarrab Khan by defeating him under the city's walls in December 1765, establishing Gujarat as his headquarters. In the following year, he expanded his territory by capturing Jammu, Islamgarh, Punchh, Dev Batala, and extending his control as far as the Bhimbar hills in the North and the Majha country in the south. During Ahmad Shah Durrani's eighth invasion, Gujjar Singh and other Sikh Sardars offered strong resistance. In January 1767, when the Durrani commander-in-chief arrived in Amritsar with 15,000 troops, the Sikh Sardars routed the Afghan horde. Shortly after, Gujjar Singh laid siege to the famous Rohtas Fort, held by the Gakkhars, with the assistance of Charat Singh Sukkarchakia, who had friendly relations with him and gave his daughter, Raj Kaur, in marriage to Gujjar Singh's son, Sahib Singh. Gujjar Singh subdued the warlike tribes in the northwestern Punjab and occupied parts of Pothohar, Rawalpindi, and Hasan Abdal.
Gujjar Singh passed away in Lahore in 1788.
Excellent work, good knowledge for our history
ReplyDeleteAli Salams. I'm trying to locate my in-laws from Qila Gujar Singh we ho lived there 30 40 years back. Her name was Dr. Zahida Yusuf.
ReplyDeleteCan u help me find them . She had a daughter Amina .
Walkumaslam sorry i dnt belong to Qilah Gujjar Singh.
DeleteHi Ali, thanks for remembering a great warrior who is one of the great Sikh conquerors, having conquered territories from Ferozepur to Lahore to Attock.
ReplyDeleteHe was related to Sardar Lehna Singh Kahlon ruler of Lahore from 1765 to 1797 who was from our tubbar as we say in Punjabi!
Gujar had accepted that his adopted uncle Lehna could have the main city and fort while he had a piece of barren land onto which he invited traders to settle and where he built a fort but he was not happy and decided to conquer north west Punjab to Attock, which he did with his own leadership…he also befriended Sardar Charat Singh Sukarchakia conquering some territories that he shared with him and cemented that friendship with a marriage between Charat’s daughter Raj Kaur, who was the paternal aunt of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Ranjit later on in 1799 would take Lahore off the sons of the original three Sardars which were Lehna, Gujar and Sardar Sobha Singh Kanhaiya though only Chet, son of Lehna would actually put up a fight).
https://bhangimisl.blogspot.com/2022/04/conquest-of-country-from-lahore-to.html
The third Sikh Sardar was Sobha Singh Kanhaiya who came from village kanha in Lahore - he built a fort at Nawankot. His relation was Sardar Jai Singh Kanhaiya who was leader of the Kanhaiya Misl, which would tip the power balance in favour of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Sukharchakia Misl when the Bhangis tussled with both these two Misls for supreme power over Punjab (the Bhangi Misl had earlier provided most of the Sikh Sardars that fought the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of modern Afghanistan, though others fought too as it was a united effort to free Punjab from the invaders).
DeleteApologies, forgot to add the bit that it was Gujar’s son Sahib Singh Bhangi who had married Raj kaur - I believe that Gujar’s descendants or surviving relatives can be found in village rangargh, which is between wagah and amritsar in Punjab, India.
DeleteHe also built the fort that Maharaja Ranjit Singh later expanded known as Govindgarh Fort in Amritsar.
DeleteHe conquered many forts such as at Gujrat, Jhelum and Attock - the Sukarchakia Misl would later besiege his son Sahib at the Fort of Sodhra. He also helped to develop towns such as Rawalpindi which are described by the historian Dr Hari Ram Gupta as no more than a crossroads once in the road from Peshawar to Lahore with its junction to Kashmir.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh respected him and said that he was “blessed to one-eyed” like the great Sardar Gujar Singh Bhangi.
DeleteSome of Gujar’s followers and lieutenants in the Bhangi Misl would later switch to Ranjit, due to the arrogance of Gujar’s son Sahib - such as Sardar Milka Singh Thepuria (called “Baba” by Ranjit) and the Atariwala Sardars who provided great Sikh Generals such as Sardar Sham Singn Atariwala that fought to the death against the British in anglo-sikh wars.
I hope that this helps to add knowledge and that folks will preserve their heritage on both sides of the border. There is a portrait of Lehna at the V&A Museum and Gujar too (see my little blogspot link).
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