QILA GUJJAR SINGH (2018)

 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.