PUNJAB UNDER THE GHAZNAVIDS AND THE SULTANATE
EFFORT TO RECOVER THE MOHYAL KIGDOM
By R. T. MOHAN
Sultan Mahmud died at Ghazni on April 21, 1030. His kingdom then comprised of eastern Iran, parts of Central Asia, Afghanistan and the Punjab up to river Satluj. Muhammad, son of Mahmud, was anointed as the next Sultan according to his father’s wishes. But Masud, the other son, captured Ghazni and put his brother in jail, after blinding him. Masud had two main enemies: the Rais of Hindustan towards the east and the Saljuks, fellow Turks, to his west. Would his governors in the provinces be able to keep the enemies in check? And if they were powerful enough, would they remain loyal to the Sultan and not become independent? The kingdom of Ghazni still had its power – accumulated wealth, trained army and large revenues – but it was difficult to wield the scepter of its previous ruler.
Ahmad Niyaltigin, the military governor at Lahore, organized a campaign deep into Hindustan. He suddenly appeared at Banaras (1033), managed to hold the town from morning to midday only but plundered immense wealth from its drapers, jewelers and perfumers in the bazar. Possession of wealth incited treason but none of the nobles at the court of Ghazni was willing to take the responsibility of disciplining Ahmad Niyaltigin. Noticing their pusillanimity, Tilak a Hindu commander volunteered himself, which was readily accepted. Tilak marched to Lahore with his Hindu forces. Niyaltigin unable to hold Lahore fled towards the desert. Tilak followed in chase with his Hindu army, taking strong measures like cutting the right hands of Musalman rebels whenever they fell into his clutches. Niyaltigin was slain while trying to cross the river Indus.
Against the advice of his counsellors, Masud decided upon an expedition to India in the winter of 1037 and conquered the virgin fort of Hansi. On his return to Ghazni he found that the Saljuks had been plundering the western part of the Ghaznavid dominion and had considerably strengthened their position. Ultimately when Masud engaged in a battle with the Saljuks (1040) near Merve (now Mari in Turkmenistan), he was ignominiously defeated, with his generals deserting him in the battlefield. The Sultan managed to extricate himself and reached Ghazni, fearfully shaken and terrorized. The Empire of Ghazni was now reduced to a small kingdom.
Masud was so terrified of the Slajuks that he dared not stay even in his capital at Ghazni. He dispatched his son Maudud to Balkh with an army, his other son Majdud to Multan and ordered prince Izad-yar to guard Ghazni. With the royal harem and the choicest treasures of Sultan Mahmud loaded on three hundred camels, he started for refuge at Lahore. His officers who tried to dissuade him were caustically accused of treason and the royal caravan moved towards the Punjab. As could be expected, a number of Turkish and Hindu slaves plundered a part of the royal treasury at Marigala Pass (near Rawal Pindi). They placed his blind brother Muhammad on the throne and sent Masud to the fort of Giri where he was put to death.
Maudud hastened back from Balkh and marched towards the Indus. The rebel army, that turned back to face him, was defeated at Nagarhar. Muhammad and his son were captured and slain on the spot (1041). His brother Majdud who was the governor at Multan lost no time in trying to consolidate his position by capturing Lahore and establishing his own government from Indus to Hansi and Thanesar. However, the position was saved when he was found dead in his camp. The Punjab passed into Maudud’s hands without a battle. His authority was established but it commanded none of the respect which Hindus had yielded to the great Mahmud.[1]
The Hindu revival
Torn by civil dissentions, the kingdom of Ghazni was in perpetual danger of being swallowed by its western neighbours. In a rare initiative, a confederacy of Hindu Chiefs under Mahipala Tomara, the king of Delhi, struck ‘with confident courage’ to crush the prestige of the invader. We narrate this in the words of Ferishta.[2]
In the year 1043 AD, the Raja of Dehly, in conjunction with other Rajas, retook Hansy, Thanesur, and their dependencies, from the governors whom Maudud had entrusted them. The Hindus from thence marched towards the fort of Nagarkot, which they besieged for four months; and the garrison being distressed for provisions, and no succour coming from Lahore, was under the necessity of capitulating. The Hindoos according to their practice, erected new idols, and recommenced the rites of idolatry…
The success of the Raja of Dehly gave such confidence to the Indian chiefs of Punjab (the province through which five branches of the Indus flow), and other places, that though before this time, like foxes, they durst hardly creep from their holes, for the fear of the Muslaman arms, yet they now put on the aspect of lions, and openly set their masters at defiance. Three of those Rajas, with 10,000 horse and an innumerable army of foot, advanced and invested Lahore. The Mahomedans, in defence of their laws, their families, and their effects, exerted themselves to the utmost; and during the period of seven months, defended the town, street, by street, for the walls being bad, were soon laid in ruins.
The Mohyal trail
Who were those three Rajas of Punjab who attacked Lahore?
In the account of Anandapala it had been stated that Sukhapala, a nawasa (son of the daughter) of Jayapala who had been taken prisoner in an earlier battle and forcibly converted to Islam, was left in charge of the territory conquered by Mahmud Ghaznavi up to 1006, after his attack on Multan. Mahmud had rushed to Balkh to deal with an invasion from IIak Khan, the King of Kashghar. Taking advantage of the situation, Sukhapala abjured Islam and raised the standard of revolt but he was subdued and imprisoned by Mahmud.
According to Girdizi, Nawasa Shah died in prison. However Mohammad Nazim states that Sukhapala outlived Mahmud, escaped to Kashmir, formed a confederacy of hill chieftains and attacked Lahore (1043-44), then a part of the Ghaznavid Empire under Maudud (r. 1040-1049). The Ghazvavid Amirs at Lahore were busy fighting each other but united on realizing the insecurity of their position. Nawasa Shah was defeated and slain in the battle.[3] Lahore could not be taken but the Indians retained their hold over Nagarkot, Hansi and other places for a considerable period of time.
This campaign by Sukhapala (of the Mohan tribe) was the last attempt by a Mohyal chief to regain their kingdom of Lahore. It would be a safe assumption that other chiefs of the confederacy were the Khokhars of the Salt Range in Punjab. They had not till then converted to Islam and they continued to act as the successors of the Shahis for acquiring the kingdom of Punjab, whenever there was an opportunity. Surprisingly, the other confederacy under Mahipala Tomar of Delhi did not join the Hindus during the long siege of Lahore. Earlier Hansi had been snatched by Masud from the kingdom of Delhi and so the Tomars had been avenged: Lahore had never been under Delhi. There was a fratricidal struggle on almost every succession in Ghazni and there were occasions when the administration of the province of Lahore was very weak. But no Hindu kingdom again tried to recover Punjab. On the other hand, when strong rulers occupied the throne of Ghazni, they organized invasions into India. Sultan Ibrahim (1059-1099) and Masud III (1099-1115) are stated to have made forays into India. There is, however, no evidence of any more occupation of territory. It could be claimed that the neighbouring Indian Kingdoms contained the Muslim aggression for about one and three quarters of a century.
THE DELHI SULTANATE
UNSETTLED CONDITIONS IN THE PUNJAB
In a running feud, Alauddin Hassan, a prince of the neighbouring kingdom of Ghur, defeated Sultan Bahram of Ghazni (1151) and burnt the capital town to the ground. The remains of some of the sultans were torn from their graves and burnt; the male inhabitants, except the Sayyeds, were slaughtered; the women and children were carried off into slavery. The heritage of the great Mahmud of Ghazni had got its just deserts – unfortunate though it was. Lahore was the last refuge of the Ghaznavids. It was in 1173 that the Ghurids finally gained control over Ghazni by expelling Ghuzz Turkmans (a different tribe). Meanwhile, the later successors of Mahmud had been unable to maintain their position at Lahore by their own arms. The hostility of the Rajas of Jammu compelled them to ally themselves to the Khokhars of the Salt Range who were thus enabled to resist the demands of tribute from Raja Chakra Deva of Jammu. The Raja avenged himself by inviting Muhammad Ghauri to invade the Punjab, promising him his assistance![4]
Muhammad Ghauri tried to emulate Mahmud Ghaznavi and in 1175 led his first expedition to India. He captured Multan ruled by the Ismailis and took the strong fort of Uch, ruled by a Hindu Raja, through a stratagem – unnatural treachery by the Raja’s wife. Again in 1178, he marched through Multan and Uch by way of western Rajasthan to Gujrat. According to epigraphic evidence, corroborated by Hindu records, Mulraj II the ruler of Anhilwara was still a child. The Mother Queen Naikidevei (the daughter of Parmardin, king of Goa) ‘taking her son (Mulraj) in her lap’ led the Chalukyan army against the Turushkas and defeated them at Gadararaghatta near the foot of Mount Abu.[5] An inscription during the reign of Bhima Deo II states that “during the reign of Mulraja, even a woman could defeat Hammira.”[6] The sufferings of the retreat far exceeded those of the advance for Muhammad and it was but a miserable remnant of his army that reached Ghazni.
‘Muhammad accepted the offer (of assistance from the Raja of Jammu) with an alacrity which did little credit to his zeal for Islam.’ In 1181 he appeared before Lahore and compelled Khusrav Malik, the last Ghaznavid ruler, to surrender. At Chakra Deva’s suggestion he built the fortress of Sialkot for the purpose of curbing the Khokhars. Muhammad had to invade Punjab a second time, in 1186, to capture Khusrav Malik and to appoint his own governor at Lahore.
In the winter of 1190-91 Muhammad Ghauri captured Bathinda (or Sirhind) in the kingdom of Raja Prithvi Raj Chauhan of Delhi. Prithvi Raj advanced and defeated Muhammad at Traori (or Tarain) near Karnal. Gorakh Rai Vaid fought alongside the Raja. History records that Muhammad Ghauri leading the centre of his forces personally encountered the Raja’s brother Govind Rai and shattered his teeth with his lance but Govind Rai drove his javlin through the Sultan’s arm who fled from the field. Prithvi Raj could have then easily consummated his victory by chasing and annihilating his routed enemy. But in true Rajput tradition he allowed the defeated Muslim army to retreat unmolested.[7]
Muhammad Ghauri made careful preparations and again invaded India in 1192. The two adversaries again faced each other at Traori. One early morning, when the Rajputs had left their camp for the purpose of obeying calls of nature and for the purpose of performing ablutions, four divisions of archers of Ghauri started the attack and kept harassing the flanks of Hindu army but avoided serious engagement, feigning flight if pressed. Judging that Hindus were sufficiently perplexed and wearied due to these tactics by the afternoon, Mahmud charged their centre with 12,000 of his selected cavalry. Hindu army was routed. Prithvi Raj was also killed. “His brother (Govind Rai) was also slain and his body was identified by the disfigurement which Muhammad’s lance had inflicted in the previous year.”
Gorakh Rai Vaid, son of Anangapala Vaid, died in this battlefield.[8] Historians have not been able to identify Govind Rai, whom Muslim chroniclers have mentioned as brother of Prithvi Raj. But Prithvi Raj had only one sister, Partha, and no brother. This martyr could have been Gorakh Rai Shahi, who was prominent in the court of Prithvi Raj. If Gorakh Rai was as close to the king of Delhi as Shahi prince Rudrapala was to the King Ananta of Kashmir, Gorakh Rai would verily be like a brother. Some writers have referred to Govind Rai as “the feudatory ruler of Delhi” which comes close to identifying him with Gorakh Rai.[9]
According to several Hindu sources Prithvi Raj defeated Muhammad Ghauri several times before his final defeat in 1192. (Hammira Mahakavya, Prabandha-Chintamani and Prthivirajaraso). On the other hand the Muslim writers, Minhaj, Ferishta and others, mention only two battles between these two rulers. Dashratha Sharma reconciles these two versions by suggesting that the “Ghurid generals began raiding the Chahamana territories soon after their occupation of Lahore in 1186 AD, but were beaten back by the Chahamana forces” and Muslim historians have ignored these skirmishes altogether.[10]
In the last quarter of the twelfth century there were three powerful dynasties in north India. The Gahadawala Jayachandra, the ruler of Kannuaj and Banaras; the Chalukya ruler of Gujrat, Mularaja II who drove Mohammad Ghauri in 1178; the Chahamana ruler Prithvi Raj who signally defeated Muhammad Ghauri during their first engagement at Traori in 1191. But no two would combine against the common foe because of their pre-existent enmities as neighbours and each was vanquished, in turn. Next it was the turn of Jayachandra who had not come to the rescue of Prithvi Raj.
In 1194 Muhammd came to India with a strong army of “50,000 mounted men clad in armour and coats of mail, with which they advanced to meet the Rai of Banaras.” Jayachandra, the ruler of Kannauj and Banaras, advanced to meet the challenge and the two armies met at Chandawar (modern Firozabad) on the bank of river Jamuna. The battle was fiercely fought and the Gahadavalas, led by Jayachandra almost carried the day, when the latter “seated on a lofty howdah, received a deadly wound from an arrow and fell from his exalted seat to the earth.”[11]
In 1205 Muhammad Ghauri sustained a severe defeat at the hands of Turkmans in Afghanistan which dealt a fatal blow to his military reputation in India. His old enemies the Khokhars, and some other tribes to the north of the Salt range rose under the leadership of Rai Sal a petty Hindu Raja. The rebels defeated the deputy governor of Multan and plundered Lahore. They closed the roads between Lahore and Ghazni to prevent remittance of revenue from Punjab. Towards the end of 1205, Muhammad Ghauri suddenly came to India and defeated the Khokhars in a fierce battle at a location between the Jhelum and the Chanab. He marched up to Lahore and, after a short stay, started his return journey in March 1206. Before he could cross into Afghanistan, Muhammad Ghauri was assassinated in his tent, allegedly by the Khokhars, on the bank of the Indus. Qutabuddin Aibak, his trusted slave and viceroy in Delhi, declared himself as Sultan on his master’s death and was acknowledged as sovereign: thus started the Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. Mamluks were followed by other dynasties: the Khiljis, the Tughlaqs, the Sayyeds and the Lodis – upto 1526.
The successions were rarely peaceful and the Punjab was generally in turmoil due to neglect as the control of Doab and its environs – the area between the rivers Jamuna and Ganga, roughly comprising the present Uttar Pradesh – was crucial for the Delhi Sultanate. The Ghaurids had replaced the earlier Ghaznavid administration in the Punjab and spread in many other parts of India. But Punjab was not fully settled or ‘pacified’. Several tracts were under the rule of Hindu rajas or land owners. It was a very mixed picture. Hindus were persecuted by the despotic local administrators appointed by the governors posted from Delhi – or even Muslim fief holders – who could often indulge their bigotry without restraint. Noticing the weakness of the Delhi Sultanate the Mongol invaders from Afghanistan appeared too frequently and, if successful, appointed their own governors at Lahore and Multan. In such unsettled conditions Hindus, generally led by the Khokhars, would try to improve their strength and exert domination over Lahore, if possible. At times, they had to choose between the two devils. The Punjab had to bear the brunt of the ferocious Mongol attacks, whether the invaders were successful or defeated by the forces of Delhi Sultanate. To fully understand the devastating effect of this pestilence on the Punjab it is necessary to narrate their history in a little more detail.
THE MONGOL INVASIONS
Changez Khan
Changes Khan, the chief of the Mongols had some scores to settle with Muhammad Shah, the ruler of Khwarizm, (what is now Uzbekistan) who held sway over a vast territory. Changes Khan came with a large force and burnt down the fabulous towns like Otrar, Bukhara, Samarkand, Ghazni, Kabul, Balkh, Merve, Nishapur … killing or enslaving whole people and looting their wealth. Chasing Jalaluddin, a son of Muhammad Shah from Ghazni, Changez cornered Jalaluddin on the bank of river Indus. After a good fight, which he lost in 1221, the fugitive swam across the river with Changez admiring the feat of a brave foe. Changez had other plans for himself and fortunately he did not invade India. Instead he sent 20,000 soldiers under two commanders, to hunt the quarry. The Mongols chased Jalaluddin throughout the Punjab region without success. They attacked the outlying towns like Bhera and Multan and the outskirts of Lahore were also sacked. But the fugitive remained elusive. This occurred during the reign of the Slave King Altamash (1211-1236).
Changes Khan conquered large parts of China, Central Asia, Southern Russia, Persia, Turkey and Afghanistan – and became a terror to the Muslim world. He died in 1227 and his vast empire was divided among his three surviving sons. Territories in Northern Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan up to river Indus, came under the control of his son named Chaghtai. In course of time, the prestige and power of the Mongols waned and the ruling clan sub-divided. But the pestilence continued and India remained their favourite hunting ground for wealth.
The Mongols ransacked Lahore in December 1241, during the short rule of Sultan Bahram. The army sent by this lackluster King of Delhi returned back from the Satluj without a fight in the welter of court intrigues. The next incursion of Mongols was in 1279. They were pushed back from Satluj. In 1289, during an attack by the Mongols, Muhammad Khan son of Balban was “martyred”. In 1292, a horde of Mongols was defeated by Feroz Khilji (r. 1290-96). However, during the reign of the powerful Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316) the Mongols crossed the Indus on twelve occasions. He had been on the throne for a few months only when a large number of Mongols penetrated up to Jalandhar. In 1299, they were defeated outside Delhi in a pitched battle. Expecting that the King would be away on his campaign against Ranthambor they reappeared in Delhi in 1303. For lack of adequate forces, Allauddin did not take the field and remained beleaguered inside his fort of Siri. The Mongols plundered Delhi and its surroundings for two months uncontested. During their next foray in 1304 they were returning burdened with plunder after going as far as Amroha, when they were intercepted and defeated by a force sent from Delhi. In 1306, and again in the following year, they crossed the Indus.
They may not have been allowed to carry back their booty, but the Punjab was not saved from their usual plundering, slaying and ravishing – as during each earlier occasion – even while passing through Punjab. In 1328 or 29, a Mongol ruler from as far as Transoxiana, passing through Lahore and Samana marched towards Badaun, plundering and devastating the country on his way.
Timur Ling
Ruling the Muslim lands, the Turks gradually adopted Islam. When the next Turkish scourge appeared in the person of Timur Lane, he additionally had the mantle of Islamic bigotry – when it suited him. After his coronation at Balkh in 1369, he overran Khwarizm, Khorasan, Azerbijan, Gerogia, Kandahar, Sistan, Isphahan, Shiraz, Baghdad, Tashkand … and lingered on the banks of the Volga. After resting in his capital Samarkand, he marched towards India in 1398. Pretext of Timur’s invasion of India was the alleged toleration of idolatry by its Muslim rulers – not that he ever needed an excuse for his depredations. Crossing the Indus, Chenab and Ravi, Timur occupied Multan. Any resistance was ruthlessly suppressed. Citizens of Bhatner, the stronghold of Bhati Rajputs, were put to death and the city was burnt “so that one would have said that no living being had ever drawn breath in that neighbourhood.” Apart from slaughter enroute, Timur had 100,000 adult male Hindu captives when he reached on the outskirts of Delhi. He set up his headquarter at Loni, after putting all Hindu inhabitants to death. Apprehensive of the presence of large number of captives, when his soldiers would be engaged in battle, Timur caused all the captives to be murdered. Delhi was taken despite vigorous resistance. The usual work of bloodshed, and rapine followed for several days until so many captives had been taken by the Mongol army that “there was none so humble but he had at least twenty slaves.” Exclusively Muslim quarters of the city were spared, everywhere else was sacked and the entire Hindu population was either massacred or enslaved. “Although I was desirous of sparing them,” wrote Timur in his unconvincing Memoirs “I could not succeed, because it was the will of God that this calamity should befall the city.”[12] On Timur’s way back Meerut was seized, all Hindu citizens being murdered.
The unfortunate province of Punjab was being claimed by three contestants. Noticing the weakness of the Delhi Sultanate, the invaders from Afghanistan tried to appoint their own governors at Lahore and Multan, who would be evicted when Delhi had the strength to replace them. Taking advantage of the unsettled conditions, the local Khokhars of the Salt Range, helped by other Hindu chieftains, would try to exert domination over Lahore. They sided with, or opposed, the invaders as it suited them.
At the time of Timur’s invasion Shaikha was the principal Khokhar chief. He was in possession of Lahore. His brother unsuccessfully contested Timur’s passage. Shaikha then offered allegiance to Timur[13] but the atrocities inflicted on the Hindu population were too much for him to bear and he resiled. During his return journey, Timur sent an expedition to Lahore. The city was captured and held to ransom. Shaikha the Khokhar, was captured and executed. Timur appointed Khizar Khan the Sayyed as his own governor of Multan, Lahore and Dipalpur. Khizar Khan ultimately acquired the throne of Delhi for himself, in 1414 – starting the Sayyed dynasty.
On March 19, Timur crossed the Indus after inflicting more misery than had ever been inflicted by any conqueror on a single invasion. The whole of northern India was in indescribable disorder and confusion. That was the fate Punjab often encountered.
The Mohyal trail
It has already been stated that Gorakh Rai, a descendant of the Vaid royal family of Punjab, was martyred at Traori while fighting alongside Prithvi Raj Chauhan. One of his sons Brahma Deva, looking for a safe retreat after the Muslim conquest of Delhi and Ajmer, settled in the hilly tract near Shimla. There is no trace of their whereabouts for the next two centuries. Because of scanty details, it is not possible to identify the foot prints of Mohyals in the obstinate Hindu resistance in Punjab chiefly led by the Khokhars of the Salt Range. Just the names of Khokhar chieftains appear in some of the Muslim chronicles. Their forces were recruited from the Hindu population but it is not possible to ferret out any details about the Mohyals who must have been part of these crusades. However, the Vaid royal family, like their ancestors, came under the patronage of the Hindu kingdom of Jammu.
For his return journey, Timur had taken a route along the Shivalak Range. His progress was marked by the almost daily massacre of large body of Hindus. To defend themselves armed groups of Hindus appeared to oppose Timur but they were no match for the Mongol cavalry. Two Hindu contingents who resisted obstinately were slaughtered near Haridwar. Carrying cartloads of booty and thousands of prisoners, when Timur reached the Jammu region, Hindus put up very stiff resistance. It is on record that Timur had to fight twenty pitched battles between January 24 and February 23, 1399 in the neighbourhood of Jammu.[14] According to Islahe Mohyali, during these engagements, Shiv Datt Vaid, a descendant of Gorakh Rai, displayed unusual gallantry and many Hindu captives were freed. Pleased by this achievement, Maldev the ruler of Jammu, appointed Shiv Datt as the governor of Sambha, with the title of Rai.[15]
Shiv Datt had four sons, namely, Ganpati, Ram, Chhattar, and Ganga Ram. On his death he was succeeded by Ganpati. Jawahar, Rishi Dev, Hari Har (a.k.a Har Har Chanda), Atma, Chaturbhuj and Bhima (or Bhilam) were the successors from the next six generations. Then came Raja Auo Dev, son of Bhim, who made a mark for himself. In 1725, when Maharaja Ranjit Deo ascended the throne of Jammu, he bestowed special ranks on the chiefs of states under his jurisdiction, like Jasrota, Bhandil, Malkot and Sambha, and asked them to be part of his court (in the style of the Mughals). So Auo Dev built his palace at Jammu and shifted his residence there. The administration of Sambha was entrusted to his heir designate, Murar Das. After the demise of Auo Dev and Murar Das, the state of Sambha was merged in the kingdom of Jammu. The palace of Auo Dev at Jammu was also acquired by the kingdom for its expanding requirements.[16]
The rise and decline of this Vaid family of Sambha was linked with the fortunes of the state of Jammu. Maharaja Ranjit Deo was a man of great administrative ability. Taking advantage of the confused political situation in Punjab, owing to the decline of Mughal rule, Durrani (Abdali) invasions and the rise of the Sikhs, Ranjit Deo extended his authority over all the hills situated between the rivers Chenab and Ravi. His dominions extended into the plains to the northern part of Sialkot district (including the parganas of Zafarwal i.e. Kanjrur and Shakargarh). It was a time of upheavals and lawlessness “yet his little state was an abode of peace and safety (dar-ul-aman).” Even rich bankers, merchants and high officials of Lahore and Delhi, both Hindus and Musalmans, found a place of refuge at Jammu. During Ahmad Shah Abdali’s third invasion (December 1751 to March 1752) Muin-ul-Mulk, the governor of Punjab, sent his family and treasures to the care of Ranjit Deo of Jammu. However, Ranjit Deo could not escape the Sikhs. About 1770, he himself submitted to Jhanda Singh Bhangi and agreed to pay tribute. On Ranjit Deo’s death in 1781, he was succeeded by his son Brij Raj Deo during whose rule the Jammu state came completely under the subjection of Sikhs.[17]
Anarchy must have prevailed in this “abode of peace and safety” – like the rest of the Punjab. As is common in such situation this “classy” Vaid clan of Sambha moved to different places in search of safety and livelihood. According to P. N. Bali, Sambha has now been orphaned and only a single Vaid family of Raizada Sita Ram, ASI Police (Retired) lives there.[18]
Four distinct family lines (Thammas, or pillars, in social parlance) became prominent. These ancestral lineages were: Har Har Chanda, Ram, Gangu and Chhattar. But after lapse of some time, four other lineages held prominence. These were: Auo-Ana (named after Auo Dev); Samyala (after his native place); Ratnagiri (after the name of his mother) and Dharekadiye (after their ancestral residence in district Gujrat).
Lakha Singh, a prominent personality from the clan of Auo Dev, led a section of the Vaid émigrés from Jammu to Mirpur. Jawala Singh, a descendant of Lakha Singh, who had been a commandant of various forts in the Kashmir state, became famous for killing a notorious dacoit of Gujranwala. Jawala Singh saved the life of Maharaja Gulab Singh when the latter was on his way to Lahore and Raja Sultan Khan of Rajouri conspired to get the Maharaja killed through a ruse.
Raizada Bhan Singh and his younger brother Ishar Das of this Vaid clan shifted from Mirpur to Sukho (a village in Tehsil Gujarkhan, District Rawal Pindi). Bhan Singh got employment under Sardar Jagat Singh, Subedar of Puthohar. Because of his administrative qualities Bhan Singh became a special advisor to the Subedar who granted him a jagir at Sapiala near Mandra. Brought up in affluence, the next generation was not as remarkable. Raizada Hari Chand Vaid, the author of the famed work Gulshane Mohyali, was a scion of that Vaid clan of Sukho.[19]
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We now revert to the affairs of Delhi Sultanate. It has been mentioned that Khizar Khan Sayyed, who had been appointed as the governor of Lahore by Timur, ultimately acquired the throne of Delhi for himself. However, Sayyeds were hardly the persons who could cope with the prevailing anarchy and that dynasty gave way to the Lodis. The first two Lodi Sultans – Buhlul and Sikandar – managed the turbulent nobles. But solidarity has not been an Afghan characteristic and governors of the provinces gradually slipped out of the yoke of central government. There was no reason for the Hindu chiefs also to remain loyal. Wholesale destruction of temples was not the best method of conciliating the Hindus of a conquered district and bigotry was the prominent feature of the character of Silkandar Lodi – like many other rulers of the Delhi Sultanate before him. Here is just one example.
Trying to create harmony between the two principal communities, a Bangali Brahman was preaching that the Mohammadan and Hindu religions were both true and were different paths by which God might be approached. This came to the notice of Sikandar Lodi who directed the governor of Bihar to send the daring preacher and two rival doctors of Islamic law to the court. Theologians were summoned from different parts of the kingdom to consider whether it was permissible to preach peace. They decided that since the Brahmana had admitted the truth of Islam, according to Shriat (Muslim law), he should be invited to embrace it, with the alternative of death in the event of refusal. The decision commended itself to the Sultan and the Brahmana had to face death, because he refused to change his faith.[20]
After the death of Sikandar, the choice of the Lodi nobles fell on his eldest son Ibrahim, who was raised to the throne at Agra in November, 1517. But there were several others with high ambitions. Alam Khan the uncle of Ibrahim, who had been waiting for the death of his brother Sikandar, had the ambition to become the Emperor of India. Sensing this, Ibrahim desperately wanted to kill Alam Khan. Ibrahim was also keen to replace Daulat Khan, the powerful governor of Punjab, whose territory extended from Attock to Sirhind. The Sultan did send a force to dislodge Daulat Khan. In 1523, the Afghan nobles at Lahore sent Alam Khan Lodi and Dilawar Khan, son of Daulat Khan, to persuade Babur to help them in removing Ibrahim Lodi and placing his uncle Alam Khan on the throne of Delhi. Of course Babur had his own designs and this triangular conflict in Punjab convinced him of an easy victory during his march to Delhi. Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat on 21 April, 1526 and laid the foundation of the Moghul Empire in India.
It should be noted that the absence of a strong central government and dissident governors of provinces – particularly in Punjab – presented an ideal opportunity for ambitious adventurers from the north-west to invade India: Mohammad Ghauri, Timur, Babur, Himayun, Nadar Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. This has a lesson for the future.
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APPENDIX
THE KHOKHARS OF THE SALT RANGE
The Khokhars mainly inhabited the mountainous tract between the upper courses of the rivers Indus and Jhelum: principally the area between Kalabagh and Attock in the north-west, to Bhera and Khushab towards the south-east. These comprised the districts of Rawal Pindi and Jhelum (during the British rule). The Mohyals shared this habitat with the Khokhars. Like the Mohyals, Khokhars were also composed of militant tribes but far more numerous in numbers. They were the subjects and allies of the Mohyal (Vaid) rulers of Punjab. It has been mentioned that during the opening phase of the fateful battle between Mahmud Ghaznavi and Anandapala in 1008, near Peshawar, the Khokhars cut down 5000 Mohammadans in a short time. They again assisted Sukhapala when he tried to wrest Lahore from the Ghaznavids in 1043. After the end of the Mohyal rule in Punjab, Khokhars took over the leadership of Hindu resistance, with Mohyals as their allies. Concentrated on the strategic route between Bhera and Attock, which was continuously traversed by the Afghan hordes raiding in search of India’s wealth, they shared a common fate and therefore must have remained comrades in arms.
Khokhars did not convert to Islam during the long rule of the Ghaznavids. When Muhammad Ghauri attacked India, partly to subdue the Khokhars who were at that time active players in the power politics of Punjab, they had their revenge by assassinating Ghauri in his own camp, near the river Sindh. They continued to struggle for domination over the Punjab during the long rule of several dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate and also figure, again and again, in the struggle between the Sultans and the Mongols. In March, 1247 Balban attacked the Salt Range and “inflicted severe punishment on the Khokhars and other Hindu tribes of those hills and then pushed on to the bank of the Indus, where he despoiled Jaspal Sehra, raja of the Salt Range and his tribe.”[21] Hullagu, a Mughal noble at Lahore during the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq, proclaimed his independence and appointed Gul Chandar, chief of the Khokhars, his minister. During the rule of Tughlaq dynasty, Shaikha Khokhar would extend his hold over Lahore and continued to subjugate other areas in Punjab. As stated earlier, Lahore was in his possession during Timur’s invasion.
Shaikha was succeeded by his son Jasrath. It was under Jasrath that the power of the Hindus led by the Khokhars seems to have reached its zenith.[22] He had established his independent principality of considerable extent during the rule of the Sayyed dynasty. He had gained a victory over the army of Kashmir which inspired in his mind the belief that the throne of Delhi was within his reach. Khokhars were the neighbours of the state of Jammu, possibly coveting each other’s territory, and therefore they never got together. Raja Bhim of Jammu was always associating with the Muslim administration at Lahore against the Khokhars. Jasrath was able to defeat and kill Raja Bhim in a battle and this success encouraged him to attack the districts of Dipalpur and Lahore, among others, threatening Delhi.
Delhi could, sometimes, extend full control over the Salt Range. Probably to save their large land holdings and to avoid other indignities faced by Hindus, the Khokhars gradually converted to Islam but continued to resist foreign domination. But their harmony with the Mohyals continued. Even after the long Muslim rule over Punjab and India, one noticed an affectionate bonhomie and trust between these two groups – the Khokhars and the Mohyals – during the British period, in marked contrast to certain distrust and distancing between their two main communities.
THE PUNJAB UNDER THE GHAZNAVIDS
[1] Mohammad Habib, Politics and Society During the Early Medieval Period, Vol. II, pp. 84-91.
[2] John Briggs, History of the Rise of Mahomedan Power in India, Vol. I, pp. 70-71.
[3] J. L. Mehta, Advanced Study in History of Medieval India, Vol. III, p. 53, fn. 33.
THE DELHI SULTANATE
[4] Wolseley Haig, The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III, p. 39.
[5] Indian Antiquary (1877) pp. 186 and 198; also Merutunga: Prabandhachintamani, tr. Tawney, p. 154.
[6] ‘Prakrit and Sanskrit Inscriptions’ Published by the Bhavanagar Archaeological Department, p. 210 v. 29.
[7] Ferishta’s translation in Reverty: Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, Vol. I, p. 464 fn. 7.
[8] Raizada Harichand Vaid, Gulshane Mohyali, Vol. II, pp. 34 and 133. Also Panchanana Raya, A Historical Review of Hindu India: “Gorakh Rai, a courtier of Rai Pithora fell at the above battle field.”
[9] Ram Gopal Misra, Hindu Resistance to Early Muslim Invaders (636 to 1206 AD), p. 98.
[10] Dashratha Sharma, Early Chauhan Dynasties, p.81.
[11] Epigraphia Indica, Vol. pp. 97-98.
[12] Malfuzat-i-Timuri (Autobiography of Timur) in Elliot’s History of India, Vol. II, p.446.
[13] Yazdi, Zafarnama, says that those Hindus who said they were Shaikha’s tribe had been exempted from plunder by Timur during the time that Shaikha was in Timur’s train. Also see Yahya Sirhindi, Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, pp. 166-67.
[14] Wolseley Haig, The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III, p. 200.
[15] Raizada Harichand Vaid, Gulshane Mohyali, Vol. II, p. 135 ff.
[16] Raizada Harichand Vaid, Gulshane Mohyali, Vol. II, p. 139.
[17] The Maratha Supremacy, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Bombay, 1971), pp. 162-63.
[18] P. N. Bali, Mohyal History (3rd Edition) p. 139.
[19] Raizada Harichand Vaid, Gulshane Mohyali, Vol. II, p. 154.
[20] Wolseley Haig, The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III, p. 240.
THE KHOKHARS OF THE SALT RANGE
[21] Wolseley Haig, The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III, p. 66.
[22] M. Athar Ali, Mughal India, (Oxford University Press, 2006), p.51.