Interesting Details About The Sikhs

Sardar Baghel Singh the Sikh Warrior

SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE SIKHS

 

The Sikh Review, Jan 2013, pages 43-46, gives some interesting details:-

 

1. Sikhs raided the capital, Delhi, 17 times, finally deciding to capture it on 11 March 1783.

Sardar Baghel Singh after conquering Red Fort Delhi.

 

2. Sikhs did not enter the Zenana Enclosure, since they respected womenfolk, where the Emperor and his courtiers had taken refuge.

 

3. Sikhs did not plunder Delhi, but protected it with regular military horsemen patrols day and night, and crime went down during this period.

 

4. Hari Ram Gupta, historian, reports in Volume III of his “History of Sikhs”:-

(a). Sikhs appeared early in 1774 near Delhi, and the Mughal Emperor could not summon forces to oppose them. On 18 Jan 1774 Sikhs devastated Shahdara.

(b). Sikhs attacked Crown Land near Delhi in Oct-Nov 1776.

(c ). Sikhs ravaged outskirts of 

Capital in Sep – Oct 1778.

(d). on 11 March 1783 attacked the Red Fort under the command of Sardar Baghel Singh, and Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwlia sat on the Throne of the Emperor.

(e). Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia captured 4 guns and a large variegated slab of stone measuring 6ft x 4ft x 9inches, which is still preserved in Ramgarhia Bunga at Amritsar.

Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia of Kapurthala

(f). Begum Samru arrived in the Capital on 12 March 1783, since the Emperor wanted her to negotiate with the Sikhs. The following terms were negotiated by the lady and Sardar Baghel Singh, which were then approved by the Emperor under his signature and Royal Seal:

· The major portion of the Sikh Army would retire to Panjab

· Sardar Baghel Singh would remain in the Capital with 4,000 troops

· Sikhs would build 7 Gurdwaras at the places sacred to the Sikhs in the city of Delhi.

· Sardar Baghel Singh would establish his headquarters at Sabzi Mandi.

· To meet the expenses of his troops and the construction of Gurdwaras he was permitted to charge 6 annas in the rupee (37.5 percent) of all income from octroi duties in the Capital.

· Sikhs would not misbehave in any way during their stay in the Capital.

· Construction of the Gurdwaras must be finished as early as possible, but not beyond the current year.

 

5. The Gurdwaras were completed by November 1783.

 

6. Sardar Baghel Singh retired from the capital in December 1783.

 

7. Sardar Baghel Singh was given a Khillat, fully caparisoned elephant, a horse, and a necklace of pearls. Four other Sardars, including Duleha Singh, also received Khillats.

 

8. Sardar Baghel Singh was granted 12.5 percent of the octroi duties of Delhi to be remitted to him at his headquarters at Chhalondi, annually, on the condition that he would check the Sikhs from attacking the capital.

 

9. Sikhs took away the stone slab on which sat the Emperor’s Throne, and this slab can be seen at the rear of Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple), in the corridor around the Holy Sarovar.

 

10. Ghulam Qadir Khan captured the Red Fort and gouged out th eyes of the Emperor with his own dagger. He also made his queens dance naked. Three servants and two water-carriers who tried to help the Emperor were beheaded. This is in sharp contrast to the way Sikhs had behaved towards the Emperor, who was still treated with respect, although he had been militarily defeated.