Wazir Khan And Jihad

[amardeep]

Gurfateh Singho

A few years ago i read that Wazir Khan launced a Jihad against the sikhs. I can't remember the source now but soon i am going to write a report on Radical muslims use of modern communication in order to inspire the masses for holy war. In this report i want to include a short chapter on how leaders of the past would inspire their subjects to participate in holy war. So how did Aurangzeb, Wazir Khan etc inspire the local muslims to join the Jihad against the sikhs/hindus?

I have two theories

- By using the mosques during friday prayers

- By sending letters to various governors who would tell their local imams to recruit people in villages etc

But is there something im missing? Did muslim leaders use something like Dhadhi Jathas and people reciting ballads and vaars to inspire people to go to war?

I hope you can help me or tell me about relevant litterature in this field.

Edited October 26, 2009 by amardeep

[Matheen]

Can't cite any sources at the moment, but I remember reading that the Mughal soldiers were employed on salary - so, like modern armies, they just did what they were told to. So not sure if all campaigns against the Sikhs were classified as Jihad, but I can see how this could be used to rally the troops.

Messengers were sent on horseback with orders and I think pigeons may have been used too (not 100% certain on this).

Their inspiration came from the same place that modern muslim terrorists get it - promises of virgins etc in the next world and general hate towards the kaffirs who dared to oppose their tyranny.

[tonyhp32]

I don't think that there was an official Jihad declared against Sikhs during the time of Aurangzeb. The Mughal state had enough men and resources and did not need to declare a Jihad and invite Jihad mobs against the Sikhs. However, Wazir Khan did declare a Jihad upon learning the Banda Singh Bahadur was on his way to Sirhind. As a consequence he was able to suplement his paid army with an army of Muslim rabble eager to kill and die for Allah as well as enjoy the spoils of war. After the battle of Chappar Chiri there was also a Jihad declared against the Sikhs in Lahore in which a large number of Hindu Julahas took part. The Jihadi army roamed around Lahore, ejected a Sikh jatha from a fort. A large number of excesses were committed against the local villagers so much so that the leaders of that army had to execute a number of the offenders. This Jihadi army was attacked by Sikhs during the night and was chased all the way back to Lahore with a large number of Jihadis killed.

The above is mentioned in the book Banda Singh bahadur by Ganda Singh.

[shaheediyan]

Tony is right, Wazir Khans fatal war against Banda Bahadur was the only war where a Jihad (in some respect) can be said to have been called - this was primarily because by this stage, Banda Bahadur and the Khalsa had gained a fearsome reputation after some stunning victories...

As far I have found, Dhadis were not used by the Mughals, the only report of some Dhadi activity in the Mughal Darbar I ever came across was when Rajkumari Hira Kunwari (Jodhabhai) was married to Akbar, she so wanted to keep an inkling of her old life alive that she got permission from Akbar to bring some Dhadis with her to relate heroic stories of old... He is said to have grudgingly agreed, as Dhadis were Mirasi, and therefore looked down upon, not really considered fit for the Royal Darbar etc.

I would guess prachin panth prakash would be able to answer your question if you have a copy, or maybe JSingh96 could help as he is studying these ithihaasik texts..

[amardeep]

Thank you very much for your help.

Do you know how Wazir Khan would declare this Jihad so that the local villagers of panjab and northern india would get to know? In todays time Osama Bin laden can launch a video and the whole world will see it on satelite tv. This is his way of spreading news. But how did they spread the news back then when there was no satelite tv and internet?

[Kaljug]

Technically, any war declared on a non-Muslim state or people by a Muslim state is jihad. The fact that the Mughals considered it a holy war is evidenced from their journals of these battles where they talk of "holy Muslim warriors fighting the infidels". I think there are some translations of these journals in Sikh History from Persian Sources.

K.

[amardeep]

Thanks kaljug i will take a look at the book

[Kaljug]

Thanks kaljug i will take a look at the book

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Also might be worth taking a look at the sharia texts in use at that period of time which describe the rules of jihad, etc. Some of these are collected in Andrew G Bostom's The Legacy of Jihad.

If you want, I'll see if I can photocopy the parts which might be relevant to your essay and mail them to you. Same with the Persian Sources book if you don't already have it.

By the way, messages were sent from Qazi to Qazi either by rider or messenger bird. The ones attached to the Mughal governer of a province would have been the ones to receive and send messages, and these in turn would be fed to the local Mullahs and from them the local Muslim populace. That's why the Jungee Khalsa in the times of Sikh Raj were always suspicious of the Qazis.

Regards,

K.

Edited October 30, 2009 by Kaljug

[amardeep]

Thanks Singha. Check your pm

[chatanga1]

there was another "official" jihad against the sikhs by ahmed bareilly, started in the NWFP, i think durin the times of M.Ranjit Singh. If i remember correctly, i read that he went around collecting suport form the local tribes before attacking, so i guess it may be down to whatever resources the jihadis have/need before it starts.

news is instant these days with a world audience butyou still hear of madrassas encouraging jihad.

i dont think that musicains would be very appelaing to muslims to come to jihad. after all they are promised 72 virgins, so who on earth would want to listen to matthew and son by cat stevens?

[tonyhp32]

Sayyid Ahmed of Bareilly was a Wahabi who after doing Hajj to Mecca came to India with an intention of declaring Jihad and reviving Muslim rule in India. The British encouraged him as long as his Jihad was against the Lahore state and allowed him and his followers to transit from UP which was under British control to the Afghan border areas of the Lahore state. The British intention was to divert the Sikh resources away from the Satluj frontier. They wanted the Sikhs to get bogged down in the frontier area. Ironically the British are now fighting the Wahabis in the same area and sustaining losses just like the Sikhs had 170 years previously. The British could learn a thing or two about how the Sikhs handled the Jihad of Sayyid Ahmed in that they brought off the tribes that were loyal to him and allowed the distain of the Wahabis for the non-Islamic traditions of the tribes to create a wedge and the tribes in the end betrayed him and his followers.

On a side note about Cat Steven aka Yusuf Islam, it is surprising how he suddenly discovered that Islam allows Music when his cash was running out and yet for 30 odds years believed that Music is haram!

Edited November 9, 2009 by tonyhp32