Nur Muhamad's Jang Namah

[dalsingh101]

Most of us would have already encountered oft-cited extracts from this work but here is the complete book for those interested (you'll need to register with pdl to view it, but it's free, for a while anyway). Nur Muhamad accompanied Ahmad Shah Durrani in his holy war against Sikhs during 1764-1765, so what we have is a first hand account of the expedition from the perspective of the invading party. The author predictably uses insulting terms to describe the Sikhs such as dogs, pig eaters et. etc., but this should come as no surprise under the circumstances.

I found the account of Sardar Ala Singh of Patiala in the book interesting as he is not considered to be a Sikh by Nur. When questioned about the destruction of Sirhind by the Shah, Ala Singh is specifically quoted as saying:

"It has been ruined by the dogs [sikhs]...although I have defeated them in several battles, yet they do not withdraw their hands from fighting with me, because men from every direction come to the dogs and are initiated into their fold. If one dog dies, two more revengeful ones come in to take his place in accordance with the benediction of their Guru."

Ala Singh who is frequently described as a Sikh misaldar in modern Sikh literature, is depicted here as a Jat who has enmity towards the Khalsa and is on the side of the Shah against them. Ganda Singh explains this away as diplomacy.

The battles and both the tactics of the Sikhs and their opponents are often described with a good level of detail, for instance:

Some time had passed when orders were received from the shah for an attack [on the Singhs]. Everyone moved forward and the hideous dogs [sikhs] took to flight. When they had gone about 3 miles, no one from amongst the dogs had remained in the field. The Ghazis turned back. As soon as the army of Islam retreated, those accursed dogs wheeled around upon the Islamis and, having scattered themselves, attacked them on all sides like mad men.

What is needed in this day and age are fresh translations of such works. For those of you who are interested in contemporary accounts of our itihaas like me, enjoy!

http://www.panjabdigilib.org/webuser/searches/displayPageContent.jsp?ID=3079&CategoryID=1&page=1&Searched=W3GX

Edited August 17, 2010 by dalsingh101

[amardeep]

Wow that is awesome. Thanks bro

[Mithar]

Actually Ala Singh was probably the most diplomatic and opportunist Sikh leader in history. During his time he had friendly relations with the Sikhs, Mughals, Afghans(who made him Raja) and even the Marathas. Although he would say to Ahmad Shah Abdali that he is a friend of the Afghan invader, but behind his back he would often times do his own things like secretly sending food to the starved Maratha forces right before the 3rd battle of Panipat. After the 3rd battle of Panipat the Maratha army was destroyed and surviving Maratha soldiers scattered for shelter since the Afghan soldiers were dispatched all over to hunt down any Maratha they can get their hands on. So, many Maratha hid in territories held by Ala Singh. Over all, Patiala state rulers were opportunists. Their agenda was generally to expand the Patiala state and to look after it's well being rather than Sikh Panth.

Edited August 17, 2010 by Mithar

[dalsingh101]

If memory serves me right, I had read that Ala would refuse to help the Khalsa citing helplessness but switched sides after he was summonsed before his Afghan overlord having to pay a fine to present himself wearing his kesh. When he presented himself at the darbar he was confronted with the sight of some other attendees (who had presumably just returned from fighting with the Khalsa) possessing the decapitated heads of some shaheed Singhs which they spat at and kicked around in his presence.

When he left, he quickly jumped on the Khalsa bandwagon (probably sensing that his own head was likely to end up like those he had just witnessed if he did otherwise).

Edited August 17, 2010 by dalsingh101

[Xylitol]

is it possible to download this?