1857 : The War of Independence and the Forgotten Warriors of Punjab

کافر مار دو پہریں

خوش وسیں او دیسا ساڈیا

“We have killed the kafirs (the British) in broad day light. We are happy over that end on being sent to Kala Pani (transportation for life) Happiness be your fate our country!”

This was the last song of the freedom fighters of Neeli Bar, head on the banks of river Ravi in 1857. Their’s was the last post that fell in October 1857. No help reached them from anywhere. They fought all alone on both sides of the Ravi. Their first encounter with the British, who had taken over from the Sikhs, was in June 1857 when the war of independence broke out in Meerut cantonment. The Mujahids in uniform were led to Delhi. The revolt engulfed almost all cantonments in the Punjab (the NWFP was then part of this province). Neeli bar and the Murree hills were the only civil areas where people, especially the Muslims, rose against the well-armed British.

Forgotten hero

Neeli Bar in Sahiwal district and Sandal bar in Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Sheikhupura and Gujranwala districts, were the areas where rebel Rajput tribes of the Kharls, the Wattoos, the Sials, and the Bhattis were settled. Sandal bar produced Dullah Bhatti, a rebel who followed in the footsteps of Porus and Jasrat Khokhar and had a direct clash with Emperor Akbar. The same Sandal Bar in 1857 threw up another forgotten hero of the Punjab. Rai Ahmad Khan Kharl who led the 1857 war in this part of the country. He fired his first shot on the British in June-July and kept them on their toes till September, when while he was saying his prayers in the battlefield Gulab Rai Bedi, a collaborator of the British shot him dead.

Many songs were composed by unknown poets about the war fought during the six months in the two bars (jungles). The unknown bards paid rich tributes to these heroes in the Punjabi language. But the foreign educational experts deprived the Punjabi language of its rightful status which it had enjoyed since the days of Shahjehan. Therefore, the Punjabis at large forgot the long-drawn out wars between the East India Company and the Punjabis. They just forgot their proud contribution to the 1857 effort. They were forced to remember only the part played by a few hand-picked men (Muslims, Hindus and the Sikhs) were made ‘Chiefs of the Punjab’. The real chiefs of the Punjab like Ahmad Khan Kharl, Nadir Qureshi, Sarang. Mamed, Nathu Kathia, Wali Dad Mardana, Baba Nigahi, Amanat Ali Chishti, Shuja Bhadroo, Jalla Tarhana, Mokha Vahniwal and many others were forgotten by all but the unknown poets who composed ‘dholas’ in which they recorded almost all the events of that turbulent period. These songs are still heard on both banks of the Ravi, in the close vicinity of Harappa, the remnant of the oldest civilization of the land of five rivers. No serious attempt has ever been made to collect this poetic record of a glorious chapter in our history. The only reason is that this would have lowered the status of the “Punjab Chiefs’ who were the creation of the British. Who among the Kharls could give supporting voice to Ahmad Khan Kharl who said to Mr. Berkely:

اگے وی نال حکومت دے اوہ لیندا مورچے

اوس توں ولا کے لنگھ جاندا

راجہ رنجیت سنگھ نمانا

ایہناں کھرلاں اگے ویر مرزے خان دا جا لیا ہئی

سیالاں توں چکے ہانیں وگ پرانے

ایہناں کھرلاں اگے جنگ اکبر بادشاہ نال وی کیتا ہئی

مدانوں کدی نہ اوہ ڈولانے

احمد آہندا ہے: مہراں لٹیاں ہن سلطان سکندر دیاں اوتھوں دے مال اساہاں

“The Kharls have been doing battle with the previous governments. Ranjeet Singh avoided confrontation with them. He used to bypass their areas. Their tribal leader, Mirza – hero of a Punjabi love story Mirza Saheban – was murdered by the Sials (the tribe of the heroine of the story). The Kharls cleared their accounts with the Sials. They attacked the Sial territory and destroyed them. They also engaged Akbar the King. And they never wavered in the battlefield. They snatched the wealth of Alexander the Great and never surrendered it back”.

Unchallenged

This chivalrous tradition of the Kharls had produced Ahmad Khan Kharl of Jhamara (a village in district Toba Tek Singh), who was the popular leader of the areas on both sides of the Ravi. In 1857, he was in his seventies. He was a terror in his youth. Ranjeet Singh never challenged his autonomy. The Maharaja once took some Kharl prisoners. Immediately Ahmad Khan Kharl went to the Maharaja and secured their release.

The British wanted to subdue these ‘trouble-making’ tribes. They asked the tribal chiefs to provide them with horses and recruits. This was resented by these chiefs including Ahmad Khan Kharl:

انگریز برکلی آہندا ہے: رائے احمد دیویں گھوڑیاں

تیری لندنوں لکھ لیا دساں نیک نامی

رائے احمد آہندا ہے: رناں، بھوئیں، تے گھوڑیاں ونڈ کسے نہ دتیاں

ہوندیاں بت دے وچ ساہ سلامی

احمد تے سارنگ چٹے حباب دے کے جھامرے نوں گھوڑیاں دھر وڑ گئے نی

’The Englishman Berkely says ‘Provide me with horses and men, Rai Ahmad and I will secure a citation for you from London. Rai Ahmad says: No one in his life ever shares wives, land and mares with others. Ahmad and Sarang refused pointblank and went back to their village Jhamara. 

That annoyed the White rulers. They gave them chase. But both Ahmad and Sarang were on a mission to muster support for a massive attack on their foreign adversaries. They were not in Jhamara. Capt. Elphinstone and Berkely (EAC) jointly crossed the Ravi and put Jhamara to the torch. An unknown poet says:

کدھی دریاوی دے اتے، انگریز جھگے جپیاں دے پھوک مواتے ہین بالے

اگانہہ لائی اگ مستانے فقیر نوں، جھگڑے اوہدے دی چاہیس ساڑے

آکھے: اگ جھامرے دی لاونی نالے چھڈنے ڈھا چبارے

‘The British have burnt down tenements on both banks of the Ravi. Then came the dwelling of a faqir which was also set on fire. They say: “we have to burn down Jhamara and bulldoze the town”.

Jhamara, residence of Ahmad Khan earned the wrath of the ‘masters’ but he stood his ground.

In Gazetteer

A British compiler of the District Gazetteer says: “Ahmad was a man above the average – bold and crafty. It was this man who roused the tribes. All the important tribes of Ravi rose. The first real precursor of the storm that was brewing, occurred on the night of July 26th in the shape of an outbreak in the Gogera District jail (now in Sahiwal district). This appear to have been in all probability the work of Ahmad Khan. Reliable information was received to the effect that Ahmad with a large body of Wattoos had retreated into the jungle near Gashkori, some six miles south of Gogera. Capt. Black was sent with a detachment of cavalry to destroy them. He was joined by Lt. Chichester. A sharp skirmish took place in which the cavalry had to retreat. They were however, rallied and Ahmad together with Sarang, chief of the Begka Kharls, was killed.”

ہن کھرل یاد کر کے خدا نوں، دھری اے لت رکابے پھڑے لڑ لگام دے

آکھے: تسیں ڈھڈوں نہ ڈولو

رائے احمد پیا آکھے جھونپ تلواریں مریساں

چتواں مرداں دے پتے جاسن لگ وچ مدان دے

اوس دیہاڑے بھیڑیاں پیاں ہن فوجاں انگریز دیاں

کگھراں آلے کلر دے کولوں ہاٹھں انگریز دیاں چک لگھائیاں

پکے نویں کھلے ہین او نشان دے

نماز پڑھدے رائے احمد نوں، گلاب رائے بیدی ماری اے گولی اگانہہ وی رلے ہین، سنگ امام دے

‘In the name of God the Kharl rides his horse. Says Rai Ahmad: nobody must waver. Draw your swords and advance. This is the real test for real men. That day the British army was mauled. Rebels have shown their mettle. The British army was forced to retreat through barren lands. There are traces of their retreat which can be seen. But Gulab Rai Bedi fired at Rai Ahmad when he was offering prayer. Rai Ahmad has joined the Imam.’

That which could not be done by the foe was done by a traitor to the motherland and today almost all Punjabis have forgotten the great struggle their forefathers put up against the invaders from the East as well as the West.

(Punjabi text from “Kall Bolaindi” edited by A. D. Ejaz 1985).