 |
Navigation
|
The
Great Holocaust (Wadda Ghalughara)
In 1761 the Sikhs under Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia occupied
Lahore. They proclaimed him king. He coined money in the name of the Guru. The
Khalsa gathered that year at Amritsar to celebrate their annual day of Diwali.
They passed a resolution to capture the strongholds of the allies and helpers of
Ahmad Shah Abdali. The nearest helper and ally of the foreigner was Aqil Das
Niranjania of Jandiala. He was a sworn enemy of the Sikhs. He had always aided
their enemies. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia informed
him of the decision of the Khalsa. It was a thought that he would submit and
make a compromise with the Sikhs. But he did nothing of the kind. He at once
wrote to Ahmad Shah and invited his help. Ahmad Shah was already on his way to
Hindustan. Aqil Das's messenger met him Rohtas. He hurried towards Jandiala. He
found that the Sikhs had raised the siege and gone away towards Sarhind. The
reason for their hurried withdrawal was this: before meeting the invader they
wanted to take their families to a place beyond his reach. There was another reason
also. The governor of Sarhind, Zain Khan had recently killed Sardar Dial Singh
Brar. The Sikhs wanted to avenge his death. They began to gather in villages
close to Malerkotla. The chief of the place invited Zain Khan to help him. At
the same time he informed Ahmad Shah about gathering of the Sikhs near
Malerkotla.
From Jandiala Ahmad Shah had gone to Lahore.
When he heard the news of the Sikhs' gathering near Malerkotla, he started from
Lahore on the third of February, 1762. By making hurried marches, he reached the
village of Kupp, near Malerkotla by the morning of the 5th of Feb. About 30,000
Sikhs were encamped there with their families and all their belongings. He had
already sent instructions to Zain Khan that he should attack the Sikhs on the
front. He himself was to fall upon them from the rear. He ordered soldiers to
kill all people found in Hindustani dress. In order to distinguish Zain Khan's
forces from those of the Sikhs, the former were told to wear green leaves in
their turbans. Several thousand Sikhs were killed. Most of them were women and
children. The Sikhs had been taken by surprise. Immediately they held a council.
They decided to die fighting. Of course, they could have saved themselves by
surrendering and giving up their faith, but the thought never crossed their
minds. They threw a cordon around their women and children, and began to move
forward. They moved on fighting. Ahmad Shah wanted to have a pitched battle with
the Sikhs. But they went on moving as they fought. They moved on fighting from
village to village. The people of the places through which they passed gave them
no shelter. They feared invader. On the contrary, they fell upon them and killed
a large number. The Sikhs continued to move on. Their aim was to reach Barnala.
They hoped that, at that place, they would get help from Baba Ala Singh. If they
got no help from him there, they were to pass on to the dry desert of Bhathinda.
But before they could reach Barnala, their
cordon was broken by Ahmad Shah's soldiers. A wholesale massacre of Sikhs followed.
At least ten thousand Sikhs were killed in this action. The wholesale destruction
of the Sikhs occurred on the 5th of Feb 1762. It is called Wadda Ghalughara or
the Great Holocaust. In all, over 500,000 men, women and children perished in
this campaign of slaughter. We should remember that these heroic Sikhs were
massacred because they had tried to rid their country of cruel fanatic and
despotic rulers. They were inspired with patriotic urges and emotions of the
noblest type. They were freedom fighters in a most real sense. They were men of
unshakeable faith, unbeatable courage, unbreakable will, and unmatchable
capacity to do and suffer for their faith and ideals. They died heroic deaths in
order to create conditions in which their countrymen could live with honor and
self-respect. They achieved their glorious martyrdom. They are remembered, and
shall ever e remembered, with respect and admiration by students of history as
well as, by all the followers of the Sikh Gurus. Let us bow our heads to these
patriots and fighters for their and our country's freedom.
Excerpts taken from these books.
Sikh History Book 5 by Kartar Singh ji.
Published by Hemkunt Press, New Delhi
|
