Raja Wazir Singh was succeeded by his 32 year old
son, Bikram Singh the period of the new ruler, 1874-1898, is noted for an all round
progress in the city as well as in the State of Faridkot. He simplified the
territorial division of the State by merging the pargana of Dip Singh Wala with
that of Faridkot and the paragana of Bhagta with that of Kot Kapura. The thanas
in bhagta and Dip Singh Wala were downgraded to chaukis as a measure of
economy. He employed retired British officials with a view to modernizing his
administration. In 1875, he set up offices and courts on British model and
adopted the British law. The problem of indebtedness was becoming acute its
proper proportions. First, twelve years were fixed as the period of limitation
of debts, but later in 1881 it was further reduced to six years. In the same
way revenue stamps were ordered to be affixed on ordinary receipts, under the
Indian Stamp Act. In 1879 the Raja placed restrictions on the consumption of
intoxicating liquors. Unofficial distillation was forbidden and under the
Excise act an abkari department and a distillery were established at Faridkot.
In 1885 the Sirhind Canal of Punjab was extended to
the Faridkot state by means of a 6.5 km long water course. As the result
cultivation greatly increased and crops unknown before began to be produced.
The North-Western Railway had been extended to the State in 1894 which provided
faster communication between Faridkot and other important places along the
route right up to Bombay on one side and Firozpur (later Lahore also) on the
other. For improvement of postal service within the State postal conventions
were signed between the British Government and the State on 30 November 1886
and 1 October 1896. Under these agreements, the British Government supplied
surcharged British Indian stamps to the State at cost price, which were then
sold at usual rates to the public for inland postage. A beginning was made with
modern banking in 1875 when shri Govind Shiv Shankar Bank was established.
Promotion of trade and commerce also received the
attention of the raja. Markets were established and plots of land were given to
shopkeepers and traders from outside the State at low prices. Octori duties
were abolished. Large sums of money were spent to encourage the organization of
cattle fairs. Mettaled roads were constructed and lined with trees. A number of
new buildings were constructed in the towns of Faridkot and kot Kapura.
Besides, Raja Bikram Singh was one of the founders
of the famous Singh Sabha movement in Punjab and took deep interest in its
programmes of religious and social reforms. To promote modern education, he was
always ready to help this noble cause with generous monetary grants. He made
donations towards the foundation of Panjab University in 1882 and in
recognition of his help he was appointed a fellow of the university. He was the
first Faridkot ruler who realized the need of English education for his sons
and made suitable arrangements of that purpose.
Another cause close to his heart was the service of
Sikh religion to which he himself belonged. He enlisted the services of eminent
scholars of his religion to prepare a standard exegesis of Guru Granth Sahib.
Large sums of money were spent on the preparation and production of the work
which is now commonly styled as Faridkot Teeka. Further, the Raja was
responsible for the erection of a number of grand buildings for historical Sikh
temples.
Raja Bikram Singh started a new settlement of land
revenue in 1879 under the supervision of Lala Daulat Ram. In this settlement
British rules were followed as guiding principles. Under the new system, the
Raja’s claim to talugdari rights war system, the Raja’s claim to talugdari
rights was established over almost all villages of the State. In other
words, he became malik ala (Chief Proprietor) of all lands in the State
with the exception of 14 villages which belonged to the direct descendants of
Chaudhury Kapur Singh: (Mehmuana, Matta, Rort, Duariana, Sandhwan, Khacharan,
Ran Singh Wala, Bargari etc.) The result was that the agriculturists working on
such lands were reduced to the status of in 1892, new revenue rates were fixed
whereby the State revenue was increased by Rs. 90,000. Revenue papers, however,
took another eight years to be completed, so that the new system actually came
into force only in 1900.
Raja Bikram Singh died in August 1898 at the age of
56. His successor was his elder son, Balbir Singh.
Raja Balbir Singh succeeded his father in December
1898. He was 29 years old at the time of his accession. He ruled for seven
years. Iike his father he took deep interest in education, art and
architecture. The Middle School of Faridkot was raised to the status of an
Anglo-Vernacular High School in 1901. Among the great buildings raised by him
the Victoria Memorial Clock Towar and the Raj Mahal are excellent specimens of
modern Indian architecture. The Raja also did a great deal to develop and
promote the breeding of horses and cattle in the State. During his period some
reforms were effected in the organization of armed forces as well. The Imperial
Service Cavalry and Infantry were replaced by a corps of sappers and for it
five new cantonments were built.
Raja Balbir Singh died suddenly in 1906. He had no
issue. Since his successor, an adopted son, raja Brijinder Singh, a nephew, was
minor, a administration on his behalf. The council consisted of a president and
two members. Until the end of 1913 the State was under the political control of
the Commissioner of Jalandhar division. After that a separate political Agency
was established for the States of Bahalwalpur, Faridkot and Malerkotla. This
change was followed in April 1914 by abolition of the Regency Council and
appointment of a Superintendent. In 1916, Raja personally assumed full powers.
He had a brilliant academic career at the Aitchison Chief’s College, Lahore and held promise for the
role of a successful ruler. He died on 22 December 1918. .
The successor of Maharaja Brijinder Singh was his
elder son Harinder Singh who was just a child of three years at the time of his
accession in 1918. Therefor, for the conduct of administration a Regency
Council was set up which functioned up till 1934 when the Raja came of age and
assumed full powers.
Like his father, Raja Harinder Singh, too, had
received his education at the Chief’s College, Lahore. He wanted to develop his
State in all important respects, particularly in sports, administration, public
health, agriculture and education. For promotion of sports he constructed a
grand stadium, a rare thing in India then and enlisted the services of leading
sportsmen to that end. In the sphere of education, he raised the Brijindra High
School to the status of an intermediate College in 1942 and to that of a Degree
College in 1944. he paid even more attention. To elementary and secondary
education. The number of middle schools was raised from five to over a dozen,
whereas practically all villages in the State were given primary schools. A few
small-scale industries were established which was perhaps the first venture of
this type in the State.
Steps were also taken to gear up the administration.
A spacious new building was erected to accommodate the Central Secretariat.
Departments were reorganized and competent well-educated heads were appointed
to look after them. Higher scales of pay were introduced to attract better
talent for State service. Executive was separated from judiciary so that a
batter dispensation of justice could be ensured. A High Court was set up to
hear appeals in cases of high value.
During Second World War the Raja rendered services
to the British Government by way to men and money. In return the Government
raised his military rank from Major to Lieutenant-Colonel.
The greatest problem, however, which the Raja had to
face was the rise of a powerful Praja Mandal movement in State. The akali
morchas for the reform and control of gurdwaras during the twenties, the
emergency of Praja Mandals in the neighbouring Punjab States and above all, the
powerful national movement sweeping all over the country had changed the
climate in Faridkot as well. As a result of it, an agitation was started in
1938n demanding redressal of grievances and democratic rights. The Raja made
every possible effort to suppress it but in vain. To m the legitimate political
aspirations of his people the Raja came forth with a proposal to set up an
elected legislature for the State. A network of village panchayats was
established as a preliminary step. These panchayats were in turn required to
elect the members of a Central Panchayat which was to function as Legislative
Council.
Meanwhile, new developments were taking place which
made a radical change in the situation. India became free on 15 August 1947 and
with that lapsed the British paramountcy so that each State was now at liberty
to decide for itself its future course of action. Seeing the writing on the
wall, the Ruler of Faridkot decided to accede to the Union of India.
Praja Mandal Movement. – The
pioneers of Praja Mandal movement in East Punjab states were the Sikh peasant
living in these States. They had got their first lesson in political education
when the sikh community as a whole clashed with the British government during
the period of the gurdwara Reform Movement (1921-25). They courted imprisonment
and faced lathi-blows in Guru Ka Bagh, Bhai Pheru and Jaito morchas.
The struggle, which finally ended with the passing of the gurdwara Act in 1925
left a deep impact on the politics of Punjab as well as on Sikh States in East
Punjab. Flushed with triumph, sikhs felt bold enough to seek new adventures in
the concerned, the Akali agitation over the issue of gurudwara reform provided
each state with a hard core of political workers. The members of this nucleus
core were brave and daring souls ready to make any sacrifice. For the first
time the princes, authority in the states was effectively challenged. Their
personal and administration weakness began to invite public criticism. The
swift pace of national movement in the country also gave fillip to struggle for
India’s freedom entered upon a new phase. The massacre of innocent people at
Jallianwala Bagh followed by a rigorous martial law administration and
non-cooperation of 1921 created a powerful new tempo in the country. The
national movement from now onwards became a mass movement. The British
Government came down heavily upon this popular upsurge. The rulers of Indian
states including those of the Sikh States, followed suit and came down heavily
on this movement.
This new political climate in the country gave birth
to the All India State people’s Conference at Bombay in 1927. It gave an
organized shape to the States people’s struggle against the autocratic rule of
the princes. The Praja Mandal Movement in East Punjab States were established
in 1928. It received much valuable help and guidance from the All India States
people’s Conference. From 1920 to 1938 the movement remained very active in the
patiala State which was the largest and most important of the East Punjab
States. In the smaller states like Faridkot, however, the movement remained
weak for many years.
The Faridkot State did not feel the impact of the
Praja Mandal movement till the closing years of the thirties. Two factors were
probably responsible for this. First, it was a little far removed from the borders of the Patiala State. Secondly, the
Akalis of Faridkot who took part in the Jaito Morcha were in Jail for 7 to 14
years. The Praja Mandal leaders made
some efforts to extend their activities to the Faridkot State but initially
they did not meet with much success. All the same, a few individual akali
workers were active even during these
early years. They held religious assemblies (diwans) where often
people’s grievances were voiced and demands made for more schools, hospitals
and roads.
The Praja Mandal Movement was started in Faridkot
State in 1938-39. In the beginning it was completely an affair of local
peasants. The State refused to regard peasants as proprietors of the lands they
cultivated. They were all treated as occupancy tenants (adna malik). The
real proprietor or ala malik was the Raja himself, and in certain rare
cases some local landlord. The Akalis who were the first to enter the political
field, began by organizing political
conference in the garb of religious diwans The demand voiced at such
meetings were mostly concerned with the grievances of peasantry. The Raja of
the State was determined to stop these conferences as they appeared to him to
be dangerous for the peace of his State. A peasant organization called Zamindar
Sabha was set up on 24 July 1938. Thereupon, the State Government promulgated
the Registration of Societies Act, 1938 declaring that in future no society or
association would be recognized unless it was got registered with the
Government. Inspite of this restrictive legislation, however, a Congress
Committee was set up with Sardar Janga Singh Burj Harike as President and Giani
Zail Singh as General Secretary. From the very outset the committee through the
medium of posters and pamphlets put forward some radical demands. These
included removal of all restrictions on civil liberties, full freedom of speech
and association, end of corruption and share-cropping, elected assembly, fixing
of working hours for labour, establishment of municipal committees in emphasis,
however, was on the demand concerning the peasantry. With the passage of time
two of these demands came to be pushed into the focus, namely repeal of the
Registration of Societies Act and grant of full proprietary rights to the
peasants through the abolition of the ala malik system.
Kot Kapura was center of activities of the Congress
Committee. In June 1939, under the public meetings were organized at Kot
Kapura. The State authorities took alarm and disturbed both of them by heavy
brickbatting and beating of drums. Giani zail Singh Sandhwan, Janga Singh Burj
Harika and Sandhura Singh Mani Singh Wala were arrested and awarded four to
five years rigorous imprisonment each.
Simultaneously, the State Government issued a
proclamation and banned the Praja Mandal in the State. Even ordinary meetings
were probhited and in addition, a warning was given against any outsider
interfering in the internal internal affairs of the State. To counteract the
influence of the Praja Mandalists, the counter organization called the Faridkot
State organization was held under the presidentship of Sardar Gurdial Singh, Rais
of Mehmuana, at Kot Kapura on 16 and 17 February 1940, to discuss the
political problems of the State. The meeting adopted seven resolutions all
condemning the activities of the Congress Committee.
However, unmindful of official repression, the
Congress Committee launched a flag Satyagrah after the arrest of their popular
leaders. The agitation continued up to March 1940. The authorities took the
view that the agitation was inspired from outside and denounced it as an act of
outside interferences in the internal affairs of the State. Two dozen workers
were arrested and imprisoned. Thereafter, partly due to the imprisonment of all
active workers of the Faridkot Praja Mandal and partly because the Second World
War the flag agitation gradually petered out.
The second phase of the Praja Mandal movement in
Faridkot State began in April 1946. A small party of school children hoisted
the Congress flag in the Faridkot grain market which was forcibly removed by
the police. A lathi-charge followed which precipitated the matters leading to a
full-fledged satyagrah under auspices of the Punjab Regional Council of the All
India States peoples, Conference.
The call for the satyagrah was given by a big
political conference held at Mandi Phul in Nabha State on 25 and 26 April 1946.
The conference was addressed by many prominent leaders. At this conference a
resolution was passed against the auctioning of village common lands in
Faridkot State and it was decided to hold a meeting at Faridkot on 28 April
1946. It was also decided to unfurl the national tri-colour flag at the very
place where the school student had been lathi-charged and arrested. On the
appointed day, prominent leaders arrived at Faridkot to participate in the
meeting. The police and loyalists of the State attacked the Praja Mandal
workers and beat them mercilessly. Thereupon, the Praja Mandal decided to
launch a satyagrah against the High handedness of the State Government. The
base of the satyagrah was located at Jaito Mandi, a Nabha town bordering on the
FARIDKOT State. Once satyagrah was announced, Jatha (bands) began to pour into
Faridkot from al parts of Punjab. After some time two more centers were opened
at Goniana Mandi and Kot Kapura.
The number of jathas was increasing with the passage
of time. The people of Faridkot, Kot Kapura and Goniana Mandi observed a strike
during the satyagrah. Gradulally, the agitation began to affect students also.
The Punjab Congress was giving full support to the
satyagrah. An inquiry committee was set up to investigate the matter and make a
matter-of-fact report on the Faridkot situation. The members of this committee
observed in their report that the organization of public meetings and the
hoisting of the national flags were the people’s rights and appealed to the
Raja to remove all restrictions and to stop repression against his own people.
Pandit Jawarhar Lal Nehru all along had been
watching the situation with keen interest. He sent his Secretary, D. N. Kachru
to Faridkot to furnish him a first hand report. But he was refused permission
to enter Faridkot. S. Partap Singh Kairon, General Secretary of the Punjab
Congress, appealed to all Congress Committees to observe 8 May 1946 as Faridkot
Day by way of protest against Raja Harinder Singh’s oppressive popicies. On
this day Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, President All India States People’s
Conference, issued a long statement to the press, which ended on a note of
warning. Pandit Nehru ultimately decided to pay a personal visit to the State.
He reached Faridkot on 27 May 1946. The Ruler decided to ban his entry into the
State. But Panditji, defied the ban and tearing to pieces the notices served on
him under section 144 Cr. P. C. asked the surging peaceful mass of humanity to
march into the city. The Ruler gave way and requested for a compromise.
The agreement which the Raja and Pandit Jawahar Lal
Nehru arrived at after negotiations was popularly known as Nehru-Harinder Pact.
According to its terms, all restrictions on the hoisting of the conducting of
political propaganda were to be withdrawn and all detenues were to be
immediately released. Besides, it was agreed that the Chief justice of the
State would investigate the excesses of the police officers and all guilty
people would be duly penalized.
The satyagrah of May 1946 no doubt ended with the
Nehru –Harinder pact but that did not end the trouble in the State. The State
Government did not sincerely fulfill the terms of the agreement. The
Registration of Societies Act was repealed in June 1946, which legalized all
political activities in the State. But the Praja Mandal remained dissatisfied
as the other terms of the Pact were not fulfilled. The Raja was evading the
enquiry agreed upon between him and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru against such of
the State officials as were guilty of atrocities committed o Satyagrahis in
1946. On the other hand, five gazetted officers and 50 subordinates were
expelled from service for their sympathies with the Praja Mandal. There were also
complaints of Praja Mandal workers, being implicated in false cases. In
November 1946, the Raja announced that Legislative Council would be established
in his State and subjects would be associated with the administration. But
events were moving very fast good excuse to the Raja to delay things.
On 18 October 1947 a meeting of Praja Mandal was
held under the chairmanship of Giani Zail Singh. The Raja was requested to act
upon the Nehru-Harinder agreement and to establish a responsible Government in the
State. The ruler paid no heed to it. Praja Mandal leaders started a vigorous
propaganda compaign issuing warnings and enrolling volunteers for a new round
of satyagrah. The people of the State were only too ready to participate in any
new movement to be started. They had been greatly emboldened by the previous
Praja Mandal victories and the transfer of political power to the Congress in
1947. Further, two years of open work had generated great enthusiasm among the
Praja Mandalists. Moreover, the Praja Mandal enjoyed the support of bulk of the
peasantry who had a standing grievance against the Raja who claimed to be the
super-owner of all agricultural lands in the State. The combined effect of all
these factors was the revolt of 1 March 1948 when hundreds of satyagrahis
besieged the Faridkot Secretariat and tried to capture it. Scores of the State
functionaries including high police and judicial officers shifted their loyalty
to the Praja Mandal’s parallel Government. It was headed by Giani Zail Singh as
governor and S.Gurbaksh Singh Chahal as Prime Minister. Other members were Pt.
Amar Nath (Judicial), S. Mohan Singh (Home), Pt. Chetan Dev (Revenue) Jathedar
Janga Singh as Military Secretary.
The Praja Mandal’s leaders and volunteers who
besieged the Secretariate were mercilessly and indiscriminately lathi-charged,
resulting in severe injuries to a large number of them. Many of them sustained
compound fractures. Proclamation of a parallel Government by the Praja Mandal
infuriated the Raja so much that he practically lost his self-control and began
to molest responsible and respectable officers having sympathies with the Praja
Mandal. Many of them were dismissed and put under arrest. The Raja went to the
extent of personally beating some of the arrested officers.
Repression and terror unleashed by the State
Government ordered some of the officers to quit the State with their families.
Leading bankers, sahukars, merchants and respectable people of the State got so
panicky that they fled away to save themselves from the Raja’s wrath.
The Praja Mandal workers who escaped imprisonment
continued the satyagrah. Jathas of satyagrahis were daily pouring in Faridkot
from their base camp at Firozpur. They were taken to far-off and lonely places
where they were ruthlessly beaten before being let off. Sardar Patel, Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister for Home and States portfolios intervened and as a
result of that the satyagrah movement was withdrawn. On 20 March Giani Zail
Singh, President of Praja Mandal, Faridkot, ministers of the Faridkot Azad
government of 1948 were released. They all then proceed to Delhi and met Dr.
Pattabai Sitaramaya, Acting President, of all India States People’s Conference.
Sheikh Mohammad Adbullah, President, All India’s State Peopies Conference,
condemned the conduct of the Faridkot Raja.
At that time negotiations were going on over the future of the East
Punjab States between the States ministry and the princes. On 15 July 1948 the
States Ministry decided to form a Union of East Punjab States including
Faridkot. The Union, popularly called PEPSU,had the Maharaja of Patiala as the
head with the title of Rajparmukh. The formation of the Union finally ended the
era of personal rule in all these States and with it the most important demand
of the Praja Mandal movement was fulfilled.
1. Namdhari Movement. – This movement also known as Kuka movement was
initiated by Bhai Ram Singh about one month prior to the outbreak the Rebellion
of 1857 at village Bhaini Arayian (Popularly called Bhaini Sahib) in Ludhiana
District. Bhai Ram Singh was inspired to start this movement from the actions
of Tenth Guru gobind Singh. Other circumstances which compelled him to start
this movement included the corrupt and proud priests, the haughty Mughal
Emperor and the pro-Mughal hily rulers. He was a disciple of Guru Balak Singh
of Huzroo.
This movement stood for religious revival at a time when Christianity
was making serious inroads in the land. It represented social reforms, clean
loving, honest earning, equality and simplicity when people in Punjab had
almost forgotten the message of Guru Nanak and guru gobind Singh. It offered
nothing but non-co-operation to the government when many of the sikhs cheftians
had become the helpless victims of lust and greed by attracting favours of
foreign masters. It preached and practiced swadeshi when cotton duties in India
were being abolished and the country was being flooded with foreign goods. It
advocated protection of cows. Namdharis avoided travelling by trains. They
established their own postal system. They never enlisted themselves for
Government jobs.
Within a few years Bhai Ram Singh developed into Guru Ram Singh with a
considerable following. He launched a crusade for religious and social reform
and revival. He showed the keenest interest in reaching gout to the people to
deliver his message personally to them. This practice, he thought, would impart
a great momentum to the missionary activities of the suvbas and other
functionaries. He, therefore, chalked out a programme of extensive tours
through the length and breadth of the country. In this programme, visits to
important shrines on the occasions of Baisakhi, Diwali, Maghi and Holi were
given the top most priority, as it was believed that the huge assemblies of
people usually found at these places on such occasions would provide him with
the much desired opportunities of direct contract and communication with
masses.
Guru Ram Singh started this programme in 1861 and after visiting other
places, he proceeded towards Muktsar to be present there on the occasion of the
Maghi Fair. From Muktsar he returned to his headquarters at Bhaini. About the
middle of 1863, he again visited the Firozpur District. Conscious of the
prevailing poverty of the masses, he initiated the Anand Marriage (the ceremony
according to Sikh rites) which could be performed at a nominal cost of a few
rupees. It was readily accepted by the poor villagers who constitute the bulk
of his followers. This new practice was first introduced among the people in
the first week of June 1863 at the village of Khota (Tahsil Moga) where the daughter and granddaughter
of Sammund Singh, a Kuka Suba Were
married according to this simple ceremony. Once initiated, the practice became
so popular that later in 1909, it was given a statutory recognition by the
passage of the Anand Marriage Act. One important, but incidental, result of the
change effected was breakdown of the professional Brahmin marriage maker’s
monopoly in so far as the reformed Kuka fraternity was concerned.
The rigours of the caste-system were anathema to Guru Ram Singh. He
refused to have any regard for the artificial caste barriers. His mission was
for all castes and all religions. Inter-caste marriages were considered an
essential factor in the emotional integration of society, a beginning in this
direction was also made at Khota in 1863, when a few such matrimonial alliances
were effected. In one case, the daughter of a carpenter was married to a member
of an Arora family.
The visit to the village of Khota was the end of the first found of
Guru Ram Singh’s tours, because it was here that the Government, alarmed by
certain reports regarding his aims and activities, took him in custody
preparatory to him internment later at Bhaini Sahib.
The rapid advancement of the Kuka Movement caused consternation to
those whose interests lay in keeping the people benighted and stuck up in the
web of complicated rites, ceremonies, customs and practices. Prominent among
these people were the Sodhis, bedis and the other priestly classes, Brahmins
and Mahants. They were the reputed leaders of society. Their leadership
was now put in jeopardy by the very deep impact made by the movement started by
Guru Ram Singh on the minds of the people. Therefore he received stiff
resistances from the members of these classes. The pujaris or mahants
also very often subject the Kuka leader as well as his followers to humiliating
treatment. In 1861, on the occasion of the Maghi Festival, the priests of the
Muktsar Gurudwara refused to pray for Guru Ram Singh, unless he agreed, by way
of penalty for his “un-Sikh” ways, to pay the entire cost of the masonary for
the local tank. In 1863, threatened self-immolation as a protest against his
innovation of Anand Marriage. When this treat proved to be of no avail, they
coaxed the local chowkidar to make a report to the police station of Bagha
purana that report was the immediate cause of the arrest of Guru Ram Singh.
After carefully scrutinizing the whole matter, the Deputy Commissioner banned
al meetings of the Kukas in the Firozpur District and ordered that “Ram Singh
himself and his chelas (disciples) were to be sent, station by station, to his
home at Bhaini, in Ludhiana.
The Khota affair created a great stir in the official circles. Soon
after, the Punjab Government issued instructions to the Deputy Commissioners
and Superintendents of police of all districts to keep a vigilant eye on Ram
Singh and his followers and to send confidential reports. The policy of strict
vigilance having been, thus, introduced, all Kuka parties and meetings were
carefully shadowed by the police and their secret agents.
Immediately after the happenings connected with the Kuka outbreak in
January 1872, Ram Singh was detained in the Alahabad Fort, from where he was
soon after removed to Rangoon. His prominent and influential subas were
also arrested and detained in the Allahbad Fort, also known as the Allahabad
Central jail. Among them those from the Narain Singh. After sometime, the
former was removed to Moulmein and the latter to the Asirgarh Fort. The subas
were next to head of the organization in importance. The vacancies caused by
the incarceration of the eminent among them were, therefore, filled up by the
appointment of new subas in their places. Thus Samund Singh of the
Village of Khota and Natha Singh of Village of Gardiwala (tahsil Zira) were
appointed in the Firozpur district.
In 1867, a police officer, deputed to keep a watch on the activities of
the Kukas, reported that, among other places, Firozpur had become a stronghold
of the Kukas.
On 18 July 1879, J.D. Warburton, district Superintendent of Police,
Ludhiana arrested Narian Singh, of Village rode (Tahsil Moga, District
Faridkot). He had been deputed by a notable Kuka leader, Budha Singh, to
contact Guru Ram Singh in exile at Rangoon, and he had just returned after
paying him a visit. Original letters from Guru Ram Singh, covering 18 or 19
pieces of paper, large and small, bearing on different subjects, mainly
anti-British activities, were found to be in his possession.
On 17 March 1881, the police arrested 39 out of the 150 Kukas who had assembled
for the purpose of holding a secret meeting in the Dhak Jungle near village
Laton, not far from Bhaini in the Ludhiana District. Some of them belonged to
the Faridkot District.
The arrested person were released on bail many of them were required to
furnish security of Rs 1000 each.
Out of 22 Kuka subas, the following functioned in the then Faridkot
region.
Narain Singh son of Dewa Singh, of the Village of Roda (Tahsil Moga, district Faridkot)
Narian Singh functioned in the Muktsar and Firozpur region. In June
1879, he started for Rangoon and, on his return, was arrested on 17 July,
several letters purporting to be from Guru Ram Singh, were found on his person.
Probably, he was created suba by the order of Guru Ram Singh (from
exile).
Jawahir Singh of the village of Balaspur,(Tahsil Moga, District Faridkot)
Jawahir Singh functioned in Firozpur and some adjoining place. He was
deported along with Guru Ram Singh in 1872.
Sammund Singh son of Sadho Singh, of the village of Khota
Sammund Singh functioned in the Firozpur region. Guru Ram Singh renewed
his title of suba from exile. He assisted the Kuka sect from his own resources
and was looked up to by the Kukas.
Man Singh son of Mukhan Singh Saidoke, Tahsil Moga
He sold his land and helped Guru Ram Singh with proceeds. In 1872 he
was deported alongwith Guru Ram Singh.
The above mentioned prominent Kukas sacrificed their properties or gave
up their settled lives or were arrested by the Government, or were called up to
furnish heavy securities, all for their faith and mission. Some lost their
jobs, other auctioned all their assets to feed their kuka brethren and to
plunge whole heartedly into the Movement, whereas some were deported from
India.
Ghadar Movement. – The Ghadar movement was the first purely secular
movement which aimed to liberate in dial by force of arms. Though the vast
majority of the participants were Sikhs and therefore the literature was
printed in Gurmikhi and meetings took place in gurudwaras, it had nothing
whatsoever to do wit sikhismas a religion. The Ghadar Movement attracted both
Hindus and Muslims to its fold and later influenced other revolutionary groups
in the country to shed their religious bias. The rebellion was planed in the
United States and Canada. Hands were raised from Indians living in foreign
countries. The headquarters of the movement were at san Farncisco. Sohan Singh
Bhakna was the president and Lala Hardyal was the General Secretary of the
Party. A weekly paper called ‘Ghadar’ (The Rebellion) was started with Lala
Hardyal as Chief Editor. Through the journal, the organization got wide
publicity and n course of time came to be known as the Ghadar party.
Many articles and poems from Ghadar were re-printed in booklets of
which four became very popular, viz: (1) Ghadar di Goonj (Echoes of the
Mutiny), (2) Ilan-i-Jang (Declaration of War). (3) Naya Zamana
(The New Age) and (4) The Balance sheet of British rule in India.
‘Ghadar’ printed occasionally the following advertisement in its
“Wanted columns”
Wanted : Enthusiastic and heroic
soldiers for organizing Ghadar in
Hindustan.
Remuneration : Death.
Reward :
Martyrdom
Pension :
Freedom
Field of work :
Hindustan.
In the gurudwaras in the United States, Canada, Shanghai Hong Kong and
Singapore, it became customary to recite poems from Ghadar and hold discussions
on political problems after evening prayers. Within a few months the Ghadar
party had the unanimous support of the entire Indian immigrant community of the
pacific coast and had changed the Sikhs from loyal British subjects to ardent
revolutionaries.
As war clouds gathered over Europe, leaders of the Ghadar party began
to talk of utilizing the hostilities. Special Supplements of Ghadar were published
on 278 July and 4 August 1914, explaining to the readers their duty in the
event of a war. Since Canada was a part of the British empire and would
automatically join Britain in the war, it was decided to shift all political
activity to the United States. There were special meetings at Oxanard, Upland,
Fresno, Los Angeles, Clairmont and a week after England had declared war, a
general gathering of Indian emigrants took place at Scramento. Men were
exhorted to volunteer for revolutionary service and funds were collected to pay
for their passage. Several thousand men enlisted and there was a rush to catch
boats leaving for India.
The Sikhs were also infuriated when the passengers of the ship
‘Kamagata Maru’ mostly sikhs, were harassed and were not allowed immigration to
Canada. It also drew the attention of the world towards the plight of Indian
immigrants in Canada. The Punjabis living in foreign lands became ready for the
revolution in India.
At this critical juncture, the Ghadar party was deprived of all its top
leaders. In March 1914, Hardyal was arrested in San Francisco on the charge of
being an anarchist. He was released on bail, but fearing that he might be
convicted or handed over to the British (his name was linked with the plot to
assassinate Lord Hardinge), he fled to Switzerland. Sohan Singh Bhakna and
Kartar Singh Saraba had followed the Kamagata Maru to India, and Jawala Singh,
the Stockton rancher, also left the United States at the head of a party of
sixty Ghadarites. In the absence of these people and others who were anxious to
get to India, the leadership of the party fel, as if by default of any one
better, to Ram Chandra, a nominee of Hardayal.
The first band of revolutionaries sailed from San Francisco in August
1914 by the Korea. Ram Chandra, Bhagwan Singh “Gyani” and Santokh Singh (the
latter two themselves scheduled to leave a few days later) came to see off the
emigrants. Ram Chandra addressed them in the following words: “Your duty is
clear. Go to India. Stir up rebellion in every corner of the country. Rob the
wealthy and show mercy to the por. In this way gain universal sympathy. Arms
will be provided ransack the police stations for rifles. Obey without
hesitation the commands of your leaders.
But the ghadarites soon discovered to their chagrin that the
political climate in India was far from conducive to revolution. They made
desperate efforts to get some base in the peasantry. They went to religious
festivals at Amritsar, Nankana Sahib (Pakistan) and Tarn Taran (Amritsar District)
and openly exhorted the people to rise. There was little response from the
peasants and the revolutionaries had to fall back on their own resources, which
were admittedly rather meagre. Being short of funds, the Ghadarites had to take
recourse to dacoities.
An attempt was made on 27 November 1914 to loot the Moga Sub Divisional
Treasury in Firozpur District (Now in Faridkot District) resulting in the death
of a police Sub-Inspector and village Zaildar. Two revolutionaries were killed
and seven captured. A number of docoities were also committed on 24 and 25
December 1914 in the Firozpur District.
The Revolutionaries apprehended in the Punjab and elsewhere in India,
Burma and Malaya were brought up for trial. Soon after the first burst of Ghadar
violence in the autumn of 1914, Sir Micharl O’Dwyer, the Lt. Governor of Punjab
had asked for powers to dispense with the usual legal procedures and set up
tribunals which could try the revolutionaries without going through commitment
proceedings and from whose sentences there would be no appeal. These 1915. the
special tribunals consisted of three judges, of whom two were English. Several
hundred revolutionaries were tried and convicted. Of those tried in Punjab, 46
were hanged and 194 sentenced to long terms imprisonments.
The list of revolutionaries belonging to the Faridkot district tried,
convicted and killed.
Jaito Morcha. – Jaito, now in District Faridkot was in the
erstwhile Nabha State. It was founded by jaito, a jat of Sidhu clan.
Jaito Morcha is an important event in the history of the Sikhs. A large number of Sikhs took part in this morcha and lost their lives. This morcha was launched by the Akalis. The Britishers were aware that Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha was taking keen interest in the affairs of the Sikh community and was sympathetic with the nationalist and Akali movements. The Maharaja had some dispute with the patiala state. The Britishers appointed Justice Stewart of Allahabad High Court to enquire into this dispute. He gave his finding against the ruler of Nabha. Maharaja Ripudaman Singh was asked to abdicate in favour of his minor son. On 8 July 1923 Hira Mahal was surrounded by the Gorkhas and Dogra soldiers on the pretext that Maharaja was having a number of Akalis in hiding. He was put under restaint at once and was taken to Dehradun.
The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) was much upset at these happenings. They called upon the whose sikh community to demonstrate their injured feelings against this affair by arranging on 9 September 1923 bare footed nagar Kirtan Processions. Prayers should be offered for the speedy restoration of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh to his rightful powers.
On 2 August 1923 the Shiromani gurudwara Prabandhak Committee
telegraphed to the Viceroy informing him of the incident. No proper reply was
received. The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee came to know through the
associated Press announcement that the Viceroy was considering the appointment
of the council of Regency for the Nabha State. The Shiromani Gurudwara
Prabandhak Committee protested against this as no occasion had arisen for the
appointment of council of Regency.
On 9 September they observed a Protest Day, and resolved that they
would put the Sikh Maharaja back on his throne, whatever the cost. On 12
October the Government declared both the Akali Dal and the Shiromani Gurudwara
Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) illegal bodies, and arrested all the sixty members
of their executive committee. Protest meetings followed by more arrests and
prosecutions became the order of the day throughout the Punjab. Within the
State of Nabha, Sikhs were arrested in an open protest meeting held at the
Gurudwara Gangsar jaito.
To pray for the success of the Sikh cause, an Akhand path (continuous reading of the Sikh
Scripture) was initiated by the Sikhs of this place. The State police forcibly
removed the reader, a 15 year old lad, Niranjan Singh Gyani from the Holy
Altar, and substituted him by their own man. This was considered sacrilligous
and the movement gathered a new momentum.
The news of desecration spread like wild fire. The Sikhs from the
neighbourhood gathered to go there and restart and Akhand Path. The
Government had enforced restrictions on the free visit to the Gurdwara, on 31
August 1923. But from 14 September 1923 Akali jathas of 25 each marched daily
on foot to Jaito after taking a pledge before Akali Takhat at Amritsar to
remain non-violent in through the deed.
The aim of these jathas was to resume the interrupted Akhand Path
at Gangsar (at Jaito) and to suffer all hardships and tortures inflicted on
them. The jathas were arrested, taken to Distant Places and set free. Once
freed the jathas traveled back to Muktsr to a court arrest again. The Sikhs
were prevented from visiting and praying at Gurudwara at Jaito for five months.
About 5,000 Sikhs suffered untold hardships at the hands of the authorities for
removing this unreasonable ban on their religious freedom.
The special Congress Session at Delhi in 1923, evinced great interest
in the events taking place at Jaito. The congress leaders showed their deep
sympathy with Akalis after hearing the Sikh visitors as well as diwan Chaman
Lal, Pandit Nehru along with some other leaders started for Jaito to see things
for themselves. Pandit Nehru along with 2 others was arrested. Their arrest was
taken as a challenge by the whole nation.
A Nabha bulletin was issued by the Congress Civil disobedience
Committee. Shiromani Gurudwara Prabanadhak Committee. Shiromani Gurudwara
Prabandhak Committee brought out a special Jaito number of their daily paper,
the nation. All these things drew the attention of the whole nation to the
Jaito affairs.
In the Faridkot State the President of the Court of Administration had
issued a proclamation prohibiting at subjects from participating in the diwan
at Jaito or in any way joining in a demonstration of sympathy with Maharaja
Ripudaman Singh. A leading local Akali, a member of the SGPC, S. Gurbax Singh,
was sent for by the superintendent of Police and ordered to prevent any
procession being taken through the streets of the city. But in view of the
clear instructions of the SGPC which he said, the people were determined to
follow, he expressed his inability to help the authorities in the matter. At this
Gurbax Singh was taken into custody as also S. Nanad Singh, Jathedar of
Faridkot Akali Jatha. At the same time orders were issued for posting of
pickets at all the roads leading to the city.
In spite of these precautions, however, several hundreds of sikhs
assembled at the Faridkot railway station carrying guru Granth Sahib.
The police and some State officials were soon at the spot. They took away the Guru
Granth Sahib in a motor car and placed the whole jatha under arrest. In the
evening they were ordered to disperse but they insisted upon marching in a
procession so long as the ninth of September had not come to an end. They were
therefore, detained upto the midnight and then released with the threat of
forfeiture of property and imposition of punitive police. Similar jathas of
sikhs coming from the villages of sikhanwala, Sidrai and Chaini, were arrested
while proceeding to Faridkot. A religious teacher, Bhai Amar Singh of Kot
Kapura, was also expelled from the State during the period of his school vacation,
as he was helping in religious Congregations Dewans in the State.
On the basant anniversary on 9 February 1924, the shahidi jatha or
the ‘Band of Martyrs’ who had resolved before the sacred throne of Shri Akal
Takhat at Amritsar to lay down their lives in the cause of religious freedom,
to a solemn pledge of restarting the interrupted Akhand Path at
Gurudwara Gangsar. The Jathedar of the Akal Takhat exhorted them to remain
perfectly non-violent in thought and deed.
Originally they had announced the diwan to be held for three
days but on account of the arrests they decided to continue the diwan for
an indefinite period. The diwan was held in an open space outside the
gurdwara at Jaito under a papal tree. The langer was located
inside the gurudwara. The land on which diwan was held was attached to
the gurudwara. Their object in continuing the diwan was that if forcible
arrests were to be made they would continue the holding of the diwan till the
Akalis present were arrested. As some of those present were the members of the
Shiromani gurudwara Prabandhak committee they had no doubt in their mind that
they would get the sympathy and support of their own body. The diwan
continued to be held for several days.
The noble ‘band of martyrs’ profusely garlanded, left for Jaito on foot
on 9 February amid the loving adieus of the Sikh Sangat of Amritsar. The
jatha evoked tremendous enthusiasm wherever it went. Morning and evening diwans
were arranged at all halting stations and the attendance at those diwans
sometimes rose to 25 or 30 thousand while an eager concourse of Sikhs always
marched along with the jatha.
The jatha halted at Bargari in the Faridkot territory on the evening of
20 February 1924. At the conclusion of the morning diwan of 21 February
the jatha and the sangat took their meals at Bargari and left for Jaito
at about 12 noon. Jaito was about 10 km from Bargari. ‘Sowars’ had been
stationed at short intervals all along the way and through them the Faridkot
State officials frequently sent reports of the movements of the jatha to the
administration of Nahba State. The cavalry and a big party of village men and
chachhi police armed with heavy lathis had taken first position near the
boundary line of the Faridkot and Nabha Sates, but when they heard that the
jatha was accompanied by large congregation they dropped the idea of stopping
the jatha.
Before the jatha reached the boundary line, the State officials had
stopped the vehicle in which Dr. Kitchlew, principal Gidwani and Mr. Zmiand,
the representative of the ‘New York Times’ were travelling to Jaito and showed
them the order restricting admission to the gurudwara to bands of 50. On
remonstrance the officials sent a messenger to the administration for further
orders. By this time the jatha and the sangat arrived on the Nabha State
boundary and the State officials informed them that Gurudwara Gansar, on the
undertaking that they would quit the Nabha territory as soon as they had
finished their bath, and that another batch of 50 out. The jatha took this as
an unreasonable and unauthorized limitation on their religious liberty and
refused to bargain for the God-given right of entering a Sikh temple for
worship.
The jatha and the sangat then approached the city of Jaito. The
State authorities had very cunningly narrowed the passage leading to the
Gurudwara Gangsar and the fort by the barbed wire barrier on one side and a
long row of about two hundred chained bullock carts filled with thorny bushes
and masses of barbed wore on the other side. Near the end of this passage, in
the immediate near the end of this passage, in the immediate vicinity of
Gurdwara of Gangsar, and behind some building, they had erected a special
barbed wirs building, they had erected a special barbed wire enclosure, which
by its peculiar position was concealed from the pubic gaze, and be beaten or
arrested in the privacy of this trap. On the top of the bullock carts and
behind them men from villages armed with heavy sticks were stationed in a
triple row to prevent the jatha from breaking through the line.
But from the sandy mound where the telephone pole
was erected the jatha and the sangat moved to the right in the direction
of gurdwara Tibi Sahib which was about a kilometer away. Half of the jatha was
in the front in rows of four, Guru Granth Sahib in the middle and the
other half bringing up the rear. The Sikh sangat walked on both flanks,
keeping well behind the palanquin of Guru Granth Sahib out of reverence.
A platoon of Nabha infantry had dug trenches and taken up its position on and
near sacred eminance of Tabbi Sahib. Beyond Tibbi Sahib there was the camp of
the Faridkot sappers and Miners with the tent of Col. Minchin in the middle,
and in front of this camp were stationed two detachments of cavalry Lewis guns
were fixed at various places.
The administration with some officials accousted the Jatha and asked
them to disperse. He declared that ht would order firing in case they did not
comply. The jatha had taken the pledge of visiting the sacred temple, and
recognized no temporal authority in matters of religion. The jatha advanced in
the direction of Tibbi Sahib followed by big congregation among whom there were
many ladies, who were distributing food and water to the sangat. The
Sikhs were in a very calm and devotional mood. From the preparations made, it
was quite clear that the administration had made up his mind to beat and shoot
down the Sikh ‘Sangat’ long before the Sikhs entered his territory and
he gave his signal by waving a small flag without the slightest provocation or
cause of alarm from the Sikhs.
The big procession of Sikh devotees including women and old men sang
hymns of glory and marched on with uplifted hands towards their temple under a
shower of bullets. Many of their comrades dropped dead or were seriously
wounded. But not a single person wavered. Lifting the dead or the wounded they
made straight for the sacred mound of Tibbi Sahib, and came close to the
position taken up by the Nabha infantry, who were firing. The infantry were
compelled to break up. But bullets poured upon them from other directions, many
eye witnesses reported that Lewis guns were also fired. A bullet struck a baby
carried in the arms of its mother and the poor thing expired. The Sikh lady
stepped aside, put the little thing gently on the ground, rejoined the jatha
and moved on with the sangat.
The Sikhs took great care to keep the palanquin of the Holy Granth in the middle. Under the circumstances the authorities could hardly show any tenderness for the sanctity of Guru Granth Sahib. The sangat entered the enclosure of Tibbi Sahib Gurudwara. Many went to the neighbouring fields to bring the dead or the wounded to the Gurudwara. Some ladies began to nurse their wounded brethren. The Sikhs succeeded in removing only a few of their dead or wounded brethren, for they were soon checked by the military who snatched away the bodies of Sikhs from their hands. Many of the wounded died for lack of attendance and shrine of Tibbi Sahib with their precious lifeblood, under a shower of bullets which left the neighbouring fields densely littered with the dead or wounded martyrs.
After depositing the dead and the wounded in the Gurudwara, the shahidi
jatha made a round of the eminance of Tibbi Sahib and marched in the direction
of Gangsar, but their progress was checked by a detachment of cavalry, which
blocked the way. A squardron of Cavalry rushed on the sangat congregated
about Tibbi Sahib and the ‘sowars’ chased Sikh parties for miles
scattering them in all directions.
The shahidi jatha was next surrounded by the Cavalry, and a
strong party of the Royal policemen and country recruits excited by drinks
started the beating of Sikhs. Every Sikh was surrounded by a group of 5 of 6
desperadoes who encouraged by the State officials, plied their sticks freely,
beating the heroes of the shahidi jatha to senselessness and tying them
into tight bundles with strong ropes, huddle them into bullock carts to be
transported to the barbed wire enclosure. From the enclosure, they were
subsequently removed into the fort.
The details of shahidi
jathas who actively devotedly participated in the Jaito Morcha.