Spiritualism - Eternal Voice

Nawab Kapoor Singh(1697 - 1753)By Hardev Singhollowing the martyrdom of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716,Farukhsayar unleashed systematic persecution of the Sikhs,Fwhich continued till his death in 1719. After his demise, therewas some relaxation in the policy of genocide of non-Sikhs butwith the passage of time this policy of rapprochement wasextended to Sikhs too. With direction from the Mughals ofDelhi, Zakaria Khan, the Governor of Lahore, decided to co-optprominent Sikhs to befriend them. He sought the association ofSikhs by offering the title of Nawab including the Jagir ofDipalpur, Kanganwal and Jhaba, which would yield revenue ofone lakh rupees annually. At that time, Jathedar Darbara Singhwas the leader of the Sikh wandering warriors. Therefore, hewas offered to be a Nawab. However, he showed reluctance toaccept the offer, saying that he wants the Sikh Raj in the entirePunjab. Subegh Singh, a contractor, who was negotiating thedeal, encouraged Kapoor Singh, who was the Deputy ofDarbara Singh, to accept the offer for strategic reasons. KapoorSingh accepted the offer in 1733 after the Mughal Commandwas touched by the feet of five leading Sikhs.After this, Nawab Kapoor Singh started re-organizing the Khalsaby forming Buddha Dal, constituting the veteran fighters abovethe age of 40, who were required to manage the places ofworship and carry out the work of priests and preachers. TheTaruna Dal, made up of more active fighters under the age of40, was to take up arms at the time of emergency. This was thefirst organized attempt to build the Khalsa army of around12,000 fighters under five commands headed by (i) Deep Singh,(ii) Harnam Singh and Sharan Singh, (iii) Kahan Singh and BinodSingh, (iv) Dasaundha Singh, (v) Bir Singh and Jiwan SinghRangretta. These were located at Ram Sar, Bibek Sar, Kaul Sar,Lachhman Sar and Santokh Sar respectively at five Sarovarsaround Harmandir Sahib. Each command had its own bannerand drum. They maintained a common store of essential itemslike clothes and ration, though they had their own kitchens. Thetreasury was also common.This organized Khalsa, held meetings to take decision for futureaction under the guidance of Nawab Kapoor Singh. Theyunderstood that the peace was short-lived and therefore wantedto strengthen themselves - financially and in terms ofequipment. They decided that under Nawab Kapoor Singh'sgovernment, money should be appropriated and weapons andhorses should be added. When they received the informationthat money was being transferred from Multan to Lahoretreasury, the Khalsa pounced upon the carriages and looted thefunds, weapons and horses and vanished in the jungles in notime, leaving the guards stunned. They also looted the revenueof Kasur Subedar. A caravan from Afghanistan was also attackedby the Khalsa guerillas, capturing large stock of arms, horsesand money, which were urgently required by the Khalsa. Inanother attack, a caravan, carrying gold and silver fromAfghanistan, was looted. The Khalsa army went on to defeat thechiefs of Jhajjar, Dabri, Dujana, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad,Mehrauli and Gurgaon.Nawab Kapoor Singh took several measures, which made himpopular among the Khalsa and other Sikhs. He let it be knownthat (i) All money obtained by the Jathas would be deposited inthe common Khalsa Fund. All provisions for the fightingwandering warriors such as arms, horses and clothes wereprovided from this common fund. (ii) The fighting force wouldhave common Langar at various places. (iii) The Jathedars of theKhalsa Jathas would be respected and their orders followed. Themembers of the Jatha had to keep the Jathedar informed abouttheir whereabouts.The Mughal authority at Delhi was alarmed after they receivedthe information of this organization. In 1735, the Delhi Darbardecided to take back the Estate given to Kapoor Singh but hedid not care about this and said that Khalsa wanted the wholeof Punjab and not this paltry Jagir.The Mughal army unleashed unspeakable violence against theSikhs. As a result, the Sikhs crossed the river Sutlej and reachedsafe areas of Malwa. Kapoor Singh went to Patiala and initiatedBaba Ala Singh to take Amrit. He also helped the Patiala state toconsolidate its force and extend boundaries.Around this time, Bhai Mani Singh had asked Zakaria Khan toallow the Sikhs to celebrate Diwali at Amritsar for 10 days on apayment of five thousand rupees. But some anti-Sikh elementstold Zakaria Khan to massacre the Sikhs on this occasion. WhenBhai Mani Singh got this information, he sent messages to theSikhs not to come to Amritsar as the Diwali meet had beencancelled. But a few, who could not be contacted, had to facehard time and many were killed. Bhai Mani Singh refused to paythe money for which he was arrested and faced martyrdom.In 1736, the Khalsa attacked Sirhind and captured the city aftera frantic fight. The Khalsa took over the treasury and arms andestablished Gurdwaras at holy places of martyrdom. After this,the Khalsa returned to Amritsar. The Mughal was greatly upsetby the loot in Sirhind and sent a large force. Kapoor Singhentrusted the treasury to Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and asked himto reach a safe place in the hills, while he himself madeEternal Voice Nov, 2010 - Jan, 201132 33