May 17, 1746 Date Of Chotta Ghallughara

[JSinghnz]

May 17, 1746 Date of Chotta Ghallughara
Imagine Without Food, Ammunition, Supplies, in the Jungles for Months being Chased By Mughal Army. Thousands of Sikhs Rounded Up in Lahore, They Could Have Survived had they Converted, They Rather Chose to be Martyred. These are the Supreme Sacrifices Sikhs Made. After Each Holocaust Sikhs Have Come Back Stronger Then Ever.

Below is an Article on Chotta Ghallughara by Gurmat Study Team
Early in 1746, when Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluvalia pushed northwards and entered the
Eminabad territory in Gujranwala district, they were attacked by the local jagirdar, Jaspat
Rai, the diwan of Yahiya Khan, the governor of Lahore. Jaspat Rai was killed in the
encounter. This led to the vengeful Lakhpat Rai's (Jaspat Rai's brother) relentless
campaign against the Sikhs.
Lakhpat Rai was a minister of Yahiya Khan, governor of Lahore. When he heard the
news of his brother's death, he became mad with rage. He went on to Yahiya Khan. He
flung his turban at his feet and said, 'I shall tie it on my head only when I have destroyed
the Sikhs, root and branch' He had a general order issued for the destruction of the
Sikhs. To begin with, all the Sikhs- men, women, and children- living in Lahore were
arrested. They were handed over to sweepers for execution. A deputation of Hindus
waited upon Lakhpat Rai. They tried to dissuade him from spilling innocent blood. But he
would not listen to them. The terrible order was carried out. All the Sikhs of Lahore were
murdered in cold blood. Their only fault was that they were Sikhs. They died for their
faith. They became martyrs, all of those men, women and children. None of them agreed
to save his or her life by giving up his faith.
It was announced with the beat of drum that no one should read the Sikhs scriptures. It
was further ordered that anyone uttering the name of the Gurus would be arrested and
killed. A huge army, under the command of Yahiya Khan and Lakhpat Rai, set out to
destroy Sikhs. This army consisted of the Mughal army and thousands of soldiers sent by
the Hindu and Muhammadan supporters of the Mughal government. About fifteen
thousands Sikhs had taken shelter in the reedy marshes of Khanuwan. The heavily
clothed troops and their artillery could not pass through the marshes to reach the Sikhs.
But a way was cut through the reeds for the movement of the troops. With the help of
guns, the Sikhs were pushed towards the Ravi. The Sikhs crossed the river. They were
closely followed by Lakhpat Rai. The only course open to the Sikhs was to go to the hills
of Basohli. They hoped that the Hindu population there would give them shelter.
But their hopes proved false. The people there had already received orders from Lahore
to give no shelter to the Sikhs. As the Sikhs approached, they were received with
showers of stones and bullets. They had to cry a halt. They were in desperate position. In
front of them was a steep mountain. On that mountain were people who were against
them and were showering bullets and stones on them. To their right was a fast flowing,
flooded river. Behind them was the enemy in hot pursuit. They had no food and no
ammunition. Their horses were weak with hunger and fatigue. They were too weak to go
up the mountain. They decided to go back to Majha. But the Ravi was in flood.
It was impossible to cross it. It was decided, therefore, that those who had no horses,
should go towards the mountains and try their luck there. Those who had horses were to
cut their way through the enemy. Those who went to the mountains managed to pass
about six months in Mandi and Kulu. They had to face great hardships. But they were
able, at least, to reach Kirtarpur and join the Khalsa there. The main body of the Sikhs
rushed through the pursuing army. They were surrounded. Hundreds of them were killed.
Some were taken prisoner. The remaining Sikhs were pursued into a jungle. There they
were attacked by the army as well as the people-Hindus and Muslims-collected from the
neighboring villages.
About two thousand Sikhs were able to cross the Ravi. They entered the Riarki tract of
Gurdaspur. It was the month of June. They were hungry, barefooted, and wounded. The
burning sand added to their sufferings. But they uttered no cry of pain. They never
thought of surrender. They never thought of saving themselves by giving up their faith.
They were determined to live and die as Sikhs. They tore off pieces from their clothes
and tied them on their naked feet. In this way they crossed the hot sandy plain and
reached the river Beas. They crossed that river near Sri Hargobindpur. Then they made
straight for the Satluj. That river they crossed near Aliwal and entered the Malwa.
Lakhpat Rai had got tired of fighting. He returned to Lahore. In this campaign he must
have killed at least 10,000 Sikhs. It was called Chhota Ghalughara or the Lesser
Holocaust.
Over ten thousand Sikhs were brutally killed in this campaign. They could all have saved
their lives by giving up their faith and accepting Islam. But none of them even thought of
saving his or her life in that way. They chose not to live as apostates, but to suffer and die
as Sikhs. They preferred suffering and death to apostates. They lived, suffered and died
as true devotees of their faith. They achieved glorious martyrdom. They are all
remembered with respect and admiration by students of history, as well as, of course, by
all Sikhs. They died to achieve everlasting life. Let us all bow our heads to them.

Daily Sikh Updates

[ASinghKhalsa]

Dhan Guru Dhan Guru Piare

[13Mirch]

The second attack happened in the year 1746 A.D. It was spear-headed by the Hindu steward of the Lahore Darbar, Lakhpat Rai. After the martyrydom of Bhai Taru Singh and Bhai Mani Singh and the imposing of cruel and inhumane laws on Sikhs, Lakhpat Rai's brother Jaspat Rai made them the butt of his jokes. Ratan Singh Bhangu in his ithiaasic granth, Sri Gur Panth Prakash describes the happenings of those days, this event in Sikh history went down as the Choota Galhughara, or lesser holocaust.

Jaspat Rai in his hunkaar replied in the most distasteful words towards a Sikh. He said he would cut the hair from their heads and would make ropes of those hairs and tie them back to Lahore.

ਸੀਸ ਮੁੰਨੋ ਤੁਮ ਜਾਟ ਬਨਾਵੋਂ I ਤੁਮਰੇ ਬਾਲ ਮਾਲ ਬਣਾਵੋਂ I

Adding salt to the wounds he was teasing the Singhs by saying he would cut their joints like Bhai Mani Singh.

He then ordered them to leave the Town and the Gurdwara. The Singh’s had been hungry for many days and after hearing his words were in no mood for complying.

Jaspat Rai in anger attacked the Singhs. The Singhs did ardas and came out flying the enemy did not know what hit them. The fool Jaspat Rai had awakened the sleeping lion by placing his hand on the lion’s whiskers.

ਸ਼ੇਰ ਜਗਾਯੋ ਫੜ ਮੁਛਲ ਸੋਤ I

Jaspat Rai was on his elephant commanding his troops when Bhai Nebahoo Singh grabbed the elephants tail and jumped on the elephant and cut of Jaspat Rai’s head.

The soldiers seeing this fled the battle. The Singhs then brought rations from the town and made Langar.

Lakhpat Rai Vows Revenge

On hearing the news of his elder brother’s death Lakhpat Rai took of his turban and said “He would not put a turban on his head until the day he finishes off the Sikhs.” He said he would pass the scissors through the heads of Sikhs and no one will say their name.

To start his campaign he first gathered all the Sikhs in Lahore and they were to be scalped and made Shaheed. He did not listen to any pleas from various religious leaders for the innocent Sikhs. He said I would not even listen to God if he asked for their release.

Yaheya Khan and Lakhpat Rai then went on to make orders for the arrest of any Sikhs, the banning of the words Guru and Granth ( people were told to use Gurrh and pothi instead). Guru Granth Sahib Jees were found and burnt, thrown in the river or in the wells. The Amritsar Sarovar was filled with soil. The order was to stop Naam of WaheGuru.

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਕੋ ਨਾਮ ਹਟਾਵੋ I ਔਰ ਸਭਨ ਕੋ ਨਾਮ ਜਪਾਵੋ I

The Beginning of the First Ghalooghara

Lakhpat Rai then went towards Amritsar. The Sikhs found they could not reach their destinations due the advancement of the Lahore’s army. So it was decided that the Sikhs should go towards the forests of Kahnoovan where an escape could be planned.

Lakhpat Rai ordered the army to start cutting the forest so targeting the Sikhs could be made easier. They were firing cannons at the Sikhs in their pursuit.

The Sikhs decided it was not right to gain shaheedee while hiding in the forests. The Soormeh were ready to come out but some of the elders said the attack should be done with a hit and run policy as this would achieve more gains.

ਭਜ ਭਜ ਲੜਨੋ ਨਹਿ ਕਿਛ ਪਾਪ I

So the Sikhs would sit quiet until the army would come to the point where artillery and cavalry could not enter and this is when the Sikhs made their fight. This policy carried on for a while then the Sikhs decided to go to Basolee Mountains for sanctuary as the terrain would help them and they thought the Hindus in the area would help them too. But In Basolee the Sikhs were greeted with bullets and stones. The Sikhs were all cornered off, they had the army facing them in both directions and had the River Ravi and bullets from the mountains on either side. They had no food, no water, no sleep, no cannons, no ammunition, the horses were tired and they had to face the steepness of the climb. The Shasters had become blunt after so much fighting and the arrows had finished.

The Sikhs then decided to divide into three groups. One would go up the hills, the second will cross the river Ravi and the third group under the command of Sukha Singh will go and attack Lakhpat Rai. The second group then had to divide again as the River Ravi had become dangerous to cross due the water level. So it was decided anyone on foot would go towards the mountains and the others on horses would go face the enemy.

The Fight of Lions

The Sikhs that were left decided to fight the enemy face on and remembered the Bachan of Guru Sahib that the SanMukh Sikh who fights face on, will have the power of Sava Lakh.

ਸਿਧੋ ਮੁਖ ਕਰ ਮਰੈ ਜੁ ਸੂਰਾ I ਸਵਾ ਲਾਖ ਮੈਂ ਲੇਉਗ ਪੂਰਾ I

The Sikhs formed into a round circle and created their human fortress. The Matta was passed and every Sikh said whoever survives would go and create the Raaj of Khalsa and who shall die will go to GurPurh.

ਜੋ ਨਿਕਸੁ ਜੈਹੈ ਰਾਜ ਲੈਹੈ ਮਰੈ ਗੁਰਪੁਰਿ ਜਾਇ I੫੮I

They then went for it straight into the fight like lions they roared. The Singhs were thirsting for Shaheedee where as the enemy wanted to save their lives.

ਸਿੰਘ ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਚਹੈ ਸਭ ਹੋਵਨ ਤੁਰਕ ਲਰੈ ਨਿਜ ਜਾਨ ਬਚਾਈ I

Navab Kapoor Singh was leading the Sikhs, Sardar Jassa Singh was looking after one side. Sardar Sukha Singh was fighting ahead breaking the enemies’ front line. Sukha Singh came close to killing Lakhpat Rai when a cannon hit his horse and his leg was fatally wounded. He held back and his leg was cut off and replaced by a plank of wood. Sardar Jasa Singh received a bullet wound in is thigh but carried on fighting after bandaging his thigh. Navab Kapoor Singh received a straight wound but with Guru Jee’s Kirpa he survived.

ਮੁੜ ਮੁੜ ਲੜੋ ਔ ਤੁਰਦੇ ਜਾਵੋ I In this way fighting and moving foward a few thousand Sikhs escaped in a number of directions but such great was the loss that Sons could not see their fathers and brothers could not see their brothers.

ਬੇਟਾ ਮਿਲਯੋ ਨ ਬਾਪ ਕੋ ਭਾਈ ਮਿਲਯੋ ਨ ਭਾਈ I

The survivors went onto regroup and kept their bachan to the Shaheed Singhs that fell and the rest is as they say is History.

40,000 Sikhs attained martyrdom in this Ghulughara.

http://tisarpanth.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/the-tisarpanth-and-darbar-sahib-phoenix.html