(31) Masters of the Punjab

The beleaguered citizens of Lahore, suffering under the misrule of the Bhangi triumvirate of Chait Singh, Mohr Singh and Sahib Singh, send a petition to the young Shukerchakia chief, Ranjit Singh. With the help of his visionary mother-in-law, Mata Sada Kaur, the leader of the Kanhaiya Misl, Ranjit Singh takes the capital of the Punjab.

Shah Zaman, the grandson of Ahmad Shah Abdali, who had been the scourge of the Punjab for decades crosses the Indus again. As the Sikhs prepare to abandon their cities in the face of the Afghan juggernaut, Sardarni Sada Kaur persuades them to dig their heels in and resist. The young Ranjit Singh, the grandson of the legendary Sikh warrior Sardar Charat Singh Shukerchakia, challenges the Afghan King to single combat. An ambitious new British Governor General arrives in Calcutta and lays out an aggressive, expansionist vision, which promises to have a profound impact on the powers jockeying for position in the remains of the crumbling Mughal Empire.

The Afghan King Shah Zaman, the grandson of Ahmed Shah Abdali invades the Punjab providing an opportunity for the young Ranjit Singh to start building his reputation.

Ghulam Qadir Rohilla returns to Delhi and blinds the Emperor Shah Alam, replacing him with his puppet. George Thomas becomes the commander of one of the four battalions of Sardhana, the kingdom of Begum Samru and also becomes her paramour. Ghulam Qadir is defeated and killed by the Marathas, who restore Shah Alam to the throne. Maha Singh lays siege to the fort of Sodhra, which is under the control of the Bhangis and falls ill during the expedition. Before passing away he formally anoints his son as his successor. Taimur Shah, the King of Afghanistan passes away and is succeeded by his son Shah Zaman. In late 1793, Shah Zaman, who wants to reassert Afghan control over the Punjab,  crosses the Indus and arrives at Hasan Abdal in early 1794, skirmishing with the Sikhs before returning to Peshawar. Madhaji Scindia passes away and is succeeded by his great nephew Daulat Rao Scindia, who is confirmed by the Emperor Shah Alam as the new regent. 

Maha Singh Shukerchakia takes his six year old son Ranjit Singh with him on a successful expedition to Jammu, which yields great wealth, but disaster strikes and the child is stricken with smallpox. The boy recovers but the attack leaves him blind in one eye and scars his face permanently. As Ranjit Singh’s mother goes to Jwalamukhi to pray at the temple there for her son’s recovery, she gets an unexpected visitor. Sada Kaur has decided to bury her bitterness against the man who was responsible for her husband’s death; in a bold strategic move, designed to bolster the fortunes of both her Misl and her only child, Mehtab Kaur, she proposes an alliance between Ranjit Singh and her daughter.

A squabble over plunder realized from an attack on the kingdom of Jammu creates a rupture between Maha Singh Shukerchakia and his mentor Jai Singh, the Kanhaiya patriarch. After Jai Singh insults his protégé and threatens him, Maha Singh conspires with Raja Sansar Chand and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia against the Kanhaiyas. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, Baghel Singh and other Sikh chiefs launch raids across the Yamuna River, almost to the borders of Awadh, which is under British protection. This brings them to the attention of Madhaji Scindia, who sees them as a threat to Delhi and considers forming an alliance with them. After the raid, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia returns to the Punjab and joining hands with Maha Singh and Raja Sansar Chand attacks the Kanhaiyas. The brave son of Jai Singh Kanhaiya, Gurbaksh Singh is killed in battle and his wife, Sada Kaur moves center stage, picking up the reins of the Kanhaiya Misl from her ageing father in law, who is devastated. 

The story opens in the year 1774, when the mighty Mughal Empire, which had ruled the Indian subcontinent has crumbled, leaving the Punjab in chaos. Ahmad Shah Abdali the ruler of Afghanistan and the scourge of the Sikhs, who had wrested the Punjab from the Mughals has also passed away recently. The Sikhs, who are organized into twelve bands, known as The Misls, have stepped into the power vacuum and have become the de facto rulers of the Punjab. The young chief, Maha Singh Shukerchakia is mentored by Sardar Jai Singh, the patriarch of the powerful Kanhaiya Misl who arranges his marriage with Raj Kaur, daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind.  Maha Singh becomes a powerful chief whose Misl starts to rise as the power of the mighty Bhangi Misl declines. There is great rejoicing when a son is born to Raj Kaur and Maha Singh. The boy is named Ranjit Singh.

With the passing of Ahmad Shah Abdali and the utter collapse of the Mughal Empire, the Sikhs see unbounded opportunities to consolidate their power. New threats appear on the horizon as the Marathas rise again and the British East India Company turns its eyes towards Delhi.

Ahmad Shah Abdali returns to the Punjab, this time determined to destroy the Sikhs. Thousands are killed in the Wadda Ghallughara or the great holocaust, but the Sikhs, unbowed, stand up to him and end up the de-facto rulers of their homeland, the Punjab.

Ahmed Shah Abdali invades Hindustan again and decimates the tottering Mughal Empire. The Afghans occupy Lahore and desecrate the Golden Temple. Baba Deep Singh falls while battling the Afghans in Amritsar. The Marathas enter Punjab and try to reassert Mughal control over the province. Ahmad Shah Abdali returns and breaks the back of Maratha power in a great battle fought at Panipat.