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Lost glory
Fatehabad, once the capital of
Ahluwalia Misl, is crying for attention today. Sadly, not many are aware of
the historicity of the town. Varinder Walia
reports
Situated on the old Lahore-Delhi
road, Fatehabad was home to a large number of heritage buildings, including
imperial serais, but many of them have simply disappeared. Today even their
ruins are non-existent.
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In ruins: Charnjit Singh Fatehabad
pointing towards the crumbling building that once housed General Mohan
Singh, brother-in-law of Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, at Fatehabad. |
A view of the majestic gates of the serai
built by Sher Shah Suri at Fatehabad. — Photos by Rajiv Sh |
Lost glory
Fatehabad, once the capital of
Ahluwalia Misl, is crying for attention today. Sadly, not many are aware of
the historicity of the town. Varinder Walia
reports
Situated on the old Lahore-Delhi road,
Fatehabad was home to a large number of heritage buildings, including
imperial serais, but many of them have simply disappeared. Today even their
ruins are non-existent.
Fatehabad is probably much older than
Amritsar and Tarn Taran. It is rich with Mughal and Sikh architecture, and
blessed with the visits of Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Arjun Dev.
It was Sher Shah Suri (1472-1545) who first
linked Painam near Dhaka, now in Bangladesh, with Peshawar that was in
Afghanistan until Maharajah Ranjit Singh annexed it by stitching together
several existing roads. The entire road was finished during Akbar’s reign.
Kos (1 kos is roughly 3 km) minars were built to show the way and after
every 20 kos or so, a serai was built. Cubicles with verandahs for
travellers to stay in were built along the walls. Even in these utilitarian
serais, the Mughal rulers could not resist adding vast mosaic flourishes to
gates. Mr Jagmohan Dayal Singh, a resident of the ancient town, says that a
large number of serais existed during the early part of the 20th century.
For the safety of the trade route, garrison
was stationed at Fatehabad Fort since the times of Mahmood Ghazni. The
imperial serai was built for night halt of Mughal armies and carvan.
The Amritsar Gazetteer mentions that the
serai at Fatehabad is also of the same design as that of Naurangabad, Serai
Amanat Khan and Serai Noordin. During the Mughal period, the “Badshai Road”
passed from Attari to Goindwal Sahib via Serai Amanat Khan, Noordi,
Naurangabad and Fatehabad, all of which are situated in Tarn Taran district.
The serais are almost of similar design and dimensions. These places
virtually form fortified habitations, the whole population residing within
the four walls of the serais that had two gates on the opposite sides.
While the boundary walls of the majestic
serai-cum- fort have been demolished by residents, only two ornamental gates
and royal mosque could be saved. Many small mosques that dotted the ancient
town (Fatehabad) have lost their existence. Many houses have mushroomed
within the fort complex.
The grand buildings with decorated walls,
water tanks, wells and fountains surrounded by orchards once made this place
the most beautiful place in the region. The inner and outer walls of the
serai were sculptured with green and blue stones. The rest of the monuments
with rotting doors and crumbling masonry present a sorry state of affairs.
In fact, these monuments may collapse any time.
Now Fatehabad, with crumbling old havelis
and alleys, still retains the pre-Partition mix of Sikh, Hindu and Muslim
architectural styles. The fifth Sikh Guru frequented Fatehabad. The first
Sikh Guru also visited this place and penned Gurbani in praise of nature.
Mr Barinder Dyal Singh claims that
Fatehabad had one of the oldest schools of the state established in 1870s.
Earlier, it was a madrasa that was later converted into school by the
British administration. The old building of the school has lost its
existence now.
Telling about the history of Fatehabad, Ms
Meenu Sharma, a resident, claims that Fatehabad and its adjoining areas were
once inhabited by the Khokhar tribe. According to “A glossary of the tribes
and castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province”, authored by
Denzil Ibbetson in 1883, based on census report for Punjab: “It mentions the
Khokhars in the Mohammadan historians of India as a tribe which resisted the
invasion of Mahmood Ghazni with bare heads and feet armed with spears. These
Khokhars had settlements on Beas and Sutlej, especially in the settlements
of Varowal (about 12 kilometres from Fatehabad), Bharowal and Kaluwahan (now
known as Kahnuwan in Gurdaspur district).
According to the account of writers of
Mahmood Ghazni, the Khokhars were constant source of trouble for the
Governor of Lahore appointed by Ghazni, and to control them, a fortress was
constructed on the banks of Beas between Bharowal and Verowal, which was
called Serai town of Fatehabad.
The name Fatehabad signified the sign of
victory against the Khokhars. According to Griffin Lepel, the fortress of
Fatehabad during the Sikh Misl period was besieged by the forces of
Ahluwalia Misl under the command of Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. As the
fort was quite strong, it held out for many days. Then the commander of the
fort, on the condition of safe passage to Lahore for the entire garrison,
decided to relinquish the fort to Ahluwalia forces. It remained the capital
of Ahluwalia Misl until Nawab Fateh Singh shifted his base to Kapurthala due
to the increasing power of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The ancient town of Fatehabad is full of
history. Mr Charnjit Singh, who is the direct descendant of General Attar
Singh, a great Sikh warrior, said that after defeating the major rajas of
the Indian subcontinent, the conditions were peaceful for Mohammad Ghauri,
but in Punjab they were not satisfactory. In this region, the Khokhars,
contemporaries of Mohammad Ghauri, used to rebel. So, Mohammad Ghauri came
to this region to punish them. He let loose terror on the Khokhars by
destroying and burning their strongholds near Lahore and on the banks of
Beas.
The Muslim historians say that a few
raiders who were Khokhars and had joined Mohammad Ghauri’s army in disguise
attacked him and he was assassinated along with his three guards. Mohammad
Ghauri was killed brutally. He had sustained 22 wounds on his body.
The ancient village of Fatehabad was
completely destroyed by “shahi” (royal) forces of Emperor Jahangir for
support given to Khusro by the local population. Later, the residents moved
to Fatehabad Fort, reportedly built by Sher Shah Suri.
The Palace of Sardar Ahluwalia, called “Mai
Deori” was sold recently and the purchasers have razed the great Sikh
heritage to ground. The old and historical building of “Nanak Padao” has
been razed and a new building has come up. This was the place where Maharaja
Ranjit Singh had come to condole the death of Nawab Bhag Singh, father of
Nawab Fateh Singh (nephew of Sardar Ahluwalia). Both Maharaja Ranjit Singh
and Nawab Fateh Singh exchanged their turbans in this holy shrine. However,
Fateh Singh developed differences with the Maharaja and he migrated to
Kapurthala and made that town his capital.
The 250-year-old haveli of General Rattan
Singh that was later converted into the court by Sarkar Basant Singh
(great-grandson of Gen Rattan Singh) has been given a new look.
Now this building is the abode of Mr
Charnjit Singh, Senior Vice-President of the Bhartiya Kisan Union. However,
Mr Charnjit Singh, the direct descendant of Gen Attar Singh, possesses a
“patta” (revenue deed), written in Persian script and signed by Nawab Bhag
Singh, the first cousin of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.
This deed that begins with “Akal Sahai”,
signed on 1812 AD, reads, “With the grace of Almighty, the 22 villages from
Jandiala to Harike are granted to Bibi Sahib (daughter of Nawab Bhag Singh)
on the above-lined military conditions and will remain so until the above
conditions are met.”
As per “The Rajas of Punjab” written by
Griffin H Lepel, Under-Secretary, Government of Punjab, published in 1870,
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia captured Raikot from the Pathans and Rajputs of
Verowal in 1771 .
Jassa Singh had two daughters, one of them
was married to Raja Maha Singh of Fatehabad, and the second was married to
Raja Amar Singh of Tnungwala, near Amritsar. The Samadh of Raja Mohan Singh,
the walls of which are adorned with beautiful frescos, is in a dilapidated
condition. The frescos have been plastered and have lost their elegance.
Adina Beg, Subedar of Jalandhar, was
defeated by Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia near Khaddor Sahib and Fatehabad.
Ahluwalia remained present at Fatehabad till his death. He liberated about
2200 innocent girls from the clutches of Ahmad Shah Abdali and handed them
over to their parents and earned the name of “Bandi Chhor”. This incident
happened near Goindwal Sahib.
The daughter of Ahluwalia was married to
one Mohan Singh, alias Mahan Singh, of Fatehabad whose house and samadh are
still at Fatehabad. Ahluwalia’s cousin and blood sister of Nawab Bhag Singh
was married to Gen Rattan Singh Bhar whose palace is still situated in
Fatehabad.
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Of kings, temples and
Huns
Hazoori Ram, who was the caretaker of
the Samadh of Nawab Bhag Singh, had asked the Maharaja of Kapurthala to
build a temple. Adjoining the temple is the samadh adorned with
beautiful frescos of the Sikh School of Art. But today these frescoes
are in bad condition. The temple has 1500-page hand-written granth in
Gurmukhi script and Brij language. The granth, Satya Parkash, is written
in Brij language, presumably by Pt Het Ram. It is dedicated to his Guru,
Sant Gulab Dass. The index of the granth shows that the author had left
the government job to serve his religious master.
Another interesting historical point is
that “Khokhar” or “Khokar” (who once lived in this region) is a gotra of
Jats found in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In Pakistan, the Khokhars are
considered to be a Punjabi tribe. “Khokhar” is a derivative of “Kukar”.
The Khokhars’ place of origin is believed to be Central Asia. They are
considered to be descendants of Huns, who repeatedly attacked northern
India. |
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