Talwandi Saboo

The town of Talwandi was founded in the 11th century, it was originally founded by the Thathar(Muslim Gujjars) tribe. The Brars ousted the Thathars from Talwandi and occupied it. In 1526 A.D, Rai Sabo Brar was given the jagir of Talwandi by Chaudhary Sanghar(the head of the Brars) . He made Talwandi a hub of his activities and provided many facilities to the peasants living there. He dug up ponds at several places in the forest to make up for the shortage of water. Beside this, he helped the people of Talwandi in every possible way during the time of epidemics, famine etc. Thus, Sabo made Talwandi an extremely cheerful city in his time. Consequently, after his\ name, this place was named Talwandi Sabo. Sabo was later also appointed as the chaudhary of nearby mahals by the Mughal Emperor Babur. In the lineage of Sabo, there was Rai Salem Shah, the only son of Rai Aalak. He was a pious person and sympathetic to the poor and oppressed people. He was initiated into Sikhism by Guru Hargobind Sahib ji. It is also revealed that when Guru ji fought the war of Phul-Mehraj, Rai Salem Shah offered himself for help along with his horse riders and foot soldiers. But, due to his humble and polite nature, he could not manage properly his headmanship. Consequently, Bhatti’s took hold of many villages of this area. Rai Salem Shah had six sons. The eldest was ‘Dalla’, who received the Chaudhar (Chiefship) of this area. He was a brave and courageous warrior. He succeeded in taking back his father’s lost territory and pushed Bhattis out of the area forever. Of all the chaudharies in this area, he had the largest army. He undertook a number of developmental and welfare works during his time, because of which, he became famous as the king of the jungle. He owned many castles, army, horses etc.

When Guru Gobind Singh ji came to this place in 1706 A.D, Rai Dalla Singh enthusiastically received Guru ji. He lovingly accommodated Guru ji at his town. He placed all his vast resources at the disposal of the Guru and became an enthusiastic champion of his cause. This alarmed Wazir Khan, fauzdar of Sirhind Sarkar. He sent several threatening orders to the Rai calling upon him to beware of harbouring a foe of the Emperor. The threats proved of no avail. The Rai wrote in reply that the Guru was his spiritual lord to whom he was bound by most sacred ties and that for no consideration he would be a party to any scheme that aimed at harassing him. Rai Dalla through off his allegiance to the Mughal Empire and give everything from Guru Govind Singh’s cause. Rai Dalla also increased his possessions by raiding the territory of Hayat Khan, the chief of Bhatner, in one such attacks Rai Dalla killed Mohabbat Khan and Mahbub Khan, the nephews of Hayat Khan. The descendants of Rai Dalla remained in the possession of the town Talwandi Saboo however over time the family lost its former importance, dependencies and wealth.