Wazirabad

Hira Singh Wazirabadia,father of Moti Singh, Was lately at the head of the Waraich tribe, which is numerous in the Gujrat and Gujranwala districts. Originally Hindu, the Waraich Jats were converted to Mahomedanism about four hundred years ago, and there are now but few of the tribe of the ancient faith. The origin of the name Waraich is thus explained by the Gujrat portion of the tribe: Hindu Jat ruler Raja Jaipal, of Lahore, when hunting in the neighbourhood of Thanesar, saw a new-born infant clinging to the dead body of its mother.On enquiry, it was found that the husband of the woman had been killed in a skirmish, and that she had died of grief and hunger. The Raja, moved with pity, took the child and brought him up as his own, giving him the name of Baraich, as it was beneath the shade of a ber tree that he had discovered him. When Baraich or Waraich grew up he was married to his protector’s daughter, and on the Raja’s death without issue Waraich succeded to the throne, which his descendants filled for three generations. It was not for many years later that the clan of which Waraich was the founder emigrated to the Panjab, where it became Mahomedan and settled in the Gujrat district. The village bards (Mirasis) of the Waraich Jats of Gujranwala give a different and a more probable account. They state that their ancestor was Barlas, a Hindu Jat, who founded, near Ghazni, about the middle of the tenth century, the village of Bahowali. Shah, a descendant of Barlas, was a soldier in the army of Sultan Mahmud, and came with that princé to India in 1001. Jaipal, the Raja of Lahore, was defeated, and the invading army withdrew ; but Shah, struck with the fertility of the country about Gujrat, remained there and settled in Kalarchor, a Gujar village, where, till 1355, his family lived as husbandmen. Chaidhary Waraich, son of Matu Singh , became wealthy and Chaudhri of the neighbouring villages. He turned the Gujars out of Kalarchor; and was the father of five sons, Teju Singh , Kela Singh, Saijru, Leli Singh, and Wada, who, as the tribe became numerous and powerful, founded many villages in Gujrat and elsewhere.

Teju Singh  founded Kala Katai and four other villages, still held by Waraich Jats, in Amritsar; Chaudhary Kela Singh’s descendants went as far south as Saharanpur, where there are now five Waraich villages. Lada was the first village founded in Gujranwala, where there are still forty-five villages held by the tribe; while in Gujrat, out of three hundred villages founded by Waraich Jats, there are still nearly two hundred inhabited by them.

The first member of the Wazirabad family about whom anything is known was Gagna, who held a small office at Botala under the Empire, and is said to have been a man of some wealth. His son, Desa Singh, and his nephew, Gurbakhsh Singh, joined the force of Sardar Charat Singh Sukerchakia, who was then rising to power, and were present at the attack on Amritsar, when the Bhangi tower, between the Rambagh and Chatawind gates, was captured and named Mahan Singh Sukerchakia after the young son of Charat Singh. When Charat Singh conquered the northern portion of the Gujranwala district, Wazirabad fell to the share of Desa Singh and Gurbakhsh Singh. The jagir was soon afterwards divided; Gurbakhsh Singh retaining Wazirabad, and Desa Singh taking Kunja and Kalar Budha.

Gurbakhsh gave his daughter Desan Kaur in marriage to his leader Charat Singh Sukerchakia, and by this connection his influence was much increased. During the invasions of Ahmad Shah Durani the Wazirabad Chiefs were compelled to retire before the enemy, but when the storm had blown over they returned to their home. Gurbakhsh Singh died in 1776, and his son Jodh Singh succeeded to the estate, which was worth about a lakh and a half. Jodh Singh and Sardar Mahan Singh were great friends, and both were always fighting with Sahib Singh Bhangi of Gujrat, who had married the sister of the Sukerchakia Bhatti Jat Chief. The peace which reigned after the death of Sardar Gujar Singh, between Gujrat and Gujranwala, was broken by Sahib Singh in the following manner : -Mahan Singh and Jodh Singh paid a complimentary visit to Sardar Sahib Singh, who received them with much politeness; but when he had got them safe inside his fort he arrested them both, and, rejoicing in his good luck, sat downtown dinner. But the young Sardars did not care to wait till Sahib Singh had dined, and, making a rush, cut down the guards and escaped to their own camp, after which the fighting went on briskly. Mahan Singh had the best of it on the whole, and took a large slice of his brother-in-law’s territory. At the siege of Sodbra it is said that Jodh Singh betrayed his friend. Sahib Singh, who was besieged in the fort, was short of powder, and his surrender was certain; but Jodh Singh, who feared that Mahan Singh would become too powerful were Sahib Singh destroyed, supplied the latter with ammunition. Mahan Singh had been dangerously ill throughout the siege, and this treachery hastened his death, which took place a few days after. This action of Jodh Singh is said to have been the cause of Ranjit Singh’s hostility to him. But nothing is required to account for the Maharaja’s conduct but his ambition. He found, for some years, that the Wazirabad Chief was too strong to attack, and he endeavoured on one occasion to gain by state gem what he was unable to take by force. He invited Jodh Singh to Lahore; but he, suspecting the Maharaja’s design, brought a large force with him from Wazirabad. This Ranjit Singh desired him to send back, which, too proud to show fear, he did, and arrived at Lahore with only two hundred picked men. He attended Darbar the next day with twenty-five men, whom he left outside, and was received by the Maharaja with the greatest courtesy and kindness. Suddenly Ranjit Singh rose, and made a sign to his attendants to seize the Sardar. Jodh Singh saw his danger, and, drawing his sword, called on them to attack him, as he did not know how to fly. Ranjit Singh loved a brave man; and Jodh Singh’s gallantry proved his safety, for he was dismissed with honour and rich gifts, and a grant of the Mahdianbad Ilaka. After this Sardar Jodh Singh lived at Wazirabad in great style, looked up to by all the neighbouring Chiefs. There is a notice in the annals of the family of a European traveller, owning a silver leg, who visited Jodh Singh about the year 1807. The name of the gentleman who travelled with a limb so heavy and so likely to excite the curiosity of robbers is unfortunately not given. Jodh Singh died in 1809 ; and as his sons were minors, the Maharaja thought the time had come to seize the property. He marched to Wazirabad with a large force; but the young Sardar presenting him with a very large sum of money, he deferred his plan for the time, and granted to Ganda Singh the customary khilats of investiture. Very shortly afterwards, however, he sent a force to Wazirabad and confiscated the estates. He indeed promised that, when Amrik Singh and Ganda Singh should come to manhood, Wazirabad should be restored; but this promise he never intended to perform.A jagir, worth Rs. 10,000, was, however, left for the support of the brothers in Thib. A few years afterwards Amrik Singh died, and his share of the jagir was resumed. Ganda Singh received an appointment in the Ghorchara Kalan, but soon after lost the remainder of the Thib jagir through the hostility of Raja Dhain Singh. The Maharaja granted him soon afterwards Sangrian, Wada Pind and six other villages, worth Rs. 5,000. This was afterwards still further reduced, and in the reign of Sher Singh the Sardar only possessed Adamdaraz and Kathor, worth Ps. 2,000. At annexation this jagir was upheld for life on payment of one-sixth nazarana, and on the death of Sardar Ganda Singh in 1855 it was continued to Sardar Hira Singh and his male lineal descendants in perpetuity at half-revenue rates. Sardar Hira Singh, while still a young man, died of cholera in 1870, leaving a widow and three daughters, two of whom are alive, but no male issue.

On the death of her husband, Sardar Nar Singh, Masammat Nahal Kaur, who was a daughter of the Rani Gulab Kaur, born previous to her mother’s marriage with the Maharaja Ranjit Singh, represented her reduced circumstances to Government. At the same time Moti Singh, a younger son of Sardar Ganda Singh, put forward his claims to the family jagirs. When these were examined it was found that a similar request, made on the death of his father, had been refused by the Panjab Government on account of the bar sinister in his pedigree. Moti Singh was accordingly informed that he could not be recognized as the representative head of the family. He is a Dafadar in the 9th Bengal Lancers, and served with that regiment in the Egyptian War of 1882. In 1871 Masammat Nahal Kaur received a pension of Rs. 200 for life. Sardar Mira Singh’ eldest surviving daughter married Sardar Shibdeo Singh, Jamadar, 3rd Panjab Cavalry, eldest son of Sardar Lahna Singh Man, of the Gujranwala family of Moghalchak. The younger daughter was the wife of Sardar Teja Singh, eldest son of Sardar Indar Singh Sandhu, of the Tethar family, Honorary Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant- Governor of the Panjab. He served with the Afghan Boundary Commission of 1884-86, and on his return was appointed a Deputy Inspector of Police in the Panjab. Masammat Nahal Kaur lives at Mauza Guraia in Sialkot, and manages the estate, which is all that is left of the property of Sardar Jodh Singh, since whose death the family has gradually declined in influence and importance.