Bhangi Misl

Flag of Bhangi Misl

The Bhangi Misl was ruled by Dhillon Jat Dynasty. The Bhangi Misl was part of the 12 Sikh Misl(states) that were founded in the 18th century by Sikhs out of the Mughal Empire. The founder of Bhangi Misl is said to be Sardar Chhajja Singh,a Dhillon Jat warrior and leader . He was a born at Panjwar village of Tarn Taran District of Punjab. He was the first companion of Banda Singh Bahadur to receive Sikh baptism of Amrit. After the death of Banda Singh Bahadaur, Chajja Singh founded a jatha(bands) of 300 warriors and increased his wealth by plundering Mughal territory. Over time the jatha increased and Chajja Singh was joined by Mohan Singh and Gulab Singh of Dhoussa village (six miles north-east of Amritsar), Karora Singh of Choupal, Gurbaksh Singh a Sandhu Jat of Roranwala(see Waniaki),Agar Singh Khangora and Sawan Singh Randhawa, Natha Singh(ancestor of Rangarh family), Jagat Singh and Bhuma Singh( who succeeded him). Bhuma Singh Dhillon, was an inhabitant of Kasur ,he was related to Chajja Singh. He like his predecessor plundered Mughal territory . He was succeeded by his nephew, Hari Singh, son of Bhup Singh, zamindar of Patoh near Wadni, who was a man of great ability. He developed a band of plunderer into an organised army and overran a large portion of the Punjab. It was his addiction to bhang (an intoxicating preparation of hemp) that gave the name Bhangi’ to the state.

Hari Singh, made Sohal ( in present day Amritsar district) , and seized much of the neigbouring country, Sialkot,Karial and Mirowal and ravaged Chiniot and Jhang Sial, and attacked Jammu, which he rendered tributary, and Multan without success. In 1762 he attacked ilakas of Khawaja Sayad ka Kot, two miles from Lahore, where Khawaja Abad, the Afghan Governor, had his arsenal; and carried away with him much booty, arms and ammunitions. In 1763 he joined the Kanaiyas and Ramgarhias in their attack on Kasur, and the next year was killed in a fight with Amar Singh of Patiala; and Jhanda Singh and Ganda Singh, two Dhillon brothers of Panjwar who had served under him, succeeded to the commaud of the Bhangi Misal. Under them the oonfederacy becaiae very powerful. Associated with them were many famous cheifs; Bhag Singh Haluwalia(*not to be confused with Alhuwalia) , Tara Singh, Sher Singh of Buria, Rai Singh of Jagadhari,Sudh Singh of Dodia, Sahib Singh of Sialkot, Nadhan Singh of Atu, Gujjar Singh of Rangarh and Lehna Singh Roranwala(see Waniaki).

In 1766 Jhanda Singh with a large force invaded Multan. Shuja Khan, the Governor, and Mubarak Khan of Buhawalpur gave them battle on the banks of the Sutlej. Neither side could claim the victory, but a treaty was signed to Pakpattan should be the boundary between the Sikh and the Afghan States. After this, Jhanda Singh returned to Amritsar, where he employed himself in completing the Govindgarh fort which Hari Singh had begun, and the remain of which are still to be seen behind the Lunmandi Bazar. It was not long before Jhanda Singh broke the provisions of the treaty with the Multan chief, and invaded his country in 1771. He besieged the fort unsuccessfully for a montlh and a half, till the near approach of an Afghan force under Jahan Kban compelled him to retire.

The next year, 1772, he was more successful. The successive governors of Multan, Shuja Khan, Sharif Khan Sadozai and Sharif Beg Taklu, had quarrelled, and the latter invited Jhanda Singh and Ganda Singh to his assistance. They were ready enough to accept the invitation, and, marching south with a large force, defeated Shuja Khan and his allies, the Daudputras of Bahawalpur, and seized Multan for themselves. Sharif Beg, thus fatally deceived, took refuge at Tal Amba, and then at Khairpur Tanwain, where he soon after died. Jhanda Singh then marched northwards, leaving Diwan Singh Chachowalia in charge of Multan with a strong garrison. He first went to Ramnagar, where he recovered the 2am-lam or Bhangi gun from the Chhathas(see Rasulpur) , and thence to Jammu where his ally and tributary, Raja Ranjit Deo, was defending himself against his son, Brij Raj Deo, and the Kanaiya and Sukarchakis chiefs(see Lahore). For some time the rival forces engaged with varying success, till Sardar Charat Singh Sukarehakia was accidentally killed and the Bhangis seemed about to gain the victory. This the Kanaiya’s averted by the assassination of Jhanda Singh, causing him to be shot as he was riding through the camp.

This was in 1774.Ganda Singh succeeded to the command of the misl; and, finding that no success could now be gained at Jammu, he retired to Amritsar, where he engaged himself in enlarging and strengthening the Bhangi quarter and in plotting against the Kanaiya ‘s ,who had caused his brother’s death. An opportunity for showing his enmity almost immediately occurred. Jhanda Singh had bestowed Pathankot on one of his associates, Nand Singh, otherwise known as Mansa Singh. This man died about the same time as his chief, and his widow gave her daughter and the jagir of Pathankot to Tara Singh, a near relation of Hakikat Singh Kanhaya. Ganda Singh exceedingly indignant at this, insisted that Tara Singh should give up the jagir, but the Kanaiyas refused; and Ganda Singh, collecting a large force, taking with him the Bhangi gun and with many of the Ramgarhia chiefe as allies, marched against Pathankot. Hakikat Singh, Tara Singh and Gurbakhsh Singh Kanhaiya and Amar Singh Bhaga marched to Dinanagar to oppose his progres, and here an indecisive engagement took place; but while encamped at Dinanagar, Ganda Singh fell ill aud died after ten days. Charat Singh, a nephew, was selected by the troops to sueceed him; but in the very first fight with the Kanaiya’s, Charat Singh was killed, and the Bhangi forces, left without a leader, returned to Amritsar.

Desa Singh now became head of the confederacy, and Gujar Singh of Rangarh acted as his minister. But the days of the great Bhangi Misl were numbered, and the power and intellect of a boy were unable to control the many unruly chiefs who had been proud to fight under Hari Singh and Jhanda Singh. Bhag Singh Halluwalia first declared himself independent; then Jhang ceased to pay tribute; and in 1779 Multan was lost.

It will be remembered that Sardar Jhanda Singh had left Diwan Singh in charge of Multan. He held his own for some years successfully; and in 1777 repulsed, tough only with great loss, an attack of the Bahawalpur Chief, and Muzaffar Khan, son of Shuja Khan. But in 1779 Taimur Shah, son of Ahmad Shah Abdali, marched against Multan with & large army, and Diwan Singh, having held out for more than a month, was compelled to capitulate, and was allowed to retire unmolested. Desa Singh had also a great enemy in the person of Sardar Mahan Singh, head of the Sukarchakia Misl(see Lahore) , which was now becoming very powerful; and in 1782, after holding the chiefship for eight years, he was killed in action, but whether before Chiniot, which he had marched to reduce, or in a skirmish with Mahan Singh, is uncertain. He was succeeded by his son, Gulab Singh; and of this chief there is little is to record. He was a weak man, and had not energy sufficient to keep together the possessions which his father had left him. Year by year these diminished, till at last the town of Amritsar and some villages in the Manjha alone remained. In 1800 a cabal was formed against Maharaja Ranjit Singh who had captured Lahore in July of the preceding year, and whose successes were beginning to fill all the Punjab chiefs with alarm. Chief in the cabal were Sardar Jassa Singh of Ramgarhia Misl, Sahib Singh and Gulab Singh of Bhangi Misl and Nizam-ud-din Khan of Kasur; and it was proposed to invite Ranjit Singh to a conference at Bhasin and there assassinate him. But the young chief was too wily to attend without a force large enough to secure his safety, and after two months passed in festivities he returned, to Lahore. But although Ranjit Singh escaped with his life, Gulab Singh was less fortunate. He had never missed an opportunity for drinking hard; and on this occasion, when every night ended in a debauch, he drank so deep that he killed himself. Some has asserted that he was poisoned; but there is no shadow of foundation for the story; and he was so incapable a man that no one could possibly think it worth his while to destroy him. Gulab Singh left one son, Gurdit Singh, a boy of ten years of age, married to the daughters of Sardars Sahib Singh of Rangarh, son of Gujar Singh, and Fateh Singh Kanaiya. But no powerful alliances were of use against Ranjit Singh, who was determined to gain possession of Amritsar. He in 1802, with the intention of picking a quarrel with the Bhangis, sent to demand from Gurdit Singh the famous Zam-Zam gun. But the glory and prestige of the confederacy was derived in great part from the possession of this; and although her chief advisers urged Sukhan, the mother of Gurdit Singh, to gave it up, she refused to part with it and prepared to fight. But such preparations were worse than useless. Maharaja Ranjit Singh with Fateh Singh Alhuwalia marched to Amritsar. attacked the Bhangi fort, and in five hours reduced it. Sukhan and her son took refuge with Sardar Jodh Singh Ramgarhia, and Ranjit Singh seized all the Bhangi possessions. Little more is known of Grurdit Singh. He laid at his ancestral village of Panjwar in the Tarn Taran pargana of the Amritsar district, where his descendants remained jagirdars .

On Gurdit Singh’s death, Thakur Singh was recognized as the head of the family. He was a Zaildar, a member of the Local Board of Tarn Taran and of the District Board of Amritsar and had a seat in Divisional Darbars. He along with his brother, Hakim Singh, enjoyed a jagir yielding Rs. 240 per annum and owned about 2,000 bighas of land. He was granted ten squares in the Lyallpur district and seven squares in the Montgomery district, and was also given the title of Sardar Bahadur in 1914.

On his death in 1926, his son, Harnam Singh, became the head of the family. He was married to a daughter of Sardar Lakha Singh, member of the family of Sardar Atma Singh of Padhana. He was a Divisional Darbari and was appointed a Zerldar, but resigned the latter post in 1936. Of his two sons the elder, Autar Singh, was maried to the daughter of Sardar Bhagwan Singh, Raes of Fateh Singh Wala in Muzaffargarh district; and the younger, Kirpal Singh, was married to the daughter of Sardar Balwant Singh Man of the Sheikhupura district.

Sardar Hakim Singh, brother of Sardar Sahib Thakur Singh, was an Honorary Magistrate. He received the title of Sardar Bahadur in 1920, and a gentry grant of seven rectangles of land in the Montgunery distriot. On his death in 1921 he was succeeded by his son, Aardit Singh, who was married to the daughter of Vir Singh, son of Sardar Hira Singh of Khamanun in Patiala. and also a grand-daughter of one of the Sirdhanwalia family. He was an Honorary Magistrate and a member of the Debt Conciliation Board, Amritsar. He received the Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935. He had three sons. The eldest, Gurbakhsh Singh, is married to the daughter of Sardar Bahadur Sardar Jiwan Singh, 0.B.E., of Padhana and the younger, Shiv Singh, is married in the family of Sardar Jaswant Singh of Ranyala in the Gujranwala district.

References :-

• Sir L.H Griffin, The Punjab Cheifs,
• Sir L.H Griffin, Chief and Families of Note in Punjab
• Harid Ram Gupta, The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls
• Jaspreet Kaur Sandhu (2000). Sikh Ethos: Eighteenth Century Perspective