After the death of Maharaja Hari Singh Dhillon, his eldest son Jhanda Singh succeeded him. He appointed his younger brother Ganda Singh as the commander-in-chief of the forces of the Bhangi Misl. The army was reorganised and its numerical strength was increased. In political power and military resources Jhanda Singh made a remarkable improvement on the position as it obtained under Hari Singh. Jhanda Singh and his brothers, associated by many illustrious Jat leaders like Sahib Singh of Sialkot, Rai Singh and Sher Singh of Buria, Bhag Singh of Hallowal, Sudh Singh Dodia, Nidhan Singh Attu, Tara Singh Chainpuria, Bagh Singh Jalalwalia, Gujjar Singh and Lehna Singh, made great efforts to place the Misal on a very sound footing. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia was one of the close friends of Jhanda Singh.
One of the bravest men under Hari Singh Bhangi was Gurbakhsh Singh, an associate of Bhima Singh. He was a great warrior and had about forty villages under him. Being childless he adopted Lehna Singh, son of Dargaha, a Jat of Sadhawala in the Amritsar district, as his son. On Gurbakhsh Singh’s death his son Lehna Singh succeeded him. Gujjar Singh was the son of Gurbakhsh Singh’s brother. A dispute cropped up between Lehna Singh and Gujjar Singh Bhangi over the division of the state left by Gurbakhsh Singh. Ultimately the state was equally divided between these two Misaldar. These two chiefs, along with Sobha Singh, nephew of Jai Singh Kanaihya, accepted the subordination of Jhanda Singh, the Sardar of the Bhangi Misl.
According to Ahmad Shah Batalia, Ahmad Shah Durrani had left behind Kabuli Mai as the governor of Lahore. Gujjar Singh and Lehna Singh decided to occupy Lahore. They were joined by Sobha Singh. At the head of their forces they marched and besieged Lahore. As a measure of protection Kabuli Mai had bricked up all entrances and when he found it impossible to hold out against the besiegers he escaped from Lahore, leaving it in the hands of the above said trio, ‘ in April 1765.
At the head of a large army, Jhanda Singh marched towards Multan in 1766, and declared war against Shujab Khan, the Muhammadan governor, and the Daudputras of Bahawalpur. An indecisive batde was fought on the banks of river Saduj. A treaty was concluded with Bhangi chief on one side and Mubarak Khan, the Daudputra chief, and the Multan governor, in the other. Jhanda Singh was acknowledged as the lord of the territories up to Pakpattan. In 1767, he built a fort behind the Loon Mandi in Amritsar which has been known as Qila -i-Bhangian.
Jhanda Singh, next, marched towards the Pathan principality of Kasur which was subdued. He made a fresh attack on, Multan, later in 1771, but it was repulsed by the combined Forces of Multan and Bahawalpur.
The following year, a quarrel arose between the successive governors of Multan, Shujah Khan, Sharif Khan Suddozai and Sharif Beg Taklu. Sharif Beg had been looking after Multan since the days of Ahmad Shah Abdali. When Timur Shah ascended the throne of Kabul he demanded the revenue of Multan from Sharif Beg, who got refractory and asked for help from Jhanda Singh, in return for a na^arana of one lakh rupees. The help was readily given. Jhanda Singh accompanied by his brother, Ganda Singh, and Lehna Singh, at the head of a well-equipped and strong army, marched to Multan on December 25, 1772, and achieved a complete victory over Shujah Khan and the Daudputras, subjecting them to heavy losses. Multan was divided among themselves by Jhanda Singh and Lehna Singh. Diwan Singh Chachowalia was appointed the qiladar of Multan, garrisoning the place with the Bhangi forces. Sharif Beg, utterly disappointed, fled to Talamba and then to Khairpur where he died a brokenhearted man.
On his return from Multan, Jhanda Singh subdued the Baloch territory, captured Jhang and conquered Mankera and Kala Bagh. He failed to capture Shujahbad built by the Afghans after the loss of Multan. He, then, recovered the famous %am%ama or Bhangi gun from the Chathas of Ramnagar. 33 According to Ali-ud-Din Mufti, a serious dispute arose between Raja Ranjit Deo of Jammu and his eldest son Brij Raj Deo, in 1770. The heir-apparent was of a dissolute character. The father, a man of great ability and sound judgement, wanted, therefore, his younger son Daler (Dalel) Singh to succeed him. The quarrel developed into an explosive situation. The immature and raw youth, not realising the consequences, sought assistance from Charhat Singh Sukarchakia and Jai Singh Kanaihya, both of whom readily agreed. Raja Ranjit Deo could not fight against this formidable coalition single-handed and invited Jhanda Singh Bhangi to help him.
The united forces of the Bhatti and Sandhu Jat Sukerchakia and Kanaihya chiefs marched into the Jammu hills and encamped on the Basanter river, a litde east of Jammu. Ranjit Deo collected an army of his own, as well as of his allies, such as the chiefs of Chamba, Nurpur and Basoli in addition to the forces of Jhanda Singh.
The contest took place at Dasuha, adjacent to Zafarwal. The fighting dragged on for some days without yielding any result. One day Charat Singh Sukerchakia was accidentally killed by the bursting of his own gun which struck him on the forehead. 33 in 1770.
The loss of Charhat Singh was too great for the allies who found it difficult to maintain their position against the powerful Bhangi chief, Jhanda Singh. It was also felt by Jai Singh that Charhat Singh’s son, Mahan Singh, was too young to be a match for Jhanda Singh who was deadly against the Sukarchakias. Jai Singh, therefore, decided that their safety lay in the murder of the Bhangi Sardar. Consequently he bribed a Rangretta or a Mazhbi Sikh in the service of Jhanda Singh whom he shot dead 36 from behind while he was walking in his camp unattended, soon after Bhatti Jat ruler Sardar Charat Singh Sukerchakia Singh’s death.
Under Jhanda Singh the annual income of the Misl was estimated to be one crore rupees. 37 Jhanda Singh was a great organiser and an administrator. The Bhangi Misl made a considerable progress under his able stewardship. He headed his Misal for six year.
References :-
- According to Bute Shah, Jhanda Singh was one of the illustrious followers of Hari Singh Bhangi. He was a DhillonJat of Majitha village. (Tawarikh-i-Punjab, IV, p. 10.
- Ahmad Shah Batalia, op. tit., p. 16; Bute Shah, op. tit., p. 7; Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs (1849), Delhi, 1955, p. 103.
- Ahmad Shah Batalia, op. tit, p. 16; Haqiqat-i-bina-o-uruj-i-firqa-i-Sikhan, MS., PUP., p. 21; Bute Shah, op. tit., pp. 7, 11; Ganesh Das Badehra, Char Bagh-i-Punjab (1855), Amritsar, 1965, p. 132; Ali-ud-Din Mufti, op. tit, Vol. I, p. 248; M’Gregor, op. tit, I, pp. 122-23; Lepel Griffin, op. tit, p. 387, Muhammad Latif, op. tit, ed. 1916, p. 86.
- Ali-ud. Din Mufti, op. tit, Vol. I, p. 246; Lepel Griffin, op. tit, p. 387
- Ali-ud-Din Mufti, op. tit, Vol. I, p. 247; c£, Ahmad Shah Batalia, op. tit, p. 16; M’ Gregor, op. tit, I, p. 123