The Bhangi Misl Blogspot

  There is a portrait of Sardar Gujjar Singh Bhangi available at this link : https://jatchiefs.com/sirdar-gujjar-singh-bhangi-of-lahore/?fbclid=IwAR2rSUAh0kfv4OEWIq7oaEgjZArzlHVwoZomafzCKVsl3QysjKwnszLyYV0 Please note that he was not a Sandhu but a Dhillon (not that it matters to us Sikhs but for historical accuracy - his nephew descended through his brother is a Dhillon so he is a Dhillon - see my previous post on Ferozepur). His maternal grandfather was Sardar Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu of Village Roranwala who adopted Sardar Lehna Singh Kahlon - I believe his mother Mai Lakshmi married Chaudhary Nathu Dhillon.  I think that Gujjars descendents can be found in Village Rangarh near Amritsar. Gujjar is one of my favourite Sikh warriors having conquered so much territory for the Sikh Quam from Ferozepur to Attock. Maharaja Ranjit Singh is reported to have said that he was “blessed to be one-eyed” like the great Sardar Gujjar Singh Bhangi, by his court historian Sohan Lal Puri in the Umdat Ut

 Sardar Gujjar Singh Bhangi conquered the Ferozepur and surrounding areas in 1761. A few photos of the ferozepur fort and surrounding cantonment area are at the end of this article. Ferozepur, it’s fort and surrounding cantonment areas as well as areas around had once belonged to the Bhangi Misl (Kahlon-Dhillon branch if you like, as this was separate to the main Dhillon branch from Sardar Hari Singh Dhillon albeit they were all together like peas in a pod!) … having been conquered by Sardar Gujar Singh Bhangi (under Sardar Hari Singh Bhangi) in 1761 and assigned to his nephew Gurbaksh Singh who assigned the area to his middle son Dhanna Singh…upon whose death the property went to Dhanna Singh’s widow Rani Lachman Kaur who died issueless leading to the British takeover in 1835 after consent from Maharaja Ranjit Singh …whose dependency this was apparently  (British built Ferozepur Cantonment over it). The British may have built Ferozepur Cantonment on our lands illegally - and this is a

 The more I have read on the final days of the Bhangi Misl and the rise of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as King of the Lahore Darbar the more it seems to really have been a family affair in the end. There were 3 Misls that were involved in the struggle that all had family ties with each other. These 3 Misls were the Bhangi, the Sukarchakia and the Kanhayia - the fight for sovereignty of the Punjab was essentially between these three in the end with the other Misls playing bit parts. Now, if there are 3 people how does one person emerge as the winner?  The answer is that 2 people have to gang up against 1 to defeat them and this is exactly what happened with the Kanhayia Misl and Sukarchakia Misls ganging up on the Bhangi Misl....but only after it had been weakened first as too strong to take on initially.  So, how did the Bhangi Misl get weakened? In the struggle, you have to bear in mind that the Bhangi Misl had two branches - the Dhillon and our branch let's call it Kahlon (as it was Le

 Through marriage, the Kahlons are connected with the house of Nawab Kapur Singh, a Virk Jat who is a major figure in Sikh history being 11 years old when Guru Gobind Singh died 1708 and 19 at the time of massacre of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and his followers in Delhi in 1716. He was the first leader of the Sikh nation after Banda Singh Bahadur, and in 1721 underwent initiation at the hands of Bhai Mani Singh, one of the most important Martyrs of the Sikh faith and a companion of Guru Gobind Singh himself...you will find his painting at every Sikh Gurdwara and read about him seperately. Nawab Kapur Singh's brother was called Dhan Singh, and it is Dhan Singh's granddaughter that Sardar Lehna Singh Kahlon married who was the sister of  Sardar Budh Singh Faizullapuria who inherited Kapur Singh's Misl..ie Nawab Kapur Singh's grand-niece.  Note : as the Bhangi Misl was the most powerful this was a good alliance for the two Misls, but Bhangi Misl Sardars contracted marriages

 Hari Ke Patan, which is shown below now has a bird sanctuary but in 1735 it was a place of refuge for the Sikhs under Nawab Kapur Singh Virk when they left Amritsar and retired to this area…this included the 65 Jathas of which 18 were lead by Bhangi Misl Jathedars. It’s important to note that Nawab Kapur Singh, supreme leader of the Sikhs chose to marry his own niece to Sardar Lehna Singh Kahlon of the Bhangi Misl, who was one of these early Jathedars and would have fought alongside him. The Mughal Governor of Punjab Zakariya Khan organised moving columns called Gashti Fauj mounted on horses and camels to pursue the Sikhs. The Sikhs who fell into the hands of the Mughals were sent to Lahore to be executed at a place which the Sikhs called Shahid Ganj. The Sikhs had to resort to the Lakhi Jungle lying between Ferozepur and Bhatinda, where they experienced hard times due to the scarcity of food and water. They were trapped as Rae Kalha of Raekot controlled the whole area lying to the so

 The country between rivers Jhelum and the Indus was full of ravines, and it was an arid area. Between Rohtas and Rawalpindi, a distance of about 100kms Jherar, Jagatpur, Perwala and Pakoke Sarae were the strongholds of the Gakhars, a hardy and numerous tribe of great valour. Sultan Mukarram Khan of Perwala, Karmullah Khan of Dhani, and Mansur Khan of Gheb submitted to Gujar Singh. The districts of Dhani and Gheb were famous for a fine breed of horses and mules. It enabled Gujar Singh to equip his army better. Pothohar also fell to Gujar Singh. It consisted of two parganahs, Wangli and Perwala. Wangli contained eight tappas with its headquarters at Karla Town. In addition to Gakhars, there were other tribes such as Awans, Dhunds and Gulers. They were widely scattered. But their thickest population was in the districts of Jhelum and Rawalpindi. In Jhelum district they occupied the tracts of Awan Kari lying across river Gabir. They occupied a strong position in Rawalpindi district. The A