Final days of the Bhangi Misl - in a nutshell and simple language!

 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 Lehna Singh and his nephew Gujjar).

At this time, the Bhangis were the most powerful but things were about to change with the deaths of first Sardar Charat Singh Sukarchakia, grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in an accident, and the murder of Sardar Jhanda Singh Dhillon of the Bhangi Misl by a trooper paid to kill him on orders of Sardar Jai Singh Kanhayia - latter was a dirty deed in the same way as when a person pays a contract killer to rub out another person. 

Obviously, Jai Singh Kanhayia was good friends with Charat as was Gujjar his best friend, and Lehna was on good terms too but it was the actions of the Dhillon side and the accidental death of Charat that caused the breach. 

In the events leading to this, the Bhangi Misl and Sukarchakia had come into conflict over who should succeed to the domains of the Raja of Jammu - the loss of both Sardars was a BIG loss to both Misls as they were the main Sarders.

(Note : Both Charat Singh Sukarchakia and the Kanhayias had a family link with Gujjar Singh Bhangi, which is what makes the whole thing crazy - but the Dhillion were another branch of the Bhangi Misl (the branch with Lehna Singh Kahlon and his nephew Gujar Singh Bhangi at this time had friendly relations).)

(Also, note : what I had found interesting is that when the Bhangi Misl took Lahore in 1765, that Gujjar Singh Bhangi's possible relation Soba Singh Kanhayia had been given the west part of the City, while Lehna had the centre and Gujjar the East. I think Soba Singh Kanhayia was a nephew of Jai Singh Kanhaiya but will need to verify this…he was certainly from the same village Kanha in Lahore as the Kanhaiya Chief. Jai Singh Kamhayia as the leader of the Kanhaiya Misl was an important leader who had fought at many battles alongside both the other Misls.)

Then REVENGE comes in as Sikhs have a vendetta system - the brother of Jhanda which was Ganda became the leader of the Dhillon branch of the Bhangi Misl and would not forgive Jai Singh Kanhaiya, which led to conflict between the Bhangis and the Kanhayia (but others involved too)...but...Ganda who was not keeping well also died leaving the Bhangis of the Dhillon branch in a dangerous place with widows and young children. This left the Kanhaiya Misl in a strong place.

Meanwhile,  the son of Charat Singh which was Mahan Singh (who may also have sought REVENGE for the death of his father Charat but being a ambitious Chief had realised that the only way he could expand his territories was to take over those of the Bhangi Misl which were next to his own as that was the way they had been conquered by Sardars Gujjar Singh of the Bhangi Misl assisted by Sardar Charat Singh Sukarchakia father of Mahan) had managed to destabilise our branch of the Bhangi Misl too by persuading his own brother in law Sahib Singh son of Gujjar Singh Bhangi to fight his elder brother Sukha, who was killed in Lahore by Sahib Singh's men. Mahan Singh also managed to persuade Gujjar to forgive his son Sahib. Mahan Singh then instigated Sahib Singh to confiscate his own younger brother Fatehs lands which he did so - Gujjar Singh died of heartbreak at this in circa 1790. This left this side of the Bhangi Misl exposed too.

Mahan Singh then managed to kill Gurbaksh Singh Kanhiya the son and successor of Jai Singh Kanhiya at the battle of Batala, after he had managed to turn his former alliance Misl the Kanhiyas against him by not sharing the loot on a raid of Jammu - this turned Jai Singh Kanhayia against the Sukharchakias but Mahan Singh defeated the Kanhayais at Battle of Batala due to an alliance with Jassa Singh Ramgharia killing  Gurbaksh Singh Kanhiya who had succeeded his father to leadership of the Kanhayia Misl.

The widow of Gurbaksh Singh Kanhiya Sada Kaur then betrothed her daughter to Ranjit Singh. This essentially brought the resources of the two Misls against the Bhangis who were now in a weak position with deaths of major Bhangi Sardars, with only Lehna left by 1790…he too was to die in 1797.

Mahan Singh Sukarchakia died in 1792, during the siege of Sodhra in Gujranwala, which was being occupied by the Bhangi Misl.

Rani Sada Kaur became the regent of the young Ranjit Singh, and combined the resources of both her Kanhiya Misl and Ranjit Singh's Sukarchakia Misl to take Lahore off the Bhangi Misl in the form of the son of Lehna Singh Kahlon Chet Singh using 25,000 troops ..Lahore was taken without a fight.

In 1805, the final Bhangi properties in Amritsar was mopped by Maharaja Ranjit Singh…with Sahib Singh Bhangi’s properties also taken on his death in 1811.