Sardar

Tara Singh Ghaiba
Miniature painting of Tara Singh Ghaiba (middle, yellow turban) with flywhisk attendant to the right and young boy to the left, circa 18th century
Born1710
Died1807
TitleChief of the Dallewalia Misl
PredecessorSardar Gulab Singh

Tara Singh Ghaiba (1710 – 1807) was an associate member of the Dallewalia Misl, who became the chief of the Misl after the death of their founding member and head Sardar Gulab Singh Khatri. He made Rahon the capital of his Misl.[1] [2][3]

Early life

Sardar Tara Singh was supposedly born in 1710. He belonged to a Jat family of Kang Clan[4] ,from a village called Kang, six kilometers south of Lohian, in Tahsil Nakodar Punjab, India. They had about hundred goats. When he was a young goatherd, he mastered the skill to cross his flock through Bein with ropes. And earned the name Ghaiba meaning he who could adopt mysterious devices. Once a notorious Gujar robber Sulaiman, stolen his goats. The incident shook him, and In sheer desperation and despair, Tara left his village and started robbing. His reckless bravery added companions in his act. In March 1757, He earned his first horse by ditching Ahmad Shah Durrani's troops. When they made Tara captive and asked to help them cross the Bein, Tara fled to the jungle with their given horse. Gradually he joined Gulab Singh Dallevalia in his plundering raids.[5]

Leadership of Dallewalia misl

The Dallewalia Misl was one of the twelve Sikh Misls (sovereign groups of the Sikh Confederacy). Gulab Singh Dallewal was the founder of the Dallewalia Misl, which was operated near Dera Baba Nanak on the left bank of the River Ravi, 50 km northeast of Amritsar. After Gulab Singh's and Gurdiyal Singh's death, Tara Singh Ghaiba assumed the leadership, and he further expanded this Misl up to Ambala Area (Haryana Region). With other Sikh Sardars he Sacked Kasur city of Pathans and Joined the Sikh Sardars in the sack of Sirhind City in 1764. His bravery and passion for war and conquest made the confederacy of Dallevalia very strong within a short time.[3][6]

Detail of the Dallewalia Misl
SN Name Founding Clan Capital Key Leaders Strength in Regular Horseman (1780)[7][8] Misl Period Territory by 1759[9][10] Corresponding Current Area
1 Dallewalia Misl Rathore Rajput[11] Rahon Sardar Gulab Singh Rathore and Sardar Tara Singh Ghaiba 5,000 Nakodar, Talwan, Badala, Rahon, Phillaur, Ludhiana etc. Ludhiana district, Jalandhar district

Achievements

One of the first exploits in 1757, was to rob the troops of Ahmad Shah Durrani, an advance party under his son Timur Shah who was carrying the treasure from Delhi to Afghanistan. This treasure had crossed river, Tara Singh and Karora Singh decided to seize it before it crossed river Chenab. They reached the spot silently, cut down the guards present there, broke open the boxes, filled their leather bags with coins, and disappeared instantly and returned safely to Amritsar.

  • In 1759 Tara Singh seized Rahon, He had control considerable territory on the both sides of Sutlej river.
  • In 1760 he seized the parganahs of Dharamkot and Fatahgarh lying to the south of the Satlej, he gave Fatahgarh to his cousins Dharam Singh and Kur Singh of village Kang.
  • He kept Dharamkot with himself.
  • He captured Rahon and areas around; Rahon attained a high eminence because of commanding location. It was made the seat of his government.
  • On his return to the Doab, he took the Sarai Dakkhni from Sharaf Ud'Din, an Afghan of Jalandhar and then marched eastwards, seizing the country around Rahori where he took up his residence.
  • He next captured Nakodar from the Manj Rajputs, and other groups of villages on the right of the Sutlej, including Mahatpur and Kot Badal Khan.
  • In March, 1763, Tara attended Hola festival.[12]
  • In March, 1783, he was with other Sikhs in Delhi. He brought two guns from the Red Fort and kept them at Rahon. He rendered great help to Baghel Singh in constructing seven gurdwaras at Delhi
  • Tara Singh Ghaiba maintained cordial relations with Patiala. In 1765, he helped Araar Singh in suppressing the revolt of Prince Himmat Singh who claimed the crown for himself.[6]

A Religious person

Tara Singh was an enthusiastic Sikh. He believed in converting people to the Sikh religion by love and affection. Tara gave liberal help to the needy new converts. He converted Chaudhri Gauhar Das of Kang village. His set examples, followed by both the villages, Kang Kalan and Kang Khurd.[2]

Distribution of territory

Tara Singh distributed his territory among all his four sons.

  • Jhanda Singh was given Nakodar and Mahilpur.
  • Dasaundha Singh given Dakhrii.
  • Gujar Singh possessed parganahs of Ghungrana and Baddowal.
  • The youngest whose name could not be traced was kept with him at Rahon.[2]

Death

In 1807, Tara Singh Ghaiba died in the attack of Naraingarh. Maharaja Ranjit Singh attacked and annexed all the Dallevalia territories including Rahon to his kingdom.[13][14][15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lafont, Jean Marie (2002). Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 26.
  2. 1 2 3 Gupta, Hari Ram (2001). History of the Sikhs. Munshiram Manoharlal. pp. 53, 58. ISBN 9788121501651.
  3. 1 2 Sandhu, Jaspreet Kaur (2000). Sikh Ethos: Eighteenth Century Perspective. Original from the University of Michigan: Vision and Venture. p. 48. ISBN 9788186769126.
  4. ↑ Sachdeva, Veena (1993). Polity and Economy of the Punjab During the Late Eighteenth Century. Manohar. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-7304-033-7. The chief of Phillaur, Tara Singh, was a Kang Jat like his namesake Tara Singh Dallewalia, and had made joint conquests with him.
  5. ↑ Gupta, H. R. (1939). "Origin of Sikh Territorial Chieftainships, 1748-1759". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 3: 1172–1188. JSTOR 44252464 – via JSTOR.
  6. 1 2 www.DiscoverSikhism.com. History Of The Sikhs Vol. IV The Sikh Commonwealth Or Rise And Fall Of Sikh Misls.
  7. ↑ Griffin, Lepel Henry (1893). Ranjít Singh. Clarendon Press. p. 78.
  8. ↑ Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Sikh Misals (equal bands)". Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  9. ↑ GUPTA, HARI RAM (1944). TRANS-SATLUJ SIKH. LAHORE: THE MINEVERA BOOK SHOP. p. 3.
  10. ↑ Kakshi 2007, p. 163–164
  11. ↑ Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Misl Dallewalia".
  12. ↑ Gupta, Hari Ram (2001). History of the Sikhs: The Sikh commonwealth or Rise and fall of Sikh misls. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 55. ISBN 9788121501651.
  13. ↑ Singh, Raj Pal (2003). The Sikhs: Their Journey of Five Hundred Years. Bhavana Books & Prints. p. 140. ISBN 9788186505465.
  14. ↑ Lafont, Jean Marie (2002). Maharaja Ranjit Singh. p. 26.
  15. ↑ U. S. Khattri, V. C. Pandey, U. S. Khattri · 1978 (1978). Modern India. the university of Virginia: Prakashan Kendra. p. 235.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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