The Rise of Sikh Power in Punjab: 1709-1760s Similarities and Differences with Maratha States

The Rise of Sikh Power in Punjab: 1709-1760s

• Similarities and Differences with Maratha States

Banda’s Rebellion 1709-1715

• Begins as raids on important administrative cities and trading centers (Sirhind,Samana)

• By 1710 many parts of E. Punjab are in the hands of rebels, Bahadur Shah’s army attempt to root them out

• Between 1711-1713 Banda moves from hills to plains, remains free.

• Succession struggle b/w Bahadur Shah’s sons allows rebellion to continue

• Banda finally captured in 1715

Impact of Banda’s Rebellion

• Wholesale targeting of Sikh creates more problems and alienates Khatris (sikh traders/officials, but not Khalsa)

• Mobilization of local ethnic feuds against Jat Sikhs—particularly groups such as Bhattis, Rangar Rajputs, etc. was more successful, but created ethnic tensions

• Jagir revenues from Panjab unavailable at a crucial time

• Khalsa Sikhs in particular further alienated from Mughal government, would rebel periodically through the mid 18th century, finally occupying Punjab by the 1760s.

Problems faced by Punjab Governors

• Little support from Delhi court to deal with continuing problems of rebellion

• By early 18th c. includes Sikh and Non-Sikh groups including powerful Afghan families of Qasur

• New problems of Persian invasion (1739) and Afghan invasions (13 from 1748-1765) create new pressures

• Turani faction at court not as powerful after Nizam-ul Mulk’s retreat, Punjab governors, who are Turanis, lose negotiating power

• After Abd-us Samad’s death, his sons Zakarya and Yahya Khan fight each other for Punjab, as if it was their inheritance

Why do Sikhs thrive by mid-18th century?

• Get support from Jat zamindars (Sikh and non-Sikh) who provide refuge and resources

• Use Punjab hills and Lakhi Jungle as hiding places from Mughal army

• Create a system of shared resources at Amritsar (main Sikh shrine) sustained by material from raids

• Brief grant of a jagir from governor in 1739 backfires
• Khalsa Sikhs attract new recruits from Jat dominant areas, train and arm them, organize them into war bands

Impact of Afghan Invasions

• Have a devastating effect on Mughal administration in Punjab and also in Delhi

• Have a less negative impact on Sikh bands, since they can retreat to safe havens and return once the Afghans have moved on

• Although some Mughal officers join Afghans, relationships are tense and not fully collaborative

• By contrast, Khalsa Sikhs, due to their persecution by Afghan and Mughal officers are united by a shared religious ideology

• Afghan attacks on Sikh shrines and war bands only strengthen resistance.

Maratha and Sikh Expansion

• “slow conquest” controlled by Peshwa in Pune

• Chauth (25%) and Sardeshmukhi (10%) most common

• System of Kamavisdars creates regularity and uniformity by late 18th Century

• De-facto recognition of revenue rights from Mughals

Coordination among Sikh chiefs

• Each Sikh chief attempted to create an independent rule

• Only bound by shared notions of honor, regard for their reputation, and shared moral world-view

• Occasional meetings called gurmatas function as a sounding board for Sikh chiefs, but their binding force is debatable (contrary to Grewal’s claim) and limited to common issues of offence and defense rather than revenue and administration

What causes strife among chiefs? What resolves it?

• Disagreements about territorial boundaries and revenue claims (no peshwa like figure to mediate these)

• Kanhaiya and Ramgarhia feud in 1770s

• Honor feuds generated by insults or local rivalry

• Case of the wedding at Jind

• Accusations of creating unilateral alliances with Khalsa’s enemies

• Alha Singh of Patiala and Ahbad Shah Abdali in 1760s

Context of Feud

• Both misals agree to conquer and create a shared revenue system in Upper Bari Doab (north of Amritsar)

• Later they disagree on how to divide the revenue, the Kanhaiyas attack Jassa Singh Ramgarhia’s fort in Batala and capture it.

• Ramgarhias have feuds with other Sikh chiefs are chased away from Central Punjab, only regain their territories in 1790s with the assistance of other Sikh allies.

The Jind Wedding dispute

• The phulkian misal (chiefs of Jind, Nabah, Patiala) had territories in SW Punjab

• The ruler of Jind hosted the wedding of his daughter to an important chief from the NW; groom’s guests pastured their horses in the neighboring lands of the Nabha estate.

• Nabha officials attack the bridegroom’s people, insult their kinsmen (the bride’s relatives)

• This feud is only settled years later when other Sikh chiefs intervene

Alha Singh and Abdali

• In 1761, after defeating the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat, Ahmed Shah Abdali is returning to Afghanistan via Punjab.

• Detours in Patiala to punish Alha Singh, who had helped the Marathas. Impressed with Alha Singh’s courage in 1765 grants him title of “raja”

• Sikhs want to punish Alha Singh and expel him from the Khalsa community

• Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, a respected senior chief, intervenes and re-baptizes him into the Khalsa to create peace within the community.

Sikhs & Marathas: Similarities

• Both from peasant stock; experience upward social mobility through soldiering

• Both mobilize religious ideology to generated internal unity within the group—success of this varied

• Both create revenue systems that are more streamlined and cost-efficient (for the state) but have fewer checks and balances for revenue payers

Sikhs and Marathas: Contrasts

• Maratha system more expansionist, although Sikhs do raid Delhi and upper gangetic plains, do not extend their rule out of Punjab

• Maratha warrior identity forms sooner under Bijapuri Sultanate, has a longer history of both opposition and interaction with Mughals. By contrast, Sikh warrior identity stabilizes in the 18th C and has limited interaction with Mughal norms.

• Maratha administrative systems become uniform under Peshwas. Sikh states have great internal variation and only achieve some uniformity under Ranjit Singh.

• Revenue farming more common under Marathas—Most Sikh states are smaller, deal directly with peasants (until 19th c)