Charat Singh

Sardar Charat Singh (1721–1770^[2] or 1733–1774), also romanised as Charhat Singh, was the founder of Sukerchakia Misl, father of Mahan Singh, and the grandfather of Ranjit Singh, the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He distinguished himself at an early age in campaigns against Ahmad Shah Abdali and along with 150 horsemen split from the Singhpuria Misl to establish the Sukerchakia Misl, a separate grouping with its distinct guerilla militia.^[3]

Charat Singh
Sardar
Sardar of Sukerchakia Misl
Reign	1752—1770 or 1752—1774
Predecessor	Naudh Singh
Successor	Maha Singh
Born	1721 or 1732 (Gujranwala, Pakistan)
Died	1770 or 1774(1774-00-00) (aged 41–42) Sukerchakia Misl, Gujranwala, Sikh Confederacy
Spouse	Desan Kaur (m.1756)
Issue	Mahan Singh Sahej Singh Raj Kaur Saher Kaur
Dynasty	Sandhawalia
Father	Naudh Singh[1]

Early life

Charat Singh was born to Chaudhary Naudh Singh (died 1752) and Lali Kaur in a Sandhawalia Jat Sikh family.^[4] His grandfather was Budh Singh (1670 – 1718),^[5] a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh.^[2] In 1756 he married Desan Kaur Waraich, a daughter of Sikh ruler Amir Singh Waraich. The couple had four children, two sons, Maha Singh and Suhej Singh followed by two daughters, Bibi Raj Kaur (not to be confused with the wife of Mahan Singh) and Saher Kaur.^[6]

Matrimonial alliances

"Charat Singh strengthened his position by matrimonial alliances.

• Charat's Singh's son Mahan Singh was married to the daughter of Jai Singh Mann of Mogalchak-Mananwala.
• Dal Singh Kalianwala of Alipur renamed Akālgarh was married to the sister of Charat Singh.
• Sohel Singh Bhangi was married to the daughter of Charat Singh.
• Sahib Singh Bhangi, son of Gujar Singh, was married to another daughter, Raj Kaur.

To establish a prominent place for himself among the Sikhs Charat Singh built a fort at Amritsar to the north of the city." – Hari Ram Gupta^[7]

Military campaigns

Painting of Charat Singh during an engagement with Afghan Durrani forces

In 1761, After the Third Battle of Panipat, Ahmad Shah Durrani sent his general Nur-ud-din to punish the Sikhs. He crossed the river Jhelum in August 1761 at Khushab and marched up the left bank of the river, He destroyed three largest towns of the Doab, Bhera, Miani and Chak Sanu, The first two towns rose from the ruins afterwards, while the third remained deserted. Charat Singh along with other Sikhs checked his advance on the eastern bank of river Chenab. Afghans, 12,000 in number, fled to Sialkot, which was immediately invested by Charat Singh, Nur-ud-din escaped on the eighth day to Jammu in the disguise of a beggar. His troops surrendered, but were allowed to go in safety. This success made Charat Singh a front-rank leader among the Sikh sardars. He also seized some guns and other arms. When all was over Charat Singh made a triumphant entry into his capital Gujranwala.^[8]

Charat Singh's victory over Nur-ud -din deeply perturbed Khwajah Abed Khan, Durrani's governor of Lahore. He decided to check the growing power of Charat Singh. Besides he wanted to impress upon his master, the Durrani Emperor, that he was quite active in discharging his duties. He invested Charat Singh's fort of Gujranwala in September, 1761. Charat Singh continued fighting from inside the fort. The other Sikh sardars, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Bhangi chiefs Hari Singh, Jhanda Singh Dhillon, Lahna Singh and Gujar Singh, Jai Singh Kanhaiya, and Sobha Singh came for the relief of Charat Singh and encamped 6 km away from Gujranwala. Khwajah Abed realized that he would be besieged. In the night he took to flight without striking a blow. A number of swivels, pieces of cannon, horses, camels, etc., fell into the hands of the Sikhs, when all was over,^[9]

In the beginning of January, 1762, Ahmad Shah Durrani came to the Panjab to crush the Sikhs like the Marathas in the previous year. In the Battle of Kup near Malerkotla. Ahmad Shah suddenly pounced upon the encamped Sikhs on February 5, 1762, and killed about 25,000 Sikhs. On this occasion Charat Singh played a dominant role in resisting the enemy and raising the spirit of the Sikhs.

In January, 1764, the Sikhs decided to punish Jani Khan and Mani Khan of Morindah as they had surrendered Mata Gujri and Guru Gobind Singh's two youngest sons to Wazir Khan of Sarhind . On this occasion Charat Singh posted his troops on the road to Sarhind to check any troops coming from that direction, He fought in the battle of Sirhind against Zain Khan Sirhindi, but took no territory as he had his eyes on the north-west Panjab. Charat Singh took possession of parganahs of Gujranwala, Qila Didar Singh, Qila Mian Singh, Qila Sahib Singh covering the northern half of Gujranwala tahsil.

In May 1767, Charat Singh and Gujjar Singh Bhangi marched upon Jhelum, Its Gakhar Chief fled away to the fort of Rohtas for shelter. Charat Singh entrusted Jhelum town to Dada Ram Singh.

During the siege of the fort of Rohtas, Sarfaraz Khan, the commandant of Ahmad Shah Durrani, requested the help of Nawab Sarbuland Khan, the Governor of Kashmir. Nawab Sarbuland Khan failed to arrive in time as Charat Singh defeated Sarfaraz Khan and captured the fort. When Sarbuland Khan arrived at the fort, Charat Singh marched to oppose Sarbuland Khan with his 12,000 soldiers. Charat Singh defeated Sarbuland Khan and captured him, imprisoning him in the Rohtas fort. The Nawab paid a ransom of two lakhs of rupees and thus secured his release.^[10] After the conquest of Rohtas, Charat Singh then subdued the rebellion chief's and zamindars of the neighborhood and seized the parganahs of Dhanni, Pothohar, Chakwal, Jalalpur, and sayyidpur, after which the whole district made submission to him,^[11]

Death

In 1774, he invaded Jammu with Jai Singh of the Kanheya Misl to aid the eldest son of Ranjit Deo, Brij Raj Deo, against his father.^[12] The Bhangi Misl joined the side of Ranjit Deo against him. During the preparations for battle a matchlock exploded and killed him.^[13] During a battle the next day Jandha Singh, the leader of the Bhangi Misl was killed and both Misls retreated from the fight.

Legacy

Shrine of Acharya Vijayanand Suri located in Gujranwala that some have disputed as being the samadhi of Charat Singh. Photograph from Chicago Prashnottar, 1918

A samadhi (Indic cenotaph tomb) of Charat Singh is believed by some to be located at Gujranwala, near the Sheranwala Bagh. Jains dispute this and claim the structure is a Jain temple built in memory of a Jain scholar named Acharya Vijayanand Suri, whose father served in the military of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as an official.^[14][15][16] This theory is further refuted by the Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, a chronicle on the reign of Ranjit Singh and his successors by Sohan Lal Suri, the court recorder of the Sikh Empire. The chronicle states that Ranjit Singh, after leaving a village named Halla, paid a visit to his grandfather's samadhi on 5 October 1838 located near a village named Jalal. It further states he made an ardas and a donation of 200 rupees. After the visit, he left for a village called Karala.^[17] Therefore, the samadhi of Charat Singh is located near a village named Jalal, not Gujranwala.

Preceded by Naudh Singh	Leader of the Sukerchakia Misl unknown – 1770	Succeeded by Maha Singh

Battles fought by Charat Singh

• Battle of Eminabad (1761)
• Battle of Sialkot (1761)
• Battle of Gujranwala (1761).^[18][19]
• Sikh Occupation of Lahore.^[20]
• Battle of Harnaulgarh (1762)^[21]
• Battle of Kup
• Battle of Pipli Sahib
• Battle of Kasur (1763)
• Battle of Sialkot (1763).^[18]
• Siege of Gujranwala (1763)
• Battle of Qarawal(1764)
• Battle of Sirhind (1764)^[21]
• Battle of Rohtas (1764)
• Battle of Rohtas (1767)
• Battle of Jammu (1774)

In popular culture

• In the 2010 historical TV series Maharaja Ranjit Singh telecasted on DD National, the character of Charat Singh is portrayed by Jaspal Singh Sehgal.

References

1. Singh, Bhagat (1993). A History of Sikh Misls. Punjabi University, Patiala. p. 177. ISBN 813020181X.
2. Herrli, Hans. The Coins of the Sikhs. p. 7.
3. Bakshi & Pathak 2007, p. 14
4. Gupta, Hari Ram (October 2001). History of the Sikhs: The Sikh commonwealth or Rise and fall of Sikh misls. Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN 978-81-215-0165-1.
5. "Ancestors of Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh". Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
6. Griffin, Lepel Henry (1890). The Panjab Chiefs: Historical and Biographical Notices of the Principal Families in the Lahore and Rawalpindi Divisions of the Panjab. Civil and Military Gazette Press.
7. Gupta, Hari Ram (October 2001). History of the Sikhs. Vol. IV: Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of the Misls. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1982. p. 304. ISBN 978-8121501651.
8. Gupta, Hari Ram (2007). History Of Sikhs Vol.2 Evolution of Sikh Confederacies. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN 978-81-215-0248-1.
9. Gupta, Hari Ram (2007). History Of Sikhs Vol.2 Evolution of Sikh Confederacies. Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN 978-81-215-0248-1.
10. Gupta, Hari Ram (2001) [1982]. History of the Sikhs. Vol. IV: The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls. Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN 978-81-215-0165-1.
11. Singha, Bhagata (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Patiala, India:Publication Bureau, Punjabi University.
12. Bakshi & Pathak 2007, p. 15–16
13. Bakshi & Pathak 2007, p. 16
14. Qureshi, Tania (11 December 2016). "City of Sikh heritage — Gujranwala". Pakistan Today. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
15. Butt, Muhammad Azam (29 December 2019). "Historical places a picture of neglect in Gujranwala". The News International, Pakistan. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
16. Omer, Shahab (27 May 2019). "Samadhi of Atmaram Ji declared as 'special premises'". Pakistan Today. Retrieved 6 February 2023. They said that this place was also mentioned as the Samadhi of Charat Singh by some people and it got viral on social media which had ignited the Jain community. 'With the protection of the place we also feel that the true spirit and history of this place should be highlighted and it should be turned into a religious site for Jain followers,' said the sources.
17. Suri, Lala Sohan Lal (1961). Umdat-ut-Tawarikh - An Outstanding Original Source of Panjab History - Chronicle of the Reign of Maharaj Ranjit Singh, 1831-1839 A.D., by Lala Sohan Lal Suri - Vakil at the Court of Lahore - Translated from Persian by V.S. Suri. Translated by Suri, Vidya Sagar. S. Chand. p. 533.
18. Raj Pal Singh (2004). The Sikhs : Their Journey Of Five Hundred Years. Pentagon Press. p. 116. ISBN 9788186505465.
19. Jacques, Tony (2006). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015.
20. Grewal, J.S. (1990). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. p. 91. ISBN 0-521-63764-3. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
21. www.DiscoverSikhism.com. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.

Bibliography

• Bakshi, S.R.; Pathak, Rashmi, eds. (2007). Punjab Through the Ages. New Delhi: Sarup and Son. ISBN 978-81-7625-738-1.

Preceded by none	Leader of the Sukerchakia Misl 1752 –1770	Succeeded by Maha Singh