Sikh Minhas Rajputs

Anshupal & Baba Mati Dev, both grandsons of Biram Dev Minhas, a commander with first Mughal emperor, Babar established the Minhas clan villages of Daroli Kalan , Daroli Khurd, Damunda, Padhiana & Paldi in East Punjab around the year 1530. Almost all these villages are located approximately seven kilometres from the town of Adampur except the village of Paldi, which is in the Garhshankar Teshil in the Hoshiarpur District.

The villages of Manko and Rajowal adjacent to Daroli Kalan are inhabited by the Dhillon, Nijjar and Sandhu Jat clans.

The village of Haripur which is just 2.5 kilometres from Adampur, also initially belonged to Haria Singh Minhas of the village of Damunda . This village was however surrendered, because of the criminal charges brought up against Haria Singh of molesting labourer women, on the direction of Lehna Singh Majithia, the in charge of Droli Kalan during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Today, although the owners of lands in these villages are mostly Jats because of the enforcement of new Land Laws by the British in the year 1920, the land revenue record even today stands in the name of the Minhas Rajputs of Droli, Padhiana & Damunda.

Minhas Rajput in Sikh history

The first Doaba Rajput to join the army of Guru Gobind Singh was Sangat Singh Minhas of Padhiana in the Jalandhar district, who joined the Guru's forces with his two brothers and many other Rajput chiefs. A few months later, the Subedar(Governor) of Lahore sent a small group of armed men to collect tax dues from the Rajput Hill Chiefs in whose territory, Anandpur was located under the command of Alaf Khan. The chiefs asked Guru Gobind for help.

Guru Gobind Singh agreed to send a small band under the command of Sangat Singh Minhas. Sangat Singh defeated Alaf Khan's army. After this, the Lahore governor, sent his own son with a force to solve the matter once and for all. First of all, he defeated Raja Bhim Singh of Kahlur and collected the taxes. After that, he attacked Raja Vikram Singh Walia of the Guler State. Raja Vikram Singh turned to Guru Gobind Singh for help.

Again, Guru Gobind sent another jatha under the command of Sangat Singh to help Vikram Singh. Vikram Singh and Sangat Singh fought together against the Mughal forces and defeated them again but Sangat Singh got fatally wounded and died.

This war happened in Vikrami Samvat, 1748. After this, there was peace for the next eight years. During this period, Guru Gobind Singh kept on training his army to ward off any attack by the Mughals. Meanwhile, Bachitar Singh Minhas of Padhiana in the Jalandhar district joined the army along with a large group of Doaba Sikh Rajputs.

Anandpur and the state of Kahlur were neighbouring states. Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur got fearful because of the growing power of Guru Gobind Singh and his forces. He called upon all Hill Rajput chiefs to wage a war against the Guru. As a result of this meeting, the chiefs walked to Anandpur and gave a notice to Guru Gobind Singh to leave the town because they are feeling insecure due to his presence in the area. They told him that if he would leave Anandpur Sahib, they would help him. Guru Gobind refused to leave Anandpur Sahib at any cost.

The Hill Chiefs had army of almost 20,000 men and on top of this, Mughal forces from Lahore and Sirhind joined them. Guru Gobind Singh had only 2000 men under the command of Bachitar Singh Minhas. The battle between the Guru's forces and those of the hill chiefs started and soon, the stocks of food in Anandpur ran out.

The chiefs attacked the fort of Anandgarh and tried to break its main gate. Bachitar Singh managed to prevent them from entering the fort. Guru Gobind's army was nearly decimated. Due to this great loss, the Guru was commanded by the "Panj Piyaras" (the Five Beloved) to leave Anandpur Sahib, so as to carry forward the larger cause of fight against the oppressive Mughal regime. From here, the Guru went towards the Nabha and Jind states during Vikrami Samvat 1763.

Bachitar Singh and another Doaba Rajput, Kharak Singh Minhas assisted Guru Gobind Singh in many of his future campaigns. After Guru Gobind Singh's death, Banda Bahadur took over the torch of the Khalsa to fight against Mughal oppression.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur reorganised the Khalsa Army and declared a war against the Mughal administration. From the Doaba region, he got help from Sikh Rajputs including: Budh Singh Parmar Dasaundha Singh Parmar Dharam Singh Minhas Gursahai Singh Bhatti Hargopal Singh Chauhan Jiwan Singh Parmar Kanwar Singh Parmar Khan Singh Parmar Krishan Singh Minhas Mehboob Singh Jaswal Punjab Singh Parmar Ram Singh Manj

and many more. Baba Banda Singh Bahadur won almost half of the province and he offered Jagirs to his army commanders including the Rajput's, whose heirs are still holding their forts in the villages Chukhiara, Bhungarni, Dihana and Bohan.