Maharaja Ala Singh: Difference between revisions

Maharaja Ala Singh Sidhu was born on 5 October 1691 AD in the village of Phool (Which is now in Bathinda district). He was the son of Sardar Ram Singh. Ala Singh was a prince of the Phulkian Misl. He built a huge empire because of his bravery. It had an area of ​​332,000 sq km. His empire was even larger than that of Ranjit Singh.

Biography

Ala Singh was born on 5 October 1691 in the village of Phool (district of Bathinda) to Sardar Ram Singh. His grandfather Chaudhary Phool Singh was the founder of the Phulkian Misl. Ala Singh's mother's name was Sulakhan Kaur. Sulakhan Kaur was the daughter of Wazir Alam Chand of Lahore. Ala Singh's family belonged to the Sidhu Jatt caste. His grandfather Phool Singh was blessed by Guru Har Rai, the seventh Guru of the Sikhs. As a result, Phool Singh had become a major feudal lord of the Malwa. He served in the court of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb till 1691 AD. Fed up with Aurangzeb's tyranny, Phool Singh quit his job. Due to which Phool Singh was martyred in 1691 AD. After Phool Singh, his only son Ram Singh became Sardar. He received Amrit from Guru Gobind Singh. Ala Singh was the only son of his parents. As a result, he was raised with great care. When Ala Singh was five years old, his grandfather Alam Chand took him to Lahore. There he received a higher education. Through the efforts of Alam Chand, Ala Singh acquired knowledge of many languages ​​of the Mughal Empire. When he was ten years old, he was trained in martial arts. It is said that Ala Singh had become such a good warrior in his childhood that he once killed a lion. He was only twelve at the time. In 1707 AD, Guru Gobind Singh went south. He was accompanied by Ala Singh's father, Ram Singh. He handed over his throne to Ala Singh before leaving. Ram Singh predicted that one day my son Ala Singh would become the Maharaja of a very large kingdom. Ala Singh's reign of Tilak took place on 17 October 1707 AD. When he became the chief of the Phulkian Misl, his rule was only over the village. Due to his bravery and ability he established the Patiala Empire.

Personal Life

When Ala Singh was 17 years old, relationships began to form for his marriage. At the request of Nanu Singh Saini, a Brahmin of Sunam, Ala Singh was married to Fateh Kaur, daughter of Chaudhary Charan Singh of Barnala village. A few months later, Sardul Singh was born. He was the only son of Ala Singh. He later contributed greatly to the expansion of the Patiala Empire.

Rise of Power

Bathinda Victory
After the martyrdom of Banda Singh Bahadur, Ala Singh began to conquer the Mughal territories. He first won the state of Bathinda. This state was very important. Apart from this, the fort built here was built by Ala Singh's ancestor. In 1716 AD, Ala Singh invaded Bathinda. From here Chaudhary reached Mohat Khan Lahore. Thus, without any action, Ala Singh captured the fort.

Barnala Victory
Chaudhary Mohat Khan of Bathinda sought the help of Abd al-Samad Khan, Governor of Punjab. The governor sent an army of 10,000 to help Mohat Khan. That is, they defeated Ala Singh's father-in-law Charan Singh and captured Barnala. When Ala Singh was not found out, 7,000 horsemen were sent to Barnala under the leadership of Nanu Singh Saini. Nanu Singh Saini defeated the Mughal army and drove them to Lahore. Pleased with his action, Ala Singh made him his prime minister. Barnala was made the capital of the Phulkian Misl.

Treaty With Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah
After the death of Aurangzeb, incompetent rulers like Bahadur Shah I, Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi ud-Darajat and Shah Jahan II ruled. In 1719 AD, Muhammad Shah became the Mughal Emperor. He made several attempts to prevent the downfall of the Mughal Empire. In 1721, he made a treaty with Ala Singh. This is called the Treaty of Flowers. According to which Ala Singh promised to protect the Mughals from foreign attacks in return for an annual compensation of Rs 50 lakh. Despite the treaty, Ala Singh did not waver from Sikhism. He established his headquarters at Barnala in 1722 AD. In which the workers robbed the Mughals.

The effects of the treaty
In 1739, Nader Shah, the ruler of Iran, invaded India. He defeated the Mughals at the Battle of Karnal. While Nader Shah was crossing the Sutlej, Ala Singh attacked him. Nader Shah's caravan was 240 miles long. As a result, he did not have a chance to recover. Ala Singh continued to plunder Nader Shah for many days. Ala Singh gave Rs 50 lakh of the looted money to the Mughals.

Ala Singh as a prisoner

In 1745, Nawab Ali Mohammed Khan of Rohilkhand became the governor of Sirhind. He attacked Barnala and imprisoned Ala Singh. In 1748, the first invasion of India was made by Ahmed Shah Abdali, the ruler of Afghanistan. At that time Ali Mohammed Khan fled to Delhi. Mir Mannu, son of the Wazir of Delhi, was made Governor of Punjab. At the same time, Ala Singh was released. In the Battle of Manupur, with the help of Ala Singh, Mir Mannu defeated Ahmed Shah Abdali. But Abdali took Ala Singh to Lahore. There he released Ala Singh for Rs. 5 lakhs and gave him the title of Maharaja.

Member of Dal Khalsa

In 1748, Nawab Kapur Singh founded the Dal Khalsa. After the death of Zakariya Khan Bahadur]], the [[Dal Khalsa began to rise. Due to his influence, in 1749, Ala Singh was baptized by Nawab Kapur Singh. He agreed to remain under the Dal Khalsa forever. Thus Ala Singh became a member of the Dal Khalsa.

Establishment of the Patiala Empire

Victory of Tohana (1753 AD)
Tohana was located south-west of Jind. This region was very rich. Here was the kingdom of the rich at that time. The annual income of the rich was Rs 3 crore. There was a long struggle between the Mughals and Ahmad Shah Abdali for subjugation of the territory. Ala Singh wanted to subdue Tohana. So he invaded Tohana in 1753 AD. He first defeated the Mughal army and forced them to flee to Delhi. Ala Singh then wreaked havoc on the Afghan army. Finally the Mughals and Ahmad Shah Abdali made a treaty with Ala Singh.According to which Tohana Pradesh and its income were taken over by Ala Singh. Thus the victory of Tohana proved to be very politically and economically beneficial for Ala Singh.

Victory of Bhatner (1759 AD)
From 1754-1758 AD, Ala Singh took no action. Because at that time Marathas had established their rule in Punjab. He did not want to clash with the Marathas. In 1759, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded the Punjab to teach the Marathas a lesson. Ala Singh took full advantage of the situation and attacked Bhatner. In this fort of this city all the crops of Rajputana were kept. The fighting continued for many days. Sher Chand, ruler of Bhatner, died suddenly. After which Ala Singh captured the fort.Ala Singh did not capture the entire crop of Rajaputana. The farmers agreed to give Ala Singh third part of the crop.

Victory of Bahawalpur (1760 AD)
In 1760 AD Nawab Bahawal Khan of Bahawalpur province (a province extending from Sialkot to Sindh) lost contact with Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Nawab thus declared himself independent. Ala Singh was looking for an opportunity. He sent 10,000 troops to defeat Bahawal Khan. This army was severely defeated by Bahawal Khan. Ala Singh himself went to Bahawalpur to conquer it. He defeated Bahawal Khan in a battle outside the fort of Bahawalpur. Ala Singh pardoned Bahawal Khan and re-appointed him governor of Bahawalpur. Engaged in the war against the Marathas, Ahmad Shah Abdali could not pay attention to Ala Singh.

Victory of Sindh (1761 AD)
In the Third Battle of Panipat (14 January 1761 AD), Ahmad Shah Abdali wreaked havoc on the Marathas. As a result, the power of the Marathas ended in the Punjab. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ala Singh wanted to expand his kingdom. So he decided to conquer Sindh. The province of Sindh was the richest region in western India. At that time Sindh was not ruled by any king. Only the rich made decisions. Ala Singh invaded Sindh in 1761 AD. The amirs placed piles of seals in front of Ala Singh. Ala Singh annexed Sindh to his kingdom through trade pacts with the rich.

Victory of Multan (1762 AD)
Encouraged by the conquest of Sindh, Ala Singh decided to conquer Multan. The province of Multan was not very important but the Iranian invaders came to India only after crossing it. Muzaffar Khan was the governor of Multan at that time. He was a brave warrior. He received the governorship of Multan by gifting it to Ahmad Shah Abdali. Ala Singh sent an army under Diwan Nanu Mall in 1762 to conquer Multan. Muzaffar Khan accepted Ala Singh's submission without any opposition.When Nanu Mal was returning to Barnala, Muzaffar Khan revolted. Ala Singh himself went and crushed the revolt. Muzaffar Khan was pardoned and re-appointed Subedar. Thus Multan was annexed to the Phulkian Misl. Encouraged by this victory, Ala Singh established the village of Patti. Which he later made his capital. In time, the city came to be known as Patiala. Due to this, the Patiala Empire got another name of Phulkian Misl.

Victory of Lahore (1762 AD)
In 1762, Ahmad Shah Abdali launched a surprise attack on the Sikhs at Kup, killing 40,000 Sikhs. Which is called the Great Ghalughara. Ala Singh wanted to teach Abdali a lesson. But he could not face Abdali directly because Ahmad Shah Abdali was wreaking havoc during the war. Abdali had wreaked such havoc on the Maratha army that the Marathas could never recover from that catastrophe. So Ala Singh decided to reform Abdali's associates.