Nawab Singh Kapur : Protecting the innocent from the invaders

9. Protecting the innocent from the invaders

On the request of the Budha Dal members, Kapoor Singh visited Patiala. The sons of Sardar Ala Singh, the founder of the state, gave him a royal welcome. Kapoor Singh stormed and subdued all local administrators around Delhi who were not behaving well towards their people. Nadir Shah of Iran was a terror for the Delhi rulers. In 1739, he murdered more than 100,000 people in Delhi and carried off all of the gold and valuables. He added to his caravan hundreds of elephants and horses, along with thousands of young women. When Kapoor Singh came to know of this, he decided to warn Nadir Shah that if not the local rulers, then the Sikhs would protect the innocent women of Muslims and Hindus from being sold as slaves. The returning caravan was closely watched by the Sikh informants. They planned to get the women released and to recover as much of the wealth as possible before Nadir left the Punjab . While crossing the river Chenab, Nadir relaxed his vigilance, and the Sikhs suddenly attacked the rear end of the caravan, freed many of the women, and recovered part of the treasure. The Sikhs continued to harass him and lighten him of his loot until he withdrew from the Punjab. Nadir wanted to know who the men with beards and turbans were, against whom he could not protect himself although he had already crushed the royal army. After hearing about them he observed, “The Sikhs will soon be the rulers of the Punjab." Zakaria Kan died in 1745. His successor tightened the security around Amritsar. Kapoor Singh planned to break the siege of Amritsar. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was made the commander of the attacking Sikh forces. In 1748, the Sikhs took a do or die decision. The commander at Amritsar also had a large army to fight the Sikhs. Ahluwalia, with his commandos behind him, dashed to the army commander and cut him into two with his sword. The commander’s nephew, trying to save him, got an arrow in his chest and fell dead to the ground. To be recognized as a power, the Sikhs built their first fort, called Ram Rauni, at Amritsar. This sent the message to the government that their days were numbered and that Sikh rule over Punjab was imminent. In December 1748, Governor Manu had to take his forces outside of Lahore to stop the advance of Abdali. Kapoor Singh took advantage of his absence from the capital and led a contingent of top Sikh fighters to the police station in Lahore. The Sikhs quickly overpowered the police defending the station and confiscated all of their weapons.

The Nawab then occupied the office and ordered the sheriff to release all prisoners. Before leaving, he told the sheriff to inform the Governor that Nawab Kapoor Singh, the “sheriff” of God, the True Emperor, came and did what he was commanded to do. All of this was accomplished in a very short time. Before the stunned policemen could report the matter to the authorities, or the army could be called in, the Khalsa were already riding their horses back to the forest. In 1753, Kapoor Singh took control of Amritsar and called a general meeting of the Sikhs to organize the Khalsa forces for the future. He thanked them for their cooperation and told them that his end was near and that their new commander would be Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The sword he had received from Mata Sundar Kaur Ji was also handed over to Ahluwalia. Before he breathed his last, the beloved jathedar thus passed on the responsibility to another able general. The body of Nawab Kapoor Singh, the great leader who led the Khalsa to the threshold of self-rule, was cremated near Gurdwara Baba Atal.





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				9. Protecting the innocent from the invaders On the request of the Budha Dal members, Kapoor Singh visited Patiala. The sons of Sardar Ala Singh, the founder of the state, gave him a royal welcome. Kapoor Singh stormed and subdued all local administrators around Delhi who were not behaving well towards their people. Nadir Shah of Iran was a terror for the Delhi rulers. In 1739, he murdered more than 100,000 people in Delhi and carried off all of the gold and valuables. He added to his caravan hundreds of elephants and horses, along with thousands of young women. When Kapoor Singh came to know of this, he decided to warn Nadir Shah that if not the local rulers, then the Sikhs would protect the innocent women of Muslims and Hindus from being sold as slaves. The returning caravan was closely watched by the Sikh informants. They planned to get the women released and to recover as much of the wealth as possible before Nadir left the Punjab . While crossing the river Chenab, Nadir relaxed his vigilance, and the Sikhs suddenly attacked the rear end of the caravan, freed many of the women, and recovered part of the treasure. The Sikhs continued to harass him and lighten him of his loot until he withdrew from the Punjab. Nadir wanted to know who the men with beards and turbans were, against whom he could not protect himself although he had already crushed the royal army. After hearing about them he observed, “The Sikhs will soon be the rulers of the Punjab." Zakaria Kan died in 1745. His successor tightened the security around Amritsar. Kapoor Singh planned to break the siege of Amritsar. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was made the commander of the attacking Sikh forces. In 1748, the Sikhs took a do or die decision. The commander at Amritsar also had a large army to fight the Sikhs. Ahluwalia, with his commandos behind him, dashed to the army commander and cut him into two with his sword. The commander’s nephew, trying to save him, got an arrow in his chest and fell dead to the ground. To be recognized as a power, the Sikhs built their first fort, called Ram Rauni, at Amritsar. This sent the message to the government that their days were numbered and that Sikh rule over Punjab was imminent. In December 1748, Governor Manu had to take his forces outside of Lahore to stop the advance of Abdali. Kapoor Singh took advantage of his absence from the capital and led a contingent of top Sikh fighters to the police station in Lahore. The Sikhs quickly overpowered the police defending the station and confiscated all of their weapons. The Nawab then occupied the office and ordered the sheriff to release all prisoners. Before leaving, he told the sheriff to inform the Governor that Nawab Kapoor Singh, the “sheriff” of God, the True Emperor, came and did what he was commanded to do. All of this was accomplished in a very short time. Before the stunned policemen could report the matter to the authorities, or the army could be called in, the Khalsa were already riding their horses back to the forest. In 1753, Kapoor Singh took control of Amritsar and called a general meeting of the Sikhs to organize the Khalsa forces for the future. He thanked them for their cooperation and told them that his end was near and that their new commander would be Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The sword he had received from Mata Sundar Kaur Ji was also handed over to Ahluwalia. Before he breathed his last, the beloved jathedar thus passed on the responsibility to another able general. The body of Nawab Kapoor Singh, the great leader who led the Khalsa to the threshold of self-rule, was cremated near Gurdwara Baba Atal.

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