AHWAL-I-DINA BEG KHAN

AHWAL-I-DINA BEG KHAN, a Persian manuscript of unknown authorship, provides biographical details about Adina Beg Khan, faujdar of Jalandhar. The manuscript forms part of the collection of Persian Manuscripts, Sir H. Elliot’s Papers, Additional MS. 30780 (ff. 2152–92), Extracts Relating to India, Vol. VIII. 1, preserved in the British Library, London. Copies of the manuscript are also held by Panjab University Library, Lahore; Sikh Historical Research Department, Khalsa College, Amritsar; and the Dr. Ganda Singh Collection at Punjabi University, Patiala (25 pages in neat and clear handwriting).

The last-named collection also holds an English translation of the manuscript. According to the author, Dina (Adina) Beg Khan was born into a poor Arain (vegetable-growing) family in Sharakpur Patti village near Lahore. He started his career as a sepoy exercising jurisdiction over a few villages in the Lohian area near Sultanpur Lodhi for revenue collection. Through his prudence and astuteness, and with the help of his patron, Lala Sri Nivas Dhir, a wealthy merchant of Sultanpur, he rose—though not without enduring several ups and downs—to become the virtual ruler of the Jalandhar region. Shrewd in diplomacy and statecraft, he developed, as it suited his interests, friendly relations with Mughal governors, Afghan invaders, Sikh chiefs, and the Marathas. He married only toward the close of his career, but divorced his bride upon learning that she came from a high Sayyid caste. Thus, he died childless, and his territories and treasure were usurped by local chieftains upon his death.

Additional Information:

Adina Beg Khan (d. 1758), Governor of Punjab for a few months in AD 1758, was, according to Ahwal-i-Dina Beg Khan, an unpublished Persian manuscript, the son of Channu, of the Arain agriculturalist caste, mostly settled in the Doaba region of Punjab. He was born in the village of Sharakpur, near Lahore, now in the Sheikhupura district of Pakistan. Adina Beg was raised in Mughal homes, primarily in Jalalabad, Khanpur, and Bajwara in the Jalandhar Doab. Beginning his career as a soldier, he rose to become the collector of revenue of the village of Kang in the Lohian area near Sultanpur Lodhi. He obtained half a dozen villages in the Kang area on lease and, within a year, controlled the entire Kang region. Later, Nawab Zakariya Khan, the governor of Lahore, appointed him chief (hakam) of Sultanpur Lodhi. When, after Nadir Shah’s invasion (1739), the Sikhs began gaining power, Zakariya Khan made Adina Beg Khan Nazim (administrator) of the Jalandhar Doab to suppress them. Shrewd as he was, he tried to strengthen his position by encouraging the Sikhs rather than repressing them.

Under pressure from Zakariya Khan, however, he had to expel them from his dominion. For nonpayment of government dues, he was taken into custody under the orders of the governor of Lahore and subjected to torture. Upon his release after a year, he was appointed deputy Nazim under Shah Nawaz Khan. After Zakariya Khan’s death on 1 July 1745, his sons, Yahiya Khan and Shah Nawaz Khan, contested the succession. Adina Beg maintained good relations with both. Shah Nawaz Khan, having captured Lahore, appointed Adina Beg chief of the Jalandhar Doab.

Meanwhile, Nadir Shah died on 19 June 1747, and Ahmad Shah Durrani became ruler of Kabul and Qandahar. Shah Nawaz, following Adina Beg’s advice, invited the Durrani king to march toward Punjab while simultaneously warning the Delhi government about the Durrani invasion. As Ahmad Shah advanced into the country, Shah Nawaz fled toward Delhi. Mu’in ul-Mulk (Mir Mannu), son of Qamar Uddin, the chief wazir of the Delhi king, succeeded in checking the invader at Manipur, near Sirhind.

Adina Beg joined forces with Mu’in ul-Mulk and was wounded in the battle. Mu’in ul-Mulk became governor of Lahore, with Kaura Mall as his diwan and Adina Beg as faujdar of the Jalandhar Doab, as before. The Sikhs resumed their plundering of the region. Ahmad Shah Durrani launched his third incursion into Punjab (December 1751), forcing Mu’in ul-Mulk to surrender. Mu’in remained governor, now representing the Durrani.

He and Adina Beg focused their energies on quelling the Sikhs. During the festival of Hola Mohalla in March 1753, Adina Beg fell upon Sikh pilgrims at Anandpur, killing a large number of them. The Sikhs retaliated by plundering villages in the Jalandhar and Bari Doabs. Adina Beg, quick to reconcile, assigned some of his territory’s revenue to the Sikhs and admitted several of them, including Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, into his army.

Mu’in ul-Mulk died on 3 November 1753, and during the governance of his widow, Murad Begam (Mughlani Begam), Adina Beg assumed independent authority in the Doab, extending his influence to Sirhind (March 1755). The Emperor of Delhi bestowed upon him the title of Zafar Jarig Khan. The ruler of Kangra recognized his overlordship. In May 1756, he was appointed governor of Lahore and Multan by the Mughal government in Delhi, on payment of an annual tribute of thirty lakh rupees.

Ahmad Shah Durrani aided Mughlani Begam, forcing Adina Beg to seek refuge in the Sivalik hills. The Afghans reappointed him faujdar of the Jalandhar Doab. During Taimur Shah’s governorship (1757–58), Adina Beg sought allies to expel the Afghans. The Sikhs joined forces with his troops to defeat the Afghans at Mahalpur, in Hoshiarpur district.

Adina Beg expressed gratitude to the Sikhs by presenting a sum of a thousand rupees in homage to the Guru Granth Sahib and a lakh and a quarter as protection money for the Jalandhar Doab. While maintaining appearances with the Sikh Sardars, he sought to weaken their power and invited the Marathas, who had taken Delhi, to come to Punjab, offering them one lakh rupees per day on march. He also persuaded the Sikhs to assist the Marathas against the Afghans. The Marathas, led by Raghunath Rao and accompanied by forces from the Sikhs and Adina Beg, entered Lahore in April 1758.

Adina Beg obtained the Subahdan of Punjab at 75 lakh rupees per year to be paid to the Marathas. Punjab now had three nominal masters: the Mughals, the Afghans, and the Marathas—but in reality, only two, Adina Beg and the Sikhs. Adina Beg tolerated no rivals and resumed his campaign against the Sikhs, expanding his armed forces and hiring a thousand woodcutters to clear the forests that served as Sikh refuges during times of stress. He laid siege to the Sikh fort of Ram Rauni at Amritsar. Before the Sikhs could retaliate, Adina Beg succumbed to an attack of colic at Batala on 10 September 1758. His body was buried, according to his will, at Khanpur, 2 km northwest of Hoshiarpur.