RAM RAUNI, later known as Ramgarh Fort, was a small mud fortress built in April 1748 near Ramsar, in Amritsar, to provide shelter to scattered Sikh jathas, in Mughal Punjab. Sikh sardars, along with their bands, assembled at Amritsar on the Baisakhi day of 1748 and set to building a raum or enclosure. According to Ratan Singh Bhangu, Prachin Panth Prakash, the Sikhs themselves were the masons and carpenters. The structure consisted of an enclosure of mudwalls, with rudimentary watch towers, and a hastily constructed moat around it.
The fortress, named after Guru Ram Das, the founder of the city of Amritsar, became a rallying point for the Sikh bands against the recurrent onslaughts of the Mughal satraps of Lahore and the Jalandhar Doab.When the Sikhs assembled at Amritsar to celebrate the Diwali festival of 1748, Mu`in ulMulk (Mir Mannu), the severest of the Mughal governors, led out a force against them.He also summoned from Jalandhar Adina Beg who blockaded Ram Rauni where nearly 500 Sikhs had taken shelter, the rest hiding themselves in the bushes near RamsarThe siege continued for three months, from October to December, and, reduced to extreme straits, Sikhs wrote to Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, then known as Jassa Singh Thoka (carpenter) who was in the service of Adina Beg, to come to their rescue.
Jassa Singh, responding to the appeal of his Sikh brethren, left Adina Beg to join them. The siege was ultimately lifted at the intervention of Diwan Kaura Mall, Mir Mannu`s minister, who had his sympathies with the Sikhs.After the death of Mir Mannu in 1753, the Sikhs rebuilt the fortress. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia took a leading part in fortifying it. Renamed Ramgarh, it became the base of Sikhs` future operations.In 1758, when Adina Beg became the governor of the Punjab under the Marathas, he let loose a reign of terror in an effort to exterminate the Sikhs.
Ramgarh was invested by his deputy, Mir `Aziz Bakhshi. The Sikhs were led by warriors such as Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, Nand Singh Sarighnia and Jai Singh Kanhaiya, but they were severely outnumbered. They put up a brave fight, but had to evacuate the fortress in the end. However, not long afterwards, they reassembled at Amritsar. Ramgarh was repaired and regarrisoned, and continued to serve as a bulwark for the defence of the holy city of the Sikhs. The Ramgarhia misl derived its name from the fortress which its leader, Jassa Singh, had redesigned.
References:
1. Bhangu, Ratan Singh, Prachin Panth Prakash. Amritsar, 1914
2. Ganda Singh, Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluvalia. Patiala, 1969
3. Gupta, Hari Ram, History of the Sikhs, vol. IV. Delhi, 1978
4. Gandhi, Surjit Singh, Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty. Delhi, 1980
The Siege of Ram Rauni
The siege of Ram Rauni was a four-month-long conflict fought between Sikh forces led by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Mughal forces under the command of Adina Beg, Dewan Kaura Mal, Mirza Aziz Khan, and Bakhshi Nasir Ali Khan Jalandri.
During Ahmad Shah Abdali’s first invasion, the Sikhs had constructed a mud fort near Amritsar, named Ram Rauni. In October 1748, the Sikhs assembled at Amritsar to celebrate Diwali. Mir Mannu, seeking to defeat and destroy the Sikh forces, ordered Adina Beg to march against them and commanded Dewan Kaura Mal, Mirza Aziz Khan, and Bakhshi Nasir Ali Khan Jalandri to besiege Ram Rauni.
The Mughal commanders advanced toward Ram Rauni, where the Sikhs—realizing they were heavily outnumbere took positions within the fort. At the time, there were only 500 Sikhs sheltering in the fort (Persian sources suggest 900). To destroy Ram Rauni, the Mughals planned to fill underground tunnels with gunpowder, but the Sikhs dug a deep moat and positioned themselves within it, thwarting the Mughal plans. The siege continued for four months, marked by daily skirmishes.
During the siege, 200 Sikhs out of the garrison were killed. According to Panth Prakash, groups of 10 Sikh soldiers would venture outside the fort to attack the Mughals, often resulting in heavy casualties. Survivors returned to the fort in very small numbers. Many Sikhs urged Jassa Singh Thoka, a carpenter in Adina Beg’s service, to aid their cause, warning him that his allegiance to the Muslims would exclude him from the Khalsa Panth. Jassa Singh Thoka then sent a message to Diwan Kaura Mal, urging him to request Mir Mannu to lift the siege.
Mir Mannu agreed to lift the siege, as Ahmad Shah Abdali was preparing for his second invasion of India. Jassa Singh Thoka remained in the fort for some time, repairing and fortifying it. He established the Ramgarhia Misl and became known as Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, one of the most distinguished Sikh generals.
References
- Kaur, Madanjit (1983). The Golden Temple: Past and Present. The University of Michigan: Department of Guru Nanak Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University Press. p. 43.
- Cunningham, Joseph Davey (1853). A History Of The Sikhs From The Origin Of The Nation To The Battles Of The Sutlej. p. 95.
- Singh, Khuswant (2004). A History Of The Sikhs, Vol. 1, 1469-1839. Oxford University Press. p. 134.
- Surjit Singh Gandhi (1999). Sikhs In The Eighteenth Century. Singh Bros. p. 187. ISBN 9788172052171.
- Singha, Bhagata (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Patiala, India:Publication Bureau, Punjabi University.
- Singh, Ganda (1990). Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. pp. 60–61.
- Bhangu, Rattan Singh. Sri Gur Panth Prakash Volume 2 English Translation. pp. 391–399.
- Ifran Habib (2001). Sikh History from Persian Sources (PDF). Tulika. p. 172. ISBN 9788185229171.
- Gupta, Hari Ram (1978). History Of The Sikhs Vol. II Evolution Of Sikh Confederacies (1707-69). pp. 100–101.
- Surinder Singh Kohli (2020). The Sikh And Sikhism. p. 62. ISBN 9788126930968.
