Persecution of the Sikhs (1746–1762) Through much of the early eighteenth century, the Khalsa were outlawed by the government and survived in the safety of remote forests, deserts, and swamplands of the
Punjab region and neighbouring
Kashmir and
Rajasthan. In the 18 years following the
Chhota Ghalughara, Punjab was roiled with five invasions and had several years of rebellions and civil war. Under these unsettled circumstances, it was difficult for any authority to carry on a campaign of oppression against the Sikhs; instead the Sikhs were often sought and valued as useful allies in the various struggles for power. In these times of relative calm, however,
Shah Nawaz, the governor at
Lahore in 1747 and his Afghan allies resumed their brutal campaigns against the Sikhs. This period was characterised by the desecration of Sikh places of worship and the organised capture, torture and merciless execution of tens of thousands of Sikh men, women and children.
The governorship of Mir Mannu Mir Mannu (Mu'in ul-Mulk) became governor of
Lahore and the surrounding provinces in 1748 and, continued to hold that position for the next five years until 1753 through his exploits in battle against the Afghan army. His first act as governor was to take control of Ram Rauni, the Sikh fort at
Amritsar, where 500 Sikhs had taken shelter. To take control of the fort and defeat the Sikhs, Mir sent word to Adina Beg, the commander of the army of Jalandhar. Both the armies of Lahore and Jalandhar eventually laid siege to the fort, and despite much resistance from the Sikhs, it eventually fell to them. Mir Mannu then stationed detachments of troops in all parts of Punjab with any Sikh inhabitants with orders to capture them and shave their heads and beards. His oppression was such that large numbers of Sikhs moved to relatively inaccessible mountains and forests. The governor ordered the apprehending of Sikhs who were sent in irons to Lahore. Hundreds were thus taken to Lahore and executed in the horse market before crowds of onlookers. According to the historian Nur Ahmed Chishti, Mir Mannu ordered the execution of more than 1,100 Sikhs at the horse market of Shahidganj during
Eid. Partly through the influence of his Hindu minister,
Kaura Mall, who was sympathetic to the Sikhs, and partly because of the threat of another Afghan invasion, Mir Mannu made peace with the Sikhs the next year. They were granted a piece of land near Patti. This truce did not last long as in the next Afghan invasion the artillery of Lahore attacked the Sikhs of Dal Khalsa under
Sukha Singh. In the words of an eyewitness: "Muin appointed most of the gunmen to the task of chastising the Sikhs. They ran after these wretches up to a day and slew them wherever they stood up to oppose them. Anybody who brought a Sikh head received a reward of ten rupees per head." According to that same account: "The Sikhs who were captured alive were sent to hell by being beaten with wooden mallets. At times, Adina Beg Khan sent 40 to 50 Sikh captives from the Doab. They were as a rule killed with the strokes of wooden hammers." (46 kilograms of grain) to grind in a day. According to a Sikh account, "Many of the women were given merciless lashing, working all day exhausted from thirst and hunger, they plied their stone-mills and while they plied their stone-mills they sang their Guru's hymns. The Hindu or the Muslim, or in fact anyone who saw them and listened to their songs was utterly astonished. As their children, hungry and thirsty, wailed and writhed on the ground for a morsel, the helpless prisoners in the hands of the prisoners could do little except solace them with their affection until wearied from crying the hungry children would go to sleep." Mir Mannu's cruel reign, however, did not stop the spread of Sikhism. According to a popular saying of that time "Mannu is our sickle, We the fodder for him to mow. The more he cuts, the more we grow." The continued harassment by Mir Mannu only helped strengthen the numbers and faith of the Sikhs.
Baba Deep Singh In 1756 Ahmad Shah Durrani started his fourth raid on India for plunder. He managed to successfully raid the city of Delhi and captured gold, jewellery and thousands of Hindu women as slaves. But on his way back his baggage train was repetitively ambushed and attacked by the Sikh forces, who liberated the slaves and returned the plunder. Durrani managed to escape and vowed to take revenge against the Sikhs. Because Durrani could not lay his hands on the elusive bands of Sikhs, he determined to attack their holy city
Amritsar, the
Harimandir Sahib was blown up, and the surrounding pool filled with the entrails of slaughtered cows. a prominent Sikh
Sant Hearing of this event
Baba Deep Singh, an elderly scholar of the Sikhs living at
Damdama Sahib, south of Amritsar, was stirred to action. As the leader of one of the Sikh divisions entrusted with the care of the temple, he felt responsible for the damage that had been done to it and announced his intention of rebuilding the Harmandir Sahib. He set out his forces Sikhs toward the Amritsar and along the way, many other Sikhs joined, eventually numbering about 5,000 when they reached the outskirts of Amritsar. In the nearby town of
Tarn Taran Sahib they prepared themselves for martyrdom by sprinkling saffron on each other's turbans. When word reached Lahore that a large body of Sikhs had arrived near Amritsar a Janam Khan mobilised an army of 20,000 soldiers. The Sikh forces battled valiantly but the superior numbers of the enemies and continuous reinforcements led to their eventual defeat. == The massacre of 1762 ==