Khatkar Kalan Jhanda Ji
Exploring the Establishment, Service, and Construed Nationalism of Bhagat Singh's Ancestral Village
ਗੱਡ ਖਾਲਸੈ ਝੰਡੇ ਝੁਲਾਏ । ਤੁਰਕਨ ਕੇ ਸੋ ਪੱਟ ਗਿਰਾਏ । “[As the] planted Khalsa flags fluttered, those of the [Mleccha] Turks were uprooted [and] discarded.” (Rattan Singh, 1841)
INTRODUCTION
The bravery of Bhagat Singh has been celebrated, re-contextualized, and appropriated historically. The history of his ancestral village, Khatkar Kalan and his ancestors has been largely neglected. This article will attempt to shed light on this rich but sidelined piece of history. Utilizing first-hand accounts, the transformation of Sikh nationalism will also be explored as it pertains to the history of the village.
ESTABLISHMENT
Khatkar Kalan in Doaba, Punjab is hailed as the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh (1909-1927). According to Bhagat Singh’s uncle Ajit Singh (1881-1947), the village was formally established during the early sixteenth century.1 To perform the final rites of his father, a forefather (assumably “Ranya Sandhu”) made the trip from Narli, Amritsar to Haridwar, Uttarakhand. It was during this trip, he took refuge in a fortified village referred to as Garh Kalan, in which he received a marriage proposal. “The young daughter of the hosts was getting enamored of the guest [Ranya], [their] eyes on meeting each other carried the deepest and the most intimate message from and to one another.” Once he completed the final rites, he was to take the larger fort and neighbouring smaller forts as dowry, thus changing the name from Garh Kalan to Khat (Dowry) Garh Kalan, a similar name change happened for Garh Khurd to Khat Garh Khurd.2 Khatkar Kalan, in essence was a convergence of smaller fortifications which operated under a feudal-chieftain system:
“This place used to be a fortress once belonging to a feudal chief who had, besides this, a number of other fortresses, but these were smaller than this and for this reason these were called Garh Khurd (Small fort). The place of my birth was called Garh Kalan (Big fort).”
Guru Har Rai (1630-1661), whilst leading his father’s Akaal Sena, graced the area with their sacred Darshan. Bhagat Singh’s ancestors then began serving the house of the guru.3
SERVICE
The turbulent period of the seventeenth century saw a fragmented Punjab, Mughal rule held little sway. Khatkar Kalan’s feudal-chieftain, Diwan Singh took Pahul from the hands of Guru Gobind Singh. Indicative of his name, Diwan Singh began holding his own court or Diwan—“The ancestors of the [Sandhu] family used to hold a dewan (Darbar) where justice was administered and receptions held. That place is still called by the name of Dewan Khana (or the court room).” He maintained a pro-Sikh stance despite various external forces constantly vying for power and control of the region. The village continued the tradition of boys taking Pahul at Anandpur Sahib during Hola Mohalla every year, Ajit Singh described the event in great detail:
“As a kid I was taken along with my elder brother [Kishan Singh] to Anandpur for the performance of the ceremony of Sikh Baptism which is called Pohal or Amrit chhakna. It was the time of Holi festival which the Sikhs, after their masculine fashion, called Hola. I remember very well the sugar water given to us as a drink for making us Singhs and immortals, A part of it was sprinkled on the faces as a sign of sanctification. This ceremony teaches the person who undergoes to not to fear death, and to fight against the oppressors, tyrants and the unjust people and to protect the weak, the poor, the old, the children and womenfolk from all sorts of molestation . . . It appeared quite lovely to see people with new clothes, faces and bodies besmeared with the red colour, going to Anandpur on a festival for the ceremony of Pohal Our family from the time of the tenth Guru always took the male members there.”
The village served Sikh armies and Jathe (war bands) by supplying soldiers to further the Sikh cause. Before the eventual rise of Ranjit Singh, the feudatory army of the village most likely served the Dallewalia Misl.
“During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and long before that our family people lived as and were considered to be feudal lords who supplied a fixed number of soldiers to the [Sikh] state in times of war.”
In recognition of its service, a Nishan Sahib was gifted to the village. Ajit Singh reiterates how dear this Nishan Sahib was—“It was the [Khalsa] flag which he respected more than his own life.” From the first biography of Bhagat Singh from May, 1931:
“His ancestors were Khalsa Sardars [of Khatkar Kalan] who, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, helped in the spread of the Sikh kingdom against the turbulent Pathans on the west and the dangerous English on the east. For helping the Sikh rulers with life and blood, this family was rewarded with considerable land.”4
The extent of the rewarded land (known as Jagirs) provided by Maharaja Singh Ranjit Singh is unknown but it is safe to say that these Jagirs in addition to the earlier Jagirs amounted to quite a bit of land revenue.
Not much is known of Diwan Singh’s son, Ram Singh. However, Diwan Singh’s grandson, Fateh Singh rose to the rank of a Jarnail (General) whilst being a Jagirdar under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Sikh army of Sarkar-i-Khalsa was divided into 2 majorities, the state army and the feudatory army (Jagirdari Fauj).5 Like Diwan Singh, Fateh Singh would continue holding a court. Following the death of the emperor and before the breakout of the first Anglo-Sikh wars (1845-1846), hostilities arose.
“One of my forefathers seeing that the foreigners after the death of Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of the Punjab, had begun the mischievous game of usurping tile lights of the people and of enslaving the inhabitants of the only really national independent country in the continent of India i.e. the Punjab, resolved to take up arms for repelling British intruders.”
Paying his respects to the [Khalsa] Flag at Khatkar Kalan, Fateh Singh with his soldiers took off to fight in the battles of Mudki, Aliwal, and Sabraon—“Vowing to defend with their lives all that belonged to the commonwealth of Govind . . .”6 Although unsuccessful in this venture, Fateh Singh refused to accept any non-Sikh authority. When Majithia Sardar, Surat Singh reached out to Fateh Singh, asking him for his hand in quelling the 1857 rebellion, Fateh Singh “bluntly refused to take up such an abject task.” The large Jagirs held by the Sandhu family were forcibly seized and Khatkar Kalan’s wealth was reduced.
CONSTRUED NATIONALISM
The formal annexation of the Sikh empire took place in 1849, it was seen as a disgraceful moment for Khatkar Kalan. The Nishan Sahib, which was once fluttering freely as an extension of the Guru’s physical and metaphysical sovereignty, was now a constant reminder of their shortcomings. It felt ironic as they paid their respects despite the complete dissolution of the Sikh state. The British hastily deprived the village of its power by confiscating arms and through more land seizures.
Punjab was no longer seen as its own entity, but rather as a small part of a greater British India. Bhagat Singh’s grandfather, Arjun Singh was an Arya Samajist. Bhagat Singh’s father and uncle, Kishan Singh and Ajit Singh also began entertaining various other ideologies and beliefs. Bhagat Singh was well aware of the history of the Sikhs and scriptures but not so much of his own family. At age 15 he writes:
“Carrying the same spirit Baba Banda and others fought Muslim ruler ceaselessly. We find later that when Sikhs are reduced to mere groups of anarchists, declared outlaws, and were continuously compelled to be confined to the forests, no new literature could be created. They had a warrior spirit, a sense of courage and sacrifice and a spirit to continue their war against Muslim rulers, but they could not chalk out their future beyond this . This explains why these warrior groups fought among themselves. It is here that their lack of contemporary spirit worries us. If a warrior and shrewd ruler like Ranjit Singh had not emerged afterwards, Sikhs would have gone down bereft of any high ideal or spirit to have mobilised them.”7
Furthermore, in 1930, Bhagat Singh composed his “Why I am an Atheist”.
“My grandfather under whose influence I was brought up is an orthodox Arya Samajist. An Arya Samajist is anything but an atheist. After finishing my primary education I joined the D.A.V. School of Lahore and stayed in its Boarding House for full one year. There, apart from morning and evening prayers, I used to recite "Gayatri Mantra" for hours and hours. I was perfect devotee in those days. Later on I began to live with my father. He is a liberal in as much as the orthodoxy of religions is concerned. It was through his teachings that I aspired to devote my life to the cause of freedom. But he is not an atheist. He is a firm believer. He used to encourage me for offering prayers daily. So this is how I was brought up. In the Non-Cooperation days I joined the National College. It was there that I began to think liberally and discuss and criticise all the religious problem, even about God. But still I was a devout believer. By that time I had begun to preserve the unshorn and unclipped long hair but I could never believe in the mythology and doctrines of Sikhism or any other religion. But I had a firm faith in God's existence.”8
Prior to this, in a letter addressed to Sukhdev, Bhagat Singh critiques the Arya Samajists (and his own grandfather)—“One thing I may tell you to mark; we in spite of all radical ideas that we cherish, have not been able to do away with the overidealistic Arya Samajist conception of morality.”9
It is evident that the Khalsa-Sikh ideals were reduced to a more lenient and syncretic faith. Unlike his uncle Ajit Singh, Bhagat Singh fails to make any mention of his forefathers. It could be argued that he chose to remain silent on the topic due to the feudal-chieftainship held by his family in the past. Ajit Singh notably led the Paghdi Sambhal Jatta movement— “O pagdi sambhal jatta pagdi sambhal oye, Tera lut na jaaye (Oh Jatt, take care of your turban, take care of your turban, [for] your [pride] must not be stolen).”10 A major movement to ignite the peasantry against the new British India despite the Sandhu family being, historically, a large landowning family.
“In any case, Bhagat Singh was very much attached to his uncle and his ideas without even having lived with him. Ajit Singh was much more revolutionary in thought than the Congress and he wanted to awaken and organize the peasantry on the basis of their economic exploitation at the hands of big feudal lords and the colonial system. Bhagat Singh built on this advanced thinking and reached the logical end of adopting the Marxist ideology of liberation.”11
Regardless of the reason why, Sikh nationalism was reinterpreted and transformed into a new patriotism. The framework for anti-imperialism was set by the values held by the Khalsa Sardars, long before the creation of a British India and the need for independence.
Retired professor Chaman Lal claims this event took place before the arrival of Sikhism however, Ajit Singh’s Buried Alive explicitly states it took place whilst Lahore was under Mughal rule from 1524.
The original story features intimate details that are omitted in this article due to the length.
Gurdwara Guru Har Rai Sahib Patshahi Satvein located in the neighbouring village of Dosanjh Khurd marks the location where Guru Har Rai Sahib rested with their cavalry during a journey towards Kartarpur Sahib.
Jatindra Nath Sanyal, Sardar Bhagat Singh (Allahabad, 1931)
Gurinder Singh Mann, Rise of the Sikh Soldier: The Sikh Warrior through the Ages, c1700-1900. (Helion & Co Ltd, 2022).
Captain Humbley’s account of the Sikh forces as noted in Historian Amarpal Singh’s The First Anglo-Sikh War.
Bhagat Singh, The Problem of Punjab's Language and Script (1923). The period where “no new literature could be created.” seemingly refers to the Sikh confederacy. It should be noted that from 1711-1797, Sikh texts such as the Gursobha, Gurbilas, Sikha Di Bhagatmela etc. were produced.
Bhagat Singh, Why I am an Atheist (1930)
Bhagat Singh, Letter to [Shaheed] Sukhdev (1929)
Banke Dayal, Paghdi Sambhal Jatta (1907)
Chaman Lal, The Bhagat Singh Reader (HarperCollins India, 2019)