THE SIKHS AND AFGHANS
(From Guru Nanak To Maharaja Ranjit Singh)
Kirpal Singh, Chandigarh
"The Sikhs and Afghans" is an important topic of Sikh Studies because one can hardly understand Sikh history of eighteenth century and first half of the nineteenth century without the knowledge of Afghan history. It may be stated at the very outset that Afghan and Pathan are synonymous terms with only difference that eastern Afghan / Peshawar area speak Pashtu, hence they are known as Pathans also.
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, lived during the period of Lodhi Afghan dynasty and Daulat Khan Lodhi who subsequently became Governor of Punjab in 1504 AD was one of the admirers of Guru Nanak. Alayar a horse dealer became devotee of Guru Amar Das, the third Sikh Guru, who appointed him one of his missionaries (Manjidar). Ghani Khan Nabi Khan served the Tenth Master when he left Anandpur and came to Machhiwara in 1705 AD Sher Mohammed Khan ruler of Malerkotla (d-1710 AD) pleaded for clemency for the young sons of Guru Gobind Singh who were brutally executed by Wazir Khan, the Faujdar of Sirhind.
During mid 18th century Ahmed Shah Durrani the founder of modern Afghanistan, wanted to annex Punjab to Kabul kingdom. The Sikhs had to wage a bitter struggle against him. In a bid to exterminate Sikhs, he brought huge army encircled the Sikhs and killed about twenty thousand Sikhs in a single day. This event is known as Ghallughara in the history of Sikhs. He and his generals pulled down Darbar Sahib Amritsar twice and filled the sacred tanks with debris. This could not crush the spirit of Sikhs. Ahmed Shah made several invasions but could not annex Punjab to his empire. He died in 1769 AD. The Sikhs were able to occupy Punjab and ultimately they established a strong government under Maharaja Ranjit Singh ( 1799 – 1839 AD ). Maharaja Ranjit Singh was able to conquer Afghan principalities in Punjab area like Kasur, Multan, Kashmir. An armed contest was at Naushehra (Distt Peshawar) where Azim Khan, Amir of Kabul and his Jehadis were defeated in 1823 AD. This led to the conquest of Peshawar region which was ultimately annexed to the Sikhs kingdom in 1834. Hari Singh Nalwa who has been described ' an ideal Sikh soldier' was appointed governor of Peshawar. He was able to construct forts at strategic places and link the forts by road. Such was the terror of Hari Singh Nalwa that the Afghans mothers used to hush their children by saying 'Hari Singh was coming'.
Afghan had been invading Punjab for eight hundred years. The Sikhs were able to roll back this ever gushing tide of Afghan invasions for ever. Ranjit Singh was the only Indian who paid back Afghans in their own coin.