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Badrukha,
Happy B'Day To The Maharaja, but Where's You In The Picture?
 On
November 13, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal landed at a
Sangrur village, Badrukha, thinking himself and telling everyone
that this was the village where Maharaja Ranjit Singh was born on
November 13, 1780. But what has beeen the scholastic work on the
birth place of the Maharaja? How do we know that he was indeed born
there? It is well known and well established that Ranjit Singh
belonged to Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) but was he born at the
place of his maternals at Badrukha
After half a century of his death, Maharaja Ranjit Singh's name
remained a household word not only in the territories of his
erstwhile kingdom but also in Cis-Sutlej areas up to Delhi. The
legend of this one-eyed illustrious Maharaja lives in the hearts of
the people as it lived when he was alive. Writing from Pakistan,
Faqir Syad Waheed-ud-Din records : “Ranjit Singh still lives large
as life in the imagination of the people, he does so not where the
Sikhs now live but also where they lived before; for the Muslim
village folks shared him as a legendary figure with the Sikhs and
they have not let him depart with the latter.” Such a legendary
figure actuates people to find connections of kinship neighbourhood
or soil with him.That Ranjit Singh was born at Badrukha is one such
legend current in Malwa. But does it stand the test of scrutiny of
historical enquiry ? The Sardars of Badrukha came from a minor
branch of the Phulkian family. Sardar Basawa Singh was the chief of
Badrukha from among whose progeny, Hira Singh became the Raja of
Nabha on the demise of Raja Bhagwan Singh who left no issue. The
fortress of Badrukha is believed to have been raised by Raja Hira
Singh. We do not find any evidence that may lead us to conclude that
Badrukha ever remained a retreat or headquarters of Gajpat Singh,
the Chief of Jind state whose daughter Raj Kaur, wife of Mahan Singh
Sukerchakia, gave birth to Ranjit Singh. Jind is known to have had
two capitals : Jind (now in Haryana) remained capital of the state
upto 1827; thereafter Raja Sangat Singh shifted the capital to
Sangrur. The legend associated with the birth of Ranjit Singh at
Badrukha seems to have originated with Kahn Singh, the author of
Mahan Kosh (1930), who coined it to extol the Phulkian rulers. His
entry on Badrukha gives a cryptic statement : “Ranjit Singh was born
at this village, the place of his maternals. Those referring to
Gujranwala as birth place (of Maharaja Ranjit Singh) have been
mistaken.” But Kahn Singh gives no evidence/argument as to how the
mistake was made by a number of historians and as to how was it
detected. In 1952, Sita Ram Kohli edited Fateh Namah Guru Khalsa Ji
Ka (Ganesh Das) while at Sangrur. Perhaps he thought it prudent not
to touch the sensibilities of the people by looking askance at a
legend current among the locals. However, in his introductory essay,
he does not mention the place of birth of Maharaja Ranjit Singh but
only states “the centre of his activities was Gujranwala.” Khushwant
Singh in his Ranjit Singh the Maharaja of the Punjab, (First
published in 1962) mentions : ‘Ranjit Singh was born... probably at
Gujranwala.” This is evident that he is inclined to accept
Gujranwala as the birth place of mighty Ranjit Singh.
But in the footnote it is stated that ‘there is however a school of
historians who believe that Ranjit Singh was born in the small
fortress town of Badrukhan not far from Jind (sic.) Badrukhan was
the home of Ranjit Singh’s mother Raj Kaur, the daughter of Raja
Gajpat Singh of Jind, known in her husband’s home as Mai Malwain,
the lady of Malwa. She had, as was customary in the Punjab, come to
her parental house for her first confinement.” Here, Khushwant Singh
erroneously mentions Badrukha as ‘Badrukhan’(means the place with
large trees). Perhaps he has no idea of the location of the place
and presumes that it was named after a Muslim chief. Moreover, he
refrains from mentioning the name of a single historian of a ‘a
school of historians’ who hold that Ranjit Singh was born at
Badrukha. Intensive research in this regard does not lead us to even
a single reference to this so-called ‘fortress town’ in contemporary
or near contemporary sources that can establish that Badrukha, ever
remained capital of Jind. Khushwant Singh’s averment that this place
was ‘not far from Jind’ is incorrect. Badrukha is situated at a
distance of more than a hundred kms. from Jind. On the other hand,
available historical evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of the
current belief that Maharaja Ranjit Singh was born at Gujranwala.
Kanhaiya Lal’s Zafar Namah-i-Ranjit Singh (published 1876 A.D.) and
his Tarikhi-i-Punjab (first published at about the same time)
followed by numerous British writers who brought out their works
from 1840 A.D. onwards mention Gujranwala as birthplace of Ranjit
Singh. The Tarikh-i-Punjab (Urdu) clearly states : “When Mahan Singh
was busy laying siege to Rasul Nagar, his wife, daughter of the Raja
of Jind, gave birth to a son at Gujranwala on the day next to that
of Sangrand 1837 A.D. Bikrami Samvat (A.D. 1780). On hearing this
news, Mahan Singh gave good amount of money in charity and gave the
name Ranjit Singh to the boy. In celebration of this event he
renamed Rasul Nagar as Ram Nagar and Alipur as Akalgarh which he had
wrested from Pir Muhammad Khan.”
The Gujranwala District Gazetteers published from 1883 A.D. onwards
repeatedly mention that Ranjit Singh was born at Gurjanwala, where
the Punjab States Gazetteer (Phulkian States) records: “Raja Gajpat
Singh’s daughter, Bibi Raj Kaur married Sardar Mahan Singh
Sukerchakia and became the mother of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.”
Interestingly there is no mention of the birth of Ranjit Singh at
Badrukha. Perhaps during that period on one was aware of the legend
about Badrukha that seems to have been coined much later. Besides,
Ranjit Singh always took personal interest in the welfare of
Gujranwala. He frequented the town quite often. On the other hand,
he is not known to have ever visited Badrukha during his life time.
His each visit to Gujranwala left an indelible mark on the memory of
the people of Gujranwala. On 19 March 1835 while in Gujranwala,
“Ranjit Singh showered gold upon its residents.” He personally
examined the designs and maps of the samadhis of his father, Mahan
Singh and grandmother, Desan, submitted to him by Hari Singh Nalwa
(the then Nazim of Gujranwala) and sanctioned grants for their
construction. A portion of the ashes of Ranjit Singh was deposited
within the precincts of the samadhi of his father and a cupola
raised thereon. This is indicative of the close connection of Ranjit
Singh with Gujranwala, being the land of his birth. Besides the
haveli (mansion) of Sardar Mahan Singh (Ranjit Singh’s father) still
extant at Gujranwala presents itself as an archaeological evidence.
In 1891 A.D., Mr. Ibbetson, a known scholar and the then Deputy
Commissioner of this district town, got a marble slab and a plaque
affixed outside entrance of the haveli of Sardar Mahan and the room
where Ranjit Singh is stated to have been born. It is also
noteworthy that uptill 1947A.D., even a cradle was preserved in the
room where Raj Kaur lay in confinement to give birth to Ranjit
Singh. And moreover, a local holiday was observed at Gujranwala on
the birthday of the Maharaja; every year. Was it ever the case with
the state of Jind or even its’ capital — Sangrur, so close to
Badrukha ? We do not know.
(Adapted from an article by Prithipal Singh Kapur)
14
November, 2007
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