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Sunday,
April 6, 2003 |
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Books |
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Off the shelf
New material on the Maharaja
V. N. Datta
 T HE
bicentenary celebrations of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s assumption
of power as the sovereign ruler of Punjab have stimulated a
spate of historical literature during the past two years,
highlighting his achievements and the fall of his kingdom. His
self-destructive successors, lacking in vision, were fighting
each other, motivated by enormous personal interests at the
expense of higher ideals, which are the hallmark of true
statesmanship. Generally, the books produced on centenaries are
laudatory in tone, brought out in a desperate hurry to mark the
occasion, and do not stand the test of time. But the book under
review, The Historical Study of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Times
by Dr Kirpal Singh (National Book Shop, Delhi; 2002; pages
227) belongs to a different category.
Kirpal Singh is an established historian who has made a
substantial contribution to the historical study of Punjab by
publishing several works relating to the 18th and early 19th
centuries. The present work is largely a compilation of his
earlier articles brought up to date in the light of new source
material. Broadly speaking, the themes in the volume focus on 1)
the evaluation of primary source material on the history of
Panjab, specially dealing with Ranjit Singh, 2) the significance
of important events, and 3) the portraits of notable
personalities.
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Kirpal Singh has a flair for hunting out new source material
for the reconstruction of Punjab history. Primary source
material is the foundation of historical research, and it is
regrettable, indeed, that much of present-day research is
based on easily available secondary sources, which are used to
support pre-conceived theories. The book opens with a Gurmukhi
diary of Ranjit Singh’s times complied by Tara Singh after
1838, dealing with trite matters relating to the birth and
death of Ranjit Singh’s courtiers. According to the author,
Bagh-i-Panjab by Ganesh Das, covering the period from
ancient times to 1849, presents a geo-cultural survey of
India. Equally, the value of Dewan Amarnath’s Zafarnama
lies in providing vital information on the period. Amarnath
had an intimate knowledge of the period but the tone of his
work is laudatory as he was commissioned by Ranjit Singh to
undertake the work. Amarnath conveniently leaves out the
controversial and sensitive issues. He gives no clues to the
intrigues and squabbles that were to wreck all that Ranjit had
built. Strangely enough, in the last portion of his work, he
expresses his admiration for the British policy in a
flattering tone.In his essay on the ‘Maratha-Sikh
Relations,’ the author raises an interesting question as to
why Ranjit Singh had not supported the Maratha chief Jaswant
Rao Holkar when he approached him in 1805 to fight the
British, in alliance with the Afghans. In his article ‘Ranjit
Singh as secular ruler,’ Kirpal Singh shows that while dealing
with his subjects the Maharaja made no discrimination on
grounds of religion. He recognised merit, and appointed Hindus
and Muslims in the highest positions of authority. In other
words, he acted impartially in public appointments: I should
call this attitude as one of religious tolerance rather than
‘secularism,’ which is a western concept having distinct
connotations.
Though Lehna Singh Majithia was perhaps the ablest of men
of his times, endowed with technological gifts, as Kirpal
Singh points out, but the question is why did he leave Punjab
when it was passing through a turmoil. Was it because he knew
that that the game was up, and that there was no use fighting
the British. Doesn’t it show his timidity of character while
his close associates were prepared to fight and die heroically
for the cause they held dear? By using the private
correspondence of Lord Hardinge, Kirpal Singh reveals Gulab
Singh’s treacherous role by collaborating with the British
during the first Anglo-Sikh war.
The Mir Jafar of Punjab was to reap future benefits for the
ignoble game he played. The chief merit of this valuable
collection lies in the author’s eagle-like hunting of
first-class primary source material in the reconstruction of
events and personalities that are highly significant in the
study of the history of Punjab.
* * *
M. L. Ahluwalia, who died recently, had a deep and abiding
interest in Punjab history. Basically a trained history
archivist, his main interest lay in compiling the source
material on Punjab. Primary source material on Panjab history
was on his finger tips, and scholars both from India and
abroad sought his advice on a variety of themes relating to
the 18th and 19th century Panjab.
The present work, Remembering Maharaja Ranjit Singh of
Punjab (Ashoka International Publishers, New Delhi, 2002;
pages 264) has been published posthumously. It aims at
presenting an updated political history of the life and times
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on the occasion of the bicentenary of
Sarkar Khalsa. Initially, the author’s object was to
produce a full-scale biography of Ranjit Singh. The book is
divided into eight chapters with a preface, and two appendices
which give succinct information on his conquests and the
grants he made for 1806-18.
Ahluwalia maintains that Ranjit Singh had named his
government as Sarkar Khalsa, which was not a ploy or
camouflage to exploit the sentiments of the Sikhs. Ranjit
Singh was a "devout Sikh." He followed tenaciously the
principles of the Sikh faith and ruled in the name of the
Khalsa. In addition, he paid homage to memory of the
determined Khalsa that had fought for righteousness and
justice a century earlier.
Ranjit Singh had a profound reverence for the holy Granth
and sought guidance from it on most crucial moments. In
religious matters he was eclectic, and desisted from imposing
his religious ideas on others. Religion to him was a matter of
personal choice. He was indeed God fearing, and made liberal
financial grants to places of worship, whether Hindu or Sikh.
He believed in astrology too, and goaded his court historian
Sohan Lal Suri into making predictions on his destiny.
Ahluwalia has dealt with Ranjit Singh’s parleys with the
British on contentious issues. His account of the final
settlement with the British envoy Charles Metcalfe in limiting
the boundary of his kingdom to the Sutlej is most interesting.
This agreement safeguarded his position in extending his
kingdom to the northwest and closed the gate of Afghan
incursion into Panjab for all time to come. Such conduct
showing his diplomatic skill entitles him to be regarded a
true statesman. He kept his kingdom intact so long as lived,
but he knew that after him that there was to be a deluge, the
inevitable end. However strong an individual might be, he
cannot resist the forces of history that operate relentlessly.
This writer strongly feels that Maharaja Ranjit Singh still
awaits a historian who by using extensive source material,
both in and outside the country, and asking new questions
within a new perspective may resolve a set of intriguing
questions that still agitate us.
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