Kapurthala State

In colonial India, Kapurthala State was known for its communal harmony, with its Sikh ruler Jagatjit Singh building the Moorish Mosque for his Muslim subjects. At the time of the Indian independence movement, the ruler of the Kapurthala State opposed the partition of India and advocated for a united, secular country.

History

Origin

After the Muslim conquest of Punjab, his descendants migrated to the Jaisalmer area, where they came to be known as Kalal tribe. After Alauddin Khalji's conquest of Jaisalmer, some of the former ruling Kalchuri Kalal tribe people migrated to Tarn Taran district. In the 17th century, they joined Guru Hargobind's army. Ganda Singh of this family raided Lahore, whose governor Dilawar Khan persuaded him to join the Lahore army, and assigned him the fief of Ahlu and some other villages. Ganda Singh Kalal's son Sadhu (or Sadho) Singh Kalal lived in Ahlu, because of which the family came to be known as Ahluwalia. The descendants of Sadhu Singh Kalal through his son Gopal Singh Kalal (who was the grandfather of Jassa Singh Kalal) established the royal family of Kapurthala. The British administrator Lepel Griffin (1873) dismissed this account as spurious. The Sikh author Gian Singh, in his Twarikh Raj Khalsa (1894), wrote that the Ahluwalia family adopted the Kalal caste identity much before Sadhu Singh.

The ruling dynasty of Kapurthala originated in the Ahluwalia misl. The Ahluwalia misl rose to prominence under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, who was the first person to use the name "Ahluwalia". Originally known as Jassa Singh Kalal, he styled himself as Ahluwalia after his ancestral village of Ahlu and belonged to the Kalal community. He is regarded as the founder of the Kapurthala State. The Kalals later underwent Sanskritisation and adopted the new term Ahluwalia for themselves and their low-caste origin became obscured.

Establishment

In 1774, Jassa Singh Kalal conquered Kapurthala from Rai Ibrahim Bhatti, however the town had a different unrecorded name. In December 1779, Jassa Singh embarked on a decisive campaign to assert his authority over Kapurthala. This strategic region, nestled along the left bank of the River Beas, had been under the control of Rae Ibrahim Bhatti. Rae Ibrahim's failure to pay the annual tribute of one lakh rupees, which had been overdue for some time, sparked Jassa Singh's action. Furthermore, Ibrahim's construction of 13 forts around the town, including the strategically located Rae-ka-kot near Afghan colonies, raised concerns about his growing power.

Jassa Singh had previously demonstrated his military prowess by capturing Rae-ka-kot in 1770 with the help of Murar Singh and Shaikh Karimulilah. He then appointed Chait Singh as the thanadar of the region. However, tensions escalated in 1777 when Jassa Singh's son-in-law, Mohar Singh, was killed by a gunshot from one of the forts near Kapurthala. Despite Ibrahim's apologies and claims of innocence, Jassa Singh demanded justice and eventually decided to take over Kapurthala.

Upon arriving at Kapurthala, Jassa Singh's forces clashed with Rae Ibrahim's, and the Bhatti chief retreated to the main fort. Jassa Singh set up camp at Shaikhpur village, while his cousin, Kanwar Bhag Singh, successfully captured several surrounding villages. These villages included: Andresa, Dialpur, Bholath, Bhoian, Bohal, Brahmwal, Chakoke, Dainwind, Dala, Dhaliwal, Dhilwan, Hamira, Karael, Khakhrain, Kularan, Lakhanki, Lohian, Mullanwal, Nadali, Parveznagar, Ramidi, Sidhwan, and Wadalli. Rae Ibrahim soon realized the futility of resistance and sued for peace. He sent a horse as a gift and dispatched his officials, Diwan Lahori Mal and Bora Mal, to negotiate terms.

Jassa Singh agreed to let Rae Ibrahim leave safely with his family and belongings. He also provided him with a place to live and a fixed allowance, demonstrating his magnanimity. In the end, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia would rename the city Kapurthala after his predecessor Nawab Kapur Singh, who was an influential and respected Sikh leader at the time as well as a mentor to Jassa Singh Ahluwlia, Kapurthala became the headquarters of Kanwar Bhag Singh and it would become the capital of the Ahluwalia misl. Jassa Singh continued to reside at Fatehabad, solidifying his leadership and the Ahluwalia misl's dominance in the region.

Subjugation

Even after other misls lost their territories to Ranjit Singh's Sikh Empire, the emperor permitted the descendants of Jassa Singh to retain their estates. After the British took over the Sikh territories in 1846, Jassa Singh's descendants became the ruling family of the Kapurthala State.

Colonial era

The state experienced modernization under Maharaja Jagatjit Singh. He was a Francophile who had travelled to Europe, with constructions built during his reign bearing European (especially French) influences and him getting ideas regarding development that he would put to use in the state he ruled back in India. The Kapurthala City Municipality was established in 1896 for proper urban planning and development, such as regarding sanitation, water supply, roads, and public spaces. Kapurthala had both a telegraph office and line by the early 20th century. It became connected to the Indian railway network via Kartarpur station of the North Western Railway. Buildings for visitors and guests were built (known as a sarai), such as the Victoria Sarai, Kapurthala. Universal education was provided for free (including to girls and women) via the construction of schools and colleges, such as Randhir College (est. 1856, becoming an arts college in 1897 that taught French as a subject). Three printing-presses were operating in the state, the Nawal Kishore Press, the state jail press, and the Jagatjit Press, which published two periodicals named the Kapurthala Akhbar and Kapurthala Gazette. Furthermore, hospitals were constructed that offered free medical care and vaccinations, being staffed with civil surgeons, such as the Victoria Hospital for Women and the Irwin Jubilee Memorial Hospital. Farming cooperatives were set up for agriculture in the state. Patrick Geddes was invited to the state in 1917 to assist with town planning.