Lohgarh - Khalsa Rajdhani, Lohgarh fort - Lohgarh Trust by S. Daljeet Singh Bajwa (books that read to you .TXT) 📕

33, 34, 37, 45, 75,

88, 226, 241.

Z

Zabardast Khan 101, 174.

Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan 106, 167,

168, 176, 190, 191, 194, 196,

200.

Zakaria Khan 151, 162, 173, 184,

186, 187, 200, 206, 208, 227.

Zulfiqar Khan 100, 115, 122, 130,

172, 173, 227.

Zulfiqar Khan (Bakhshi-ul-Mulk) 227.

 

 

 

Illustrated Evidences of Lohgarh & Kingdom of

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur

The Lohgarh fort and its bastions are spread in five Districts of Haryana i.e Yamuna Nagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala and Panchkula. For proper understanding of the subject this area is divided into three Zones, Zone-1 is comprised of area in district Karnal and Kurukshetra, Zone-2 area of district Yamuna Nagar and Zone-3 area of District Ambala and Panchkula. The Map given below presents a description of the area under consideration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOHGARH

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Maps of Lohgarh (Divided into 32 sectors (HP) & Nagli reserve forest area (Haryana)

 

Details of this map are discussed in Chapter-2

 

 

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Route Map of Sikh Tandas to Import

Supplies to Lohgarh

(There are archeological evidences in context on Bhai Lakhi Rai Vanjara on all the trade route of Indian Sub-continent. Further research is required to explore them)

 

Territory of Sikh Kingdom under Baba Banda Singh Bahadur

(Haryana, Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & East Pakistan)

 

 

 

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Muklishgarh and Lohgarh

Historians wrongly quoted that the earlier name of the Fort Lohgarh was Muklishgarh, the Rang Mahal of Mughals. Mukhlisgarh was simply projected to hide the history of Fort Lohgarh which was constructed by the natives to uproot the long oppressions rule of Mughals. Under Shahjahan (1627-1658) the celebrated Ali Mardan Khan laid down Rang Mahal named Muklisgarh and in it built a royal hunting lodge known as Badshahi Mahal - pleasure palaces on the leG bank of Yamuna to the north -west of the Faizabad Pargana in the Sarkar of Saha-ranpur presently in the state of Uttar Pradesh near famous Hathani Kund Barrage. The palace is situated opposite to the head works of the Delhi Mughal canal and its many portions were standing till the beginning of the present century. To the name of same nobleman is drawn the construction of the canal. He is said to have designed the canal which was conducted with a considerable knowledge of hydraulics along the crest of the high ground between Yamuna and Hindan so as to admit of its water being thrown off on both irrigation purposes. Geographical location of Muklishgarh was in the pargana of Fahizabad, Sarkar Saharanpur, on the bank of Yamuna river. It also lies in the proximity of Shivalik Hills and the location of Muklishgarh made it very suitable from a climate point of view.

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One of the important known facts of the Muklishgarh was that a number of passive cooling techniques to factor in the intense heat prevalent in North India during the summers. Some of the most notable features of this strategy include Jaalis walls with high thermal mass (thick walls) river side Yamuna & its waterways, cross ventilation, relatively smaller windows, blank walls, courtyards, gardens and so on and henceforth. The Mughals used ingeniously to their advantage the natural water resources present at the Muklishgarh. Total area of Muklishgarh is 45 acres and Rang Mahal building covers area between 1.5 to 2 acres only. Presently it is a protected site of Archeological Survey of India and ASI has spent about Rs. 2crores for renovation of the building (Badshahibag).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5)

Lohgarh Bastion at Village Masoompur,

Near Raipur Rani

This citadel is located on hillock at a peak of 1200 feet above sea level in the revenue state of village Masoompur (30°34'27.98"N, 77° 5'5.83"E). It is a

wonderful building for defense purposes and from the remnants it can be easily assessed that the intensive concrete was applied in the structure of the edifice. This bastion has double fortification of walls which are 2 to 3 meters in width.       Stones have been dressed to the size and shape by chisel on all the beds so that joints are free from any waviness and give perfect vertical, horizontal, circular, joints with adjoining stones. The face of stones gauged, cut, chamfered, grooved, rebated sunk plain moulded and fine tooled as shown in the working design and pictures. The joints are finely tooled so that the straight edge laid along it is in touch with every level. The structure is made of concrete, lime, boulders and bricks. It is strong hold building as it was in the vanguard of the fort, facing the Mughal onslaught. It is a goodful example of joint use of stone and bricks along with lime mortar having a good ratio of lime, surkhi (powdered bricks) and  sand.

 

(6)

 

Even aGer the 400 years the structure is still standing. The mughals tried to demolished it but due to high contours and heavy concrete structure, they failed in their objectives. The structure signifies that this building is a fine example of Sikh architecture. Bhai Lakhi Rai Banjara had a battery of good Sikh architects and the masons involved in the construction of fort Lohgarh who were also expert in their work. The school of knowledge started by 2nd Guru Anged Dev Ji at Khadur Sahib, not only provided good knowledge to the Sikhs but also motivated the coming generations to become scholars in every field of worldly education. The Banjara Sikhs became expert in the trading field and also in raising of defense buildings, secretly and work for the humanity. The remnants of the such fine buildings in fort Lohgarh, shows the farsighted planning of Sikh Guru Sahiban.

A Double Storey Building Found at Fort Lohgarh with Flat Arch & Having 25 Soldier Barrack.

The flat arch found at Lohgarh, having straight horizontal arch consisting of reciprocally supportive wedge shaped blocks. Arches having a small rise to span ratio. These arches are also known as Jack arches and are very similar to French archers. A French arch is also a flat arch constructed of wedge shaped materials but also have a center keystones. For Ashlar facing having backing of the brick work is laid in alternate courses of headers and stretchers unless otherwise directed. Face stones and bond stones course are maintained throughout. All connected masonry in a structure is carried up nearly at one uniform level throughout with the joint made in good long steps so as to prevent cracks. This citadel is on a hillock and fortified by dual ramparts. These ramparts are present at the foot of the hillocks and the citadel is located exactly in the center and top of the hillocks. The height of the stronghold is about 30 feet and the walls of the building are having width of about 3 meters. The ceiling of the building is having a width of 2 meters. The lime mortar and the stone boulders of medium size has been used in the ceiling work. The roof has been so wonderfully constructed that even the cannons of the Mughals failed to demolish it. The building is divided into 25 compartments and each compartments was used as barracks.

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From this bastion number of passages lead towards Ambala and on these passages more bastions were established. These bastions are found in the villages belonging to Vanjaras. These villages were not only located in a strategic place identified about 70 to 80 years back before the construction of fort Lohgarh, but these villages /

tornados were also manufacturing units of various products. The Sikh Vanjaras were making major trade items in the area and the passages from these villages lead to the Grand Trunk road. Vanjaras sold the Lohgarh manufacture products throughout the Indian sub-continent. The pictures are of some of the 52 b a sti o n s o f L o h ga r h , w h i c h we re constructed in village Ratour, Hangoli, Baroli, Garhi Kotaha, Kot Khangesra etc. The Sikh army took possession of the fortresses present at Raipur Rani, Barwala and Shehjadpur. These bastions are situated on the bank of rivulet Tangri.

 

(9)

 

Some bastions were constructed around the village of Vanjaras the fortification of which was between 10 to 15 acres of land. AGer perusal of archeology, these fortifications might have taken place aGer Baba Banda Singh Bahadur's arrival at Lohgarh, it is estimated that the brick used in the 52 fortifications are Nanak Shahi bricks and both mud and lime mortar had been used as binding material for construction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lohgarh's Bastion at Village Bavana, Pinjor

                        (30°47'53.61"N, 76°57'44.26"E) (Zone 3)

According to Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu'alla, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur remained at this place in 1714. This place is situated on a hillock having contours 2200 feet above sea level and the fortification is just on the bank of river Gaggar, in fact it is very strategic place from where viligance can be kept on the passages leading to the valley. More over it is just on the boundary of old state of Nahan and Hindur, therefore it was an important coordination point. The fortification is mainly done with dressed stones and lime mortar. There are ample amount of curved stone in the village. Vanjaras constructed this fort.

Presence of a well on hill top clearly indicates that rich Vanjara use to live here and also they use to do trading activities. Intensive use of concrete had been done, no Mughal cannon was capable of breaching it. Strength of concrete is still found, even aGer 400 years.

 

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Pictures of Some of the 52 Bastions of Lohgarh

These bastions were constructed in the present district of Karnal, Kurukshetra , Ambala , YamunaNagar and Panchkula , to check the advance of the Mughal army (list of these bastion in Appendix). As already discussed, these villages were inhabited by the Vanjara Sikhs. Bhai Lakhi Rai Vanjara selected the locations for establishing them. This region is flood prone as number of rivulest flow down the Shivalik Hills. The Vanjaras raised the plinth of villages up to 20 to 30 feet high and then construction was carried out. These villages were having trading and manufacturing units leading to generation of heavy revenue. Guru Arjun Sahib established 52 trading centres (Kitas) at Amritsar and it is quite possible that these trading centres were shiGed to Lohgarh during the time of Guru Har Gobind Sahib. AGer perusal of archeology and circumstances it is believed that these village were turned into forts in the early 18th century.

 

Village Leda Khas, Tahsil Chhchhrauli ,Yamuna Nagar. (30°14'47.08"N, 77°19'47.51"E)

 

Sadhaura Village                                    Sarawa Village, Tahsil Sadhaura

 

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Village Azizpur Kalan, Tahsil Bilaspur, Yamuan Nagar

 

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Village Bhita , Tahsil Saha, Ambala. Even there is pond of Bhai Lakhi Rai Vanjara. This village is a few Kilometers from GT Road, thus important centre for Vanjaras.