|
Love and Piety in Baba Farid Di Nagri
V.N.Datta
 Faridkot’s
reputation does not rest on its antiquity nor its commercial and
industrial importance. What is striking about Faridkot is its
special flavor, its individuality. Great many changes have taken
place in the town, and yet the place has remained the same.
Faridkot is named after Shaikh Farid
Shakarganj (1173-1264) or Ganji-i-Shakar (meaning treasure house of
sweets) the famous Sufi saint of the Chistia Silsala founded by
Khwaja Moinuddin of Ajmer. Shaikh Farid was the disciple of Sufi
Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar of Delhi. Shaikh Farid’s distinguished
disciples were the famous Shaikh Jamaluddin of Hansi and Shaikh
Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi.
The town of Faridkot, about 48 miles
from the Indo-Pak boundary is not directly connected with any
principal town or highway. A modest and toy-like town, Faridkot
formed a part of the territory ruled by the Punwar Rajputs who held
it for a considerable time. About 1180 AD, a Bhatti Rajput chief
Jesal, the founder of the state and city of Jaisalmer, was driven
from his kingdom and settled in the neighborhood Hisar.
Tradition has it that the settlement now
known as Faridkot was founded by Jesal’s descendant Mokalsi towards
the end of the 12th century AD. who built a mud fort called Mokal
Har. The 12th century was an ‘Age of Trouble’ in northern India. The
Ghazanvide rule had ended and the Mongol invasion (1220 AD) created
a reign of terror forcing people to flee from their homes. The Turks
entered the fray to establish their rule. Stead threatened stead,
and the soldiers of fortune went on rampage, striking terror among
the local populace.
Naturally, in such a dark period of
turmoil and suffering, Mokalsi, the Rajput chief, thought it
necessary to build a fort suitable for defence. According to M.A.Macuuliffe, the author of The Sikh Religion who recognized the force
of tradition as valuable in the reconstruction of the past ordered a
regular begar by which he wanted all able-bodied men and
women passing that way to be put to forced labour.
It so happened that Shaikh Farid was on
his way to Ajidhan known as Pakpattan (in Montgomery district,
Pakistan). Like others, Shaikh Farid was forced to carry mud for the
construction of the fort. Lo! A miracle is then said to have taken
place; the basket that he lifted began to float in the air without
any visible support. The extraordinary sight demonstrating Shaikh
Farid’s spiritual powers astounded the spectators who fell at his
feet, acknowledging him as a holy man worthy of reverence.
Mokalsi was flabbergasted to learn about
this feat. Impressed by the Shaikh’s piety and compassion, he named
the fort after Farid. Chilla Baba Farid, where the miracle was
supposed to have occurred, situated opposite the present tort,
attracts a large number of pilgrims, irrespective of caste and
creed, who come to the shrine for obeisance, especially on the
occasion of annual urs which is celebrated in the month of
October. I think that the fort became the local point round which
with the passage of time houses began to be built, roads laid and
shops erected.
There are sufficient reasons to believe
that in the 16th century the town of Faridkot was captured by one
Brar the ancestor of the last ruler of Faridkot state Sir Harinder
Singh.
 For a considerable period, the town of
Faridkot went to sleep and nothing of significance took place there.
It was in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time that Faridkot became
politically astir. Hamir Singh, a local chieftain, had carved out a
separate state of Faridkot in1713-1782. A capable ruler, Hamir Singh
converted the mud into a brick fort. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had set
his covetous eyes on the Sikh states to the east called ‘Cis-Sutlej’
of which Faridkot formed a part. With the capture of Delhi by Lord
Lake in 1803, the British were determined to keep free the
Cis-Sutlej states from external incursions.
While Charles Metcalfe, the British
envoy, was in the Maharaja’s camp, Ranjit Singh crossed the Sutlej
and with his army on September 26, 1808 marched against
Faridkot and seized it. Ranjit Singh outwitted the British envoy by
his shrewdness. The Maharaja assigned the jagir of Faridkot
toDiwan Mohkam Chand for his maintenance. Ranjit Singh’s expedition
upset Metcalfe who warned that the Maharaja’s crossing the Sutlej
river will be treated as a declaration of war by the British and
that he would be forced to quit his court in protest.
In April 1809 a treaty was signed
between the British and Ranjit Singh by which the latter obtained a
free hand west up the Sutlej in return for undertaking not to
interfere in the east. Thus Faridkot, despite Mohkam Chand’s
protest, was restored to its original owner Gulab Singh on April 3,
1809.
During the Anglo-Sikh war in 1845 Pahar
Singh, an able and liberal-minded ruler, supported the British by
supplying transport and guides for the Army even when some Indian
rulers were vacillating on the eve of the battle of Ferozeshah. For
this help the British rewarded Pahar Singh by a grant of half the
territory confiscated from the Raja of Nabha and conferred on him
the title of Raja. Kot Kapura was also restored to him.
During the second Sikh war, Raja Wazir
Singh served on the British side, and in the mutiny of 1857 he
arrested several mutineers and handed them over to the British. He
supported the British both in men and material for which he received
the title ‘Barar Bans Raja Sahib Bahadur’. The Raja retained the
rights of ownership over more than half the area of the state.
Raja Bikram Singh who ruled Faridkot for
about 24 years set his state on the path of modernity. The
north-western railway extended to Faridkot in 1884, markets wre
established and land was given to shopkeepers and traders at low
price. Bikram Singh’s son set up a cantonment and erected some
important buildings, including the Raj Mahal and Victoria Clock
Tower. He also promoted the breeding of horses.
 From all accounts the last ruler of
Faridkot state Raja Harinder Singh, a product of Atitchison College,
Lahore, though authoritarian in temper like most rulers, of Indian
states, was a forward-looking man deeply interested in the social
and educational uplift of people. He owned a public library of about
8,000 books. He established the Brijinder College of Commerce,
Training College, and a number of schools. He laid a special
emphasis on health and provided a fairly well equipped hospital for
the needs of people. He set up a High Court and secretariat, and
encouraged small-scale industries. An aerodrome was constructed half
a mile from the town and the Raja owned 10 aero planes.
Due to the initiative of the Praja
Mandal movement, political discontent began to simmer in Faridkot
against the ruling authorities in the early ’40s in the country. A
Congress Committee was set up at Faridkot with Sardar Ganga Singh
Harika and Giani Zail Singh (who became later President of India) as
its President and Secretary. An agitation was launched for the grant
of full proprietary rights to peasants.
Giani Zail Singh who actively
participated in the agitation was sentenced to four years
imprisonment. During the second World War, all was quite at Faridkot,
and Raja Harinder Singh gave whole hearted material and moral
support to the British during their ‘hour of trial’. After the
termination of the war, political agitation began to gather momentum
in Faridkot. Karnail Singh, an ex-MLA, gave to this writer a vivid
account of the political developments taking place in the town
during 1946-47. At Faridkot, schoolchildren were severely lathi-charged
for unfurling Congress flags on the official buildings. On May 27,
1947 Jawaharlal Nehru, President of the All- India States People’s
Conference, arrived in Faridkot. Attired in white clothes and riding
on a white horse, Nehru rode through the town and received a
tremendous welcome. He addressed a meeting of about 8,000 people,
and condemned the Raja’s oppressive regime.
The Raja sought an interview with Nehru
and arrived at a settlement known as Nehru-Harinder Pact by which
all detenues were to be released immediately. The Raja also assured
that people would be given legitimate democratic rights of the
freedom of speech and to hold meetings.
But people’s strong passion to shatter
the Raja’s personal rule could not be quelled. Despite Sardar
Patel’s disapproval, a parallel government was set up by the Praja
Mandal in Faridkot of which Giani Zail Singh was the leader. The
secretariat was besieged, and the authorities resorted to severe
measures to control the situation. Due to Patel’s intervention, the
Praja Mandal movement was withdrawn, and finally Faridkot became a
part of the Union of East Punjab States.
Faridkot represents a curious blend of
the old and new. There is the fort (Quila Mubaraq), the palace (Raj
Mahal) and the mint. The main entrance of the fort is impressive,
reflecting power and massiveness.
It is highly significant that within the
enclosure of Chilla Baba Farid are situated a Sikh gurdwara, a
mosque and a Hindu temple across the road. So the history of
Faridkot is tied up with Baba Farid’s legend. His shrine, surrounded
by the mosque, temple and gurdwara, attracts Hindu, Muslim and Sikh
votaries and he remains a popular patron-saint with his bani forming
an important component of the popular culture of the region. Today,
we have forgotten the richness, fluidity and composite character of
Punjabi culture and it’s time now to celebrate the cultural
histories of centres like Faridkot which are a living testimony to
the uniqueness of Punjabi culture.
4 April,
2007
|
Read Also