History of Jograj Singh Panwar and Rampyari Gurjar taking part in Haridwar battle against Timur

History of Garhwal including Haridwar (1223- 1804 AD) –part -45

                                            

 History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon and Haridwar) -290

                       By: Bhishma Kukreti (A History Research Student)

                  There are no indigenous records about Garhwal including Haridwar for the time Timur Lang alias Tamerlane/Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani attacked India and Garhwal including Haridwar. The historians have the Malfujat , Zafarnama an autograph written by fifteenth century Persian writer Shraf –ud –Din, biography of Timur Lang by Ahmad Lbn Arabhshah and others. From Malfuzat and Zafarnama, historians came to know that Timur attacked on Garhwal and Haridwar. There are bard tales too to tell about Timur in Haridwar.

             Apart from biography or autobiography of Timur, historians have folk tales from Gujjar communities of Haridwar, Saharanpur and Meerut that throws light on Timur attack on Jatland (western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana) and Garhwal including Haridwar.  

              History of Attack of Timur on Delhi and other parts of India

 Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani was born in 1336 and died in 1405. Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani was Turko-Mangol ruler of Barlas linage. Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani conquered South, West and central Asia.  

 On 17 December 1398, Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani conquered Delhi from Delhi Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud. Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army killed around lakhs of citizens in Delhi for three days and captured in lakhs. It is one of the bloodiest massacres in the India History.

                After winning Delhi and having bloody massacre, Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army marched towards Ganga Yamuna Doab (territory between Ganges and Yamuna).  

                          History of Gujjar Defending Timur Army

                    Nau Nihal Singh (2003) tells the tales of Jagjit Singh and Rampyari the generals of Gujjar Mahapanchayat those defended or weakened the speedy advancement of Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army. The Mahpanchayat army was comprising of 80000 male soldiers and 40000 female soldiers.

                           The Battle of Meerut between Gurjar and Timur

             Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army advanced towards Meerut from Delhi. The Gurjar Mahapanchayat did not allow space for breathing the Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army. The battles continued for whole day. Wherever Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army would stop at night the Gurjar Mahapanchayat would attack and uproot the Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army.

                 The heroic Devi would supply food and other war materials to Mahapanchayat warriors. The Mahapanchayat warriors were either stopping the supply for Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army or looting the supply. Frustratingly, Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani advanced Haridwar.

              History of Battle of Haridwar between Timur and Gurjars

                  History of Hill Archers taking part in Haridwar Battle

            Beyond, Meerut, Muzzafarnagar and Saharanpur, the Mahapanchayat army fought with Timur fiercely and did not allow Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army to have solid grip. The Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army reached to Tuglakpur-Ptharigarh five Kilometers south to Haridwar. In this land of Haridwar, Gurjar Mahapanchayat army fought three major battles.

  The Deputy General of Gujjar Mahpanchayat army Harveer Singh Gulia had a huge army but less than Timur. The Hill archers joined Gujjar Mahapanchayat army too. There was fierce battle of arrows and spears. Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani was in one horsemen army. One arrow from Mahapanchayat soldier wounded Timur hand. Harveer Sing took part in fight as a lion.  Harveer Singh threw hit on the chest of Timur. It is said that Timur died later in Samarkand due to this wound. Khijra the commander of Timur saved Timur and separated him from the horse. The Timur army attacked on Harveer Singh Gulia together. Harveer Singh Gulia fainted due to wound.  At the same time great Mahpanchayat Supreme Commander Jograj Singh Panwar was fighting fiercely with his 20000 soldiers. He killed 5000 horsemen of Timur. Jograj Singh Panwar lifted Harveer Singh by his own hands. Few hours later, Harveer Singh Gulia achieved martyrdom.

            Supreme Commander Jograj Singh Panwar Offering Inspiring Speech

     .Before the defensive attack by Gurjar Mahapanchayat, the supreme Commander Jograj Singh Panwar offered speech to his soldiers and people to save Bharat from Timur.  The Charan states that Jograj Singh Panwar (Khubed) defeated Timur in Pathre battle field near Jwalapur (Haridwar).

  Jograj Singh Panwar belonged to Khubed clan and belonged to Gujjargadh (Haridwar and Saharanpur). Perhaps the capital was Jhabreda that was called in later centuries as Landhuara.

  Chandra Bhatt an official bard wrote the eyewitness account of battles by Timur.  

                            Brave Rampyari Gurjar taking Part in Haridwar battle

           Jesses Russell and Ronald Cohan offer the detail of Lady Gurjar Mahapanchayat commander Rampyari Gurjar who fought with Timur army with Supreme Commander Jograj Singh and Commander Mam Chand Gurjar. She took part in Haridwar battle.

          Brave Rampyari Gurjar trained 40000 women to be warriors for defending the territory. These women warriors along with shoulder to shoulder with their counterpart male warriors fought against Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army.   

*** Major Reference of this chapter Nau Nihal Singh, 2003, The Royal Gurjars: their contribution to India, Anmol Publications Pvt, Ltd.

Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai, India, bckukreti@gmail.com17/3//2014

                                      References

1-Dr. Shiv Prasad Dabral, 1971, Uttarakhand ka Itihas Bhag-4, Veer Gatha Press, Dogadda, Pauri Garhwal, India 

2-Harikrishna Raturi, Garhwal ka Itihas

3-Dr. Patiram, Garhwal Ancient and Modern

4-Rahul Sankrityayan, Garhwal

5- Oakley and Gairola, Himalayan Folklore

6- Bhakt Darshan, Garhwal ki Divangit Vibhutiyan

7-Foster, Early Travels in India William Finch

8-Upadhyaya, Shri Shankaracharya

9-Shering, Western Tibet and British

10-H.G. Walton, Gazetteer of British Garhwal

11-B.P.Kamboj, Early Wall Paintings of Garhwal

12-H.g Walton, Gazetteer of Dehradun

13- Vimal Chandra, Prachin Bharat ka Itihas

14-Meera Seth, Wall Paintings of Western Himalayas 

15-Furar, Monumental Antiquities

16-Haudiwala, Studies in Indo-Muslim History

17- Rahul Khari 2007, Jats and Gujjar Origin, History and Culture

18- Upendra Singh, 2006, Delhi: Ancient History, Barghahan Books

19- B.S. Dahiya, 1980, Jats the Ancient Rulers (A Clan Study) , Sterling Publications

20- Maithani, Bharat –Gotrapravardeepika

21 Prem Hari Har Lal, 1993, The Doon Valley Down the Ages

22-Dashrath Sharma, Early Chauhan Dynasties

23- Shailndra Nath Sen, Ancient History and Civilization

24-H.M Elliot, 1867, The History of India as told by its Own Historians

25- Jaswant Lal Mehta, 1979, Advance Study in Medieval India

26- Nau Nihal Singh, 2003, The Royal Gurjars: their contribution to India, Anmol Publications  

(The History of Garhwal, Kumaon, Haridwar write up is aimed for general readers)

History of Garhwal from 1223-1804 to be continued in next chapter          

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -290  

Notes on  South Asian Medieval History of Garhwal;  South Asian Medieval History of Pauri Garhwal;  Medieval History of Chamoli Garhwal;  South Asian Medieval History of Rudraprayag Garhwal;  South Asian Medieval History of Tehri Garhwal;  Medieval History of Uttarkashi Garhwal;  South Asian Medieval History of Dehradun, Garhwal;  Medieval History of Haridwar ;  South Asian Medieval History of Manglaur, Haridwar;  South Asian Medieval History of Rurkee Haridwar ;  South Asian Medieval History of Bahadarpur Haridwar ; South Asian History of Haridwar district to be continued… 

Xx

History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Haryana; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Meerut; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Muzzafarnagar; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army near Jwalapur Haridwar (Garhwal); History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Tuglakpur Haridwar (Garhwal) ; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Jhabreda Haridwar (Garhwal) ; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Landhaura Haridwar (Garhwal); History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Jabarera Haridwar (Garhwal) ; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army near Manglaur  Haridwar (Garhwal) ; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army near Sultanpur Haridwar (Garhwal) ; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army near Laksar  Haridwar (Garhwal) ; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Pathri Haridwar (Garhwal) ; History of Gurjar Defending Tamerlane/ Timur Lang //Tarmashirin Khan /Timur Beg Gurkhani army in Sakrauda Haridwar (Garhwal) ;