Lehal Library

123 Persecution and Reorganization difficulty in securing an appointment as the governor of Labore. His ambitious younger brother, Shah Nawaz, was made governor of Multan. As far as the Sil<hs were concerned, there was little change in the government's attitude towards them. They were, however, now more numerous and decided to reorganize their forces. Up to 1745 bands of a dozen or more horsemen (dharui,) under a jathedar had operated independently. On the Divali of 1745 (October 14) the Sarbat Khalsa resolved to merge the small jathas into twenty-five sizeable regiments of cavalry and confinned Nawab Kapur Singh as overall commander of the army. The commanders of some of these regiments, namely, Hari Singh Bhangi, Naudh Singh of Sukerchak,Jassa Singh.Ahluwalia, and Jai Singh Kanhaya, played a decisive role in liberating the Punjab from the Mughals and foreign invaders. As soon as the reorganization had been effected, Sikh leaders incited the peasants to refuse payment of revenue to the government. A fracas between a band of Sikh horsemen and the state Yahya was supplanted by his younger brother, Shah Nawaz Khan, who, in his rum, was ousted by Yahya's wife's brother, Mir Mannu. The rapid change of rulers and the appearance of yet another foreign invader, Ahmed Shah Abdali, who had succeeded to the throne of Kabul on the assassination of Nadir Shah, were decisive factors in the rise of Sikh power. Itmad-ud-Daulah Abdus Samad Khan (Diler-i-Jang) Qamaruddin Khan (Chief Wazir) I I Zakarya Khan (Khan Bahadur 1726--45) I I Mir Mannu Daughter m. I Yahya Khan Shah Nawaz m. daughter of Qamaruddin Khan (Chief Wazir at Delhi) I Yahya Khan MirBaqi