Lehal Library

The Indus to the Ganges 175 In 1775 Lhe Bhangis and the Ramgarhias fought a combination of the Kanhayas, Sukerchakias, and Ahluwalias for ten days without any result. Thereafter the two Jassa Singhs fought each other. At first the Ahluwalia defeated and i~jnred the Ramgarhia. A year later, the Rarngarhia avenged himself by capturing the Ahluwalia and then magnanimously freeing him. The once supreme commander of the Dal Khalsa had to seek the aid of Jai Singh Kanhaya to expel the Ramgarhias from Majha. They moved out to Hissar and immediately plunged into Malwa's eqllally senseless and ,iolent politics. In 1782 Ll1e Majliails again came LO blows over Jammu. Braj Raj Dev, who had succeeded his father, murdered his own brother and nephew. The Kanha\'as supported Braj Raj Dev; the Bhangis supported members of the rival faction. The two misls, thereafter, joined hands to plunder Braj Raj Dev. The Jammu Raja turned to Maha Singh Sukcrchakia for help. Maha Singh first helped B~j Raj Dev and then himself by looting the town. This angered the Kanhaya,Jai Singh. There was another realignment of misls. The Sllkerchakias invited the Ramgarhias back into Majha and the two misls along with the Rajputs of Katoch fought and defeated the Kanhayas. The sordid game of ganging up sometimes with one, sometimes wilh the other, went on. Among the most dexterous intriguers was Maha Singh Sukerchakia. With the loot ofjam.mu he made Lhe family fortune; with his own nimble mind and strong right arm he raised the house of Sukerchakia Lo the second most powerful among the mists. He was well on the way to reducing the Bhang:is when his career of conquest was mt short by his unlimely death in I 792. If a balance-sheet of the century following the promulgation of che Khalsa were drawn up, on I.he credit side the most significam entry would be the resurrection of the spirit of Ptutjabi nationalism which had almost been killed by Banda. Men like Nawab Kapur Singh, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, and the Bhangi Sardars not only built up the Khalsa commonweallh but also won back the confidence of the Muslim peasantry. The credit for this