Maharaj Ranjit Singh - by Khushwant Singh - A book review

As I start the book review, a quick prelude: needless to say, there is a lot more perspectives, facts and information available in a book than on the multitude of random news feeds that we get today from the channels, papers, alerts et al. I am not sure if it is only a coincidence for the current times or the planned focus of all the news channels, but the increasing feeling amongst many is that the news shared are largely negative with very little information for the individuals to think and opine on. Well, that's a separate topic, and may deserve an individual blog post on it anyways.

 

Let's turn our attention to the book "RANJIT SINGH" - by Padma Vibhushan Khushwant Singh.

 

Penguin books - pic coutesy, Amazon.in

My closing summary to the book on the last page is "An amazing life of a man who was a great Raja, a merciful despot, a connoisseur of the beauties life offered and above all a noble human being - a true son of Punjab & India".

 

 

This is the life story of the one-eyed Maharaja of the Punjab, not without covering the details of his ancestors 5 generations before him. The book starts with the detail on how the peasants of the Punjab played the most defining role in protecting the western border of India, through which the country was pounded repeatedly, by the rulers of Afghanistan and beyond, primarily for plundering all the wealth, women and resources. The peasant class are the community of Jats, and it was new revelation to me that Jats are actually across all religions (which was of course due to my limited understanding as usual). Khushwant so beautifully portrays in the initial chapters on how the present day Punjab region (from the western boundaries of Haryana to the parts of Eastern limits of Afghanistan) was a pot-boil of culture, religions, faiths and community strength, primarily consolidated due to the foreign invasions. Of course, the birth of Sikhism itself was in this belt, and it has a separate history too (which Khushwant has covered in his magnum opus, The History of Sikhs - in 2 parts [on that separately later]).

 

Each time India was invaded from the west, they most often gone all the way till Delhi and plundered the vast riches of the nations, and in the case of Nadir Shah, killed more than 50,000 civilians of Delhi. And again, Punjab was the only gateway for them to return back. Though the populace in Punjab itself was not plundered (because they were primarily of the peasant class, and had not much then worth looting), the ordinary farmer class jats came together as an unorganized army just to ensure that they could salvage as much as possible during the plunderers' return journey. Each time the likes of Nadir Shah went back with caravans of gold, jewels, and cartloads of beautiful women, the Punjabi peasant armies attacked them (in a guerilla warfare mode), all the way until Afghanistan to retrieve as much riches and human life as possible. They lost a lot of their own lives as well, but still, they just couldn't be standby-watchers of the plundering passing through them.

 

It is in this society, that the different clans of Sikhs are organized as individual groups - which gets united under the able arm of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He is born to the son of a group (called Misl) leader, and at the age of 13 wins his first personal attack against any enemy by killing him with a spear. At the age of 18, he conquers another territory and just returns in time for his father's death. Born in 1780 in Gujranwala, present day Pakistan, Ranjit Singh is a man of a frail built, one eye, chicken pox hit face and of a lesser height compared to the usual built of Punjabi jats. As evidenced in the book, a British personnel, Emily Eden describes him as "exactly like an old mouse, with grey whiskers and one eye". :) Yet, he is able to conquer & unite, with power, persuasion & brilliance all the other groups (or Misls) of Sikh clans, to establish the present day region of Punjab (spread across India & Pakistan). He is altogether a different personality when his on his horse, and moreso when he is in battlefield. The book brilliantly portrays in minute details on how he built the empire, from the age of 15, until his death in 1839, with remarkable connotations on the correspondences and communications with all the key stakeholders like the British, the rulers of Afghanistan, Kashmir, Sindh, Persia, France etc.

 

What sets this Raja apart is the fact that though the Mughal rulers (primarily under Auragazeb) were instrumental in the killing of the Sikh Gurus (like Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh & his 4 children etc), Ranjit Singh had the remarkable wisdom & clarity in separating 'political' ambitions from that of 'religious' ones. If the Raja had wanted, he could have easily spread a reign of terror for the Muslim subjects, to avenge the death of his spiritual gurus or just to prove superiority of his power. The book conveys in detail on how he was far ahead of his time, and far above of these misgivings, creating a united Pubjab for all Pubjabis - including Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and Muslims - with him personally visiting & praying at both Gurudwaras, Hindu Temples & Mosques. Khushwant Singh's extent of research on this period is expressed brilliantly throughout the book, including the celebrations in Lahore (Ranjit Singh's capital/Durbar), Amritsar and other places during festivals & successful conquests. The lucid narratives of Khushwant Singh almost bring in front of us the wondrous scenes of joy & celebration of Eid, Muharram, Diwali and Holi. Ranjit provided equal laws for all his subjects, and his was so merciful that he did not put to death or kill even one adversary after the adversary was defeated. Even in the case of some Muslim kings from Afghanistan who spread hatred against the Sikhs, prompting a religious angle to the wars. Ranjit's humanism & his understanding of the different paths to the same God is evident in the fact that his most trusted advisor was a Muslim Fakir, his chief ministers Hindus, & his war generals Christians, two of whom were French. This is a story of one Raja & his team of attendants & generals, who paid an enormous personal price just to safeguard their promise to their own people, and to ensure that central India is no longer subjected to invasion from any foreign powers. Very few know that Maharaja Ranjit was the one who managed to get back the Koh-i-noor diamond and other pride possessions of India from the earlier plunderers. (Of course, we know where it subsequently went and is safely residing now).

 

First published in 1962, the book details on the lives & styles of the peoples of the 18th century and early 19th century - Khushwant Singh has proved beyond doubt that he is much more a researcher than a freelancing novelist on voyeurish & voluptuous subjects. The extent of bibliography, government correspondences, the daily news papers of 1800's and archives of the East India Company that Khushwant has poured over is just breathtaking. Each chapter has a good number of footnotes, and each footnote further explaining further on the details of incidents. One gets a very good understanding of life and times of the then India, the personal, political and other motives that drive them, of the westerners who marry a lot of Indian women, but return back to France & England leaving their wives behind, of the frequent back-stabbing of kings who obtained protection & favours from Ranjit Singh, of the philosophy of Ranjit Singh in repeated pardons, his love for horses, women, wine & warfare. There are notes of his own mother-in-law and first wife conspiring against his moves, colluding with the British. The descriptions of the beautiful women of the kingdom's harems will put us to shame with the present day world, with an urge to be blessed enough to be part of those times! Maharaja himself marries a Muslim nautch girl from one the harems.

 

The book also talks in detail of the most interesting warrior group of Ranjit Singh - the Nihangs, who are terrific Sikh fighters, whose only goal in life is to protect the kingdom. It is mentioned with good proof that usually 1 Nihang is equal to at least 10 well built Mughal warriors, and leaving them without control on a war field could result in pandemonium for the opposition. They play a huge role in Ranjit's victories, as do the large numbers of Muslim soldiers in his battalion. Ranjit's main Durbar is set in Lahore, while the next important place is Amritsar, with the Golden Temple.

 

Ranjit had single handedly brought peace to the most unstable & blood soaked region of the sub-continent, not much so only by iron-fisted hand, but also with the enormous heart, understanding & focus on delivering peace & stability to the peoples. Quite often, he gets a direct invitation from the peoples of enemy nations to rescue them from their rulers. He was truly loved by all his peoples, across all religions, and the fact that his sons too followed the same sense of religious democracy towards all their subjects, is a great show of Ranjit's institutionalization of his principles in his government. The most astonishing testament is that 4 of his Ranis & 7 of their maidservants join him in his funeral pyre - on 27th Jun 1839. And the documented notes of one of the British generals on that day notes that "they were seated - with every mark of satisfaction on their countenances", with the final prayers chanted by Hindu Brahmins from Shastras, Sikhs from Guru Granth Sahib and Mussalmans with 'Ya Allah, Ya Allah'. (I could only think of Dr. Kalam in the recent past in India, whose passing away was comparable - spontaneous, non-political outpourings from all of India's peoples).

 

I have wantonly omitted some of the key details from the book, just not to play a spoilsport for those who may read it. But in short, what the book tells us is the life of a remarkable man, who, within the span of a 59 year life, achieves to unite peoples of all religions under one kingdom (at a time when religious fanaticism was the norm & justified), to live through principles of faith, tolerance, brotherhood, peace, mercy, and if required, warfare!

 

His life is a message to present day world and India, on what needs to be the true focus of governments & peoples. And Ranjit Singh also proves to us that one eye itself is sufficient, if only the person has the intention to view the world in the right perspective!

 

Definitely worth a read. And a million note of thanks to Sri Khushwant Singh, for bringing such an authoritative rendering.

 

Signing off, until the next review!
K. Srinivasa Varadhan
 





The Author: Padma Vibhushan Khushwant Singh (1915 - 2014)



The Whatsapp Group Discussions of 'Once-Virgin' boys!

I am one of those fortunate ones to have a lively group of undergrad batchmates, quite active in our Whatsapp group. While, it is true that not all may be active all the time - but never a day goes past, without a spirited discussion on anything and everything that goes under the Sun. Some of us are quite demanding of each other, with heavy discussions & opinions cast around, but we are also quite candid and free - for we know, that at the end of the day it's our own Machans!

So, some of the key points discussed were the actual benefits to Indian people through successive governments, including the present one, the role of a PM in positioning a country strongly in the internal arena, and today's current affairs of Govt rolling back on the PF withdrawal limitations that were imposed earlier. Each has his own opinion and argument to back up their claims - and to me, quite often than not, all seems logical & acceptable. While we are in a society that increasingly is blurring between what is right and wrong, with more of personal independence given weight over collective responsibility, it is always enjoyable to get so many perspectives, with succinct messages within a group of closely knit 'the once virgin boys'. Karthi, Ramesh, Madhu, Subbu, Thiags, Nutty, Nags, Ravindran, Prabhu, Siva, Shivram, Vikki, Deena, Raj, Rahul, Naresh, Kili, Anand, Dhaya are the most common posters - while Chetans Jose from Kottayam Kerala and Sujith make guest posts at just the right moments.

We have guys across the Globe, and it's a wonderful way to keep in touch with everyone, just chit chatting on every other issue, just as we would during our college 'vetti' sessions in hostels. Numerous accounts to retell, and not the current scope on nostalgia! :) From forwards to news links to select ' Mechanical engineering' only language vernaculars, everything is tolerated & appreciated in this group. This is truly a stress bust for all of us - and as an invocation, we thank our ever & only one Godfather, Mr. Madhu Bottle! Though to remind him that the next group meeting is long pending!

As to the specifics of what we discuss - sorry, Whatsapp has already encrypted the conversations! More in next!

All that comes to mind

Well, as usual, I start another lead of blogs, just to separate out from the other groups - in an attempt to segregate the ideas and domains. This thread will have almost all of the wavering and flowing in thoughts of mine, coming from whichever direction, and on whatever that bothers and impacts me.

I am not be able to provide enough substantiations to my thoughts and positions, for some are mixed with facts, beliefs, faith and opinions. Nevertheless, the expectation from my own self is that these will be as much direct and truthful to myself, if none to any other. And any welcome suggestions and inputs only will enrich this space more.

Let this place be a hotspot for almost anything under the Sun, that we may want to share and discuss - unless they warrant a separate stream in their own right.

So, here we start - on the 21st of April, 2016, at 1:00AM! :)

K. Srinivasa Varadhan