Author Topic: History of Ludhiana (Read 2028 times)

Kudi Nepal Di · « **on:** June 24, 2010, 01:38:31 PM »

History of Ludhiana dates back to 1481 with the formation of a small village called Meer Hota, ruled by Yodhas.

The history of Ludhiana goes a back a long way to 1481 when it was merely a small village called Meer Hota. This village was initially ruled by yodhas from the 1st to the 4th century, it consequently came under King Samudragupta and the Rajputs .The original Ludhianavis settled here much later in the 9th century. This translation from Urdu of a passage of Gulam Sarvar Lahauris (alias Bute Shah) was written in the mid-19th century and is given in the Gazetteer for the Ludhiana District 1888-89:

During the reign of Sikandar, son of Bahlol Lodi, the people about Ludhiana were exploited by the plundering Baluchis, and applied to the Emperor for aid. Sikandar, in answer to their prayer, sent two of his Lodi chiefs, by name Yusaf Khan and Nihang Khan, with an army. These chiefs selected the present site of the Ludhiana city and Nihang Khan remained at Mir Hota as the Emperor`s Lieutenant; and called the place Ludhiana. His son a grandson succeeded him. The latter, Jalal Khan, built the fort of Ludhiana and his two sons partitioned the country round about Ludhiana, which was then lying in abandonment, amongst the people of the town, and distributed them in villages. In the time of Jalal Khan`s grandsons, Alu Khan and Khizr Khan, Babar overthrew the Lodi dynasty; and the Lodis of Ludhiana were demoted to the position of ordinary subjects of the Mughal Empire. They are said to have lived close to the fort for many generations, but all of their connections have now disappeared. The Lodi dynasty lost control of the throne of Delhi in 1526. The Mughals thus established a strong government at Sirhind, which itself was a sarkar (division) of the Delhi subah (province), and attached Ludhiana as a mahal or parganah. The history of Ludhiana thus entered its second phase.

The century and a half following the death of Akbar (a Mughal emperor) in 1605, Ludhiana was dominated by the rise of Sikhism as a power, and the decline of the Mughal Empire. By this time the Mughal Empire was coming to an edge, and various local powers began to declare their independence. The Rais of Raikot who until then had held a considerable tract of land around Ludhiana in lease from the emperors were some of the first to assert their independence. Raja Ala Singh of Patiala, the representative of the crumbling Delhi Sultanate and Rai Kalha II were the principal actors contenders for power in the region.

After the gradual fall of Sirhind, the last vestige of Mughal control over the area, and Ludhiana was surrendered to the Rais. The Malaudh Sirdars belonging to the Phulkian stock had already established themselves in the south of Ludhiana in the Jangal villages and the country about Malaudh and Sudha Singh Gill. An adventurer from Loharu in the Ferozepur district secured a few villages around Sahnewal. In 1767 Ahmed Shah reached Ludhiana on his last voyage but could not get further.

Around 1785, the Sutlej changed in course and Ludhiana was no longer situated on its banks. In 1798, history of Ludhiana saw the ferocious attack by the Sikhs under Bedi Sahib Singh of Una. Then the ruler of the Rais, Rai Alias was just a child and his agents Roshan and Gujar made a good stand against the Sikhs at Jodh, ten miles (16 km) southwest of Ludhiana. Roshan was the killed in the fight, and Rai`s army was dispersed. However, the Phulkian chiefs, who were on good terms with the Rais did not intend to allow the Bedi to establish himself in their midst and came to their assistance, driving the invaders out of the villages. Upon the Bedi`s blockade of Ludhiana, the Rais called in British mercenary George Thomas to help with the protection of the city. On Thomas`s approach, Bedi returned to the other side of the river. After consolidating with the new Sikh Empire, Maharaja Ranjit Singh crossed the Sutlej in 1806 in his first expedition against the Cis-Sutlej states and exposed the Rais of all their possessions, including Ludhiana. The city was occupied but not annexed to the Lahore state.

By 1809 Ranjit Singh brought a change in the history of Ludhiana and was completing his third expedition on the west bank of the Sutlej, ready to attack Ludhiana. Fearing further development that was coming closer to their headquarters in Delhi, British imperialist forces occupied the Cis-Sutlej states that were on the east of the Sutlej. The British sent Colonel David Ochterlony with a force to annex Ludhiana. However, by the end of 1809, the Treaty with the Rajah of Lahore was signed in, which the Rajah agreed to remain in the north and west of the Sutlej. British troops were permanently stopped in Ludhiana, and they established a cantonment to further merge their occupation. The British pain compensation to the Raja of Jind. In 1835, the Jind family, who technically still ruled Ludhiana, was left without any heirs. By the British doctrine of lapse, Ludhiana came under authorized control of the imperialists. After the First Afghan War, Ludhiana became the home of the exiled family of Shah Shuja. The British cantonment was abandoned in 1854 and during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Deputy-Commissioner Ricketts crushed a rebellion in Ludhiana with the support of the chiefs of Nabha and Maler Kotla. Maulana Habibur Rehman, a leader of the Indian Independence Movement, was born in Ludhiana. The history of Ludhiana narrates many tales of heroism and gallantry and thus the formation of the prestigious north Indian city of Ludhiana.

Author Topic: History of Ludhiana (Read 2028 times)

Kudi Nepal Di

History of Ludhiana

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