LAKHPAT RAI (d. 1748), diwan or revenue minister at Lahore under two successive Mughal viceroys, Zakariya Khan (1726–45) and Yahiya Khan (1745–47). He came from a Hindu Khatri family of Kalanaur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. In 1736 when Zakariya Khan organized a mobile column of 10,000 to scour the country in search of Sikhs then condemned to indiscriminate murder and slaughter, Lakhpat Rai and Mukhlis Khan, the governor’s own nephew, were put in command of this force.
The Sikhs with their fighting force, the Buddha Dal, were driven to take refuge in the jungles south of the Sutlej. They, however, soon struck back and Buddha Dal and Taruna Dal jointly fell upon Lakhpat Rai, defeating his mobile column at Hujra Shah Muqim, near Lahore. Among the Mughal officials killed was Lakhpat Rai’s nephew, Duni Chand. In 1736, Lakhpat Rai was deputed to proceed to Amritsar to molest Sikhs gathering for the Divali festival—permission for holding which had been secured from the governor himself.
This caused confusion and the failure of the revered Bhai Mani Singh to pay the stipulated amount to the Mughal satrap—owing to attenuated attendance was made an excuse for his capture and execution (AD 1737). In the eyes of the Sikhs, Lakhpat Rai was principally responsible for Bhai Mani Singh’s martyrdom. Nadir Shah’s invasion of 1739 dealt a severe blow to the Mughal government. Light cavalry bands organized by Zakariya Khan to suppress the Sikhs impoverished the peasantry by their extortions, as a result of which revenues dwindled and the treasury became empty.
Zakariya Khan, holding Diwan Lakhpat Rai responsible for this financial breakdown, imprisoned him for his failure to discharge the dues of the army. But Lakhpat’s brother, Jaspat Rai, himself an influential courtier, paid a large sum from his personal treasure and secured Lakhpat’s release and reinstatement. Lakhpat Rai continued as diwan under Yahiya Khan, when he succeeded Zakariya Khan in 1745. The death of his brother, Jaspat Rai, at the hands of the Sikhs in 1746 greatly enraged him, and he vowed revenge, declaring that he would not put on his headdress, nor claim himself to be a Khatri until he had “scourged the entire Sikh Panth.”
As a first step, he had the Sikh inhabitants of Lahore rounded up and ordered their execution. Intercession by a group of prominent Hindu nobles led by Diwan Kaura Mall was of no avail. Lakhpat Rai ignored the request—even of his guru, Sant Jagat Bhagat Gosairi—that the killing should not be carried out at least on the Amavas, the last day of the dark half of the month which, falling on a Monday, is especially sacred to the Hindus. Executions took place as ordered on that very day, 13 Chet 1802 Bk/10 March 1746.
The angry Diwan then set out at the head of a large force, mostly cavalry supported by cannon, in search of the Sikhs who were reported to have taken shelter in the swampy forest of Kahnuvan, on the right bank of River Beas, 15 km south of Gurdaspur. He also mobilized the local populace in these operations. The besieged Sikhs put up a determined fight but were severely outnumbered and scattered with heavy losses.
They were chased into the hills and, “to complete the revenge,” says Syad Muhammad Latif, the Muslim historian of the Punjab, “Lakhpat Rai brought with him, 1,000 Sikhs in irons to Lahore, and having compelled them to ride on donkeys, barebacked, paraded them in the bazaars. They were, then, taken to the horse market, outside Delhi Gate, and there beheaded one after another without mercy.” On this site was later raised a memorial shrine known as Shahid Ganj.
More than seven thousand Sikhs lost their lives at Kahnuvan (1 May 1746). In Sikh history, this devastation is referred to as Chhota Ghallughara or Minor Massacre, as distinguished from Vadda Ghallughara or the Great Massacre that took place on 5 February 1762. Lakhpat Rai, in order to ensure total extinction of the Sikhs, ordered their places of worship to be destroyed and their holy books burnt. He decreed that anyone uttering the word guru should have his belly ripped.
Considering that the word gur, meaning jaggery, sounded like guru, he prohibited its use. When in March 1747, Shah Nawaz Khan, brother of Yahiya Khan and governor of Multan, occupied Lahore, he imprisoned Yahiya Khan and Lakhpat Rai, but Ahmad Shah Durrani, who seized Lahore in January 1748, set up a local government in the Punjab, with Jalhe Khan as governor and Lakhpat Rai as his diwan. The Dunam, defeated by the Mughals in the battle of Manupur on 11 March 1748, beat a hasty retreat to his own country, and Mu`in ul Mulk, commonly known as Mir Mannu, became the governor of Lahore.
Mir Mannu imprisoned Jalhe Khan and Lakhpat Rai and appointed Kaura Mall his deputy and diwan. He demanded from Lakhpat Rai an indemnity of three lakh rupees which he was not able to pay. Diwan Kaura Mall, who had opposed Lakhpat Rai’s repressive policy towards the Sikhs in 1746, now offered to make up the balance provided the prisoner was handed over to him. Mir Mannu agreed and transferred charge of Lakhpat Rai to Kaura Mall, who gave him into the custody of the Dal Khalsa. He was thrown into a dungeon where he died a miserable death after six months of indignity and torture (1748).
References:
- Bhangu, Ratan Singh, Prachm Panth Prakash. Amritsar, 1914
- Gian Singh, Giani, Twarikh Guru Khalsa [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970
- Ganda Singh, Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. Patiala, 1969
- Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs. Delhi, 1983
- Gupta, Hari Ram, History of the Sikhs, vol. II. Delhi, 1975
- Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, vol. I. Princeton, 1966
- Gandhi, Surjit Singh, Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty. Delhi, 1980
Lakhpat Rai: Mughal Minister’s Role in Sikh Conflicts
Background and Appointment
Lakhpat Rai, who died in 1748, served as the diwan (revenue minister) at Lahore under two successive Mughal viceroys—Zakariya Khan (1726–45) and Yahiya Khan (1745–47). Hailing from a Hindu Khatri family of Kalanaur in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, he was firmly embedded in the administrative elite of the Mughal Punjab.
Military Campaigns Against the Sikhs
In 1736, when Mughal viceroy Zakariya Khan organized a mobile column of 10,000 men to search for Sikhs—condemned at the time to an indiscriminate spree of violence—Lakhpat Rai and Mukhlis Khan, the governor’s own nephew, were put in command of this force. The Sikh fighters, marshaled under the banner of the Buddha Dal, were driven to seek refuge in the jungles south of the Sutlej. However, they soon regrouped; the combined forces of the Buddha Dal and Taruna Dal counter-attacked and defeated Lakhpat Rai’s mobile force at Hujra Shah Muqim, near Lahore. During that engagement, among the Mughal officials killed was Lakhpat Rai’s own nephew, Duni Chand.
Repression of Sikh Religious Gatherings
Later that same year, Lakhpat Rai was directed to proceed to Amritsar during the Divali festival. His mission was to disrupt and molest the gathering of Sikhs—an act that led to significant confusion. The revered Bhai Mani Singh, who was unable to meet the required tribute because of the diminished attendance at the festival, was ultimately captured and executed (AD 1737). In Sikh memory, Lakhpat Rai is held chiefly responsible for the martyrdom of Bhai Mani Singh.
Escalation and Vengeance
The already volatile situation worsened following Nadir Shah’s invasion of 1739, which severely weakened the Mughal treasury. Extortionate levies imposed by light cavalry detachments further impoverished the peasantry and dwindled revenues. Zakariya Khan, blaming Lakhpat Rai for the financial breakdown due to his failure to discharge the army’s dues, had him imprisoned—although Lakhpat Rai’s influential brother, Jaspat Rai, eventually secured his release by paying a hefty sum from his own funds.
Continuing as diwan under Yahiya Khan in 1745, Lakhpat Rai’s resentment deepened after the Sikhs killed his brother, Jaspat Rai, in 1746. In a fit of vengeful fury, he vowed that he would not don his head-dress nor proclaim himself a Khatri until he had “scourged the entire Sikh Panth.”
Massacres and Repressive Measures
In pursuit of his revenge, Lakhpat Rai ordered that the Sikh inhabitants of Lahore be rounded up and executed. Despite intercessions—most notably from prominent Hindu nobles led by Diwan Kaura Mall and even from his own guru, Sant Jagat Bhagat Gosairi, who implored that such mass executions should be avoided on the sacred Amavas (new moon day)—Lakhpat Rai persisted. On 10 March 1746 (13 Chet 1802 Bk), his orders were carried out.
He then led a large, heavily armed force (cavalry supported by cannons) to the swampy forest of Kahnuvan, near the banks of the Beas River, where the Sikhs, though fiercely resisting, were eventually overwhelmed. According to contemporary historians like Syad Muhammad Latif, Lakhpat Rai “brought with him, 1,000 Sikhs in irons to Lahore, and having compelled them to ride on donkeys, barebacked, paraded them in the bazaars” before having them beheaded in a merciless manner. This atrocity came to be memorialized at Shahid Ganj, and over 7,000 Sikhs are said to have perished at Kahnuvan—a tragedy remembered in Sikh history as the Chhota Ghallughara (Minor Massacre), distinguishing it from the later Vadda Ghallughara (Great Massacre) of 1762.
Further Repressive Policies and Downfall
Lakhpat Rai did not stop at mass executions. In his bid to annihilate Sikh resistance, he ordered the destruction of Sikh places of worship, the burning of their holy texts, and even decreed that anyone uttering the word “guru” (owing to its phonetic similarity with “gur,” meaning jaggery) should be punished severely.
In March 1747, when Shah Nawaz Khan (brother of Yahiya Khan and governor of Multan) occupied Lahore, Yahiya Khan and Lakhpat Rai were imprisoned. Although Lakhpat Rai was later reinstated under the short-lived government of Ahmad Shah Durrani in January 1748, opposition soon prevailed. Lakhpat Rai eventually fell into the custody of the Dal Khalsa after being handed over by Diwan Kaura Mall and was imprisoned in a dungeon. There, after enduring six months of indignity and torture, he died in 1748.
