Phulkian States, 1908

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This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Phulkian States

The three Native States of PATIALA, JIND, and NABHA in the Punjab are collectively known as the Phulkian States. They are the most important of the Cis-Sutlej States, having a total area of 7,599 square miles, with a population (1901) of 2,176,644 and a gross revenue of 97-5 lakhs. The main area of this group of States contains 5,611 square miles, and lies between 74 10' and 77 3' E. and 29 4' and 30 54' N. It is bounded on the north by the District of Ludhiana ; on the east by Ambala and Karnal ; on the south by Rohtak and Hissar ; and on the west by Ferozepore and the State of These figures do not agree with the area given in the article on the PUNJAB, which is the area returned in 1901, the year of the latest Census. They are taken from more recent returns.

Faridkot This area is the ancestral possession of the Phulkian houses. It lies mainly in the great natural tract called the Jangal (desert or forest), but stretches north-east into that known as the Pawadh and southwards across the Ghaggar into the Nardak, while its southernmost tract, round the ancient town of Jind, claims to lie within the sacred limits of KURUKSHETRA. This vast tract is not, however, the exclusive property of the States ; for in it lie several islands of British territory, and the State of Maler Kotla enters the centre of its northern border. Oh the other hand, the States hold many outlying villages surrounded by British territory. While the three States, as a group, form a com- paratively continuous area, individually each resembles Brunswick or- the county of Cromarty, its territory being scattered and inextricably intermingled with that of the other States. Besides its share in the ancestral possessions of the Phulkian houses, Patiala holds a consider- able area in the Simla Hills, acquired in 1815. In addition to these possessions, the three States hold a fairly compact block of outlying territory in the south-east of the Punjab, between 75 58' and 76 27' E. and 27 48' and 28 27' N. The area of this tract is 1,534 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Hissar; on the east by Rohtak and Gurgaon ; and on the south and west by Rajputana. Each of the States received a part of this territory as a reward for services in the Mutiny.

The ruling families are descended from Phul, their eponym, from whom are also sprung the great feudal, but not ruling, families of Bhadaur and Malaud, and many others of less importance. Collaterally again the descendants of Phiil are connected with the rulers of Farldkot, the extinct Kaithal family, and the feudatories of Arnauli, Jhamba, Siddhuwal, and, north of the Sutlej, Atari. These numerous branches of a vigorous stock belong to the great Siddhu-Barar tribe, the most powerful Jat clan south of the Sutlej, and claim descent from Jaisal, a Bhati Rajput, who, having founded the State of Jaisalmer in 1156, was driven from his kingdom by a rebellion and settled near Hissar. Hemhel, his son, sacked that town and overran the country up to Delhi, but was repulsed by Shams-ud-din Altamsh. Subsequently, in 1212, that ruler made him governor of the Sirsa and Bhatinda country.

But his great-grandson Mangal Rao, having rebelled against the Muhammadan sovereign of Delhi, was beheaded at Jaisalmer. His grandson, Khiwa, sank to the status of a Jat by contracting a marriage with a woman of that class ; and though the great Siddhu-Barar tribe in the following centuries spread itself far and wide over the MALWA country up to and even beyond the Sutlej, the descendants of Khiwa fell into poverty and obscurity, until one of them, Sanghar, entered the service of the emperor Babar with a few followers. Sanghar himself fell at Panipat in 1526 ; but the emperor rewarded his devotion by granting his son Baryam the chaudhrayat or intendancy of the waste country south-west of Delhi, and thus restored the fortunes of the family. The grant was confirmed by Humayun ; but in 1560 Baryam fell fighting against the Muhammadan Bhattis, at once the kinsmen and hereditary foes of the Siddhu tribe. Baryam was succeeded as chaudhri by his son Mahraj and his grandson Mohan, who were both engaged in constant warfare with the Bhattis, until Mohan was compelled to flee to Hansi and Hissar, whence he returned with a considerable force of his tribesmen, defeated the Bhattis at Bhedowal, and on the advice of the Sikh Guru Har Gobind founded Mahraj in Ferozepore District. But the contest with the Bhattis was soon renewed, and Mohan and his son Rup Chand were killed by them in a skirmish about 1618. His second son Kala succeeded to the chaudhrayat and became the guardian of Phiil and Sandali, the sons of Rup Chand. Phill left six sons, of whom Tiloka was the eldest, and from him are descended the families of Jind and Nabha. From Rama, the second son, sprang the greatest of the Phulkian houses, that of Patiala. The other four sons succeeded to only a small share of their father's possessions.

In 1627 Phul founded and gave his name to a village which is now an important town in the State of Nabha. His two eldest sons founded Bhai Riipa, still held jointly by the three States, while Rama also built Rampur. The last named successfully raided the Bhattis and other enemies of his line. He then obtained from the Muham- madan governor of Sirhind the intendancy of the Jangal tract. His cousin Chain Singh was associated with him in the office ; but Rama could brook no rival and caused his cousin to be assassinated, only to fall in turn a victim to the vengeance of Chain Singh's sons. The blood-feud was duly carried on by Ala Singh, Rama's third son, who killed all but one of the sons of Chain Singh.

Ala Singh, now quit of his nearest enemies, established a post at Sanghera, to protect its people against the chiefs of Kot and Jagraon. In 1718 he entrusted Bhadaur to his brother, and rebuilt Barnala, where he took up his residence. Shortly afterwards his son Sardul Singh attacked and destroyed Mina, the possession of a Rajput who was related to the powerful Rai Kalha of Kot. This roused the Rai to a determined attempt to destroy the rising power of Ala Singh ; and collecting a large force led by the Rajput chiefs of Halwara, Malsin, Thattar, and Talwandi, and the famous Jamal Khan, Rais of Maler Kotla, and strengthened by an imperial contingent under Saiyid Asad All Khan, general of the Jullundur Doab, he attacked the Sikhs outside Barnala. The imperial general fell early in the day and his men abandoned the field. The troops of Maler Kotla and Kot followed their example, and the Sikhs obtained a complete victory, routing the Muhammadan forces and taking many prisoners and much booty.

This victory raised Ala Singh to the position of an independent chief, and the Sikhs flocked to his standard. But the next ten years were consumed in desultory warfare with the Bhattis, and Ala Singh allied himself with the imperial governor of Sirhind against the chief of Kot, who was forced to abandon his principality. Ala Singh, however, soon quarrelled with his ally, and was in consequence thrown by him into prison, where he would have perished but for the self-sacrifice of a follower, a relative of Chain Singh, his hereditary foe. Thus freed, Ala Singh built the fort of Bhawanigarh, 22 miles west of the town of Patiala. Three years later his general, Gurbakhsh Singh, Kaleka,* subdued the territory of Sanaur or Chaurasi, in which the town of Patiala lies, and fortified the latter place, to hold the conquered territory in check. Meanwhile the Diwan of Samand Khan, governor of Sirhind, had fled for protection to Ala Singh, who refused to surrender him. Samand Khan thereupon marched on Sanaur, only to meet with a severe defeat. Bhai Gurbakhsh Singh, the founder of the Kaithal family, next invoked the aid of Ala Singh in subduing the country round Bhatinda, which was then held by Sardar Jodh Singh.

Ala Singh dispatched a considerable force against this chief, but effected nothing until the Sikhs from the north of the Sutlej came to his aid, overran the country, and placed Bhai Gurbakhsh Singh in possession of it. Ala Singh then turned his arms against two neighbouring chiefs, who, having called in vain upon the Bhattis for help, were slain with several hundred followers and their territories annexed. With his son Lai Singh, Ala Singh now proceeded to overrun the country of the Bhatti chiefs, who summoned the imperial governor of Hissar to their aid ; but in spite of his co-operation they were driven from the field. This campaign terminated in 1759 with the victory of Dharsul, which consolidated Ala Singh's power and greatly raised his reputation. Ahmad Shah Durrani on his invasion of India in 1761 had appointed Zain Khan governor of Sirhind ; but the moment he turned his face homewards, the Sikhs, who had remained neutral during his campaigns against the Mughal and Maratha powers, attacked Sirhind, which was with difficulty relieved by Jamal Khan of Maler Kotla and Rai Kalha of Kot. In 1762 Ahmad Shah Durrani determined to punish the Sikhs for this attempt on Sirhind ; and though a great confederacy of the Phulkian chiefs and other Sikh leaders was formed and opposed his advance near Barnala, the Durrani inflicted on them a crushing defeat, their loss being estimated at 20,000 men. Ala Singh himself was taken prisoner and Barnala occupied by the Afghans. The chiefs ransom of 4 lakhs was paid with difficulty, and he was released ; but Ahmad Shah, in pursuance of his policy of employing the Sikhs against the Mughal power, gave Ala Singh a robe of honour with the title of Raja and authority to coin money in his own name, thus founding the Patiala State. These gifts, however, raised the suspicions of the Sikhs ; and Ala Singh only recovered his position in their eyes when, in 1763, he headed the great force of confederated Sikhs which took Sirhind, after Zain Khan had been defeated and slain outside its walls. In this battle the nascent State of Jind was represented by Alam Singh, a grandson of Tiloka, and that of Nabha by Hamir Singh, his great-grandson. After the victory, the old Mughal district of Sirhind was divided among its conquerors. Sirhind itself, with its surrounding country, fell to Ala Singh, Aniloh to Nabha, and a con- siderable area to Jind. In this year Jind and Nabha may be deemed to have come into being as ruling States, and henceforward their histories diverge.

The right of adoption was granted to the chiefs of Patiala, Jind, and Nabha in 1860, together with the further concession that, in the event of the chief of any one State dying without male issue and without adopting a successor, the chiefs of the other two, in concert with the Political Agent, should choose a successor from among the Phulkian family. Succession in these cases is subject to the payment to the British Government of a nazarana or fine equal to one-third of the gross revenue of the State. The Political Agent for the Phulkian States and Bahawalpur resides at Patiala.