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The Sakhi of this great
Sikh woman starts from the very day
of her marriage. She was born in a Hindu
family in the Pathan country on the
west of the Punjab. The area was under
the Sikh Raj and ruled by General Hari
Singh Nalwa. After a happy marriage,
she was going along with her groom and
the marriage party to the village of
her in-laws. On their way, the dacoits
ambushed them. Waving their arms, the
dacoits ordered all the people to surrender
their cash and valuables. The helpless
party gave everything to the robbers
to save their lives. The decoits, however,
also demanded the newly married bride
and took her with them.
The poor groom went straight to General
Nalwa, who was then the governor of
the Pathan province . While the General
sitting in his court was listening to
the complaint of the groom he observed
two persons behaving suspiciously near
the door. He suspected them to be the
friends of the dacoits. After the man
had completed the story of the party
being way-laid by the dacoits and the
loss of his wife, the General ordered
aloud to be heard by those suspects,
"Put this man in the prison. He
did not care to protect a helpless woman,
who was his own wife.". The two
suspects who were actually the associates
of the dacoits and were there to know
the reactions of the General, were pleased
to hear the order. They were relieved
of the fear of any policemen going out
in search of the dacoits to catch them.
The vigilant eyes of the General observed
a smile on the faces of the suspects
when they heard his decision. This assured
the General of their complicity in looting
the marriage party and carrying away
the bride. The General secretly ordered
ten Sikh horsemen to take the husband
of the stolen woman with them and follow
the suspects.
Having been satisfied that the General
was angry with the cowardly behavior
of the groom, the associates of the
dacoits assumed that the whole episode
was over and forgotten. Therefore, they
decided to go to the dacoits immediately
and tell them the good news of the decision
of the General. When they reached the
house where the dacoits were holding
the bride, they started telling their
friends about the reactions of the General.
They were talking joyfully when the
horsemen surrounded the dacoits and
ordered them to put their hands up.
The dacoits wondered about the smart
move of the General.
When the bride was brought before Sardar
Nalwa he asked her, What is your name?
She replied, I am nobody. I would have
been dead had you not saved my life.
Now I am under your ‘sharan’
(protection). The word ‘sharan’
voluntarily coming out of the mouth
of a helpless, scared woman gave her
the popular name Sharanagat Kaur.
When everything was restored to them,
the General asked the bride and groom
to go home. Both begged the Sardar to
admit them to the Khalsa Panth. They
wanted to enjoy the honour of living
as Sikhs and dying as Sikhs. On their
very firm resolve to become the members
of the Khalsa Panth, they were given
Amrit and allowed to stay there with
the General.
Once Hari Singh Naiwa was visiting
Jamrod Fort. He fell seriously ill there.
The area was surrounded with the Pathan
population unfriendly towards him. Knowing
that the General was sick and not physically
in a condition to do battle, they all
rebelled against his rule. To send the
message that he was hale and hearty,
the General went up to the upper storey
of the fort to inspect a repaired wall,
from where he could be seen by all the
people outside the fort. Seeing him
moving about on the fort, the rebels
retreated quickly. However, one of them
aimed his gun at him and shot him before
he went back. Unfortunately, the General
was hit and died of the bullet wound.
The situation in the fort became very
tense and everyone was depressed finding
their General dead, and with no one
there to replace him. Bibi Sharanagat
Kaur kept her composure, thought for
some time and said, This is not the
time to feel worried or to get scared.
Let us face this critical moment with
courage and confidence. I have a plan
to save the situation. You drop me behind
the fort by a long rope. I, disguised
as a Pathan woman, will reach Peshawar
as soon as possible and inform the army
there.
She had to travel through a hilly route
that covered twenty miles, swarming
with Pathan rebels. There were wild
animals in the forest through which
she had to walk at night, and she could
easily become their prey. It was a very
risky journey. It looked impossible
for her to reach Peshawar alive and
give the sad news to the army and to
request their help.
The brave, daring young woman did reach
there by walking or running the whole
night, through dense forest. Without
losing any time, she asked the best
horsemen to get ready quickly and ride
their horses. Sikh soldiers under the
guidance of Bibi Sharanagat Kaur travelled
as fast as they could to reach Lahore.
They covered their long arduous journey
quickly and reported the episode to
Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. After hearing
of the death of a great General who
raised the honour of the Khalsa army
to the skies, he felt very sad. Assessing
the situation to be critical, he himself
left for Peshawar. Knowing that the
Maharaja had personally come to punish
the rebels, the Pathans immediately
surrendered without fighting and promised
to remain friendly thereafter.
The Khalsa Raj of Punjab, founded with
the statesmanship of a woman, Sardarni
Sada Kaur, was thus saved from being
dismembered, by the bravery of another
woman, Bibi Sharanagat Kaur. She was
honoured by the Khalsa Panth with the
title of "Brave daughter of Punjab".
Sikh women can face successfully all
kinds of critical and risky situations,
like any good General and Statesman.
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