The day Ahmad Kharal fell
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza

It was Sept 21, 1857, when a I bard or a folk poet of dholas had said:
(With the fall of Ahmad (Khan Kharal), Britain has tried to lower the head of Punjab). On that day, Ahmad Khan was shot dead in the battlefield of Noorey di Dall (Gishkori in Okara district) while he was saying his afternoon prayers. And for the poet, Ahmad Khan was a martyr who had joined the Imam (of Karbala). But that was not the end of unarmed struggle of the people on both sides of the Ravi and on the right bank of the Sutlej where Wattoos had refused to pay taxes to the British employees who had invaded Lakho and arrested many villagers. Their livestock were also driven away. That happened in the first week of July, 1857. That was the actual beginning of the rebellion of the local Muslims against the British authority, and that was led by Ahmad Khan Kharal, a chief of Jhamara on the right bank of the Ravi.

Who was Ahmad Khan Kharal? A British compiler of the Montgomery Gazetteer says: “Ahmad was the man above average – bold and crafty. It was the man who roused the tribes. All important tribes of the Ravi rose. The first real precursor of the storm that was brewing occurred on the night of July 26 in the shape of an outbreak in Gogera District Jail. (Gogera, now in Okara district, was the headquarter of Montgomery district which then comprised the areas of Okara, Pakpattan and Sahiwal). This appears to have been, in all probability, the work of Ahmad Khan.

Reliable information was received with the effect that Ahmad with a large body of Wattoos had retreated into a jungle near Gishkori, some six miles south of Gogera. Capt Black was sent to the area with a detach ment of cavalry to destroy them. He was joined by Lt Chichester. A skirmish took place in which the cavalry had to retreat. They were, however, rallied and Ahmad together with Sarang, chief of the Begka Kharals, was killed.”
But that was not the whole story which, if started from July 26 ended on Sept 21. It continued even after the fall of Mughals in Delhi. Even one of the important civil servants, Berkeley, was killed two days after the death of Ahmad Khan. According to the poets of Dholas, it was Berkeley who invited Ahmad Khan, Sarang and other tribal chiefs just after the outbreak in Meerut and asked them to provide recruits and horses to be sent to troubled areas. A piece of a dhola:
Berkeley says: Provide me with horses and men, Rai Ahmad and I will secure a citation for you from London.
Rai Ahmad says: No one in his life ever shares wives, land and mares with others.
Ahmad and Sarang refused pointblank and went back to their village Jhamar.

The deputy commissioner of Gogera writes to Maj Hamilton, commissioner (as I have already) described the outbreak which had occurred during the previous night at the Gogera jail. Considerable loss of life took place on the occasion among the prisoners, but the time was not for hesitation.
The prisoners were in a savage state of excitement, and I found that Ahmad Khan had just fled from the station …… “Mr Berkeley was sent in the meantime with 20 horsemen to capture, if possible, Ahmad Khan before he had crossed the Ravi opposite to his village Jhamara …. Then I received a note from Berkeley that he had not suc ceeded in intercepting Ahmad Kharal … Ahmad Khan has become the king of the country. Then the chief (Ahmad Khan Kharal) himself made the appearance, and in reply to Berkeley’s threats informed him that he had pronounced his allegiance to the British government and considered himself a subjec of the king of Delhi, from whom he had received orders to raise the whole country. His followers thereupon began a matchlock fire …” Dhola about this incident says:

(The British have burnt down tenements on both banks of the Ravi. Then came the dwelling of a Faqir Mastana which was also set to fire. They say: “We have to burn down Jhamara and bulldoze the town.” The deputy commissioner of Gogera reports to the Multan commissioner:

The first information of the intended insurrection was brought to me by Sarfraz Khan Kharal of Kamaliya on the night of Sept 16. He insisted on seeing me at about 11pm stating that he had something of great importance to communicate, and on being admitted, informed that all chiefs of Ravi tribes, who were present at the Sadar on heavy muchalkas had fled with all their followers, and that there could be no doubt that they intended to rise immediately.” Sarfraz Khan Kharal’s spying mission was successful and he along with chiefs from Multan like Sadiq Mohammad Khan Badozai, Murad Shah Gardezi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Makhdooms of Pakpattan, Machhia and Bahawal of Ningrrials (Langrrials), Jeevey Khan of Akbar, Murad Shah of Dola Bala, Sardar Shah of Khanda and Gulab Ali Chishti of Tibbi Lal Beg were duly compensated for their “meritorious services” to the British.
The Dawn: September 22, 2006
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Kharal and Berkley
MUHAMMAD HASSAN MIRAJ

A road from Jaranwala leads to Sayyedwala. None remains of the ruins now because the city has taken three turns on construction and destruction. To avoid disambiguation, it is named as Qadeem Sayyedwala, Purana Sayyedwala and lastly, just Sayyedwala. The story of Sayyedwala goes as Sher Shah Suri wanted to develop a new capital, away from Lahore. It was an act of Suri vengeance to rob Lahore of its grandeur. Foundations were laid and settlers moved in but Sher Shah could not. Sayyedwala had run out of its stock of fame and luck. It did thrive for a while but was subsequently abandoned to inattention. During Alamgir’s time, floods threatened Lahore Fort. Embankments were constructed to save the fort and divert the floods to Sayyedwala. Nothing stood the rage of the Moguls and with the wrath of the floods Sayyedwala was first destroyed. The residents, however, did not give up and founded a new city, three miles away, now known as Purana Sayyedwala.

The transition from Sikh Punjab to British Punjab is marked with names like Mool Raj, but most fascinating is an old Banyan tree, a well and a graveyard … a troika that denotes the spirit of freedom in Sayyedwala.

Before the war of independence in 1857, Sayyedwala and Gogera were busy grain markets astride Ravi and stopovers for caravans’ enroute to Lahore. When the war broke out, Sayyedwala offered stiff resistance and as it flopped, the wrath of the British Empire began. They put up gallows on the oldest Banyan tree of Sayyedwala, hung freedom fighters and threw them into the well in the graveyard. When the animosity did not wear out, they took recourse to punitive administrative measures and eventually Sayyedwala was relocated to its present location. The Raj did not realise that cities emulate human life; they can wear out but never be omitted from public memories. Sayyedwala lives on to-date, though like an old man, and spends most of its time in the backyard of the past.

Walking by Ravi, Jhamra comes next. The town has a tomb but the interred soul lives in the heart of those, who mourn the Punjab of yester-centuries. While the actual setting of his chivalry is celebrated on both sides of Ravi, Ahmed Khan Kharal was too free to be contained by geography. All those important and unimportant stations that lie on this route, once lived with the stories of the Kharals. Amidst the land allotments, fluid loyalties, deceit and compromises, the Jaats have documented an awe-inspiring tradition of courage and valour. Alongside Mirza, Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal was the Knight as well as the King Arthur of our culture. Today, the unknown cemeteries are not only home to these known men but also to the performers who once reinvigorated these epics with their craft, alas, the craft too has met a dusty fate. But, long ago, Ahmed Khan Kharal was part of tales mother told their children.

By caste, the Kharals are Rajput of the Agni-Kula descent. They link up their genealogy with Karan, a chivalrous character from Ramayana and were converted by Makhdoom Jahanian Shah Shareef. Saadat Ali Khan, a prominent Kharal, was granted a fiefdom in this locality by Aurangzeb and this is how these Jaats made Baar their new home. Those were the times when land and religion bonded men rather than dividing them. In Jhamra, neighbouring Nakais, Gayan Singh, Khazan Singh and Bhagwan Singh had pledged brotherhood with Rai Saleh Khan, the Kharal chief. When Gayan Singh married his daughter, Datar Kaur, to Ranjit Singh, Kharals chipped in the dowry, as a good will gesture. Rai Saleh Khan was succeeded by his nephew Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal, instead of his son. When Ranjit Singh won over Punjab, he travelled across his kingdom and met local nobility. During his visit to Sayyedwala, he met Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal and called him a brother. 1947 was almost a century away.

The battle for Punjab was characterised with patience and perseverance. It graduated from the treaty of Bherowal to the fluttering union jack in Lahore as a series of defeated resistances. A little later, in 1857, the war of Independence broke out and Punjab too, felt the heat of the actions in Dehli and Meeruth. The Raj pre-empted violence to suppress any likely insurrection in this area and constructed jails in every district. One such jail was located in Gogera.

The first shot of independence was fired in May, 1857 at Barrakpur. A few weeks later, Ahmed Khan was summoned by Berkley, the administrative officer at Gogera. He asked for the horses and men to battle freedom fighters. His demand was met by Ahmed Khan’s remarks:
"Kharals do not share wife, horse and land with anyone".
After a week, many innocent men, women and children were imprisoned by the British in Gogera. They tried explaining their innocence but no one listened. Lastly, Ahmed Khan, along his Fatiana friends attacked the Gogera prison and rescued all the inmates on 26 July 1857.
The Raj ran out of patience and started taking on Ahmed Khan. The Berkley of Gogera wrote to the Martin of Sahiwal, who then informed Hamilton in Multan. Within a week, Ahmed Khan was the new-found symbol of resistance against the British. The age when men finally concede was the age when Ahmed Khan fought against the superpower of his time. As the Raj recruited the young and mighty for the battle of Punjab, Ahmed Khan had turned 80.      Rai Ahmed aakhay, Jamna tay mar vanjhna Aye naal thokar day bhaj jaona, Kangan aye kachi wang daa, Aakhay larr(d) saa`n naal angrez day, Jeevai`n baldee shama tay josh patang daa
Whoever is born, shall die, says Ahmed Khan, It can’t even stand a thud, much like the house of cards, (He vows) I shall fight the British, with the vigour that a moth fights with the flame
What followed next was the tale of courage, deceit and hegemony.
 British raided Jhamra for Ahmed Khan and in his absence; they arrested children and women. The word reached Ahmed Khan, across Ravi. Taking women as hostage was a challenge that Jaats never threw on ground. Wattoos suggested attack on a police post in Sayyedwala but Ahmed Khan ruled it out.
With the British on chase, all the tribal leaders gathered at Nooray Dee Dall including Qureshi, Wattoo, Makhdoom and Gardezi. In his battle for autonomy, few sided with Kharal and others advised caution.
The paradox in Punjab is, at best, incomprehensible. It boasts of Sahiban, who let go of her love for Veer Shahmeer and of Shah Hussain who let go of his piety for Madhu.
After the meeting was over, Sarfraz Khan Kharal, a sardar from Kamalia, saddled his horse and rushed to Gogera. Berkley was awakened at two and informed about the imbuing anarchy. Before Dawn, the bugles called and a squadron of cavalry, commanded by young Captain Blake, marched out to handle insurrection. Few hours later, another officer left with reinforcements and lastly Berkley himself went to Gashkori woods.
All stories of Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal can be traced back to Dada Phogi, an eye-witness of his final days. Before they charged, Ahmed Khan spoke to his tribesmen and the words infused an iron spirit. Had he been British or an establishment hero, the speech would have been archived to form the textbook chapter of “Speeches-that-changed-the-world”, but that never happened. The Jaats of Baar fought with unmatched chivalry and pushed the artillery-supported squadron, more than two miles.
When the dust settled, the squadron had already routed, so Ahmed Khan stood up for Zuhr prayers. Berkley was hiding in a clump near-bye and one of his Punjabi soldiers indicated Ahmed Khan, to him. He instantly ordered “fire”. Gulab Singh Bedi or Dhara Singh is said to have fired the first shot.
Despite repeated performances, the ballad singers and the story tellers, choke, with emotions, at this point. Kharal fell on the tenth day of Muharram, a day revered in the Muslim world, for Hussain’s vital sacrifice against tyranny. As the bullet hit him, Ahmed Khan fell to prostration. Hereon, the narrative is featured by skilled flashbacks of Karbala, a time travels of almost 12 centuries. The battle site of Gashkori resembles Karbala with Kharal`s severed head on lance, much like Hussain.
British took the head and placed it under an armed guard, at Gogera Jail. One of the sentries, dreamt of Ahmed Khan for three consecutive nights, requesting him to take the head away as British planned its display, in London. During his duty, the guard took the head off the lance, put it in a pitcher and rushed to Jhamra. Those were tumultuous times, void of trust. He buried the pitcher near the grave and did not tell anyone of the burial.
Having shot Rai, Berkley’s advisors pushed him for execution of the rebel`s family. Rai’s wife was quick to act. Upon hearing of Rai’s death, she dispatched the kids to neighbouring village of Murad Fatyana, with a message.
“Your brother has been killed, look after the young Kharals”.
Murad Fatyana struggled hard to hold back. He hugged the shocked kids and loaded his rifles. Before leaving, he told his wife: “Take care of these two kids till I return; and if I do not, raise them as well as you will raise your own kids.
As an epilogue to victory, British troops set Jhamra on fire. Next were the villages of Wattoo and Pindi Sheikh Musa till they faced the river. Berkley thought of crossing to other side as he saw no resistance after Ahmed Khan. He could hear the battle cries but ignored and walked the horse into Ravi. It initially trotted but then reared up on seeing something in water. Before Berkley could knew it, Murad’s spear made its way through his tunic and Scottish flesh. Rapid stabbings sent Berkley down, with the horse, never to be seen again. The official history records drowning as the cause of death but Dada Phogi says Berkley over-trusted Ravi.
After Ahmed Khan, none stood against British expansion till Multan. Few years later, Berkley’s brother, a man of position and significant authority, visited Gogera and summoned, Ahmed Khan’s son. He asked Muhammad Khan to forego the murder of his father. Muhammad Khan refused citing the limitation that a son could not forgo the father’s murder. Times had changed. Reforms were taking roots and temperaments had soothed so the officer concluded.
“OK! You lost your father and I lost my brother, let peace return to Ravi”… And this is how peace returned to Ravi.
A generation later, Ahmed Khan’s grave formed part of Pakistan. His grandson wanted to build a tomb at the grave site to honour the hero. During digging, a shovel hit a pitcher and the head was finally recovered. Miraculously, time had just been irrelevant. The hooked nose, deep-set eyes, whitening hair and the teeth, all stood intact. While the thinking minds felt the strands of beard, the ailing heart could feel the dripping blood. After the funeral, the head was interred but the story re-surfaced. Crude accent of Bhaats studded with similes of Karbala have made it almost eternal. Amidst the love for freedom and hate for imperialism, Karl Marx wrote a lengthy citation for Ahmed Khan.
What unfolds human greed, is the fact that all those who betrayed Ahmed Khan, and in turn the land of five rivers, were rewarded, with the allotment of land. The mutiny reports compiled after the incident bear striking resemblance to the political elite to-date. From Gardezi to Makhdoom, Sayyed to Qureshis, all the surname that line up. as landlords, astride the rail track today, had sided with British during the war of independence in 1857! A proud heritage of misplaced loyalty.
Ohno Anakhi Nahi Samjhda Jeyhr(d)a Ahmed Khan da dukh Visaray
“I do not consider him a sensitive soul Who fails to mourn Ahmed Khan”
Curtsey:DAWN.COM PUBLISHED   APR 15 AND apr 22 , 2013 

Rae Ahmed Nawaz Khan Kharal

Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal was one of the greatest freedom fighters in the Punjab rebellion of 1857
He was a resident of Neeli Bar's famous town Gogera, District Sahiwal. He started his rebellion in a wide area of Punjab, Pakistan coveringGanji Bar, Neeli Bar and Sandal Bar area (an area between rivers Sutlej, Ravi River and Chenab covered with thick forests in past).
A PunjabiMuslim, Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal was basically a landlord, owner of a reasonable/worth mentioning territory ,he was leader of Kharal Tribe due to the prevailing unjustice at that time ,love for his mother land resulting differences with the rulers ,he was a peace loving, landlord, with respectable status but created injustice made him the leader of the freedom fighters who carried out the famous Gogera insurrection. They also attacked the Gogera Central Jail and ensured the freedom of hundreds of freedom fighters who were kept there for actively taking part in the War of Independence 1857.
These freedom fighters under the command of Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal were able to make vast part of their land totally free of the British Raj for at least three months. Their headquarters was at Kot Kamalia. Along with his companions Murad Fatiana, Shujaa Bhadroo, and Mokha Wehniwal he killed Lord Burkley the Commissioner for Gogera. He united most of the Bari tribes against the British rule and was finally killed in a battle with British forces defending his beloved motherland.
After his death His head was taken along by the British soldiers, but snatched back by one of His loyal friend, the point to be noted was that after passing even months blood droops were coming out of his neck as fresh as it has happened just now, His efforts for the freedom of the homeland from British rule were also acknowledged by the last Moghul king, Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia