Sardar Bhagwant Singh Bangeshwar (Sarkar-i-Bangash-O-Amir-i-Umara-i-Azam) was an Indian ruler of the Bangash (in present-day Pakhtunkhwa) of the 18th century. He was a cousin of Bhai Mani Singh.Guru De SherHardcover: 407 pages Publisher: Chattar Singh Jeevan Singh (2011) Language: Punjabi

Titles

"Bangeshwar" or " Bangash-Pati " are the titles he was known with from the name of the state he ruled the Bangash in the Kurram Valley. Kurram, at the time was a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

state extending from the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

River to Kurram River in present-day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

With Aurangzeb

Two centuries after 1500, Rajput rulers began to take high positions in

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

court. Apart from being a ruler he was a fierce warrior too, which led

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

to give him 1000 cavalry and 4000 infantry and gave him the title of Umar-i-Azam which was high mansab given to

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

rulers.

Battle with Kamal Khan

He was engaged in a battle with Kamal Khan, who was

commander of Attock Fort. He killed Kamal Khan in a fierce battle and made the Mughals fear his might.

Meeting Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh had to settle in

Nanded Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the tenth largest city in the state and the seventy-ninth most populous city in India. It is the second largest city in Marathwada region. It is the district headquarters of Nanded distric ...

after being attacked by Mughals. All his sons were martyred. Sardar Bhagwant Singh went to meet Guru Gobind Singh to discuss his sorrow. After hearing all the atrocities done on the Guru by the Mughals he pledged to ruin the tyrant of Sirhind who killed innocent younger sons of the Guru.

Attack on Sirhind and killing of Wazir Khan

Wazir khan ( Sarkar-i-Sirhind ) was a

Mansabdar The Mansabdar was a military unit within the administrative system of the Mughal Empire introduced by Akbar. The word ''mansab'' is of Arabic origin meaning rank or position. The system determined the rank and status of a government official an ...

with 2000 horsemen under

which was much less as compared to a Mansab of 5000 horsemen of Sardar Bhagwant Singh ( Sarkar-i-Bangash ), so Wazir Khan's defeat was certain. Sardar Bhagwant Singh along with his seven brothers and Banda Singh Bahadur(whom Guru Gobind Singh sent with them acknowledging him as the Guru's adopted son) made his sword bathe in tyrant's blood and ruined the

rule in Sirhind which was a very big Mughal

subah A Subah was the term for a province (State) in the Mughal Empire. The word is derived from Arabic and Persian. The governor/ruler of a ''Subah'' was known as a '' subahdar'' (sometimes also referred to as a "''Subeh''"), which later became ''subed ...

extending from

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

. His one brother Sardar

Baj Singh Baba Baj Singh (died 1716), also known as Baj Bahadur, was a Sikh general, governor, scholar and martyr from present-day India. Family Baj Singh's family was native to Mirpur Patti, a village in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He was born into ...

(first Governor of Khalsa Raj) was made governor of

Sirhind Sirhind-Fategarh is a town and a municipal council in the Fatehgarh Sahib district in the Indian state of Punjab. Demographics In the 2011 census Sirhind-Fatehgarh had a population of 60852. Males constituted 54% of the population and female ...

and one more of his brothers, Sardar Ram Singh was made governor of Thanesar. He kept his word given to the Guru.

References

{{reflist 18th-century Indian people Mughal Empire people