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 in West Punjab. This particular area of Punjab was der the Sikh Raj and ruled by General Hari Singh Nalwa. After a happy marriage, she was going with her husband and the Marriage party to the village of her in-laws. On the way the dacoits ambushed them. The dacoits ordered all the members of the marriage party to surrender their cash and valuables. The helpless party gave everything to the robbers to save their lives. In addition, the dacoits also took the newly married bride with them.
The poor husband went straight to General Nalwa, who was then the governor of the Pathan province. While the general in his court was listening to the complaint of the husband, he observed two persons behaving suspiciously near the door. He suspected them to be the accomplices of the dacoits. After the husband had completed the story of the marriage party being waylaid by the robbers and the loss of his wife, the general ordered aloud to be heard by those suspects. “Put this man in the prison because he did not care enough to protect a helpless woman who happened to be his wife.” The two suspects actually the accomplices of the dacoits were there to know the reactions of the General, felt pleased to hear the order. They were relieved to know that no policeman was going out in search of dacoits. The vigilant eyes of the General observed a smile and feeling of relief on the faces of the accomplices when they heard his decision. This assured the general of those men’s part in looting the marriage party and carries away the bride. The General secretly ordered 10 Sikh horsemen to take the husband of the stolen Bride with them and follow the accomplices.
After the accomplices were fully satisfied that general was angry with the cowardly behavior of the groom, they decided to go to the place where dacoits were holding the bride and give them the good news of the General’s decision. As the party of the dacoits was celebrating their success, the horsemen surrounded the dacoits and ordered them to surrender. When the bride was brought before the General Nalwa, he asked her for her 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 coming out of the mouth of a helpless woman gave her the name Sharangat Kaur. When everything was restored to them, the General asked the bride and groom to go home. Both begged the General to admit them to the Khalsa Panth. They wanted to enjoy the honor of living as Sikhs and dying as Sikhs. On their resolve to become the members of the Khalsa Panth, they were given Amnit and allowed to stay with the General.
Once when as General Nalwa was visiting Jamrod Fort, he fell seriously ill there. The area was surrounded with the Pathan population who were very unfriendly towards the General. Realizing that the General was sick and not in any physical condition to do battle, Pathans rebelled against his rule. To send the message that he was hale and hearty, the General went up the upper story of the fort 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 the rebels aimed his gun and shot the General. Unfortunately, the General was hit and died of the bullet wounds. The situation in the fort became very tense because of the death of General Nalwa and there was nobody to replace him. Bibi Sharangat 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 women, will reach Peshawar as soon as possible and inform the army there. She had to travel through a hilly route that covered 20 miles, swarming with Pathan rebels. There were wild animals in the scrub through 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 reached Peshawar by walking or running the whole night through the 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 Sharangat Kaur covered their long and arduous journey to Lahore and reported the sad news to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. After hearing the sad news of the great General Hari Singh Nalwa’s death, Maharaja Ranjit Singh left for Peshawar. Knowing that 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 statesmanship of a woman, Sardarni Sada Kaur, was thus saved from being dismembered, by the bravery of another woman Bibi Shargat Kaur. She was honored by the Khalsa Panth with the title of “Brave daughter of Punjab.”
Article extracted from this publication >> August 14, 1996
