Shahidganj

Shahidganj, also spelt as Shaheedganj, originally Nakhas Chowk, is a square in Naulakha Bazaar, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located near Delhi Gate.[1] Thousands of Sikhs were publicly executed at the location during the 18th century. Sikhs were executed at the site during the periods of Zakaria Khan, Yahya Khan, Shah Nawaz Khan, Mir Mannu, and Adina Beg.[2] The site was the location of a legal battle between the Muslim and Sikh communities during British-rule in the early 20th century.[3][4][5]

History

The location was originally the Nakhas Chowk, a place where horses were sold.[2][6][1] Earlier in Delhi, hundreds of followers of Banda Singh Bahadur had been publicly executed at Chandni Chowk.[2] During Farrukhsiyar's reign from 1713 to 1719, a bounty was placed on the head of every Sikh.[1] This policy was continued by Zakaria Khan in the Lahore Subah.[1]

The Abdullah Khan Mosque was built by Abdullah Khan during the reign of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. Khan was a cook of Prince Dara Shikoh, the elder son of Shah Jahan, and in 1743 CE, rose up to the position of kotwal (Chief police officer) of Lahore for his services.[7] The mosque was completed in 1134 AH (1721/1722 CE) by the Falak Beg Khan,[8] and was built on the premises of the shrine to Pir Shah Kaku.[9][1] In one deed, Sheikh Din Mohammad and his lineage were designated as Mutawalis.[1] The wakf endowment incorporated a school, a well, and an orchard.[1]

In 1721, Zakariya Khan was appointed governor of Lahore by the Mughal court and embarked on a campaign to eradicate the Sikhs.[10] During the governor's reign, the gashti fauj brought Sikhs to be killed at the site.[2] During Nader Shah's invasion of India, Sikhs faced persecution from the invading force.[1] In 1739, hundred of Sikhs were rounded-up and executed at Lahore at a horse-market that later became known as Shahidganj.[6] Furthermore, anyone caught helping Sikhs would be punished and those who cut the hair of Sikhs, provided a Sikh head, or gave intel on Sikhs were rewarded.[6] In 1743, Haqiqat Rai was executed.[2] In 1745, Zakaria Khan sent a force to Phula village to arrest Bhai Taru Singh, as he had been providing assistance to Sikhs. Bhai Taru Singh was subsequently executed at Lahore.[6]

During the Chhota Ghallughara of 1746, the Sikh inhabitants of Lahore were first rounded up, then executed on 10 March 1746.[11][12][13] Hundreds of Sikhs living in Lahore were rounded up and executed.[14][6] The captives from the group of Sikhs that had been originally encamped in the Kahnuwan jungle but later captured while attempting to escape were marched back to Lahore, paraded in the streets and publicly beheaded.[15][12][16] For months, they were held and paraded atop of donkeys in Lahore.[17] The captured Sikhs were ultimately killed specifically at Nakhas Chowk in Lahore.[12][16] The heads of thousands of Sikhs were carried on carts and hung at the gates of Lahore as trophies.[10] Minarets were constructed out of piles of dismembered Sikh heads and their decapitated and mangled bodies were buried within the walls of a mosque.[16]

The Mughals officially restarted their anti-Sikh campaign with the appointment of Shah Nawaz as subahdar in 1747.[6] Between 1748 and 1753, Mir Mannu had conducted his own persecution of the Sikhs and captured five-hundred Sikhs at Ram Rauni through the assistance of Adina Beg.[6] These Sikhs were tortured and executed at the place now known as Shahidganj in Lahore on the occasion of Eid.[6]

Punjabi historian Ganesh Das makes note of the site of being where many Sikhs were executed:[2]

Large numbers of them (i.e. Sikhs) were shot down, while many others were brought in chains to Lahore where they were executed at a place near the Nakhas outside the Delhi gate, which afterwards came to be called Shahid Ganj

— Ganesh Das, 198; Tahqiqat-e-Chisthi, 101

In 1762, the Bhangi Misl Sikh army conquered Lahore and occupied the mosque, together with the public square. The Muslims were not allowed to enter and pray, although Sikhs were given the right to pray. The Sikhs built a gurdwara called Gurudwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh in remembrance of Sikh martyrs in the courtyard while the Mosque building was used as a residence for the Sikh priest.[18][1] The Guru Granth Sahib was installed in a part of the mosque.[1] Remaining sections were either leased to tenants or utilized for the storage of chaff and refuse.[1] Meanwhile, the area adjacent to the mosque was named Shahidganj due to the deaths of Bhai Taru Singh and many other Sikhs at the exact spot.[1] Therefore, the mosque took-on the new name of Shahidganj Mosque.[1]

After a lengthy legal battle and a sudden demolition of the Shahidganj Mosque by the Sikhs, a gurdwara was built over the site of the former mosque to accompany the older gurdwara dedicated to Taru Singh.[1] In December 2022, Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board closed Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh to the public.[19][20] The site receives few visitors.[1]

The Muslim community claimed that the Shahidganj Mosque at the site had been constructed during Mughal-rule by Abdullah Khan during the regime of Shah Jahan.[3] Meanwhile, the Sikhs had constructed a gurdwara at the site after their conquest of Lahore in the mid-18th century.[3] Furthermore, the Sikhs took control of the mosque during their rule and housed a Sikh priest within it.[3] After British annexation of the Punjab, a Muslim man named Nur Ahmad claimed to be the Mutawalli of the mosque and filed a peition in the courts on 17 April 1850 for control of the site against the Sikh custodians Jiwan Singh and Ganda Singh, but his case was dismissed.[3][1] He further tried the same in 1853 and 1883.[3][1] The imam of the Taxali gate mosque in Lahore named Mehar Shah had filed a petition in April 1883 for the site to be given to the Muslims but his case was similarly dismissed by the Deputy Commissioner of Lahore.[3]

The Sikhs defended their ownership of the site by stating the mosque was used to pass judgments on Sikhs in the past and the area was the site of thousands of executions of Sikhs, with these events being memorialized by Gurdwara Shahidganj Singhnian.[3] Meanwhile, the Muslim position was founded on the principle that, under Shariat, a mosque consecrated as Waqf remains a mosque in perpetuity.[3] The Munsif of Lahore stated that the area was the propoerty of a religious institution headed by a mahant (classified as a manager or trustee), thus was considered an endowed property.[3] The courts shifted control over the site from the mahant custodian to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee with the Gurdwaras Act in 1925.[3][1] A notification of the act on 22 December 1927 gave ownership of the mosque building and adjacent land to the adjacent Gurdwara Bhai Taru Singh.[1] The Anjuman Islamia of the Punjab tried filing a claim against this but all these claims were rejected by on 20 January 1930 by the Sikh Gurdwaras Tribunal.[1] Rumours were being shared that the SGPC planned to demolish the mosque at the site in early July 1935, leading to Muslim unrest.[1] The SGPC demolished the mosque on 7 July 1935 during the night, sparking religious riots in 1935–36 between the two communities in the city.[3][1] Eventually, the Muslim side launched a civil case regarding the matter, being represented by M. Alam, Malik Barkat Ali, and F. J. Coltman whilst the SGPC were represented by Rai Bahadur Badridas and Sardar Harnam Singh.[1] Eventually, the case was dismissed due to Justice Din Mohammed's dissent.[1] Sikandar Hayat Khan and Mohammed Ali Jinnah would eventually accept the verdict of the law over the site.[1] A gurdwara was constructed over the site of the former mosque.[1] After Pakistani independence, the Pakistani courts did not reverse the earlier legal judgement regarding the site.[1]

List of religious sites

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Noorani, A. G. (21 August 1995). "The Shahidganj Case". Sikh Review (originally published in The Statesman). Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Singh, Gurmukh. "Gurdwara Shahid Ganj Singh Singhania, Lahore". Sikh Missionary Society. United Kingdom. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Khurshid, Muhammad; Malik, Muhammad Akbar (2011). Shahidganj Mosque Issue and the Muslims Response: 1935-1936 (PDF). University of the Punjab (published in Pakistan Vision Vol. 12 No. 1). pp. 125–142.
  4. ^ 'Custodianship of Shahidganj in colonial Lahore: Land, land use and the formation of religious community, 1850–1936' by Sana Haroon, published in The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 54, 2 (2017): 183–220, SAGE Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore/Washington DC/Melbourne, DOI: 10.1177/0019464617695678
  5. ^ Daniyal, Shoaib (6 December 2014). "A mosque dispute in colonial Lahore could hold lessons for the Babri Masjid case". Scroll.in. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Singh, Harinder (31 December 2024). "Ghallugharas & Raj: Exterminations to Sovereignty". Sikh Research Institute. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  7. ^ Shaheed Ganj Dispute and 'Amir-i-Mi!Iat' Archived September 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Narang, Gokul Chand (1956). Transformation of Sikhism. New Book Society of India.
  9. ^ Journal of Sikh Studies. Department of Guru Nanak Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University. 1975.
  10. ^ a b Anand, Seema; Singh, Kashmir. "Śaradhā dē dhāma: Sikha itihāsa'ca ahima sathāna rakhadai guradu'ārā chōṭā ghalūghārā sāhiba, takarībana 15 hazāra sighāṁ, sighaṇī'āṁ tē baci'āṁ nū kītā gi'ā sī śahīda" ਸ਼ਰਧਾ ਦੇ ਧਾਮ : ਸਿੱਖ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ ’ਚ ਅਹਿਮ ਸਥਾਨ ਰੱਖਦੈ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਛੋਟਾ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ਤਕਰੀਬਨ 15 ਹਜ਼ਾਰ ਸਿੰਘਾਂ, ਸਿੰਘਣੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ ਸ਼ਹੀਦ [Abode of Devotion: Gurdwara Chhota Ghallughara Sahib holds an important place in Sikh history; approximately 15,000 Sikh men, women, and children were martyred here]. Punjabi Jagran (in Punjabi). Qadian. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  11. ^ Singh, Harbans (1998). The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism: E-L. Punjabi University. p. 462. ISBN 9788173802041.
  12. ^ a b c Sodhi, Harjinder; Ganeshpur, Jagjit Singh (14 May 2019). "Aja ghalūghārā divasa'tē: Sikha itihāsa dā ahima sākā chōṭā ghalūghārā" ਅੱਜ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ ਦਿਵਸ 'ਤੇ : ਸਿੱਖ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ ਦਾ ਅਹਿਮ ਸਾਕਾ ਛੋਟਾ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ [On Ghalughara Day: The Significant Episode of "Chhota Ghalughara"]. Punjabi Jagran (in Punjabi). Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  13. ^ Singh, Harinder (20 May 2025). "Chota Ghallughara: Remembering 1746". Sikh Research Institute. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  14. ^ "Chhota Ghallughara | District Gurdaspur, Government of Punjab | India". Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  15. ^ B.S. Nijjar, "Chhota Ghallughara", The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Volume I, Patiala, Punjabi University, 1995, pp.460–61.
  16. ^ a b c "Chōṭā ghalūghārā sarōta: Pajāba kōśa–jilada pahilī, bhāśā vibhāga pajāba" ਛੋਟਾ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ ਸਰੋਤ : ਪੰਜਾਬ ਕੋਸ਼–ਜਿਲਦ ਪਹਿਲੀ, ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਵਿਭਾਗ ਪੰਜਾਬ [Chhota Ghallughara (The Minor Holocaust); Source: Punjab Kosh – Volume 1, Language Department Punjab]. Punjabipedia (in Punjabi). Patiala: Punjabi University. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  17. ^ Singh, Harinder (20 May 2025). "Chota Ghallughara: Remembering 1746". Sikh Research Institute. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
  18. ^ Ahmed, Hilal (3 June 2015). Muslim Political Discourse in Postcolonial India: Monuments, Memory, Contestation. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-55954-2.
  19. ^ PTC NEWS (7 December 2022). Pak lockGurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh : ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ 'ਚ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ 'ਤੇ ਫਿਰ ਜ਼ੁਲ. Retrieved 11 December 2024 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ Mathew, Shania (9 December 2022). "Pakistan seals Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh saying it's a mosque. Sikhs are angry". ThePrint. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.