When I first began my historical researches in 1904-05 my interest was to gather material on the history of the Lahore Durbar. I wasn't really interested in venturing beyond this. At that time I had met eighteen to twenty elders who had been soldiers in the Khalsa Army of the Sikh Empire and had fought in many of its battles. I had recorded their testimonies then.
When I had spoken with these elders, I had made records only of things which were unknown to me before, that which I had already known I did not record. In the pages which follow I will be sharing some of there oral histories. I must mention that I am sharing these fragments of memory as they were told to me without adding or redacting anything. I do not make any claims to the veracity of all that was said to me and is presented here, but I do ask of the reader to approach his reading with respect that is due to these treasured memories - which are the hallowed words of those who have been witness to the testament of ages.
It should also be kept in mind these narrations are remembered instances and fragmentary memories from about sixty or sixty five years before they were narrated to me. As is the case in such memories, the mind does tend to forget the unnecessary details of largely irrelevant facts, while amplifying the importance of such events which are seen as more relevant to the person. But also, more importantly, with the passage of so much time, the mind - or the heart - tends to move beyond the tiny, as they seem with the passage of time, biases born of factionalism which otherwise tend to colour more temporally immediate records of history.
Again, I must say, the testaments I heard were vast in their telling, and I could only make records of things which were new and unknown to me (translators note: due to limitations, perhaps, which we in our times should not have, in listening to and making records of the memories of our elders). Due to this perhaps there might be some gaps in the narrative for the casual reader (tn: one who is not aware of the wider sweep of Sikh history) but I have no doubt that these notes will be invaluable to historians and researchers interested in the history of the Lahore Durbar.
Among the elders I have spoken to is a gentleman who was present with Maharaja Kharak Singh when Sardar Chet Singh was murdered. Another was in the service of the Sandhawalia Sardars and was present when Maharaja Sher Singh was assassinated. Yet another was among the soldiers of the Khalsa Army when Raja Hira Singh was killed. One of these elders was a companion of Maharaja Duleep Singh and had been with Sardar Jawahar Singh when the latter was killed by the ‘Kudta Wali Paltan’ (a rebellious batallion of the Khalsa Army). Another was among the group of soldiers who killed Raja Hira Singh. One elder told me the tale of how he was captured by a group of Musalmans from the fort of Kheri during the 'khakhiya babbiya’ rebellion and how he maintained his faith despite his circumstances. Of various battles they fought, many elders have much to say. In fact, there was among those I met one who had fought in the Battles of Mudki, Feru Shahar, Sobraon, Ram Nagar, Mog Rasul (Chillianwala) and Gujrat!
I had wished to present the entire testimonies of all these elders in this volume, but could not do so because of limitations of space. But I am presenting a selection, which when read alongside the chronicles of events in the daily reports and sketches of the Empire (Roznamey), throw more light upon them.
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