Ilahi Bakhsh

Ilahi Bakhsh
Died	1849 Chillianwala, Punjab, Sikh Empire (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Allegiance	Sikh Empire
Service / branch	Sikh Khalsa Army
Years of service	1802-1849
Rank	Jarnail
Relations	Fateh Khan (son) Sikander Khan (son) Madad Khan (son)

Ilahi Bakhsh was a Muslim Punjabi general who served in the Sikh Khalsa Fauj for over forty years and was regarded as one of the best artillery officers.^[1][2]

Biography

He entered the service of the army in 1802.^[3] Following a re-organization of the army in 1810, Bakhsh was transferred to a new artillery corps, the Fauj-i-Khas, led by Mian Ghaus Khan.^[4] In 1814 he was placed in command of a special wing of artillery named the Derah-i-Ilahi.^[5] In 1818 he assisted Misr Diwan Chand at the Battle of Multan.^[6] He was later employed in the pacification of Hazara and Dera Ghazi Khan. He fought at the Battle of Nowshera in March 1823.^[7]

In 1831 at the Ropar meeting between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India, he arranged a demonstration of his artillery as well as of his own firing skill in the course of evening entertainments and the review of troops.^[8]

In the beginning of January 1844, he was removed from his command in suspicion of corresponding with Jawahar Singh and Suchet Singh but was restored to his command a few days later.^[9]

He was present at many of the battles during the First Anglo-Sikh War and Second Anglo-Sikh War.^[10] He played a key role at the Battle of Chillianwala, one of the bloodiest British battles fought in India.^[11] Three days after the battle, Ilahi Bakhsh defected to the British, possibly due to a monetary incentive from the British.^[12] The defection of Bakhsh dealt a blow to the Sikh artillery and they capitulated to the British the following month at Gujrat. He died in the Battle of Chillianwala in 1849.

Family

His sons Fateh Khan, Sikander Khan and Madad Khan all achieved distinction as officers in the Sikh Army. Sikander succeeded his father as Chief of the Artillery and later inherited substantial properties in Lahore. Fateh died whilst fighting at the Battle of Mudki, and Madad was killed at the Battle of Chillianwala.^[13] His Grandson was the famous Raja of Chillianwala Ch. Tuman Khan, the father of Raja Sardar Khan of Chillianwala. His great-granddaughter married the founder of the Unionist Party, Sir Fazl-i-Hussain.^[14]

References

1. Nagendra Kr Singh, Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: I-M, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 2001
2. G. S. Chhabra, Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-2: 1803-1920), Lotus Press, 2005
3. Nagendra Kr Singh, Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: I-M, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 2001
4. Gulcharan Singh, Ranjit Singh, and his generals, Sujlana Publishers, 1976
5. Nagendra Kr Singh, Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: I-M, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 2001
6. Kartar S. Duggal, Philosophy and Faith of Sikhism, Himalayan Institute Press, 1988
7. Balraj Saggar, Who's who in the history of Punjab, 1800-1849, National Book Organisation, 1993
8. Nagendra Kr Singh, Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: I-M, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 2001
9. Balraj Saggar, Who's who in the history of Punjab, 1800-1849, National Book Organisation, 1993
10. Balraj Saggar, Who's who in the history of Punjab, 1800-1849, National Book Organisation, 1993
11. M. L. Ahluwalia, Sant Nihal Singh, Alias Bhai Maharaj Singh: A Saint-revolutionary of the 19th Century Punjab, Punjabi University, 1972
12. Basil Perronet Hughes, The Bengal Horse Artillery, 1800-1861: the 'Red Men' - a nineteenth-century corps d'élite, Arms and Armour Press, 1971
13. Azim Husain, Fazl i Husain A Political Biography, Longmans, Green & Company, 1946
14. Azim Husain, Fazl i Husain A Political Biography, Longmans, Green & Company, 1946