PUNJAB
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The Sikhs established their Empire in the Punjab after the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707. With the death of Aurangzeb the country saw a series of rapid governmental changes that stressed it into the depths of anarchy. Taking advantage of this a certain Charat Singh, who was the head of one of the Sikh Clans, established his stronghold in Gujranwala in 1763. Charat Singh died in 1774 and was succeeded by his son, Mahan Singh, who in turn fathered the most brilliant leader in the history of the Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It was this remarkable leader who united the whole Punjab under one flag. His rule stretched from the banks of the Jamuna to the Khyber and from Kashmir to Multan. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the most powerful of all the Sikh Rulers and ruled over 40 years. After his death in 1840 the Sikh Empire was divided into small principalities looked after by several Sikh Jagirdars. As a condition
of the peace treaty after the first Anglo Sikh War of 1845, some British
troops, along with a resident political agent and other officials, were left
in the Punjab to oversee the regency of Maharaja Dhalip Singh, a minor. The
Sikh army was reduced greatly in size. After a revolt in 1848 and under the
Treaty of Lahore in 1849, the Punjab was annexed by the British East India
Company, and Dhalip Singh was pensioned off. The Punjab became a province of
British India, although a number of small states, most notably Patiala,
retained local rulers who recognized British sovereignty. The British Punjab province was partitioned in 1947 prior to the independence of Pakistan and subsequently, India. In India, the Punjab province was further partitioned into and forming Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. |
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The arms of the Punjab Empire are a shield, a kutar or Indian dagger, and a sword. On the flag, called Nishan Sahib, these are displayed in black on a triangular orange cloth with a decorated bordure. This flag can be considered to be the flag of the Punjab rulers. [1] Even when the origin of the Nishan Sahib is traced back to the time of Guru Hargobind (*1595-†1644), its oldest representation known sofar is on a picture of Charat Singh (r.1763-‘74) in procession. [2] The prince himself, behind his head a halo, is depicted with the usual Indian royal insignia: an almond-shaped screen, a fly-whisk (chamar) and an umbrella (chhatri). In front of him an ensign carries a banner (nishan) of the usual triangular form charged with the arms. The ensign himself has an orange turban crested with a blue tasseled pointed cap decorated with a silver trident. The trident, as we know, is the emblem of Shiva, and in this case may be identified as the emblem of the Punjab army.
Charat Singh on horseback
with a bow over his right shoulder and a falcon in his left. From a Rajastani style
painted manuscript called ‘Journey to
Deccan’, 1770-’80 ca. [3]
A flag,
probably of this design, was first installed on the top of the Harmandar
Sahib (Golden Temple) by Sardar Jhanda Singh of the Bhangi clan in 1771. In
1783 Udasi Mahants Santokh Das and Pritam Das brought from Dera Ram Rai
(Dehra Dun) a tall sal tree in one piece and using it as the flagpost
raised a Nishan Sahib
in front of a bunga (a hospice or resting place) next to the Akal
Takhat whence this bunga acquired the name Jhanda Bunga. In 1820 Sardar
Desa Singh Majithia whom Maharaja Ranjit Singh had entrusted with the
management of Darbar Sahib replaced the wooden flagpost with a steel one
covered with gilded copper sheets. Later a similar flagpost was also
presented by the Maharaja himself but this was not erected till 1841 when the
one installed by the Majithia sardar was damaged in a storm. Then the damaged
flagpost was also repaired and erected by Desa Singh’s son Lahina Singh
Majithia and two Nishan Sahibs
of equal height have been flying in front of Jhanda Bunga since then. Both
these flag posts were of solid iron. From this time
there is a representation of the Nishan Sahib on brass plates in the
Gurudwara Baba Atal Sahib, a temple south of the Golden temple. These show
banners with the same arrangement of dagger, sword and shield as on the
painting of 1770-’80.
Detail
of the brass embossed plates of the Gurudwara Baba Atal Sahib in Amritsar,
19th c. Two
flags charged with shield, dagger and sword. [4] This Nishan
Sahib may have been used well into the twentieth century as some
photographs have been preserved showing it displayed on flagposts in front of
Jhanda Bunga. Afterwards the arms were replaced by the khanda. |
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Two
photographs of the Nishan Sahib, probably of the turn of the 19th-20th
century [5] The
flags show the shield-sword-dagger emblem. |
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Other
Symbols |
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Other flags, dating from the first half of the 19th century, show some interesting symbols. The first thing we remark is that they are red and not tenné or orange which means that they are of a different kind as the Nishan Sahib, that is to say, they display the colour usually associated (from Roman times) with the army.
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Details of Sikh
Battle Standards from the collection of Lord Dalhousie as they are displayed at
the Mansion of Colstoun, East Lothian, Scotland. Family tradition states that
they were captured by Lord Gough at the Battle of Gujrat 21 February 1849. [7] ð In the three symbols we found we may recognize the symbols of the ruler, the empire and the state and in this respect the Punjab Empire was not different from many other civilized nations. |
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Punjab Province |
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The achievement of Punjab Province was: Arms: Purpure, five barrulets wavy, in chief a rising sun radiant Argent. Crest: A lion passant. Motto: CRESCAT · E · FLUVIIS (Let it Grow from the Rivers). [8] |
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The emblem of West (Pakistan) Punjab is a coat of arms. It is: Arms: Argent, five waves Vert, in chief a crscent and star with outlines Vert and in base Punjab in arabic lettering also Vert. Garland: Ears of rice, Argent, outlined Vert . |
The emblem of East (India) Punjab is a seal. It shows the Asoka Capital and its motto, being the emblem
of India, surrounded by a bordure charged in chief with an ear of rice and in
base with two swords in saltire and on the dexter and sinister the words
‘Punjab Sirkar’ in devanagiri and gurbani script. Below the seal is a ribbon
with the title GOV[ernmen]T PUNJAB. The emblem is tinctured
tenne (orange) |
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ð See illustrations in the head of this essay. |
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The ancient Pakistani Punjab Police arms shows the waves of the Government of Punjab coat of arms and the Pakistan crescent-and-star, surrounded by a garland of rice. Nowadays the Pakistani Punjab Police uses the arms of the Pakistan Police i.e. the capitals PP, crested with a five-pointed star and surrounded by a garland. |
The India Punjab Police arms shows the capitals PP (Punjab Police), crested by the Asoka capital and surrounded by a garland. Below is a motto. |
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Like in many other nations, the heraldry of the Punjab Empire consisted of battle standards and uniforms. The standards of the smaller units showed different symbols, sometimes borrowed from religion as can be seen on these two standards. The first shows Kartikkeya, riding a peacock, the other Hanuman. The standards are on a lithograph of a painting of Sher Singh (1841-’43) in procession. [9] |
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From a 19th century picture we may conclude that after the modernization of the army by Ranjit Singh, certain unities of the Punjab Army wore uniforms. The badge of the Royal Guard seems to have been a trident or, maybe, an early version of the khanda.[10] |
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Following the annexation of the Punjab by the British in 1849, disbanded Sikh soldiers were enlisted en masse to form a key component of the Victorian British Army. British officers were wise enough to maintain the potent symbolism of the independently minded Sikh warrior and readily utilised the chakram in regimental puggari badges. [11]
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© Hubert de Vries 2009-11-19
Heraldry of the World
