Sarang Gakhar ( pa, , translit= Sārang Gakhar) (d. 1546) was the Chief of the

Gakhars The Gakhar are a Punjabi clan found predominantly in the Jhelum District and Gujranwala District in Punjab province of Pakistan. The Gakhars now predominantly follow Islam after conversion from Hinduism during the Islamic rule of north India. M ...

, who ruled in

Pothohar Plateau The Pothohar Plateau ( ur, ) is a plateau in north-eastern Pakistan, located between Indus River and the Jhelum River, forming the northern part of Punjab. Geography Potohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River, on the west by the ...

in northern

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, from 1520 – 1546.

Early life

Father's assassination

In 1519, Tatar Khan was assassinated by his nephew Hathi Khan, due to envy and hatred.

War with Hathi Khan

Sarang Khan and Adam Khan, both being young, escaped to Dangali. They then desired their share of the land and thus anarchy and disorder took rise. The hate, enmity, anarchy and discord coming from both sides increased to such an extent that war between Hathi Khan and the two brothers became inevitable and so they began to attack each other. It is famously known that the vanguards in the army of Hathi Khan declared that they would not strike any with the spear besides Sarang Khan. One of them, named Murad Khan, struck the head and face of Sarang Khan with a spear.

Assassination of Hathi Khan

Hathi Khan made peace with the Kaswals and married a daughter from the family of Basa Khan Kaswal, he also founded a township named after him, called Hathyah. The Kaswals, either due to old enmity or upon the encouragement of Sarang Khan, poisoned Hathi Khan through their daughter. He died due to this poisoning in 927 AH, 1520 CE after 12 years of rule.

Reign

After the death of Hathi Gakhar, Sarang Gakhar assumed leadership and the position of a Chief. Sarang paid heed to the advice of Hathi Khan and buried the body of the deceased Sultan in the township of Plakhar, Haveli,

Pargana Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...

Dangali. After that he heated a

Tandoor A tandoor ( or ) is a large urn-shaped oven, usually made of clay, originating from the Indian Subcontinent. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti and naan, as well as to roast meat. The tandoo ...

and placed the woman inside it, burning her and reducing her to ashes. That place thus became known as Tandoorwala. He granted Murad Khan Budhal a robe of honour and gave him the command that the Kaswals be banished. They were stationed in great numbers at Jogyalkot Fort, which is near to the east of Thoa. After much war and fighting, the fort was destroyed by a land mine and the Kaswals were banished from this region, they chose to settle in Pargana Anderhal. In the mid 16th century, the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

king,

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

usurped the Mughal dynasty under

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...

, the second Mughal emperor. Sarang resisted Sher Shah on the notion of loyalty to the ousted Mughals. Sarang was later captured by Islam Shah and flayed alive.''

The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians ''The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians'' is a book comprising translations of medieval Persian chronicles based on the work of Henry Miers Elliot. It was originally published as a set of eight volumes between 1867-1877 in London. T ...

: The Muhammadan Period'' by Henry Miers Elliot, John Dowson, Volume IV, p. 493 Sarang was thus martyred in 1546 and is buried in a tomb in Rawat Fort. His brother Adam Khan assumed leadership of the tribe and became the next Gakhar Chief.

References