Lohgarh is one of the most critical places in Sikh history, located in the beautiful Yamunanagar district of Haryana. The great Sikh General Baba Banda Singh Bahadur raised the flag of Sikh sovereignty in 1710. The techniques used for new historical reflection discoveries, evidence, facts, and interpretations produce a recent history of Sikhism and Lohgarh Fort – the Khalsa Rajdhani.
The epicentre of Lohgarh Fort is situated on more than 7000 acres, and dozens of small fortresses were established in the Shivalik Hills in the present districts of Yamunanagar, Ambala and Panchkula.
Numerous funds were required for making such a massive fortification. Therefore, the Vanjara and the Labana communities created a commonwealth to raise funds for constructing the Lohgarh Fort. In addition, Tandas ( the halting places of the trade caravans of the Vanjaras, which now have become villages) made extraordinary endeavours throughout the Indian subcontinent to raise finances for the cause of freedom from foreign yoke.
In the early 18th century, the Mughal economy was 24.4% of the world’s economic system, and the Vanjara Sikh’s were the primary players. The Vanjaras were such wealthy traders that the Mughals had assigned them ‘manabas’ in various empire regions. The Vajaras were The most affluent population of the nation and even had political power, but their feeling of nationalism was unparalled; they worked diligently and secretly, for many decades, to fulfil the mission of the Lohgarh Fort.
Bhai Lakhi Rai Vanjara was the prominent leader behind the objective. A large number of leaders and The Vanjaras followed his path.
Banda came to Punjab with many men around him, and Tandas of Vanjara Sikhs circulated the Hukamnama of guru sahib stating war against the Mughals had opened, and Sikhs were summoned to join Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. So the rebellion was not against a diminutive monarch but the world’s most powerful empire. So the Vanjaras, the Labanas and the Sikhligars fought the battles of Lohgarh.
After the battles of Lohagarh, no population was left in the district. It is worth knowing that most of the people inhabiting the present districts of Yamunanagar, Ambala and Panchkula are not more than 250 years old. In 1852, the Government of Britishers appointed the first consolidation officer Rangar For the re-inhabitation of the population in the said area.
Some historians have wrongly stated that the Lohagad Fort was a new name given to the existing Mukhlish Garh Fort.
After Britishers occupied the area in the middle of the 19th century, surveyors of Britishers such as Cunningham, Irvine and W. Crooke were appointed to research the Vanjaras. Unfortunately, it appears that surveyors adverse reports against the Vanjaras who uprooted the Mughals empire.
To preserve the Lohgarh community under control, they were even brought under The Criminal Tribal Act, 1871. The world‘s most socially, politically, and economically progressive community was put under house arrest for almost 75 years. They were denotified in 1952 after the independence of the country.
The Vanjara Sikhs are living in poverty. The community that fought for the country’s independence and the cause of humanity has become one of the most overlooked communities of the nation. Even the Khalsa Rajdhani Logan has been left abandoned by the Sikh organisations. It is only now that Lohgarh trust and the Haryana government have been endeavouring to develop the area.
