Battle of Pathankot (Dinanagar)

01The Pathankot jagir

Jhanda Singh, chief of the Bhangi Misl, had granted Pathankot to one of his sardars, Nand Singh. When Nand Singh died, his widow married their daughter to Tara Singh, brother of the Kanhaiya leader Haqiqat Singh, and gave the jagir with her. The Bhangis held that a Bhangi grant could not be handed to a rival misl. Ganda Singh, who had succeeded Jhanda Singh, marched on Pathankot. The Kanhaiyas called in the Sukerchakia and Ahluwalia sardars, and the two sides met near Dinanagar.

02Misl against misl

The fighting dragged on for days without a clear decision. Ganda Singh fell ill in camp and died, and the Bhangi force, leaderless, drew off. Pathankot stayed with Tara Singh. The fight showed how far the misls had drifted from the days when the Dal Khalsa rode together against the Afghans. Within a decade the same quarrels between Kanhaiyas, Bhangis, Sukerchakias and Ramgarhias would be fought out again at Achal, and the young Ranjit Singh would rise out of them.