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30th year of the 18th century. The rubbing of the inner city streets and washing for two days was a sign that whoever is walking on them is very special.
Lahore was then the capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Punjab. After capturing Lahore in July 1799 at the age of 19, these Sikh Jat warriors from Gujranwala had a lodge named 'Run Jeet' meaning 'Conqueror on the Battlefield'. Amritsar, Kashmir, Multan, Delhi, Ladakh and Peshawar Had expanded his empire to
Ranjit Singh, who ruled Punjab for 40 years, preferred to keep his feet in a stirrup rather than on the ground. He had 12,000 horses in his royal stables and it is said that none of them were bought for less than 20,000 rupees. One thousand of these horses were reserved for the Maharaja alone.
He could ride for hours without getting tired. If there was any trouble or anger, they would restore their senses by riding. Two horses were always ready for him to ride and his brain was running well on the back of the horse.
He liked to talk to the guests about horses and his friends knew that a good breed of horse was Ranjit Singh's weakness.
That is why when the British king gave them Scottish horses as a gift, the Hyderabad system sent a large number of Arabian horses.
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Ranjit Singh had given poetic names to his horses like Naseem, Rohi and Goharbar. They were crazy about beautiful horses and they could go to any lengths to get them.
An example of this is the advance on the demand and refusal of horses from a Nawab of Jhang. The Maharaja learned from somewhere that the Nawab of Jhang had very good horses.
Message sent to gift some of them. When the Nawab mockingly refused the request, Ranjit Singh attacked and occupied the Nawab's territory.
The Nawab then fled with the horses, but returned a few days later and presented them in the service of the Maharaja.
Something similar happened to a horse named 'Shereen' when an army was killed under the command of Prince Kharak Singh and its owner Sher Khan agreed to give this horse to Ranjit Singh in exchange for a jagir of ten thousand rupees per annum.
The light-hearted horse named 'White Fairy' was with the Nawab of Mankira. When Ranjit Singh's heart was touched, he wrote to his general Misr Chand Dewan to ask for a horse from the Nawab and if he refused, his property would be confiscated.
The cleaning of the streets of Lahore mentioned at the beginning of the article was also being done for a horse so that not a speck of dust would get into the nostrils of this favorite animal of the Maharaja called Asp Laila.
Leila was unparalleled in beauty, but the Maharaja's passion for her was just as strong. The beauty of this horse was talked about in Persia and Afghanistan.
Its owner was a tax collector of Yar Muhammad Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Peshawar. He had turned down the offer of Rs. 50,000 in cash and Rs. 50,000 per annum from Jagir and Sultan of Rome for the mare.
When Peshawar came under Ranjit Singh's control, he did not know about Laila, but when he got the news in 1823, according to Kanhiya Lal, he became 'crazy'.
Ranjit Singh formed the whole party to find out the whereabouts of the horse. Some said the horse was in Peshawar, while others said it was moved to Kabul as soon as news of the Maharaja's interest was received.
On this information, the Maharaja sent his special envoy Faqir Azizuddin to Peshawar. On his return he brought some good horses as gifts but Laila was not among them as Yar Muhammad had told Ranjit Singh's envoy that he did not have that horse.
Ranjit Singh was convinced that Yar Muhammad was lying. Yar Muhammad's 12-year-old son was at the court of the Maharaja. He once compared one of the Maharaja's horses to Laila. The Maharaja asked, "Is Laila alive?" The boy replied, "Yes, of course."
Yar Muhammad refused to hand over his horse to Ranjit Singh and went to meet Syed Ahmed Barelvi who was at war with the Maharaja at that time.
In 1826, a Sikh army led by Budh Singh Sindhri Walia reached Peshawar to meet Syed Ahmed and get a horse. The order was that no matter what happened, the horse should reach the Lahore Darbar at all costs. On this occasion a bloody battle took place in which thousands of people were killed.
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| During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a large number of religious scholarships were introduced |
Yar Muhammad also gave more horses as gifts to Budh Singh but again told about Laila that she is dead. But Ranjit Singh's spies knew that the horse was alive.
The Maharaja angrily sent another expedition led by Prince Kharak Singh. French General Ventura, formerly in Napoleon's army and now a special confidant of the Maharaja, was an important part of the expedition, but before he arrived in Peshawar, Yar Muhammad was, according to some traditions, a horse by his own tribe. Killed due to fighting on.
Some other traditions speak of them hiding in the mountains. However, he was replaced by his brother Sultan Muhammad.
The Lahore Darbar won the campaign. When General Ventura asked Sultan Muhammad for Laila, he was told that Laila was dead.
However, Ventura bound the new ruler to his palace and announced that he would be beheaded within 24 hours. Sultan Muhammad then agreed to hand over the horse to him, but according to historians, he "cried like a child."
The horse was immediately dispatched from Peshawar to Lahore in a special vehicle under the protection of 500 soldiers. It reached Lahore at the Western Akbari Gate, passing through the Badami Bagh and the fort.
This is the event of the year 1830, as if the journey from the first news to the first glimpse was seven years.
The arrival of Laila was like a celebration in the Sikh capital as the Maharaja's dream was coming true after a while. According to Sir Lepel, Henry Griffin's Ranjit Singh himself told German tourist Baron Charles Heugel that Rs. 6 million and 12,000 soldiers were used to get the horse.
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| Photo of Maharaja Ranjit Singh |
Novelist Indu Sanderson writes that if Ranjit Singh had sat on any horse, his personality would have changed. It seems that he and the animals have become one.
When Laila was brought to the Maharaja's stable, she was a little stubborn and gritted her strong, white teeth and walked towards the servants. Ranjit Singh touched her with this love and said something in her ear that she obeyed him. After that day, Leila allowed hardly anyone but the Maharaja to ride on her own.
Ranjit Singh was so happy to get Laila that he wore a 105 carat Koh-i-Noor diamond which he wore on his arm, along with other jewelery worth lakhs of rupees.
Such arrangements were made later on special occasions. Rings with precious stones were worn around the neck. Her saddle and bridle were also jug mugs.
Qadriyar, the leading poet of the time, recited a poem in praise of Laila and received many rewards from the Maharaja. General Ventura was given a precious khalat worth Rs 2,000 for bringing Laila while Yar Mohammad's son was also released.
According to Kartar Singh Dagal, author of a book on Maharaja Ranjit Singh, historians differ as to whether Laila was a horse or whether it was named after a horse.
He says that the horse looks like the name, but at the same time he quotes Ranjit Singh as saying with reference to WG Osborne, "I have not seen a more complete animal than this." The more I look at Laila, the more I find her wonderful and intelligent.
Since many traditions, including Sir Griffin's Leila, describe her as a horse, the mention here is feminine. Sir Griffin says that according to Sikh records, Laila was a horse and the name gives the same impression.
He quotes Laila as saying that after this horse which caused the fall of Troy, no other horse caused so much trouble and death of so many heroes.
Osborne says the Maharaja was not at all saddened that he had sacrificed so much money and the lives of his people to get a horse. He also did not regret how this direct looting had tarnished his character.
Leila had a strong body, stature and agility. Hugel saw the horse in the royal stable. "This is the Maharaja's best horse," he says. On the knees are round, round gold bangles, dark gray, black legs, sixteen cubits tall.
Amy Eden says that the Maharaja liked Leila so much that sometimes even in the sun he would go to caress her neck and press her legs.
No mention is made of Laila's use in any battle or expedition, but it is known that the Maharaja showed the horse and his horsemanship to Governor-General Lord William Bentinck in 1831 at Ropar.
He chased Leila away with great speed and picked up a brass vessel five times with the tip of his spear. The spectators applauded and the Maharaja kissed Laila.
It was a sign of Ranjit Singh's liking for Laila that, according to author Kartar Singh Dagal, he almost killed his son Sher Singh for riding on Laila without permission.
Ranjit Singh told his special confidant Faqir Azizuddin that he was going to deprive Sher Singh of his property. Faqir replied in Punjabi: 'Yes, it has become a punishment. What did Sher Singh think, O Laila? (This is exactly the punishment. What Sher Singh thinks is that Laila is his father's property). The Maharaja laughed at this reply and forgave Sher Singh.
Sir William Lee Warner recounts an incident in which the Maharaja showed Laila, among other horses, to the Governor-General in a meeting.
The Maharaja, after giving Laila a little walk, came to Tarang and offered to give it to the guest as a gift. The Governor-General knew of the Maharaja's love for Laila, so he first accepted the gift and then asked for another bridle, put it on the horse, and asked Ranjit Singh to return it as proof of his friendship and respect. Accept
According to William Lee Warner, Laila was returning to the royal stables and the Maharaja's happiness was not hidden.
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| Statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh |
When Ranjit Singh had a stroke, it is said that when he was placed on Laila, he would feel better and it would seem as if he was not sick at all, he would return in June. Leila was the last horse on which the Maharaja rode.
William Barr saw Leila in her last days. "Our aim was to see the horse that the Maharaja had sacrificed money and lives to get," he said. We were disappointed when he was brought before us. She would look beautiful if she were in good condition. The best food, but with less exercise, he was overweight.
Even though Laila was no longer the horse of her youth, Ranjit Singh's indifference to her was still there and the Maharaja cried so much when Laila died that it was difficult to keep quiet. Leila was buried with a state salute in a 21-gun salute.
One of the two daughters of the Maharaja's son Dilip Singh was named Bamba who married Sutherland. In the latter part of his life, Bamba moved from the United Kingdom to Lahore.
She considered herself the sole heir of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and in her inheritance she got Ranjit Singh's straw horse Laila and her diamond-studded equipment.
Before his death in 1957, Bamba handed over most of his legacy to the government of Pakistan for care. According to author Mustansir Hussain Tarar, meanwhile, Laila's diamond-studded equipment was mysteriously stolen.
However, a picture of Laila's emaciated body and this historic horse with Ranjit Singh is in the Sikh Gallery of the Lahore Museum and tells the story of love between man and animal.
