Malerkotla State#Rulers

The area, which was known as Maler, was received as a jagir in 1454 A.D. by Sheikh Sadruddin-i-Jahān, a pious man of the Sherwani tribe of Afghanistan area, and was ruled by his descendants.{{cite news | first = Sushil | last = Goyal | title = 'Malerkotla has Guru's blessings' | date = 19 August 2006 | url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060819/saturday/main1.htm | work = The Tribune | access-date = 24 March 2013}}

Local tradition says that Bahlul Lodi (1451–1489), the Afghan king who had most of western India under his control, desired to rule Delhi and on his way, he was caught in a sand drift. In the darkness the King spotted a dim light of a lamp still burning in the wind. It was the hut of Sheikh Sadruddin and when the king found out he came to the hut to show his respect and asked the holy man to pray for him to bear a son and have victory.{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/StudyofthePathanCommunitiesinF.shtml |title=Study of the Pathan Communities in four States of India |publisher=Khyber |access-date=7 June 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514122925/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/StudyofthePathanCommunitiesinF.shtml |archive-date=14 May 2008 }} During 1451 and 1452, the king married off his daughter Taj Murassa to Sheikh Sadruddin after being enthroned in Delhi, and also gave him the area of Maler as a jagir.

The descendants of Sheikh Sadruddin branched into two groups. One started ruling the state and were given the title of Nawab when the Mughal Empire arose. The other branch lived around the Shrine of Shaikh Sadruddin, controlling its revenue from pilgrims.

The State of Malerkotla was established in 1657 by Bayazid Khan. After saving the life of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in a tiger attack, Bayazid Khan was granted the privilege to build a fort, which he named Malerkotla and eventually gave its name to the state.He was First Nawab of state

File:Illustration of Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan Bahadur of Malerkotla State (b. 1640, d. 1712, r. 1672–1712).jpg

The roots of communal harmony in the area date back to 1705, when Fateh Singh and Zorawar Singh, the 9- and 7-year-old sons of 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, were ordered to be bricked alive by the governor of Sirhind, Wazir Khan. His close relative, Sher Mohammed Khan, Nawab of Malerkotla, who was present in the court, lodged a vehement protest against this inhuman act and said it was against the teachings of Islam. Wazir Khan nevertheless had the boys bricked into a section of wall while still alive. At this, the Nawab of Malerkotla walked out of the court in protest. Guru Gobind Singh on learning this approach profusely thanked the Nawab of Malerkotla and blessed him with his hukamnama and kirpan. Banda Singh Bahadur's avoidance of attacking Malerkotla has been attributed to the actions of Sher Mohammed Khan, however J.S. Grewal notes that Banda's passivity towards the state was due to his prescribed route taking him elsewhere. Wars between Malerkotla state (originally siding with the Mughals, and later the forces of Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Rohilla Afghans, both of whom repeatedly raided Punjab during the eighteenth century) and the Sikh powers in Punjab resumed shortly after. Relations between the two oscillated during this period- involving events of intermittent warring as well as interventions of mutual defense against certain extra-local Sikh invaders.

Nawab Bikhan Khan had assisted the Durranis and participated in Vadda Ghulaghara genocide of Sikhs on 5 February 1762.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Harbans |title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University, Patiala |volume=4: S–Z |pages=395–397}} The triump of the Sikhs after the Battle of Sirhind (1764) attracted the hostilities of the Malerkotla ruler Bhikhan Khan, whom was anxious about a similar fate for Malerkotla, as Malerkotla had assisted Zain Khan in the Vadda Ghalughara massacre.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Kirpal |url= |title=Baba Ala Singh: Founder of Patiala Kingdom |publisher=Guru Nanak Dev University |year=2005 |edition=2nd |location=Amritsar |pages=77–82}} Amar Singh of Patiala and Bhikhan Khan later would fight at Kakra, with Patiala prevailing and capturing the settlements of Sherpur and Bhasaur, and the Malerkotla ruler being killed. Also, Amar Singh obtained an Afghan sword of the Malerkotla ruler as war-booty.

In 1795, Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak, attacked Malerkotla,{{Cite book |last=Bigelow |first=Anna |title=Islam in South Asia in Practice |date=Sep 8, 2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9781400831388 |editor-last=Metcalf |editor-first=Barbara D. |pages=150}} in part due to the issue of cow slaughter taking place in the city as well as other motivations influencing the expedition including the role of the nawab in the killing of a relative of Guru Gobind, as well as the contemporary nawab's ostensible role in the Vadda Ghallugura- a massacre in which twenty five thousand Sikhs were said to have been killed. His forces were stopped and repelled, with assistance coming from the rulers of Patiala.

The state was also under the suzeranity of Mahadaji Shinde.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

File:Detail of the main, continuous tract of territory of Malerkotla State from a map created by the British East India Company of the Malwa region of Punjab showing the various polities, borders, and settlements of the area, ca.1829–1835.jpg

In 1808, Ranjit Singh, arrived at the town and demanded an extortionate tribute of one million rupees from the state. Upon the nawab's inability to accumulate this wealth, Ranjit Singh attacked, forcing the nawab to take loans from wealthier Sikh neighbors to pay the due. The nawab subsequently appealed to the British and shortly after ceded to British suzerainty.{{Cite book |last1=Wellman |first1=James K. Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mC-6JtOUiC4C&pg=PA97 |title=Religion and Human Security: A Global Perspective |last2=Lombardi |first2=Clark |date=2012-08-16 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-982773-2 |pages=97 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Bigelow |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfexkkZbJ7AC&pg=PA71 |title=Sharing the Sacred: Practicing Pluralism in Muslim North India |date=2010-02-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536823-9 |pages=68–72 |language=en}} On 3 May 1809 Maler Kotla became a British protectorate and was made part of the Cis-Sutlej states until 1862. Malerkotla ranked 12th in the Punjab Darbar in 1890.

File:Punjab 1909.jpg and Ludhiana district]]

During the 1947 riots when Punjab was in flames, the State of Malerkotla did not witness a single incident of violence; through it all, it remained a lone island of peace.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080514114047/http://www.sikhspectrum.com/112003/gratitude.htm A people's gratitude]}} The Sikh Review, Issue No. 14, November 2003 The State of Malerkotla experienced relatively insignificant communal violence due to the aforementioned objections of Sher Mohammed Khan to Wazir Khan's handling of Gobind Singh's sons. Many local people attribute this peaceful strain to the presence of the shrine of 'Baba Haidar Sheikh', the Sufi saint, who founded the town of Malerkotla more than 500 years ago.[https://www.nationalfilmnetwork.com/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=644&Title=The%20Legend%20of%20Malerkotla:%20A%20Tale%20from%20the%20Punjab&RefPage=ProductsList.aspx&CategoryID=79 The Legend of Malerkotla: A Tale from the Punjab (2004)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019094523/https://www.nationalfilmnetwork.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=644&Title=The%20Legend%20of%20Malerkotla:%20A%20Tale%20from%20the%20Punjab&RefPage=ProductsList.aspx&CategoryID=79 |date=19 October 2007 }} 48 min, DVD, {{ISBN|978-0-8026-0761-4}}.{{cite news | first = Anna B | last = Bigelow | title = Malerkotla: A heritage going to seed | date = 2 December 2000 | url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001202/windows/main1.htm | work = The Tribune | access-date = 24 March 2013}}

Following Indian independence and the signing of the instrument of accession to the Dominion of India in 1948, Maler Kotla joined the newly established state of Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) until its merger with Punjab in 1956.

The chiefs were the holders of the jagir of Malerkotla.

The rulers were titled 'Nawab'. They had the right to an 14 gun salute.

• Malerkotla
• Malerkotla district
• Punjab States Agency
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
• Patiala and East Punjab States Union

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{{EB1911 |wstitle=Maler Kotla |volume=17 |page=487}}

• [https://pashtunhistory.com/nawabs-of-maler-kotla/ Nawabs of Maler Kotla]

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{{Princely states of India}}

{{Princely states of the Punjab and Simla Hills}}

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Category:Princely states of Punjab

Category:Malerkotla district

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Category:1657 establishments in India

Category:1948 disestablishments in India

Category:Gun salute princely states

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