Kaithal State
Kaithal State was a Sikh state based out of Kaithal. It was one of the Cis-Sutlej states. The Sikh chieftains of Kaithal ruled from 1767 until the state's fall in 1843. At the state's height, it was the second-largest cis-Sutlej state, after Patiala State. The rulers of the state were popularly known by the title of bhai.
History
Family background
The polity was founded by Jat Sikhs of the Sidhu gotra. It was founded by Desu Singh, who was a sardar from the Dallewalia Misl and an apparent descendant of a Sikh saint, Bhai Dayala.Dayal Das was a Sikh saint who is noted for saving the life of Mai Fatto, when her family attempted to commit female-infanticide. Mai Fatto later became the wife of Baba Ala Singh of Patiala. Ala Singh and Fatto would visit the Bhais at Bhuchuke for advice. Dayal Das had a son named Gurbaksh Singh. Gurbaksh Singh assisted the Patiala rulers as a soldier and later established his own state, whilst other sources attribute the establishment of Kaithal to his son Desu. The eldest son of Gurbaksh Singh and brother of Desu Singh was Budh Singh.
Desu Singh was one of six sons of Gurbaksh Singh of Lalpur and was closely allied with the Phulkian family. Desu Singh is said to have had a saintly disposition, earning him the bhai appellation.
Establishment and rule by Desu Singh
In January 1764, Desu Singh captured the parganas of Amlu Arnauli, Bangar, Derah, Kularkharyal, Mustafabad, Sindhuwal, Tandwal, and Thanesar, however these were taken from him by Bhanga Singh. In 1767, the city of Kaithal fell into the hands of the Phulkian chieftain, Desu Singh. He had captured the principality of Kaithal from two Afghan chiefs, Bhikbakhsh Khan and Neamat Khan. Furthermore, Desu Singh annexed Pundri and expelled the Sayyids from it.In 1779, the Mughal minister of Delhi, Abdul Ahad, launched a military expedition against the cis-Sutlej Sikh chiefs. On 9 September 1779, the nawab dispatched Baghel Singh, Gajpat Singh, and Sada Singh, to bring Desu Singh to the camp at Thanesar. When Desu arrived at the camp, Baghel explained that Desu had been dispossed of his territory by Amar Singh of Patiala and that his lost territory should be restored to him. Desu Singh offered a nazar to the nawab consisting of five gold coins, two bows, five cotton bed-sheets, and two steeds. In-return, Desu Singh was gifted a khilat of five pieces, a sarpech, and a sword, while two doshalas were bestowed to one of his associates with him. Abdul Ahad demanded that Desu pay a tribute of three lakh rupees, however Desu only offered to pay two lakh rupees. This upset Abdul, who then upped his demand to five lakh rupees as tribute. On the night of 13 September, Gajpat Singh of Jind told the nawab that it would be impossible to get money from Desu Singh, and suggested a plan to get the money from him. The plan involved Abdul Ahad arresting all of the sardars as a ploy to get Desu to pay-up. Diwan Nanun Mal, Maha Singh, Ram Dayal, Gajpat Singh, and Desu Singh were all then arrested but still Desu refused to pay-up, as reported by Taj Muhammad Khan. Desu Singh and eight of his associates were then placed in confinement. On 14 September, the Mughal official informed Desu Singh that he was to withdraw from the taluqa he had captured as the Mughal Emperor was to rule it directly. Abdul Ahad also inquired about the whereabouts of weapons and loot that was captured from his late brother, Abul Qasim Khan, whom was killed-in-action after his defeat on 11 March 1776, reprimanding Desu Singh for being a plunderer. Desu Singh responded that he had already used what was captured before on his army and he had no money.
An agreement was finally reached between Desu and the Mughal authorities: Desu Singh's diwan was to pay five lakhs as tribute and 1.25 lakhs as expenses. The condition for this was that the estates belonging to Desu Singh was to be confirmed by him through a royal rescript and were to be protected from Amar Singh of Patiala. It was eventually agreed that Desu Singh was to pay four lakhs as tribute, with three lakhs being immediately realized and as a payment for the remainder, Desu Singh's son, Lal Singh, was taken captive by the Mughals. Desu Singh left the Mughal camp on 26 September 1776. Desu Singh died around a year later in September 1780. Desu Singh was survived by at-least two sons, Bahal Singh and Lal Singh.
Under Lal Singh
In circa 1780–1781, Desu Singh died and was succeeded by his son, Lal Singh. After Desu Singh's death, his widow sent representatives to prime minister Najaf Khan to secure the release of Lal Singh from prison. However, Amar Singh of Patiala threatened the Kaithal widow for negotiating directly with the Mughal court of Delhi. Amar Singh of Patiala instigated the other widow of Desu Singh to capture all of the assets of the late ruler, whilst also advocating against the release of Lal Singh. She gave control over the assets and property she had seized to her own son, Bahal Singh. Najaf Khan ordered a 50,000 rupee payment to secure the release of Lal Singh. However, Lal Singh's mother did not have the necessary funds so she threatened her co-wife with a dagger to give her the necessary funds, threatening to kill her otherwise. The mother of Bahal Singh paid 1,000 ashrafis immediately, promising to pay-out another 20,000 rupees in a few days and the remaining 10,000 was to be paid by subscription.On 4 October 1780, Lal Singh was moved into the custody of Najaf Quli, as ordered by Najaf Khan. Najaf Quli was instructed to release Lal Singh if the 50,000 payment request was fulfilled. However, the Patiala representative, Darbari Mal, stated to the wazir that if he would delay the release of Lal Singh for ten-days, he would be able to retrieve an additional 20,000 rupees as ransom. Thus, the Nawab took custody of Lal Singh from Najaf Quli again. However, the diwan of Najaf Quli, Shiv Ram, argued for the release of Lal Singh for 50,000 rupees. Lal Singh's mother paid-out 50,000 rupees in early November 1780 and Lal Singh was finally released from Mughal custody on 11 November 1780. Ishar Singh was the guide and guard of Lal Singh as he travelled to Kaithal after his release.
In 1795, Nana Rao Maratha of the Maratha Confederacy invaded the territories of the cis-Sutlej Sikh chiefs, including that of Bhanga Singh of Thanesar State. Some Sikh chiefs who were against Bhanga Singh attempted to provoke Lal Singh to recapture Thanesar, as his father Desu had originally captured the city. When Lal Singh declined to do so, the Sikh chiefs who attempted to persuade him then instigated Nana Rao Maratha to extract a heavy tribute from Lal Singh, claiming that he was a man of wealth. Nana Rao Maratha set-up his administration at Thanesar and marched westward to Thana. He sent a notification to Lal Singh to pay-up but the Kaithal ruler objected to this. Lal Singh rallied his army and requested an alliance with Patiala State. His alliance request was received by prime minister bibi Sahib Kaur of Patiala, whom was the sister of raja Sahib Singh. Sahib Kaur sent-out 2,000 Patiala troops to assist the cause of Lal Singh of Kaithal, with the force attacking Nana Rao Maratha at night. Due to the night-attacks by the Kaithal-Patiala forces, a lack of food and water for his troops due to his supply-route from being cut-off, Nana Rao Maratha retreated to Delhi.
George Thomas, an Irishman, had set-up his own state based in Hansi, vying to become the ruler of the Haryana region. George Thomas' polity reached the border of Jind State. In November 1798, George Thomas launched an invasion of Jind, leading its rulers to reach-out to both Kaithal and Patiala states for assistance repelling the forces of the Irishman. In the beginning of December 1798, Lal Singh left for Jind whilst leading an army to help garrison and repel the invaders. The joint Jind-Kaithal forces were successfully able to defend Jind in the ensuing conflict on 10 December 1798, with losses on George Thomas' side consisting of four killed horses and many casualties and fatalities amongst his troops whilst they were entrenched. Lal Singh was petitioning raja Sahib Singh of Patiala to join the cause to defend Jind from George Thomas. Finally, after a siege lasting five months, George Thomas retreated from Jind and the invasion ceased.
Daulat Rao Sindhia of the Marathas controlled Delhi, Gurgaon, Rewari, Rohtak, Risar, and Sirsa, with his French general, Louis Bourquin, holding Delhi. A joint force of the Sikh chiefs and Louis Bourquin were able to successfully defeat and expel George Thomas, ending his independent polity. Kaithal State was a tributary to the Scindhia dynasty of the Maratha Empire, until the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803–1805, after which the Marathas lost this tributary to the British. After the eruption of the Second Anglo-Maratha War, general Gerard Lake of the British forces visited Delhi. Lal Singh of Kaithal had a belief that the British would best the Marathas in the ongoing war and come-out victorious. Thus, Lal Singh travelled to Jind where he met with raja Bhag Singh of Jind, requesting him to join the British side. General Lake afterwards would defeat the Marathas under Louis Bourquin at the Battle of Delhi on 11 September 1803, seizing Delhi on 13 September the same month. Lord Lake recognized the allegiance of Lal Singh to the British during the war, therefore he bestowed upon the Kaithal ruler a sanad recognizing Lal Singh's control over Faridpur and Barsat parganas.
Other Sikh chiefs of the area would launch raids into the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, which was under British control by this point. Throughout the year 1804, such raids by Sikhs were occurring on the British territory. Lal Singh had convinced Bhag Singh of Jind State to ally with the British, with Bhag Singh in-turn trying to convince Baghel Singh to-do the same. Thus, the three Sikh chiefs were in the service of General Gerard Lake and Colonel David Ochterlony for a few months. Bhag Singh and Lal Singh assisted Colonel Burn with countering the Sikh and Maratha raids on the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. After defeating the Sikh raiders, focus was then placed on defeating the Maratha raiders. Lal Singh and Bhag Singh were custodians of Saharanpur district, maintaining the administration there whilst Burn was away taking care of the Maratha threat. Various Sikh chiefs were threatening and causing nuisance to the British due to their pillaging raids inroading into British territory that was located on the other side of the Yamuna.' On 18 December 1804, the joint forces of Lal Singh of Kaithal and Colonel Burn of the East India Company defeated the Sikh chiefs whom were pillaging British territory.'File:Painting depicting a meeting between Sahib Singh of Patiala State, Jodh Singh of Kalsia State, Lal Singh of Kaithal State, Mehak Singh, and Raja Jaswant Rao Holkar, ca.1805.jpg|thumb|Painting depicting a meeting between Sahib Singh of Patiala State, Jodh Singh of Kalsia State, Lal Singh of Kaithal State, Mehak Singh, and raja Jaswant Rao Holkar, ca.1805By 1808, Kaithal had come under British protection. In March 1808, Bhag Singh of Jind, Lal Singh of Kaithal, and an official associated with Sahib Singh of Patiala successfully managed to urge the British to take their states under their protection, as they were threatened by Ranjit Singh's Lahore State.' These events led to the signing of the Treaty of Amritsar.' According to Lepel Henry Griffin, by the year 1809 Lal Singh of Kaithal had risen to become the second most powerful Cis-Sutlej Sikh chief, after Sahib Singh of Patiala.' Griffin describes Lal Singh as follows:'
At his polity's height, Lal Singh's revenue per annum was 225,000 rupees and his cavalry force was 600-strong. Lal Singh died in 1818.