As one learns about the unimaginable scale of murders, especially of children, in occupied Palestine by European Zionists, backed as they are supported by European occupiers of North America who, two centuries earlier, had slaughtered the entire local population, one is reminded of the unparalleled cruelty unleashed in Lahore by Timur the Lame in 1398-99.

This piece needs to be narrated because of the times in which we live. A similar piece was carried almost two years ago but having since read a few descriptions of the 1398-99 events in Lahore, we need to narrate what the Zionists are up to. We should never forget our past if we wish a happy future.

As the Tughluq rulers fought among themselves, finally collapsing, we see in 1396 the forces of the Ghakkar, led by their chief Sheikha Ghakkar and assisted by his son Jasrat, attacked Lahore and in a fierce battle overcame the Tughlaq forces led by Sarang Khan, the governor of Lahore. They carried out considerable murders and got rid of any person seen to be opposed to their rule.

Barely had the Ghakkars ruled for three years that on the banks of the River Ravi at Lahore stood the forces of the Timur the Lame, so called because he had suffered a leg injury during a battle in Persia (Iran), which he had conquered.

The Ghakkars decided that it was futile to face such fierce warriors with a massive army of 92,000 horsemen known for their speed and unsparing slaughter.

Before heading for Delhi to take over the capital of India, the forces of Timur were ordered to kill every living being in Lahore. They set aside slaves and young women for the use by their soldiers. Once the women were ‘used’ they were also slaughtered.

For details of these happenings our readers can consult Tarikh-e-Farishta (Vol.1, Briggs), as well as Sharfuddin’s translation of the ‘Zafarnama’.

This column is focussed on the biggest of the seven holocausts that have hit Lahore. It seems from the descriptions that these Turko-Mongols took some sort of pleasure in these killings.

The killings in Lahore had another gruesome aspect. The soldiers of Timur collected the heads of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people killed, and they were hung on poles which were planted all around the city, as well as along the river banks. The result was that peasants in the countryside would flee on hearing of these warriors approaching.

Never had the city experienced such ferocity. But the worst was yet to come as the massive army headed towards Delhi. All the slaves were tied to ropes. Then news came that soldiers in Delhi were ready to oppose the forces of Timur. At this stage it was decided that all the 100,000 slaves should be slaughtered lest they also rebel. Sharafuddin’s ‘Zafarnama’ and the ‘Mulfazat-i-Taimuri’ both describe this horrible slaughter.

It seems, so it is suggested, that the idea was to scare the defending soldiers at Delhi about what they faced. For miles around every tree had naked people hanging upside down with their necks cut open, or with missing heads. By the time these invading killers reached Delhi on the 10th of December 1398, they found little resistance.

But in keeping with the way these fierce horsemen had conducted themselves the entire population was slaughtered just as they had done in Lahore. After collecting all the gold and jewels and other treasures, Timur headed back. It was clear that he had left behind a reign of terror unheard of before. His Uzbek horsemen and their Turkish cavalry were ordered to kill any human being that they came across.

But Lahore was to suffer much more because of the greed of the Ghakkars. Once Timur left Lahore the Ghakkars found that they could just walk into the city and take over. They hired carts from the countryside and within a week cleared all the bodies by throwing all corpse and heads into the Ravi. One description tells of a ‘Red Ravi’ which R.C. Majumdar, Raychaudhry and Datta describe in some detail.

Timur heard of the Ghakkars taking over Lahore again and sent his grandson Pir Muhammad to take care of matters. Lahore was surrounded and both Shaikha and son Jasrat were captured. To make an example Shaikha Ghakkar was beheaded on the river which flowed outside Mori Gateway. This is the very place where the Hindu Shahi ruler Raja Jaipal committed ‘johar’ after being defeated by Mahmud. The head of Shaikha was paraded in the streets of Lahore.

When it came to Jasrat’s turn it was decided to take him to Samarkand. He had to walk all the way to the Uzbek capital. Once in Samarkand the clever Ghakkar managed to escape and made it back to the Salt Range. There he organised an army of 14,000 horsemen and following the Timurid tactics of speed and vicious killing, started off to recapture Lahore.

Once back in Lahore Timur ordered another massacre, and again heads were put on poles, this time in the field outside Lohari Gate. My view of the location is where today stands Gowalmandi. Timur was not interested in ruling over captured land, but taking away all the gold and wealth once he got back to his home in Otrar in Kazakhstan.

It was in Otrar that Timur died. His body was taken to Samarkand in Uzbekistan, where even today a grand mausoleum named ‘Gur-i-Amir’ can be seen. He remains an admired ruler for Uzbeks.

There is a description of what exactly did this looter send back or take back. Every Friday a lot of wealth was sent to his home, they are gold, silver, fabrics, kitchen utensils, women, and children slaves. These slaves were then sold in faraway markets and the money taken back to Uzbekistan.

Once Timur had left a devastated Lahore we see the return of Jasrat Ghakkar, who had decided to align with Khusru Khan of Sialkot. But then the Sayyid emperor was also interested in reclaiming Lahore. In January 1422, Sayyid emperor Mubarak Shah returned to Lahore. So Timur’s departure saw two forces interested in Lahore, they being Mubarak Shah and Jasrat Ghakkar.

As the city and the fort had been destroyed, and one account in ‘Tarikh-i-Farishta’ (pg. 164 text) tells us that “as the emperor entered Lahore city, corpses in an advance stage of decay, mostly skeletons, lay strewn in the streets and lanes”. The savagery of Timur was before him to see.

The ‘Tarikh Mubarak Shahi’ tells us that the emperor was very upset and decided to rebuild Lahore. So, the Lahore Fort walls and those of the ancient city were rebuilt in thick mud walls. He also rebuilt the huge fort gates, one of which Akbar the Mughal emperor used when he rebuilt the fort as it stands today.

Mubarak Shah left 2,000 horsemen to guard the newly rebuilt Lahore and returned to Delhi. As soon as he had had left Jasrat Ghakkar returned and camped around the shrine of the Sufi saint Hassain Miran Zanjani at Chah Miran. The recapture of Lahore by Jasrat got Mubarak Shah to send in forces. Jasrat was a tenacious fighter whose aim was to rule Lahore. After every defeat he would rush to the Salt Range, organise a larger army based on the loot that he had collected, and returned stronger.

We know that he faced over 20 battles and won and captured Lahore nine times. As his first impulse was to loot and quickly send the booty back to the Salt Range, where people enjoyed the wealth collected. The fact remains that the Ghakkar forces could never overcome Timur or Mubarak Shah.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2024