Historical jungle in Punjab, India
Lakhi Jungle was a historical jungle located in present-day Punjab, India. It should not be confused with the historical Machhiwara jungle.
History.
A jungle formed in this area due to the shifting course of the Sutlej river. A Bhatti chief, named Rana Lakhi, is said to have settled in the area of the Lakhi Jungle around the turn of the millennium between the 10th and 11th centuries. The ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur and tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh visited this place. During the time period of Guru Gobind Singh and later, the area of the later Firozpur division was covered by a dense forest which stretched from Bathinda to Kotkapura. The Lakhi Jungle Darbar was based in the Lakhi Jungle tract. After the evacuation of Anandpur, the Guru held a poetic court (Kavi Darbar) within the Lakhi Jungle. According to Piara Singh Padam, it was attended by Behari, Lal Das Khiali, Adha, Jado Rai, Fat Mal, Keso, and Bhagtu.
In the 18th century, the Sikhs used the surrounding jungle (from which the village takes its name) as a hideout from persecution by the Mughal Empire and the Duranni Empire. During Ahmad Shah Durrani's seventh invasion of India between 1764 and 1765, the Sikhs used the jungle as a hideout. The area was known for its horse traders, which may have partly attracted Sikh refugees to the area. Historian Muzaffar Alam notes that the Sikhs of the 18th century used the jungle as a place of safety from state oppression and as a staging ground to launch attacks on plundering neighbouring villages and extracting tribute from "zamindars". Abdus-samad Khan crushed a rebellion by local Bhatti "zamindars" of the Lakhi Jungle in the 18th century. The area was well-renowned for horse-breeding and its oxen all the way up till the 19th century. The jungle has been deforested by canal colonies.