Page 26 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

the Jaskanis got nothing more than what they already possessed, though
perhaps in nominal subordination to the Hots and Miranis. Henceforth they
were independent, and the Miranis lost their hold on Layyah altogether. The
Miranis are said to have been finally ousted from Layyah around 1620. The
leading Baloch tribes of Bhakkar and Layyah all claim descent from Baloch
Khan. They are the Jaskanis, Mandranis, Mamdanis, Kandanis, Sarganis
and Malianis. Baloch Khan was succeeded by Jasak Khan, Bhakkar Khan,
Langar Khan and other chiefs of his family. At the beginning of the
seventeenth century the Jaskanis ruled over Bhakkar and Layyah as well as
across the Thal towards the Chenab. They seem to have been more or less at
war with the Sials of Uch, and also came occasionally into contact with the
Sikhs, who were then becoming a power in the Punjab. Baloch Khan, the
Blind, one of the most famous of these Jaskanis, is said to have been killed
in 1746 in a fight with Jhanda Singh and Ganda Singh, the Sikh leaders. It
is probable that the real date of this event was somewhat later, and that this
is probably the same Jhanda Singh who took Multan in 1772. In
Cunningham's “History of the Sikhs” it is mentioned that, from 1772 to the
retaking of Multan by the Kabul kings, the Bhangi Sikhs were predominant
in all of the Southern Punjab, and that "they seem to have possessed
Mankera as well as Multan, and to have levied exactions from Kalabagh
downwards." Another tradition is against Mankera having been occupied by
the Sikhs before its final capture by Ranjit Singh, and any expedition made
by them in this direction can have been little more than a transitory raid.
The history of these times is wrapped in much obscurity, and the accounts,
being based only on unauthentic resources, are often contradictory.
Fateh Khan succeeded his father Baloch Khan. Towards the end of his rule,
Nusrat Khan Hot of Dera Ismail Khan, crossed over to Bhakkar, and defeated
Fateh Khan's son, also named Nusrat, whom he took prisoner with him to
Dera. It was with much difficulty that the release of Nusrat was obtained.
However, he and his father, Fateh Khan, poisoned themselves through
shame at the disgrace. The whole affair was a great scandal; and, as Nusrat
Khan Hot bore a bad character as a tyrant and wine-bibber, the king, Ahmad
Shah, who was desirous of tightening his hold over these semi-independent
provinces, took advantage of the excuse to deprive him of his government
and to remove him as a prisoner to Kabul.
Meanwhile, Hassan Khan Laskrani ruled the cis-Indus country in the name
of Hayat Khan, the grandson of the former chief, Fateh Khan. Being desirous,
however, to keep the government in his own hands, he continued to keep
Hayat Khan under close surveillance in the fort of Mankera even after the
latter had attained majority. Hayat Khan eventually managed to escape and,
getting together a party, he defeated Hassan Khan and took him prisoner.
Hassan Khan was soon afterwards murdered by some of Hayat Khan's
attendants who were opposed to him. The Government of the Jaskanis,
however, was now fast breaking up. The Sarganis, who were then a strong
tribe and had been much pampered by Hayat Khan, took offence at an

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