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Full text of "Rise Of The Sikh Power Of Punjab
"
See other formats
SOHAN SINGH SITAL
PREFACE
The long drawn out struggle and the tale of countless
sacrifices through which the Sikh nation had to wade to
come by her goal as last, is nothing short of a miracle,
indeed.
It was during the life-time of their fifth apostle, Guru
Arjan Dev, when the Sikhs came to be organised and knit
in a distinct community. But this was too bitter a pill for
the autocratic Mughal rulers to swallow. Guru Arjan Dev
was martyred under the direct orders of the Mughal
Emperor Jahangir. Though this was an unbearable blow
to the newly rising Sikh community, yet it stood this cruel
calamity like a dauntiess and brave nation.
His son, Guru Hargobind, who succeded him as the
sixth Guru, was then a boy of less than cleven years old.
But he stood his test and ground remarkably well and led
the community effectively.
The Sikhs did not lose heart because of the martyrdom
of Guru Arjan Dev. On the contrary they learnt
the lesson of daring and bravery from his peerless
sacrifice. A sword dangled from its girdic on the person
of each Sikh who wore a rosary of holy beads round his
neck at the same time. The Sikhs took to the path of
living as saint soldiers.
As Aurangzch occupied the Mughal throne at Delhi,
he introduced a wholesale change in the policy of his admin-
istration. He had a fixed goal of proselytising* the entire
Hindu population of India to Islam by the terror of his
sword hand.
Though the Hindus formed a majority of the popu-
lation in north India, they behaved as a helpless community.
They had no effective organisation to protect or lead them.
Guru Teg Bahadur came to their rescure and offered him-
self for martyrdom for their sake. Far from recognising
his rightful and just claim and proposal,Aurangzeb martyred _
the Guru in Delhi. This sanctimonious martyrdom was
responsible for bringing about a matchless revolution in the
Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com
history of India, beyond a doubt.
This martyrdom was 8 challange, thrown out to the
Sikh nation by the Mughal rulers. The Sikhs, too, respon-
ded to it like brave warriors. They swarmed to collect
themselves under the flag of Guru Gobind Singh as armed
and fearless soldiers.
That had started an era of wars for religion and mar-
tyrdoms in the country. All the four sons or Guru Gobind
Singh, his mother and, at last,he, all fell as martyrs to their
cause. He was treacherously killed by a hired foe. Yet the
Sikh nation was far from being cowed or beaten; it arose
every time on the strength of its martyrdoms with a rene-
wed courage and power. It continucd to advance like an
irrestible storm.
The Sikhs regained some power during the leadership
of Banda Singh Bahadur, when they had set themselves as
the rulers of their mother-land for a bit. But the
Mughal rulers of Delhi once again used their total
military power against them and suppressed thein to-
tally. Baba Banda Singh Bahadur was put to death
most barbarously in Delhi. A wide massacre was staged,
next, through the Punjab to annihilate the Sikhs altogether.
The people were now convinced that the Sikhs could
never revive and rise again. But after only a short respite,
the Sikhs were up and doing and in arms for their life and
honour. They were actively staging the same, long drama
of martyrdoms and warring struggle in the-fires of which
they had been tempered a while back. And, in this way,
they were able to attain their goal after servere struggles in
the fields of battles after three-quarter years of a century.
At long last, the Sikhs were able to establish their
administration in thd Panjab after sacrificing millions of
their members in the ficlds of bloody battles and represson.
The following pages of this book narrate the story of
the matshless bravery of the Sikh nation.
IT am also grateful to Professors M.C. Sharma and
Hardyal Singh who helped me in this work of translation
trom my Panjabi compositions.
Seetal Bhawan, Sohan Singh
Model Grom, Sceetal,
Ludhiana, Pb, 25.7.1970,
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www.archive.org/details/ namdhari
CONTENTS
Part First
CHAPTER PAGE
I Early Life of Banda Singh 10
II Sikh Baptism 14
III Banda Singh in Panjab 2!
IV Small Skirmishes 26
V Samana-ward 31
VI Sadhaura to Chhatt 37
VIL The Battle of Sishind 44
VIII Nemesis of Sirhind 50
IX Lohgarh as Capital 54
X Towards the Jamna 62
XI Revolution in the Majha 70
XII_ Fighting the Fanatics 75
XIN In Jullundur Doaba 8]
XIV Sirhind and Sadhaura Lost 88
XV_ The Battle of Lohgarh 94
XVI Aftermath of Lohgarh 99
XVII Back in Panjab 102
XVIII The Scene in Lahore 108
XIX The Tussel Continues 113
XX_ The Beginning of the End 118
XXI_ The End Itself 123
XXII In Delhi 128
XXIII Banda Singh: an Estimate 136
Part Second
I Essentials of Sikhism 146
II Butchery after Banda Singh 148
Ill Tara Singh Martyred 153
IV Disorders Continue 160
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V_ Comparative Calm 165
VI Repression Renewed 169
VII Bhai Mani Singh 174
VHI_ Bota Singh 179
IX The Mughal Kings 183
X Nadar Shah became King of Iran 188
XI Nadar Shah Invaded India 193
XII. Dark Times 197
XIIT Massa Ranghar 202
XIV Taroo Singh 207
XV_ Ressurrecetion 212
XVI More Dark Times 216
XVIT_ Stalemate 222
XVIII Abdali 227
XIX Confusion : 232
XX The Sikh Misals 238
XXI Mir Mannu 242
XXII Mannu and Kaura Mall 247
XXIII Abdali Again 251
XXIV Abdali, Mannu and the Sikhs 258
XXV_ Worst Barbarism 263
XXVI_ Murad Begam 266
XXVII_ Riotous Ravening 271
XXVIII Abdali Active 277
XXIX_ Adina Beg 284
XXX _ Abdali and Mahrathas P 290
XXXI_ Sikhs Survive 295
XXXII Abdali and the Sikh Slough 301
XXXII Abdali and the Sikhs 306
XXXIV The Panjab in Muddle 311
XXXV_ Sikhs Settling 317
XXXVI Abdali Again 322
XXXVII_ Abdalis Last Invasion 336
XXXVIII_ The Sikhs Achieve the Goal 340
Note : Please read page seventeenth next.
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www.archive.org/ details/namdhari
PART FIRST
The First Sikh Ruler
Banda Singh Bahadar,
The Martyr.
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www.archive.org/details/namdhari
CHAPTER 1
Early Life
The great personalities of the world were generally born
to parents of small means. Baba Banda Singh, called the
Martyr and the Brave, was one such hero of note.
Rajauri is a small, though an ancient, town in the
Punchh territory of Kashmir. A male baby was born to
the wife of a Rajput of the Bhardwaj sub-caste, Ram Dev
by name, on October the 27th, 1670. His parents chose for
him the name of Lachhman Dev. No one could tell just
then that the baby was to change his name several times
during his life and that, at last, he was to bear a name
that would be remembered with admiration till eternity.
Ram Dev was a comparatively poor man, He worked as
a ploughman, and thus earned his livelihood. He was not in
“a position to put his son to any schooling in the boy’s early
life. As Lachhman Dev grew up a little, he lent a hand to
his father at his work. But he utilised his leisure
for going to the nearby forest and hunting some small game
with his bow and arrows. He soon turned out to bea prac-
tised hand, through his fondness for, and daily use of, his crude
weapons.
His fascination for hunting grew with his advancing
years. He looked a fine and stout youngster at the age of
fifteen years. The build of his body was spare, size middling,
skin wheaten and his features beautifully chiselled. His eyes
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were shining and his face reflected his quick temper.*
He shot a doe with his bow one day, while hunting on
the bank of the stream, called Tawi. When he stepped up to
where she lay wounded, he stood stunned as he looked into
her bright, tearful eyes. When he opened her under-skin, he
saw two young ones, that died in extreme pain, while he stood
aghast, with his eyes fixed in pity on the little, dying ones.
This horrible happening shook the young hunter out of his old
bearings of life, with the result, that Re took to the life of a
holy hermit. He flung his spear into the stream and broke the
bundle ot his arrows, and threw it away. He had, now, res
nounced hunting for the rest of his life.
He kept very dejected and led a barren life for a time
after this sad incident. Though he lived among his people,
yet he took no interest in anything. His habit of adventure
and daring, and the happy-go-lucky and ebullient ways of his
former life had at once been killed by this phase of a strange
sadness, He now went to the extent of feeling little desire for
his normal food even,
It so happened that one day a party of roamingwascetics
(Bairagis) turned up at his village and stayed there for the
night, while on their way to the valley of Kashmir. Their
preaching and their random talk drew him to them, He
found them satisfying and in tune with his new mentation.
He renounced his life with his parents and left with the roam=
ing party of the saints. One of them, a learned saint, Janaki
Prasad Bairagi, impressed the mind of Lachhman Dav quite
a great deal, The result was that he became his disciple.
His name was changed to Madho Das on his initiation to the
new cult.
The party travelled, and visited several places, in the
mountainous territories of Kashmir and then returned to the
plains of the Panjab. Madho Das came to a place, called Ram
Thamman,t where a fair was held in mid-April. He had been
* Karam Singh Historian, ‘snda Bahadur’ Panjabi, page
108.
¢ Ram Thamman is a village in Tehsil Kasoor, District Lahore
that is a sacred place of pilgrimage for the ascetics. It has a
mausoleum of Saint Ram Thamman who was related to Guru
Nanak.
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}2
in the close company of a saint, named Janki Prasad. That
was in 1686. Here he met another holy man, Saint Ram
Dass, the ascetic.*
Madho Das spent some time here and then he became a
regular member of the saintly party and moved with the holy
men on pilgrimage to many places. They visited several of the
religious places over the counrty and he received some educa-
tion and religious instruction during these travels.
During his roamings, he came to the forests of Panch
Batti, The beautiful sights of Nasik fascinated him. He
built a hut here aud lived there to practise austeritics and pay
adoration to the supernatural powers. Another old saint
came to him here, his name being Agglar Nath. Madho Das
served him and looked after him witha true devotion. This
ascetic was dccply learned in magic and supernaturatism, and
was much talked about. Agghar Nath was pleased with Madho
Das’ devotion and taught him some of his wonderful feats
and secrets,
The old saintly Agghar Nath died some time later, in the
year, 1691, after passing his book on the gospel of supernatural-
‘ism to Madho Das. Madho Das studied and practised
asceticism aud magic with the help of that book. When le
was convinced of his powers of working magic, he set out to
try in action the degree of his proficiency in the art.
He chose a green and beautiful place, near Nadeyr, on’
the hank of the River Gaudavari and built there a small hut
for himself. There he soon became well-known to the neigh-
bouring people as an anchorite, possessing extra-ordinary
powers. Numbers of persons would visit him, ask for his
blessings to grant them success, prosperity and sons and were
said to have their prayers granted by this saint. The numbers
of those who put their faith in him and made him offerings,
swelled, and his disciples, too, were around him, ail the while,
as were his ordinary followers.
His supernaturalism worked for his followers in both
directions: blessing or cursing them, according to the demands
made onhim. Thus, he won a roaring reputation among the
people at large. He occupied a large area for his hermitage,
* Bunda Singh Bahadur by Dr. Ganda Singh, page 4.
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13
planted garden trees in it and having enlisted a number of
disciples, he settled down there as the head-saint.
The habit of hunting of his early life raised its head
now again in a new form. His art of working magic made him
a proud man. He would make other saints, who came to
visit him occasionally, uncomfortable with the powers of the
spirits, that he would raise; and found great pleasure in belitt-
ling and making fun of them like that. He had a special type
of a couch made for this purpose. It had a very beautiful bed-
cover spread on it day and night. He would ask a stranger,
who came to him, to sit on it. He would welcome him in
very sweet words at first; but, next, he would manage,
- through some concealed mechanical device, or, as the common
people believed, through his magical powers, to up-set the
couch, Those present in his recom would, thus, see the
venerable guest lying on the floor with the inverted couch
right on top of him. Madho Das would clap his hands in
delight and loudly laugh at this.
It became a habit with him to confound and dishonour
his saintly visitors. This afforded him a special pleasure.
And he spent a period of sixteen years on the bank of the
Gaudavari like that.
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www.archive.org/details/namdhari
CHAPTER IF
Sikh Baptism
His circumstances brought abeut~another change in
Madho Das’s life. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and the last
Guru of the Sikhs, arrived at Nadeyr in 1708. It was about
the end of September then. He reached the hermitage of
Bairagi Madho Das directly. He had been told lots of
things about the wonder working-powers of Madho Das by
Saint Jait Ram of Dadu Duara;* whont he had met there,
Accordingly,.as soon as-the gracious Guru was in
Nadeyr, he was pleased to make sure that Madho Das was, in
any case, to be enabled to gain salvation for himself. Madho
Das was not at home when the Guru went there. He took
his seat on the couch that Madho Das had used to discomfort
and confound many a saint already, There were several he-
goats browsing about inside the compound of the Bairagi.
These goats had heen left at the place as offerings tohim by
his devotees. The Sikhs caught and killed. some of the goats,
under orders from the Guru, and cooked their meat for dinner.
While this meat was being cooked, the disciples of Madho Das
took the word of this sacrilege to him. His resentment was
aroused sorely at this news, and he rushed back to his
hermitage in order to take his revenge upon the offender. His
* Dadu Duara ig a temple in the village, known as Narayan,
“in Rajasthan, near Jaipur, three miles off the railway station of
Phulera. Mahan Kosh by Bhai Kahan Singh, p. ¢70, edition of
7AM,
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1S
anger was simply consuming and his eyes were flaming red.
He used all his art and magic to upturn the couch on the
Guru, but in spite of his doing his very best, nothing would
avail him.
He was a little gripped with fear now. He started
wondering as to who the bold new-comer could be! He came
up to the Guru and looked closely at his face, its brilliant,
spiritual light, its majestic, captivating and kindly eyes,
abounding in divine grace, his golden plumes, a hawk perched
on the thumb of his one hand, his sword hanging from his
girdle, a bow tucked on his shoulder— looking a fascinating
picture of both stateliness and~ spirituality, harmoniously
mingled. The very first look. of the Guru had melted his
anger and had won him over as an ardent admirer.
Unable to utter a single word and tongue-tied, the
Bairagi found his hands joind in obeisance and head lowered
in reverence. The kindly Guru smiled and said softly: “You
had thrown away your spear, had broken your bow and
crushed your arrows; yet even, now, you have not changed
your nature !”
Madho Das raised his eyes just a bit and cast them low
again, His body shook from head to toe-tips. He felt as if
‘somebody had come to know his deepest secrets. Taking
himself a little in hand and under control, he spoke, not
without an effort: ‘Your Holiness, I have lost all my merit
and rectitude at the hands of such a high saint as Yourself.”’
The Guru: ‘How do you mean ?”
The Rairagi: “Your Honour, Iam a confirmed vegetari-
an saint. You have killed lives and shed blood in my own
house and you have desecrated my seat on which I sit, while
worshipping my gods.”
The Guru: ‘Does the shedding of blood profane your
seat ?”
- The Rairagi: “That is the principle of my Vaishnav®
(Vegetarian) creed.”
The Guru: ‘‘Is that so in spite of the fact that the blood
has flowed in one corner of your large compound while your
couch stands in a distant corner? How did that make your
*The followers of the cult of God Vishnu.
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16
seat unhallowed ?”
The Bairagi: “Your Lordship; when blood has been shed
in the hermitage no seat, in any corner of it, can escape the
curse of impurity.”
The Guru: “Then tell me one thing: when in India
rivers of the blood of its guiltless inhabitants happen to’ flow
over every inch of its soil, how was it that your hermitage in
this locality could remain unprofaned so far in spite of it all?’’
These words went straight home and shook his heart
out of its complacency. His very soul was shaken out of its
deep sleep and all his powers were up in revolt against his
past. Thus staggered altogether, he exclaimed: ‘Well ?”
The Guru replied in a firm tone: ‘That is that.’
A new and bright light had dawned in the inner soul of
the Baivagi now. He bowed and fell at the feet of the Guru
and spoke with tears welling in his eyes: ‘‘Pardon me, my
Lord, I am your humble votary (Banda.)’’*
The Guru: “And I am raising my Banda (servant) to
the status of Banda Singh.’’+
The Bairagi: ‘‘At your service and at your sacred feet,
Your Holiness.”
The Guru: “My Banda Singh Bahadur,} you are a
huntsman by nature, Persevere in your vocation of
hunting. Iam granting to you an unbreakable bow in place
of the one that you had broken and discarded once, and the
arrows that will break the tyranny of the cruel, absolute
rulers of our people. You hunted the helpless animals
at one time; come out now and kill the merciless tyrants -
of our mother-land. I anoint you to be the protector and
saviour of the humble, helpless people, the Khalsa, ** from
today onward.”
The Guru administered the holy, Sikh baptismtt to
* Servant, slavo, believer or votary.
+ Lion-Sikh,
~ Brave.
_ *® The pure, upright persons, the Sikhs.
+tAmrit,Dr, Ganda Singh:Banda‘Singh Bahadur, p. 18; Ahmed Shah
Batalia: Zikrey Gurnan wa [btday Singhan wa Mazhab-i-Aishan, p. 11;
Ganesh Dass: Risala-i-Sabib-Numa, pp. 186-87. Mufti Ali-ud-Din:
Countinued
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17
Madho Das with his own hands. He renamed him Banda Singh
and bestowed on him the title of Bahadur.*
The Guru instructed him in all the articles of the Sikh
creed and its symbols. Banda Singh now learnt with great
interest the Sikh scriptures and Sikh history with the
help of other Sikhs present there. A narration of the stories ©
of the martyrdoms of Guru Arjan Dev and of Guru Teg
Bahadur set his blood boiling with pious indignation. The
accounts of the battles of Guru Gobind Singh himself against.
the hill rajas and the Mughal, imperial armies, given him by
the Sikhs, made the muscles of his arms twitch and aflame for
immediate action. His hands were involuntarily forced to
gtip his sword. His mind was in revolt, hungering deeply for
his Guru's permission to let him rush to the Panjab and
to try his luck at fighting the tyrannical rulers there.
It was about that time that another tragedy occurred.
Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sirhind, felt very much uneasy
in his mind on hearing the news that the Guru and the
Emperor were on intimate and friendly terms with each other,
He wove another fatal plot now. He bribed heavily and won
TEE 7
Tbrat Nama, p. 08. Mohammad Ali Khan Ansari, Taworikh.i-
Muzaffri, p.86. Kanahya Lah Twarikh.i-Panjab, p. 66. Racha
Kishan: Goshad-Panjab, p. 20. Zaka-ul-La: Tarikh Hindustan,
Vol. IX. p. 57. Bakhat Mal: Hal-i-Mukhtsar Ibtda-i Firqa-i-Sikh-
an, p. 10. Gulam Hussain Khan: Raymond-SeirMutaqhrin, I, p.
82. Briggs, pp. 72-78. M. Gregor: I, p. 106. Mohammad Lateef, p.
274 Panye: A Short History of the Sikhs, p. 48. Macauliffe: The
Sikh Religion V,p. 288. Ibbetson Maclagan-Rose: A Glossary of
the Tribes and Castos of the Panjab and N.W.F.P.,I, p.608. Brown:
History of the Origin and Progress of the Sikhs, India Tract IT,
1787-88, p. 9. Forster’s Travels, I, p. 268. Iradat Khan: Memories
of the Mughal Empire, p. 143. Lovett: India, p. 84. Sau Sakhi,
1905: (Sun Bandey Tum Khalsa Panth, Milo Khalsa Pahul Santh),
Sardha Ram: Sikhan de Raj di Vithia, p..64. Veni Prasad: Guru
Gobind Singh, p. 102; Sri Ram Briksha Sharma: Guru Gobind
Singh, p. 77; Gyani Gyan Singh: Panth Parkash, V Edition, p.
$28; Shamsher Khalsa, Urdu, IV edition, p. 7% Radha Mohan,
Gokal Ji. Guru Gobind Singh, p. 88; Sir Surrinder Sharma: Guru
Gobind Singh, p. 88; Rattan Singh Bhangu: Pracheen Panth
Parkash, (Ham ne Khaisa tu bhiralaya), p. 68; Gokal Chand
Narang: p. 172.
* Brave.
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18
over two Pathans, Ata-Ulla Khan and Gul Khan* who were
well-known to the Guru already. These two conspirators went
all the way to the distant Deccan and appeared at the Guru’s
encampment. They professed deep devotion to and faith in
‘the Guru, They regularly attended the morning and evening
assemblies of prayers ‘and devotional music, where the Guru,
too, was present and preached to the congregations.
Gul Khan found an opportunity quietly to enter the tent
of the Guru one day, a little after the evening prayers. The
Guru was alone there, resting on his couch, at the time. Gul
Khan approached him noiselessly and then jumped at him.
His dagger thrust went deep into the chest of the Guru, just
a bit below the heart, on the left side. Before the Pathan
could inflict on him another blow, the Guru rose and severed
' with his sword the head of the attacker from his body. The
other Pathan, Ata-ulla Khan, who had kept watch at the duor,
hurriedly ran away. He was at once overtaken by the Sikhs
and killed with sword thrusts. A surgeon was at once called
in, who served the Guru and dressed his wound.
This tragic calamity impelled Banda Singh not to stay’
there any longer, He was determined in his mind to be
avenged immediately upon these murderers for all their unre-
lenting tyrannies and holocausts, if he was at all to be called
worthy of being a Sikh of the Guru.
He presented himself to the Guru in all reverence and
with folded hands. The Guru guessed his purpose and observed:
“My Banda Singh Bahadur, the time to punish the tyrants
is ripe now. Do kecp your faith in Sikhism unshaken and
fiim. Tshall be with you in spirit and realisation all the
while. The community of the Sikhs shall ever find me present
with it, in my own way, and you shall realise me in the
Pantht that shall represent the power of the Almighty Himself
on this earth. Live and work like a true and devout servant
of the Panth. God will be at your back and helpful to you.
Let five of my Sikhs pray on your behalf for whatever you
seek to attain,and it shall be granted by God Almighty.”
The Guru gave Banda Singh necessary instructions in
* Gyani Gyan Singh: Twarikh Guru Khalsa, page 1432.
t The Sikhs as a religious entity.
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his work like that, and asked him to be ready to proceed to
the Panjab. He made him a gift of five arrows from his own
stock, signifying the victories to be won by this new Sikh.
He was given a war drum and a flag and, moreover, the Guru
told five of his leading Sikhs* to accompany Banda Singh to
the Panjab as his councillors. They were: Bhait Binod Singh,
Bhai Kahn Singh, Bhai Daya Singh, Bhai Baj Singht and Bhai
Ran Singh. Twenty other Sikhs, too, were asked to return
tothe Panjab with him. Moreover, the Guru wrote his
instructions {Hukamname or orders) to several leading Sikhs
to help Banda Singh in the plan that he was to put through.
In short, he was appointed the Jathedar or leader of the Sikh
community and sent to the Panjab to work his mission there.
He now started on his journey as the captain of his
' band of twenty-five Sikh comrades, As they rested after
making each stage of their march, he came to know from
them the stories of the Sikh Martyrs, and that of the most
brutal martyrdom of the two children of the Guru at Sirhind,
Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, that had, in particular, made
his blood boil inside his veins. Their murder by making them
stand at a spot while a brick-wall was built around them to
suffocate them to death, had shocked him beyond words. It
made him grow so agitated and restless as to wish strongly
to reach Sirhind in a single day to wreak his vengeance on
‘the tyrannical Nawab there.
They had, thus, reached Bharatpur** by steady marches
when they were faced with an unexpected hardship: they
had exhausted their funds and were yet far from their
destination. They were not in a position to take to any law-
breaking in that territory. All of them, however, joined now
in making a prayer to their Guru to help them in this
contingency. The prayer was answered: just then a party
of Lubana Sikhs turned upthere, who were on a_ business
trip to a farther area, They made an offering of five hundred
* Panj Piyarcy or five adored ones or advisers.
+ Brother, mister or comrade.
¢ Rattan Singh Baangoo, Pracheen Panth Parkash, p 67.
** Gyani Gyan Singh; Shamsher Khalsa, Urdu, p 7.
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rupees to Baba Banda Singh, as one-tenth of their profits.t
This money was used by the party of Banda Singh to tide
over their difficulty. They were, thus, enabled to continue
their march till they had reached the neighbourhood of Delhi,
nn
+ It isa religious tenct of the Sikhs to pay 10 percent of their
earnings to the common welfare fund of the community.
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www.archive.org/details/ namdhari
CHAPTER HI
Banda Singh in the Panjab
Banda Singh started his preparations to fulfil his mission
as soon as he was in the Panjab Hie was well aware of all that
he required in order to conquer Sirhind. His first task was to
win over to him the loyalties of the poorer section of the
people. The Sikhs would make their day’s prayers and then
shouted their slogan loudly which was ‘‘Akaal, Akaal,”’* All
of them were swordsmen-saints and Banda Singh was their
leader or chief.
The faithful Sikhs would come to visit him and make
him their offerings, taking him for a Sikh of Guru Gobind
Singh and the Jathedar of the community. They would
‘ reverently greet him, wanting to be blessed by him for the
grant of prosperity or sons. He would pray to God in their
behalves and their wishes were met, in most cases. He would
in this way, receive substantial collections, all of which he
used to distribute among the members of his party and the
poor commons. If a poor man would come to serve the Sikhs
assembled there and the members of his Jatha or group, in
particular, he was rewarded with a gold mohar by him.
Bhai Rattan Singh has narrated this practice of Banda
Singh in the following words:
“If the demand was made for ason, a son was granted
to such a Sikh,
* Karam Singh Historian: Banda Bahadur, p. 3).
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And milk would be there, if for milk was the prayer
made.
If a man in trouble turned up, Banda Singh’s prayer
7 relieved him of it, too.
He made them worship God and their prayers failed
not to aid them......
“Wherever Banda Singh made a halt, there his host
was rewarded with a gold mohar.
Tf an oil-man would lend him oil for his lighting purpose,
Banda Singh failed not to pay him a gold coin.
When a potter brought to him an earthen lamp or a
vessel, he would drop him a gold coin out of his pocket.
If a wood-cutter offered him fuel, a gold coin was his
unfailing reward.’’*
Banda Singh had, thus, made a name all over his part
of the country. People daily made him the usual offerings.
His visitors knew him as a philanthropist, charitable person
and miracle worker. This would attract to him thieves and
robbers at times; but they dared not do his hermitage any
harm as it was always protected by his band of armed Sikhs.
His policy, at the time, was not to get involved in any
of the problems of the people; but he was resolved to advance
his own plans quietly first.
Thus, moving from one place to another, Banda Singh
and his party reached the tract, called Bangar.{ One day
the village in which Banda Singh and party had stayed, was
attacked by a gang of robbers. The entire people of the
village were terror-stricken and confounded and_ started
running away, leaving their homes unprotected. That was
a time when the Government of Delhi was altogether ineffect-
ive and powerless. The bands of rascals from large villages
would rob and kill the people of smaller places. These daily
calamities and destruction had made the people timid and
terror-stricken to the extent that they would run away for
their lives, leaving everything in the villages behind them,
The people in the village where these Sikhs were staying,
were terrified and nervous, though Banda Singh did his best
* Pracheen Panth Parkash, Second edition, p. 69.
¢ The area of Jakhal, Sirsa and Hissar.
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to persuade the residents to join his party in facing and
beating the robbers away. But nobody in the village would
give an ear to what he had told them. At last, he himself,
along with a smal) number of his Singhs,made ready to oppose
the robbers. And he and his party of Sikhs attacked the bad,
mad plunderers with such force and ferocity that they knew
no other safety than that of running away from these lion-like
resisters. The Sikhs went in pursuit of them and succeeded in
robbing the robbers of whatever plunder they had succeeded
in carrying from their previous victims.*
The village people, too, had, by then, returned to their
homes. They thanked profusely the Sikhs for their bravery.
That was how Banda Singh had helped in saving a few villages
from being plundered by robbers.
Banda Singh now sent the criers around, throughout that
neighbourhood, asking the people to stop paying the revenue
to the Government that afforded them no security of life and
property. He himself promised to give them all necessary
protection and security in return for their supplying to his
Sikhs milk and other articles of food and mere necessaries of
life, in order to keep them going in life and in their service.
At the same time, he tried to persuade the poor and the
oppressed classes of the population to assemble under
the flag of Guru Gobind Singh and seek conversion to Sikh
religion,
This declaration estranged the minds of the chiefs (land.
lords) of that area from Banda Singh and his party. These
important persons behaved and lived like autocrats, who ruled
and acted as it pleased them. And, they were in league with
the robbers, too, who had to pay these ‘‘barons’’ a part of the
plunder that they used to collect, It were these land-lords
alone who were the rulers of the people in actual practice.
They were now anxious to break Banda Singh and his group
of the Sikhs. But, luckily for the mass of the people, these
rulers missed their opportunity to create disturbances that
-they had wanted to use as their pretext; for, Banda Singh left
that locality and moved further to the villages, named Sebri
* Rattan Singh Bhangoo : Pracheen Panth Parkash, page 70.
¢t Karam Singh Historiam : Banda Bahadur, page 83.
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and Khanda.
Sehri and Khanda are situated close by each other in
the pargana of Kharkhod. Banda Singh wrote letters from
there, addressed to the Sikhs of the Majha, the Doaba and
the Malwa and of other places, far and near. He despatched
special messages, written and addressed by the Guru himself,
to many prominent Sikhs and himself wrote several
letters, similar to those the Guru had written, addressed to
other well-known Sikhs. Other Sikhs who were keeping him
company, also, wrote.for the same purpose to several other
persons whom they knew.
The subject of all these letters was about the same,
and may be summed up in the following words:
“Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, the General of the Sikh
community, appointed by Guru Gobind Singh himself, has
recently come tothe Panjab, in order to take our revenge
upon Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sirhind, for the bloodiest
murder of the guiltless and innocent children of our Guru. It
is a religious duty of every Sikh to take part in this holy war
of the Panth.’’
Anybody who read or listened to the subject of the
letters, put aside his duties and chores at home and took to
preparing for doing his best in order to answer this call to
arms. And, moreover, the person who received such a
letter, visited with it a score of the neighbouring villages and
read it out to their residents. Every home in every village
bustled with the preparation for fighting this holy war. The
rusted swords were sought out, brightened and sharpened.
The spears tucked in the ceilings and bows without strings,
were recovered and made war-worthy. Those, who were
without substance with them, borrowed money of the
professional lenders, at 25% or even 50% interest, yearly. If
a couple of Sikhs started fiom a village, they grew
into five through new additions at the next village. After
covering a distance of a few miles, they would multiply
into a regular squad. Whichever village they would turn in,
they would proclaim their mission and invite the residents to
join with them to fight for their Guru and his creed and win
martyrdom,
The whole of the Panjab had, by now, heard the news
of the arrival of Banda Singh Bahadur and of the imminen
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25
war under his generalship. How far had the Sikhs been enthused.
for this holy fighting was evident from the busy preparations
that they were making for it. 1f the husband was ploughing his
land out of the village and his wife had heard of ‘the local
war-party being organised, she would meet her husband at
the door of the house, taking his weapons to him. A sister
would carry a number of coins tied in a piece of cloth, and a
bow and arrows for her brother and would go to meet
him out in the field. A mother would wake up her sleeping
son, place his spear on his shoulder and make him run in
order to catch up with the war-party already on its way.
These patriotic women of the villages would go up the roofs
of their houses to have a fond look at the fighters’ parties
and greet them with their war slogan* and encourage them
to fight toughly.
No Sikh lady could forget the bloody, horrible deeds of
the tyrannical Wazir Khan and Sucha Nand. Their bloody
crimes flashed across mind. She imagined and pictured in her
mind the two children of her Guru being killed by the rising
wall around them, and saw also in her imagination, the writh-
ing, wounded bodies of the unholy dying criminals. That
was how earnestly and waimly the Sikhs left their homes
and assembled under the banner of Banda Singh.
* Sat.Sri Akaal: Deathless is the God Almighty.
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CHAPTER IV
SMALL SKIRMISHES
The Chaudhries (land-lords) of the rural areas took the
news of all this stir to the local officers, who placed special
guards on the roads and the river-crossings. They were
ordered to arrest every person who looked a suspect. The
Sikhs of the Majha were particularly hit- by these
restrictions on their travel. Many of them had _ been
arrested. The remaining ones managed to reach the Doaba
and then Kiratpur either by assuming changed appearances
or travelling along less known routes, or joining the
company of the traders’ parties or by going along the hilly
tracks,
The Doaba Sikhs, too, faced similar hurdles. The
Pathan functionaries had blocked their passage between
Ropar and Maler Kotla; but the resourceful Doaba Sikhs
reached Kiratpur and joined those of their comrades who
had already assembled there. The Malwa Sikhs, how-
ever, met with no such obstruction.They left their homes,
formed parties of twenty or so and marched from one
village to another, avoiding the known high-ways.
Governor Wazir Khan of Sirhind had two servants,named
Aali Singh and Maali Singh, who came of village Salaudi.
Wazir Khan had heard of the arrival of Banda Singh. One
day the Pathan ruler made the following taunting remarks
to AaliSingh and Maali Singh: “I am told that another Guru
of yours, Banda Singh, has arrived in these parts. I suggest
that you should go and join him in his religious war. If you
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27
can, prompt him to attack Sirhind. Your former Guru, who
was badly licked by us,had to flee this part of the country,
to find a refuge in the distant Deccan, at Nadayr, and to
meet a speedy death there.* The bones of this new Guru
will be scattered in the streets of Sirhind.””
Aali Singh and Maali Singh did their best to control
their rising indignation ano not to make any bitter retort
-to the taunt. Yet they found it impossible to control their
temper any longer against the insult and conceit flung at
their Guru and they did happen to say certain bitter words,
in their turn. The Governor lost no time in arresting and
throwing behind the prison bars ali the Sikhs living in that
place. But times were such that these victims of oppression
could escape from the prison-house as easily as they had
been arrested and held up. It, thus, happened that the
whole party of Aali Singh was enabled to give a slip to the
jailor by successfully bribing his assistants. The Jail offici-
als informed the Governor next day of the escape the Sikh
prisoners. They were alleged to have fled away by making
a hole in the prison wall the previous night. The Governor
was helpless and felt as if the ground had slipped from
under his feet. The sikhs had flown out of his reach.
Banda Singh had stayed put at Sehri-Khanda, waiting
for the expected Sikh parties to join him there. Aali Singh
and Maali Singh of Salaudi were the first to go to him.t They
were twentythree in number.{ Some more parties of the
Malwa Sikhs had turned up now. Bhai Fateh Singh, the
descendant of Bhai Bhagtu,had brought a large party to the
leader. He had with him some Sikh business-men, too, who
had brought with them a number of bullocks, laden with
rations.f¢+ Karam Singh and Dharm Singh of Roopeka had
also turned up there. Nagahia Singh and Choohar Singh of
Daulat, along with a good number of Brar Sikhs and Jatts
from Bangar, had also joined up. Ram Singh and Tilok
* Guru Gobind Singh had died on October the 7th, 1708, at
Nadeyr. Banda Singh was already on his way to the Panjab
when the news of this death had reached him. And it was he
who had told the Sikhs in the Panjab the story of this tragedy.
¢ Karam Sinz, Historian: Banda Bahadur, page 40.
} Gyani Gyan Singh: Shamsher Khalsa, page 8.
tt Dr. Ganda Singh: Banda Singh Bahadur, Page 32.
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Singh, the Phoolka leaders, had not come there themselves.
But they took care to send to the aid of Banda Singh a
large number of their men and a good deal of other
material. The Sikhs of the village, Maharaj, had received
money from the Phoolkas and reached there in a farge
party. All these persons had reached Banda Singh at Sehri-
Khanda. Chaudhri Kapura did not turn up there, nor did
he render Baba Banda Singh any other help.
Banda Singh now had a total of about five hundred sikhs.
He set out from there, moving ahead through villages. If
the chaudhries of a village offered them the day's provisions,
they would resume their march without causing any trouble
there. But in places where the leaders of a village were
hard-headed, the Khalsa bands would forcibly acquire
the provisions to meet their need of the day, As they
approached Sonipat, the Captain of the army platoon posted
there advanced from the town haif-heartedly to fight the
Sikhs. He showed no courage to come toa clash with
them. The news of the advancing Sikhs that had reached
his ears, had frightened him out of his wits, When the Sikhs
moved to an attack, he hurriedly retreated and ran away
Delhi-ward, leaving the town to the tender mercies of the
invaders. The Sikhs plundered the town and advanced
towards Kaithal.
The province of Delhi comprised the Divisions of Delhi,
Saharanpur, Sirhind, Hissar and Ferozabad, each under a
Commissioner, asin our present system. Kaithal was a
pargana or district under Sirhind, The band of the Sikhs of
Banda Singh Bahadur was resting near the village of
Bhuna, not much distant from Kaithal, when they were
told that the government money from the treasury of
Kaithal was being carried to Delhi, guarded by a few
soldiers only. Banda Singh promptly ordered a party of his
nien to attack the treasure guards. The Sikhs swooped upon
the treasure-carriers like hungry tigers. They met no resis-
tance at all. The soldiers who gaurded the treasure, melted
away at the start of the attack, leaving the treasure behind.
This brought a decent sum of money into the possession of
Banda Singh, which he distributed among all his followers.
All his Sikh comrades were very pleased with him for his
self-denial and fair dealings,
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The army officers of Kaithal receieved the news of this
incident from his soldiers who had fied to him for protection,
This officer was a Hindu. Taking four hundred cavalry men
with him, he hastened to meet and punish the Sikhs.* All
the men of Banda Singh were foot-soldiers. He realised
that fighting the enemy in the open would not avail him,
He, along with al] the Sikhs, walked into the dense forest,
growing nearby.{ Whenthe army officer came to know
that the Sikhs had slipped into the jungle of thick trees for
fear of his horsemen, he rushed haughtily after them
and attempted to enter the forest, When the horses
could not enter there safely with their riders, he
ordered his soldiers to dismount and to go in pursuit of the
Sikhs among the trees. Before they could dismount, the
Sikhs rushed on them from amongest the nearby trees,
swords in hands, and killed several of the enemies before
they had gained a foothold on the ground. This sudden on-
rush of the Sikhs had astounded the government soldiers.
Some of the Sikhs lost no time in arresting the enemy
officer securely.
Fighting was atan end. The Sikhs had killed some of
the enemies, while the others had either succeeded in
running away or had been captured. And the Kaithal
officer was, at last, released on the condition that
he was to give all his horses to the Sikhs and, for the
future, he was to retain his post in Kaithal and was to
realise the government dues from the people as before and
pay them to the Sikhs,
The Sikhs turned their eyes to Samana next. The
Governor of Sirhind had four dastoors or districts under
him, Haveyli Sirhind, Tehara, Thaneswar and Samana,
Samana was a very well-known, old and rich town, In
those times people in the villages were poor and lived from
hand to mouth, while all the wealth was accumulated in
the towns of the administrative head-quarters of the
_country. The mansions of the rich persons and of the
officers were built sky high while it was a rare sight to see
an ordinary baked-brick house standing in a village.
“Rattan Singh Bhangoo: Pracheen Panth Parkash, P. 71.
+ Karam Singh Historian: Banda Behadur, p, 34
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Samana, too, was overflowing with wealth. It was
well-known for the distinction that it possessed twenty-
two palankeens. This meant that there were twenty-two
families in that town whose members were formally
privileged by the authority of the Emperor to move about
in palankeens. Each one of these big parsons possessed
a mansion of pucca bricks, with butteressed works like a
fort. The town was defended by a thick city-wall, with
strong gates that could be shut against the attacks of
the enemies. The Muslim Savyads and the Mughals
formed a large majority in the town, and were known
for their bravery. They knew of the disturbances caused
by Banda Singh, no doubt. But they had given him
little heed. They were proud of their power and entertained
an overweening opinion that the Sikhs had no chance to
approach and harm them and their town.
The great wealth of Samana was not the only reason for
the Sikhs to attack it; their minds were poisoned againgt it
on another account too. Sayyad Jalal-ud-Din who had
beheaded Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru and father of
Guru Gobind Singh, and the butchers Shashal Beg and
Bashal Beg who had murdered the two younger sons of
Guru Gobind Singh most inhumanly, lived in Samana.
When Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sirhind, had murdered
these children of the Tenth Guru, these rulers of Samana
were his partners in this inhumanity. Banda Singh had
now proclaimed all these facts of history to the Sikhs of the
area and invited all of them, who would partake of the
plunder of Samana, to come out and join him in the
proposed exploit.
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CHAPTER V
Samana-ward
The force of Banda Singh had three types of men in itt
first, the true, devotee Sikhs who had joined him to attain
salvation through martydom; secondly, the paid men of
the Sikh chiefs like Ram Singh, Tilok Singh and others,
who were sent to serve and fight under Banda Singh; and,
thirdly, the professional plunderers of that part of the
country, who had joined hands with him for the sake of
robbing those whom they attacked, and who kept hindmost
at the time of fighting and fore-most when plundering
their victims. The Muslim, underground historian of the
time, Khafi Khan, has recorded that the total number of
Banda Singh’s men was four thousand horsemen and seven
to cight thousand footmen which latter swelled to forty
thousands in the end.
At the head of a force of about a dozen thousands
men, Banda Singh encamped at a place ten miles distant
from Samana. He made his army march at night-fall, and
covering the distance of ten miles, appeared at the gates of
Samana at four o’clock on the morning of November the
26th, 1709, and rushed into the town. The guards were
given no opportunity to close the gates, so sudden was the
attack.
Banda Singh gave the word to massacre anybody
offering resistance, as his men broke into the streets. The
Sayyads and the Mughals had now made ready to check
and re-ist this onrush of the raiders. But they could not
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make a stand for long to resist and throw the Sikhs out.,
Leaving the common inhabitants of the city defenceless, the
wealthy families shut themselves up behind the doors of
their mansions, in comparative security.
The Sikhs ransacked the streets of the town, making
short work of all opponents. Whosoever resisted them,
was put to the sword.
It was the turn of the mansions next. The Mughals
and the Sayyads fought courageously. But the endless
zeal of the Sikhs dashed their hope to the ground. The
Sikhs, at the moment, saw the image of a murderer of their
ninth Guru and of the two children of their tenth Guru in
the face of each Mughal or Sayyad. That being the case,
no one could protect and save the lives of these rulers. The
mansions fell to the raiders. They were emptied of their
inmates and their wealth. The house of every big family
was a cess-pool of blood with human bodies writhing in
agony of death. The heads of influential residents rolled in
the streets like pumpkins, The women of the rich families
who never appeared in public except behind their veils, were
now running about in the streets with uncovered heads and
bare feet. Only those lived to tell the tale afterwards, who
had run for their lives, discarding their love of homes and
families, as soon as the raiders had rushed into the town.
Ten thousand Muslims were said to have been despatched
there in one day, a number of them being childien and
women. Some of the women had committed suicide
and some children were killed by the professional
plunderers.
The rulers of Samana had never once imagined that
such a terrible day was ever to dawn upon them, inflicting
on them this horrid retribution. Normally they had been
committing on the common folk all the tyrannies that they
had chosen, It was the common practice among
them to dishonour the daughters or other women-folk of
the commons and to fleecethem, and squeeze from the small
people whatever the latter had possessed. Now that the
oppressed people found their first-ever opportunity, they,
too, did their worst in taking revenge upon the Samana
tyrants. They carefully traced and picked every one of the
oppressors, killed him, plundered his effects and set his
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house on fire and reduced it to ashes, to complete the tale.
However, the destruction of life and property caused
by the Sikhs was small as compared to the havoc wrought
by the robberes of the area, who seemed to know much
about the life and character of the people of Samana.
This prosperous and busy town was a heap of ashes
and ruins by the nightfall. Actually this exploit was the
first, real victory that Banda Singh had scored against the
Mughal rulers of the Panjab. Samana was really a rich
town, The Sikhs had acquired, on this occasion, wealth
worth lakhs of rupees. The men of Banda Singh were not
paid any salary. He, therefore, distributed proportionately
the entire acquisition among his followers, Sardar Fateh
Singh had fought with considerable skill and courage.
Banda Singh had, therefore, appointed him the otficer of
the military force that he left behind him in Samana.
Samana, which lay in ruins on that day, has not been
able to recapture its old status. The Mughal residents
there were up-rooted so as never to come back to their
old perch. They shifted toa place on the banks of the
rivulet Sraswati, near Pehowa. They were pushed out of
that place, too, later, during the time of the Sikh Misils.*
Then they set out to settle down in the Saharanpur area.
When the British took possession of these parts, they
had shifted these Mughals from there to a place in the
District ot Karnal.
Sirhind is only thirty miles or so from Samana. The
news of this devastation had reached Sirhind, and Wazir-
Khan was well aware that his capital could not escape a
similar fate for long. He was, therefore, busy in making
preparations to ensure that the fate of Samana did not
befall Sirhind. He despatched to Samana two of his spies in
order to assess the real strength of the Sikhs. But it so
happened that they fell into the hands of the Sikhs. One of
them had only one good cye, and the other man had only
one arm. They were taken to Banda Singh, who had them
thoroughly shoe beaten and then sent them back to Sirhind
with the message that the Khalsa was ready to attack
Sirhind and Wazir Khan might make his preparations
* A federation of Sikh feudal chiefs.
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34
against the day-
Some of the Malwa Sikhs were pressing Banda Singh
to attack Sirhind at an early day. But he knew the position
better. A ruler like Wazir Khan who possessed a large num-
bers of big guns, field guns and elephants and who was in a
position to requisition large numbers of the soldiers from his
local commanders of the divisional areas, could not be
challenged cheaply and merely in haste and for the fun of
it. It was wiser to make firm and sure preparations,
before tackling him in the hattle-field, rather than to strike
prematurely and suffer a defeat. He wanted to build his
strength for a sure victory first and fight the enemy there-
after.
He knew well that the plundcrers formed a majority of
his men. They were powerful enough to ciusha defeated
enemy; but when an action was prolonged, the plunderers
were the first to slink away before the fluctuating fortunes
of the field. It was for this reason that Banda Singh was
anxious to meet the Doaba and the Majha Sikhs first. Also,
his five councillors, Baj Singh and others, too, came of the
Majha; and they had strongly wished that these brethren
who had travelled all the way from across the Beas and the
Sutlej against great odds and hardships, should be enabled
to join the Sirhind venture.
The Sikhs from the Majha and the Doaba, who had
assembled at Kiratpur, found their path to Sirhind blocked
by the Pathans of Ropar and Maler Kotla. They sent their
emissaries in disguise, to Banda Singh, asking him for his
orders His reply was brief: “Remain where you are, We
are moving in the diiection of Chhatt. Wait for my next
message.”
These Sikhs, staying put at Kiratpur, were now face to
face with another danger, that of starvation. © Whatever
they had brought from their homes, had been exhausted,
leaving them starkly penniless. But the Guru had heard
their prayer and resolved their hardship in the nick of time:
two traders of Kiratpur itself, Peshaura Singh and Keshaura
Singh, financed a free kitchen for the assembled Sikhs. And
this charitable arrangement was maintained till the congre-
gation had moved to its next place.
Sishind fell on Banda Singh’s way to Kirtpur. He
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35
had, therefore, to march in a circuitous way. This curve
by the eastern side of Sirhind was safer than the route on
the western side. The eastern paths were easier to traverse
and the people there, too, were more prosperous. Banda
Singh, therefore, preferred the eastern detour.
The men of Banda Singh left Samana. walked a little
distance to the south, and then turned eastward. Their
first encounter was at Ghuram. The Pathan residents of
that place came out to resist the Sikhs. But they soon ran
away from the field: they could not defeat or throw back
these Sikhs, who had already over-run Samana. The town
was plundered, the houses of the Pathans were set on fire,
and the ncighbourhood annexed to the territory controlled
by Fateh Singh.
The Siklis then advanced to Thaska whose Pathan
residents did not at all oppose them.* The Sikhs entered
the place, plundered it and left it, without any killing what-
ever.
They went to Shahabad next. The Sayyad, the Sheikh,
the Mughal and the Pathan Muslims formed its population.
The local officer, who ruled there, lived outside the town,
in an inn, that was built like a regular fort. The Sikhs
marched into the town, but the officer rested behind the
closed gates of the inn all this while. The resident, too,
preferred to play safe for their lives and saw their belong-
ings being pillaged, without raising their little fingers
against the transgressors. The result was that without
shedding a single drop of blood, the Sikhs carricd their
plunder and went their way. The admirable officer in
charge of the security of the town, was still resting cosily
behind his closed doors.
Mustafabad was the next victim of the Sikhs. Its
army officer marched out of the town at the head of his two
thousand strong special military force, two guns and a
large number of volunteers from the town and the country
around it, to oppose and defeat Randa Singh.
The robber force with the Sikhs hastily melted at the
first booming of the guns. But the staunch, faithful Sikhs
held their own as usual. Banda Singh did not fail to take
* Dr. Ganda Singh: Randa Singh Bahadur, p. 48.
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"36
time by the forelock and made a Jightning attack,
wisely avoiding a drawn out action. The Sikhs of course,
possessed no long-range guns and rifles; they quickly drew
their swords and rushed at the enemy straight. There was
a bricf period of ferocious sword-play on both sides. The
Muslim fighters lost their foot hold and ran away for safety.
The Sikhs took possession of the guns and the rest of their
munitions,
When the robbers heard of the victory of the Sikhs,
they, ton, turned up to score their own gains. The whole
of the town was plundered and the houses of the rich fami-
lics were set on fire to be devoured by flames. t
tMacaulide, Vol. V, p. 947,
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CHAPTER VI
Sadhaura To Chatt
The Sikhs turned their attention to Sadhaura, During
their march they stayed for the night at the village of
Dalaur, Here they were told by the Lubana Sikhs stories
of the cruelties perpetrated by Kadam-ud-Din, who was the
chief of Kapoori. His father, Aman-Ulla, had been the
Governor of Gujrat, Kathiawar, during the time of Emperor
Aurangzeb,* He had amassed huge wealth during his
regime there through corrupt practices. These earnings of
sin had turned Kadam-ud-Din into a beastly tyrant. This
oppressor would not spare any beautiful Hindu woman of
his area from being made a'prey to his lust. The soldiers
of this dirty beast would roam like wild animals even in
areas outside his rule, seeking any pretty women whom
they would capture for their master. Every new bride
was first taken to him without fail and was then allowed to
proceed to her husband’s place.
A perfect believer in Sikhinm as Banda Singh was, he
could not possibly take this barbarism for granted and
could not forgive it, either. He attacked Kapoori before he
headed for Sadhaura. Before the sun rose, the Sikhs had
entered Kapoori. Kadam-ud-Din made a brief stand.
But the Sikhs overpowered him quickly and despatched him
to the hell to burn in its fires.t His right royal mansion was
reduced to ashes and his town was completely plundered.
* Karam Singh Historian, Banda Bahadur, p. 43.
¢ Sohan Singh : Banda the Brave, page 69. _
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38
Sadheura needs a special mention. It is an ancient
town, Budhist saints had lived in it long centuries back.
It was then called Sadhuwara, later changed into Sadhaura.
When the Muslims congerors settled in India, the Toosi tribe
of the Pathans occupied this town. Sayyad Nizam-ud-Din
of Village Siana, district Karnal, later defeated the Toosi
Pathas and occupied Sadhaura. About the same time,
Sayyad Khizar Khan came to possess the throne of Delhi in
the year 1414, He awarded a jagir of sixty thousand
rupees to Nizam-ud-Din. It was this man who was
succeeded by Saint Badur-ud-Din Shah, whom the Sikhs
popularly called Buddhu Shah, who was the ninth in
succession in Sadhaura.
Sayyads, Qazis and Sheikhs lived in this town at the
time when Banda Singh took notice of it. Usman Khan
was the pargana (district) chief of it. He was notoriously
narrow-minded and fanatical and he had Sayyad Buddhu
Shah murdered fur the reason that the latter had rendered
all possible aid to Guru Gobind Singh in the battle of
Bhangani. Cows were killed in the houses of the Hindus
under orders from Usman Khan and cows’ blood was often
sprinkled in the kitchens, and in the faces, of the Hindus,
who were made to pay him double the amount of taxes of
what the Muslims paid. He had forbidden the Hindus
observe their religious customs and compelled them to
bury and not to burn their dead relatives, This was not
all. Hindu women were forcibly dishonoured. The Sikhs
were, thus, compelled to attack Sadhaura.
They attacked Sadhaura at the sunrise. They entered
the town without mecting with any resistance. They found
the streets empty. The middle class citizens had abandoned
the town already; they had heard of what had happened in
Kapoori. The remaining upper class Sayyads had together
found refuge in the mansion of Sayyad Buddhu Shah, They
comprised forty to fifty wealthy families. It might be that
they had hoped that the association of the noble name of
Buddhu Shah was going to protect them there from the
wrath of the attackers.
The Sikhs who were strangers to the place, did not
know any one mansion from the other. But the local
marauders knew well the place and proceeded to attack it
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39
straight-way. They had been grievously harassed and
oppressed by their ruling class, by its Sayyads and Qazis,
in particuler. Every one of these low class persons had
been made to suffer at the hands of the local leaders, at
one time or the other. Luckily they found them assembled
in one place. The disturbances gave them a plausible excuse
to conceal their identity. They drew their swords and
rushed into the mansion and killed all of the persons
assembied there without exception. Since that day the
house has been called the massacre mansion* (katal Garhi.)
Usman Khan also lost his life there. His dead body
was hung from a tree, face downward. Many houses of the
Sayyads were burnt down. Plentiful booty was the reward
of the invaders of Sadhaura,
Banda Singh settled down in the fort of Sadhaura for
the time being and despatched one party of his men toward
Mukhlas Garh. They captured the fort after a brief skirmish
and named it Lohgarh.t
Banda Singh now sent his message to the Sikhs in the
camp at Kiratpur, saying that they were to proceed
towards Kharar, while he himself was advancing to Banoor.
Wazir Khan was very uneasy in his mind on hearing
the news of the successes scored by Banda Singh. He daily
prayed to God that He might ordain matters so as to send
Banda Singh any where but to Sirhind and protect him from
the impending calamity. He hatched a conspiracy and sent
a nephew of Diwan Sucha Nand at the head of an army of
a thousand men, to join the Sikhs and then treacherously kill
Banda Singht
The Siklis were about to depart from Sadhaura when
this troop of one thousand soldiers joined them, Their
Hindu commander most humbly prayed to Banda Singh
to let his party form a section of the Sikh army in order to
fight for the Sikh community. He declared that Sucha
Nand and Wazir Khan were his mortal cnemizs and that
Sucha Nand had robbed him and mis-appropriated all his
property, That was why he was secking protection of the
* Mirza Mohammad Harisi: Ibrat Nama, page 40.
t Gyani Gyan Singh: Shamsher Khalsa, page 10.
} Sohan Singh: Banda the Brave, page 76.
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40
Sikhs, to have himself revenged upon his uncle, Sucha-
Nand.
Such happenings were very common in those times,
That was why, half believing him, Banda Singh allowed him
to live in the Sikh camp. This Hindu trickster kept
company with the Sikhs till the day of the battle of Sirhind.
But he did not succeed in gaining his objective, because
staunch Sikhs, like Baj Singh, would, all the while, ensured
the strictest security of the life of their chicf. Moreover, the
most trustworthy guards would attend on him.
Banda Singh made his possession of Lohgarh secure
and left Sadhaura and marched in the direction of Ambala.*
He collected a good deal of plunder on the way and then
attacked Banoor. The officer of the town offered the
Sikhs a feeble resistance and then fled the field. Some of
his men saved their lives by fleeing from there, and some
others were killed and the remaining persons laid down’
their arms before the Sikhs. The entire town was plundered.
But good care was taken for the security of the homes of
the Hindus. Their requests and demands were met and the
Sikhs rendered them full help everywhere. The Hindus
now had recognised the fact that their welfare depended
upon the advancement of the Sikhs. That was why a good
many Hindus sought Sikh baptism, took to observing Sikh
forms and symbols and had themselves enlisted as the
soldiers of Banda Singh.t
The Kiratpur camp had now several thousands of
Sikhs assembicd there. When they received the message of
Landa Singh, they started in the direction of Ropar, Wazir
Khan trembled with awe on hearing this news, He
had no doubt in his mind that, if the two Sikh armies
could join hands, the rnin of Sirhind was inevitable. He
saw safety in one measure only: to attack, defeat and
destory the Kiratpur army before it had the opportunity of
joining up with Banda Singh's force.
He selected the Chief of Maler Kotla to march in
command of a five-thousand strong army and five guns to
fulfil this urgent commission. Sher Mohammad Khan was
* Gyani Gyan Singh: Shamsher Khalsa, page 9.
¢ Shamsher Khalsa, p. 9.
.
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4)
the Chief: of the Maler Kotla rulers at the time. He enjoyed
the favour of.the Emperor in Delhi and, asa mark of special
honour, was permitted to carry a drum and a flag as his
badges. Along with his brother, Mahmud Khan, whom Guru
Gobind Singh has described as Khuaja Mardud* in his book,
“Zafar Nama," and his uncle, two sons : Nusrat Khan and
Wali Mohammad Khan, he rushed to Ropar to clash with
the Sikhs. The Ranghar“tribe of the Muslims of Ropar
region also joined him in large numbers,
The Sikhs had not expected it even in their dreams
that they were going to fight a battle with the enemy
suddenly and so early. This attack had surprised them;
yet they got ready with their weapons to meet the on-rush-
ing foe. This battle was fought outside the tewn of Ropar
and continued the whole of the day. The arrows and
the bullets rained thickly from both sides. But the Sikhs
had started feeling down-hearted as their ammunation gave
out. The night fell and the battle stopped.
The Muslims were happy and sure that they were going
to make mince-meat of the Sikhs the next morning. On tlic
other hand, the Sikhs were uneasy in mind and very anxious
to find away to join hands with Banda Singh’s force at
Banoor at the earliest. But more Sikhs soon turned up,
who had been left behind at Kiratpur, during the course of
the night. Their Ropar comrades welcomed them with all
their hearts and felt encouraged by their presence.
The battle was joined in by both sides with the rise of
the sun, Khuaja Khizar Khan chose a specially selected
troop of his warriors and advanced to attack the Sikhs. He
continued to push forward in the heat of his enthusiasm
till the two armies were closc cnough to use their swords,
Khizar Khan shouted at the Sikhs :
“Throw up your arms, if you want to live; else no
power on earth will protect you from sure death.”
The Sikhs replied to this ultimatum in the form of a
rain of arrows and bullets, Destiny had willed that
the victory would favour Wahiguru’s, that is, God Almigh-
ty’s Sikhs. A bullet from the rifle of a Sikh killed Khizar
Khan and he dropped dead from his horse-back. He
*The word means cursed or damned.
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42
had safely come through the battle of Chamkaur. But he
was not so lucky at Ropar as to survive another encounter
with the Sikhs,
The Sikhs were in high spirits now. They were ruth-
lessly mowing down their enemies as the farmers do their
ripe crops, They surrounded the corpse of Khizar Khan
. and would not let the Muslims carry it away. When the
latter furiously rushed for it again, the Sikhs in their
hundreds slashed all these Muslims to death. They would
charge the Sikhs again and again to snatch the body
from them, but were everytime beaten back with disas-
terous results. They had, in fact, clashed with invincible
mountains.
Fighting was at its hottest and bloodiest at that spot,
with the result that neither friends nor foes could be disting-
uished by either side in this sharp mclee. The Malerkotla
men reached the corpse at last, though it was at the cost of
two more gencrals of the status of Khizar Khan: Nusrat
Khan and Wali Mohammad, who also were killed in this
goriest of battles. Sher Mohammad Khan was wounded,
but some-how he managed to carry away the corpses of his
brothers and returned to Maler Kotla. His army proved
smarter than their general in quickly fleeing from the field
of the battle after him.
The Sikhs had the battle-ficld to themselves at last.
The shouting of the slogan of their victory resounded from
the ficld and floated on the winds about them. They took
hold of the guns and the rest of the war material of the
enemy and marched towards Banoor. They were far more
anxious to meet their leader, Banda Singh, than to pursue
the beaten enemies.
Banda Singh, too, had gained possession of the town of
BRanoor now, When he and his friends heard the news of
the Sikh victory at Ropar, they were all beside themselves
with pride and joy. Banda Singh and some of the more
eminent leaders, went out for three miles to receive the
victors of Ropar. This meeting of the two armics was highly
satisfying to them. The customary sweet dishes, costing
hundreds of rupees, were cooked and partaken of by al}
*Wattan Singh Bhangoo : Pracheen Panth Parkash, p, 79.
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43
and sundry.
Some Brahmins and Hindus of the town of Chhatt
turned up there while the Sikhs were yet celebrating their
recent victory. They complained of the tyranny and
oppressions of the local Muslims. The Sikhs lost no time in
going to Chhatt. They attacked the town and punished the
oppressors. The depressed Hindus heaved a sigh of relief.
This was the first venture in which the Malwa, Majha
and Doaba Sikhs had taken part together.
Preparations were next taken in hand to plan to win
the coming battle of Sichind now,
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CHAPTER Vif
The Battle of Sirhind
Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sirhind, received an
ultimatum from Baba Banda Singh, who had threatened hint
with dire punishment for his black deeds. The Governor
was already aware of this ominous danger hovering over
his head and spelling the ruin of the Sirhind dominion one
of those days, He had called up his feudual chiefs along
with their army quotas. Even this left his mind uneasy.
He set on foot an immediate propaganda for a religious war,
summoning the faithful Muslims to join it. The masses of
the Muslim ghazis* answered his call and rushed to Sirhind
to fight for him.
All of them dug themselves in entrenchments that they
made near the village of Chaparchiri,¢ nearly a dozen miles
outside the city of Sirhind,and there they awaited the Sikhs.
Wazir Khan now had fifteen thohsand paid soldiers,{ both
Nig own and those from the parganas, and five thousand
Muslim zealotry. He was most proud of the Maler Kotla
fighters, of whom Sher Mohammad and Khuaja Ali comman-
ded the trenches on the right hand side. His ghazi
zealots, who were out to earn martyrdom, commanded the
left flank, Wazir Khan himself, in command of his specially
* ‘The faithful Muslims who would stake their lives in 9
teligious war, are called Ghazia.
+ Rattan Singh Bhangoo: Pracheen Panth Parkash, p. 83 and
Mechman Parkash, p. 612.
3 Khafi Khan, Vol. H, p. 653.
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45
tried army, was in the centre.
The gun emplacements were given the foremost positions
in the field. The guns which they used were not very
powerfully destructive. But they could terrify the enemy
by their Joud report and their possession lent dignity
to an army. Smaller or field guns and large-sized pistols
were kept in readiness, on both sides of the big guns. They
were backed by a long line of elephants standing like a
thick-castle wall. Behind these were the rows of the
soldiers, armed with arrows, rifles and spears. Some of
these soldiers were spoiling for a hard fight while others who
had been forced into the battle, were unwilling and afraid.
Thus, there stood the aged Governor, Wazir Khan,
supported by an army of twenty thousand men, to oppose
and defeat the Sikhs.
The Sikhs, on the other hand, had made their own
plans. Banda Singh made freely available to all the Sikhs
whatever he had with him. He sent word to all the
villagers, prompting them to come in their thousands to
Sirhind to take their revenge for the cruellest assassination
of the young children of their Guru. This call was made to
the devotees and, also, to the marauders over a large area,
and they turned up in answer to it. Banda Singh, now, had
under him a force of men which could give battle to the
Nawab, thongh it was numericallv inferior. But Banda
Singh was very short of weapons. The guns, the light guns,
pistols and some other sophisticated weapons of the time
thev locked. Very few sikhs possessed rifles. Even the horses
were far short of their need.
Some of them had their bows and arrows and some a
spear or a sword each. The rest had astick or an axe
each that he carried on his shoulder, for lack of anything
better. They all came individually or in parties; all of
them were in high spirits. They were lustily shouting their
war cry of ‘Sat Sri Akaal.””. It was by no means a har-
monious, trained and disciplined army. Those who were
determined to do or die in the name of their holy religion,
were not many, Some were regulir marauders and pillagers,
and some were paid soldiers of Ram Singh and others,
sent there to fight for the community. Then there
was the one-thousand strong force deputed by Sucha Nand
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46
and Wazir Khan to act as a thousand snakes in the grass
to bite the unsuspecting Sikhs.
Baba Banda Singh divided his men in three sections. A
part of the Malwa Sikhs were placed under the command of
Sardar Fateh Singh Bhaika who was supported by Karam
Singh, Dharm Singh, Aali Singh and other sardars. The
Majhail Sikhs formed the second section, and were comman-
ded by Sardar Baj Singh, a Ball Jatt of Meerpur Patti, who
was assisted by Binod Singh, Ram Singh and Sham Singh.
Baba Banda Singh himself commanded the third section.
The Sikhs were fewer in numbers. They were without
guns and had far fewer weapons and horses. But they
possessed another, cardinal merit in plenty: that was their
national zeal, which the enemy had not,
Sirhind and Wazir Khan were the two words that the
Sikhs wanted to eradicate for ever from the memory of
mankind. It was in Sirhind that the two vounger sons of
Gurn Gobind Singh, Princes Zorawar Singh and Fateh
Singh, while still in childhood, were bricked alive ina wall,
on December the 26th, 1704.* And it was the same Wazir
Khan whose hands were red with the blood of these young
innocents. It was for this inhuman sin that the indignation
of the Sikhs knew no parallel in intensity. In the face of
the fury of this indignation no one could possibly protect
Sirhihd.
Banda Singh and his reserve force retired a Sittle from
the main armv positions to a mound nearby, and ordered
his two generals, Baj Singh and Fateh Singh, to advance
and attack the enemy. When thev came close to the
positions of Wazir Khan, the latter ordered his gunners to
fire. The hig and the smaller guns were now hurling death
on the Sikhs. Their thunder shook the earth under the
fighters’ fect and the heavens seemed to burst over their
heads. The entire field was enveloped in smoke. Those
who had gone there in order to rob and: plunder, were the
foremost to flee from the field at the very start of the
attack, But the brave Sikh generals kept their courage
* Zorawar Singh was 7 years, 11 months and 8 days and Fateh
Singh 5 years, 10 months and 10 days old, on the day of the
tragedy.
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47
up and continued advancing and shouting their war cry.
The Sikhs had no guns whatsoever to return the fire of the
enemy. And, of course, they had no mind to halt and he
shot dead by the fire of the enemy from so close a distance.
They, accordingly, rushed at, and attacked, the enemy
gunners swiftly. Their arrows pierced the chests of the
gun-men and the remaining enemies were cut in twain with
their swords. They were now face to face with the mighty
wall of the huge elephants. But this wall could not stop
the progress of the brave Sikhs for long. Two of the
elephants were killed in no time and the rest of them ran
away.
It was just at this critical juncture that the nephew
of Sucha Nand played foul. He fled the field along with
his one thousand soldiers, shouting to others: ‘Run away,
Leave the field, while you just have time to do it.’ This
treachery succeeded in leaving an opening in one wing of
the Sikh front, which started retreating slowly.
Baj Singh passed this news to Baba Banda Singh at
once. He now rushed into the battle line at the head of
his reserves. He made his attack instantaneously. He
now, shot one of the five arrows with which Guru Gobind
Singh had blessed him.* The Sikh army shouted their war -
cry of ‘Sat Sri Akaal’ with one voice, that seemed to rend
the sky. Banda Singh would pull the string to his ear with
full force and his arrows pierced the chest of ten soldiers at
a time to come out dry on the other side on account of
their specd. ;
The Sikh fighters were at once encouraged when they
saw their general fighting by their side. This made Baba
Banda Singh shout to them forcefully: ‘Khalsa, look
ahead and you see the greatest criminal, the murderer of
the children of our Guru, the sinful Wazir Khan, stand
there. He is the dirty beast who had our Guru’s innocent
children bricked alive in a wall. It is he who had our
mother Gujri, of sacred memory and holy soul, . imprisoned
and starved for several days, and had, thus, killed her.
As long as we do not shed pools of his blood, our souls ‘will
not know any peace and rest. We shall deserve to be
* Gyani Gyan Singh: Shameher Khalsa, p. 18.
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48
called the brave sons of the holy ruler of mankind, only
when we have fleeced Wazir Khan and thrown his corpse
to the dogs to feast upon. . Only those nations have a right
to preserve their existence, who quickly return a tit for a
tat. Do destroy these sinners, therefore. Raze Sirhind to
the ground. Look | there goes the cursed Turk. Kill him.
“He who calls upon God, he is blessed. True is God
Almightv.’’*
These slogans raised by the Sikhs, had shattered the
courage of theirenemies. Here was this new, freshened
force that had joined them at fighting and then there was
the sincere, though brief, speech of Banda Singh Bahadur
that gave them high courage fora glorious cause. The
Maleris were the first target of the quick attack of the
Sikhs. It was no more a question of guns and rifles: for,
the warriors had now taken to hand-to-hand fighting.
Corpses soon rose in heaps. The clanging of the swords
and the din of the roars of the warriors: “Catch them
Kill them t’’ were the only noises falling on their ears.
The Maleris fought courageously. But the Sikhs’ swords
proved too much for them; for, they were bent upon destroy-
ing the enemy. Sher Mohammad Khan and Khuaja Ali
both were killed.t Muslim corpses rose steadily in heaps.
As the two chiefs fell, their soldiers ran away from the
battle-field. The Sikhs had shattered completcly the
Maleris’ front.
Next, the ghazis fared no better. These lovers of
martyrdom and the worshippers of heaven were seen lying
all over on the blond-drenched soil, silent in the sleep of
death. Wazir Khan’s was the only front that had held its
own till now. The entire Sikh force was concentrated on
that front,next. Baj Singh attacked it on one side and Fateh
Singh on the other. The Muslim force was hedged in from
all sides. Hed Wazir Khan intended to melt away from
the field, he would not have found it possible; for, the
* Roley so nihaal. Sat Sri Akaal.
+ Munshi Sohan Lal: Umda-ut-twarikh, Vol. 1, p. 77. The
whole family of the Maleria was destroyed in the Sikh battles,
Nahar Khan had lost hig life in Chamkaur, Khizar Khan, Wali
Mohammad Khan and Nusrat Khan in Ropar and both Sher
Moharmad Khan and Khuaja Ales in the battle of Chaparchiri.
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49
Sikhs were dead set on preventing his escape. Thus, find-
ing no way out, he had to fight it out.
He attacked Baj Singh. He had despaired of life and
now wanted to cut down some-body before he was himself
put to the sword. But his wish was not fulfilled: a sharp
arrow from the bow of a sikh pierced through his chest*
and he fell off the hack of his horse. Sardars Baj Singh
and Fateh Singh rushed towards him and captured him
while still alive.
It was soon known among the Muslim fighters that the
Governor had been killed. Thev lost heart at that and ran
away in all directions, leaving the field. But whichever way
thay turned, they were met by the Sikh swordsmen who
were out to destroy them. Banda Singh had taken care to
surround them and to stop all points of escape. He had
ordered that no enemy was to be permitted to leave alive,
The result was that the Sikhs had despatched the whole of
the enemy force to the next world.t Those few, who did
manage to leave the field alive, could just sneak away with
difficulty.?
The Sikhs took inta possession all the material of the
enemy and they trampled upon the dead and cut down the
still living foes. This well-known battle was fought on May
the 22nd,. 1710. Though it was fought a dozen miles
distant from Sirhind, the victorious Sikhs took no rest and
pursued the living enemies to the walls of Sirhind, slashing
them as they overtook them.** There was a small force of
the enemy, stationed in the fort outside the city. Thev
tried to. oppose the Sikhs. But the Sikhs who had defeated
and destroyed an army twenty-thousand strong, could not
he checked or beaten back by such a small bond. Banda
Singh took the fort in a single assault. And the victorious
Sikhs, shouting their slogans, ‘Victory be to God’’ and
“God Almighty is True’ entered the town of Sirhind.
* Karam Singh: Banda Rahadur, p. 71. Latif, p. 274.
t Ahiwnal Sultan-i-Hind, p. 86.
2 Khafi Khan: Vol. FH, p. 684.
** Gyani Gyan Singh: Shamsher Khalsa, p. 14. acid History
of India, Vol. VII, p. 415. :
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CHAPTER VIII
Nemesis of Sirhind
Sirhind is an old town, It was attached to the pargana
(district) of Samana at one time. But later, it was promot-
ed to be an independent pargana during the reign of Feroze
Shah Tughlak. As it was situated on the Grand Trunk
Road, it continued to grow popular and populous. It was
raised during the Mughal times to the status of a sarkar,*
that controlled Samana and twenty-seven other parganas,
The Mughal Empcrors of India used to make a stage for
rest there while on their way to Kashmir, and this gave an
added fillip to its prosperity every year. The Royal Palace,
the Beauty Garden and the Tank and the terraces for
leisurely walks heightened the beauty of the place. Great
learned scholars, rich businessmen, jewellers and _ gold
snerchants had settled there.
Tt was, thus, known to be the richest centre between
Delhi and Lahore. That attracted the pillagers of the sur-
rounding villages as also of other areas from far and near.
The bad characters who had deserted the Sikh army at the
start of the battle, now again concentrated themselves at
Sirhind when the news of the Sikh victory reached their
ears. The whole of the town was at once in the grip of
plunder and massacre. The Sikhs, of course, did have a
bone to pick with the place and its rulers; yet the residents
* It was an epuivalent of a division that controls five or more
districts now in the Panjab.
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5]
of the surrounding villages had no less a grouse against
their oppressors living in that town. It was a very common
practice of the officers of Sirhind to rob the honour of the
sisters and daughters of the ordinary families and to
plundnr their homes without any valid ground. All these
people who had suffered such tyrannies, were now united
with one another in a mob.
Banda Singh ordered a whole-sale masscacre. Men and
women who met the attackers, were put to death. Persons
who had felt no remorse at the cruel decimation of the
Guru's innocent children, deserved to receive no pity or con-
sideration. The streets of the once rich town were turned into
quagmires of blood and crushed flesh and bones, where
headless corpses rolled on the street pavements. The
Ilindus saved their lives by exhibiting their hair-plaits on
their heads and bv praving to be spared in the name of the
great Guru. Some Muslims also saved themselves by
hiding in Hindu homes and promising never to commit
oppression against anybody.*
The plunderers from Sirhind itself and from its
neighbouring villages caused much destruction, They
settled old scores and set on fire the houses of those against
whom they entertained grudges and on whom they wanted
to avenge themselves. This town with a royal dignity had
been reduced to utter ruins Goods worth millions of
rupees were despoiled. Some have-nots had now collected
wealth enough to go ahead in life for generations to come.
The occasion rewarded the Sikhs, too, very well, indeed.
Randa Singh had found wealth worth two crores of rupees
_ from the House of Wazir Khan alone. Moreover, the house
of Diwan Sucha Nand, too, provided funds worth several
lakhs.t The town was ransacked for three days on end.
Then, at last, Banda Singh had the plundering stopped by
order and by the beat of the drum the and secured peace
for the town,
The yellow flag of the Sikhs was now flying at the spot
where the two children, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh,
* Kamwar Khan, p. 160; Mohammad Kasim: p. 20; Irvine:
Later Mughals: vol. I, p. 96.
¢ Kanwar Khan: p. 150
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52
had been martyred inside the brick wall. The territory of
Sirhind, it was proclaimed, now had the Khalsa Raj
established in it and Sardar Baj Singh was appointed its
Governor. A session of the Khalsa assembled in the fort
and those accused of crimes were summoned there for trial.
Wazir Khan had been captured during the battle of
Chaparchiri. But his son had very smartly slipped from
the battle-field. As soon as the news of the defeat of his
father reached him, he fled to Delhi, along with other
members of his family, leaving every thing else behind him.
The Sikhs, therefore, were only half satisfied with their
victory.
Sucha Nand, too, had done his best to run away from
Sirhind. But, somehow, the destiny did not let him escape
from there. The Sikhs had succeeded in capturing him,
along with the other members of his family. There were
some other Muslim and Hindu dignitaries also who were .
taken prisoners. All of them were held in ropes and brought
before Banda Singh.
Wazir Khan was the first to be presented to Randa
Singh who occupied the seat of judgement. He addressed
Wazir Khan, saving:
“Look here, Wazir Khan, attend to me carefully and
hear all that I say now. Did you not attack Anandpur
without any ground ? Did you not take false vows for
having the fort there evacuated by the Guru ? Did yon
not besiege forty hungry Sikhs in a house at Chamkaur
with the help of your army, thousands-and-thousands men
strong, and have them martyred ? And, as for your last,
but worst, cruelty: did you not have the five and the seven
vears voung, innocent, children of the Gurn smothered to
death by having them bricked in the foundations of a wall ?
Did vou have no fear of God's dread and did not qualms of
conscience visit you then ? Be prepared now to pay the
price of your ghastly sins against God and men.”
Wazir Khan had no answer to these accusations.
His legs were tied with ropes, which were pulled by a
pair of oxen and his body dragged hehind them and, thus,
paraded thronghout the town. While the Governor was
still breathing and writhing, he was thrown into flames.
When he was still half burnt, his body was tied and hung
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from a tree, face downward, where the crows and other
birds made feast of it for some days.
Sucha Nand was called in, next. It was on his advice
that the Guru’s children were martyred in that cruel
manner, Hehad a full share in other oppressions also,
that had been perpetrated in Sirhind. He and the other
members of his family were made to parade the streets of
the town in a very disgraceful manner. They were compell-
ed to beg for river-shells at the doors of the residents. His
children and grand-children were, then, killed before his
eyes, in order to make him realise what it meant to have
one’s children butchered like that. He, too, was killed
cruelly, at last.
The remaining accused were also killed equally pitiless-
ly. The Sikhs had acted on the maxim of eye for an eye,
in a full measure.
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CHAPTER IX
Lohgarh as Capital
Though Babar was the first Mughal king who had
conquered Delhi and occupicd its throne, it was Akbar
who had established the Mughal rule on a broad and sound
basis in the country. It was his policy to treat all his
subjects equally justly and to respect all their religious
creeds,
On the other hand, Aurangzeb acted in a manner al-
together opposed to that of Akbar. He was partial in most
of his actions. Every non-Muslim was beastly and sinful
in his eyes. He had many a Hindu temple razed to the
ground and a Muslim mosque built in its place.* The
followers of creeds other than Islam were heavily taxed. His
oppression against the non-Muslims had gained dimensions
that broke the back of its victims.
One result of this suppression was that the Mahrattas
in the Deccan and the Sikhs in the Panjab had rebelled
against the Muslim administration during the last phase
of Aurangabad’s reign. As the Mughal rulers tried to put
them down, so did the uprisings of these two peoples gather
further force. Auranzeb breathed his last on March the
2nd, 1707, at Ahmadnagar in the Deccan. There were
violent confliots for succession among his sons. Bahadur
Shah occupied the throne at last, by defeating and destroy-
ing his brothers. These family feuds had weakened the
Mughal power a great deal, Bahadur Shah was compelled
to spend some of the time of his early rule in the Deccan,
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55
first in fighting against his brother, Kam Bakhsh, and, next,
in suppressing the risings of the Rajput princes.
That was about the time when Baba Banda Singh had
descended upon the Panjab, killed Wazir Khan and occupi-
ed Sirhind. ‘Bahadur Shah was fighting the Rajputs in
Ujjain at the time.* Banda Singh proclaimed the Sikh rule
in the Sirhind territory. The Sikhs then ruled over the
twenty-eight parganas that were under Sirhind.t They had
in their possession the area between the Jumna and the
Sutlej rivers and Sonipat and Kiratpur towns, and the
territory yielded a revenue of thirty-six lakhs of rupees
yearly
Banda Singh had appointed Sardar Baj Singh of Mirpur
Patti, a Ball Jatt, as the Governor of Sirhind and Aali Singh
as his deputy, He raised Sardar Fateh Singh of Bhaika to
the status of a Governor and appointed him the
Commander in Samana. Ram Singh, a brother of Baj
Singh, was made the LExccutive Controller of Thaneswar
and Binod Singh his assistant. Baj Singh, Ram Singh,
Koer Singh and Sham Singh were all the tour brothers.**
Sham Singh worked under Baj Singh and Koer Singh was
made a body-guard of Baba Banda Singh.
The Hindu revenue and accounts officer whom
Aurangzeb had dismissed and replaced by Muslim personnel,
were reinstated by Banda Singh, in place of the Muslims,
Not a few Hindus and Muslims had become converts to
Sikhism when they found the Sikhs becoming the rulers in
this part of the country. A chief of the locality of Sirhind,
Dindar Khan, became Dindar Singh when he had _ baptised
himself a Sikh. Similarly, the news-writer of Sirhind,
Nasir-ud-Din by name, was now re-named as Nasir Singh
when he had accepted Sikhism.t{ The local chiefs gladly
accepted the Sikh rule and willingly paid cash tributes to
their new rulers.
+ Latif, History of the Panjab, p. 275.
} Gokal Chand Narang, p. 179.
t Rattan Singh Bhangoo, page 84.XX Rattan Singh Bhangu.
P, 83.
** Khalsa: the pure ones, the Sikh congrcgation.
tt Yaar Mohammad, Dastural-Insha, P. 6; Rukat-i-Nawab
Amin-ud-daula. Rukka (letter) the third.
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Banda Singh set himself to improve the administration
of the territory over which he ruled, when Bhai Bulaka
Singh, the musician, came to him for the redress of his
complaint. Bulaka Singh used to sing religious hymns
while playing music on his two-stringed lyre. He had
lived.in the company of Bhai Aali Singh, also, for some
time, One day he reached village Ghurani in the course of
his tour, The Masands of the Ram Rai sect formed a
goodly portion of its population. RBulaka Singh held a
session of his religious hymns and music in the gurdwara of
Guru Hargobind, the Sixth Sikh Guru, and, after reciting
the canto of “Rahiras” he led the congregation in the
ceremonial prayer. When he mentioned the name of Guru
Gobind Singh and added, “Resdected Khalsa, (let us) call
on Wahiguru,”* the Masands were furious with anger.
They attacked him, broke his lyre and beat him _pitilessly.
They then poured insults on the Tenth Guru himself, shout-
ing: “It is good that he is no more among the living.
His children, too, are done for; but this: ‘(let us) call on
Wahiguru,’ is still very much active here.’’t
This report was too much for Banda Singh to tolerate.
He ordered Sardar Aali Singh, the Deputy Commander of
Sirhind, to lead a party of his soldiers. Aali Singh swooped
upon Ghurani, near Chawa Pail. He threw the followers of
Ram Rai out of the village and set up a Sikh police station
in Pail. Bulaka Singh was appointed the local police
officer, Aali Singh received the tribute moneys from the
local chaudries and marched ahead from there.
He next attacked the pargana of Sunam and demanded
from the Rangarh tribe of the place the payment of their
tribute. These Rajput Rangarlis were a haughty people.
They prepared to fight rather than pay the tribute. The
Sikhs assaulted them. The Rangarhs were beaten off and
the Sikhs plunderee the town,
He next turned to attack Mansoarpur. The town had
not paid in the revenue, when a messenger had been sent
there to ask for it. The result was that the town was looted.
Since no resistance was offered, there was no killing resorted
*God Almighty.
t Ardasg,
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to there.*
No harm had come to the town of Kaithal when
Banda Singh had reached the Panjab. But it was a
different matter now. The people of the Bloch tribe in
Kaithal, were very swollen-headed. Aali Singh now made a
surprise attack on them and robbed its residents who offered
only a brief resistence. He made them promise obedience
to the Sikhs for the future and returned to Sirhind. About
the same time Baba Benda Singh marched upon Maler
Kotla at the head of a small army. As the news reached
the town, the sons of Sher Mohammad Khan fled their
homes, along with their families. There was no one there
now to give a fight. Its respectable chiefs met the attacking
party outside the town and presented tribute to Banda
Singh. Their leader was one, Kishan Das, a Bania by caste.
He was the same man at whose house Baba Banda singh
had once stayed when still a Bairagi.
That was why Banda Singh had agreed to accept the
request of his old acquaintance. These local chaudhries
collected money from the residents of the town according to
the capacity of each contributor to pay and made it over
to the Sikhs.t That proved the saving of the town.
There was another reason, too, for the safcty of this
town from the Sikh attack. When Governor Wazir Khan
had the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh under
arrest in Sirhind, he had told Sher Mohammad Khan, the
Chief of Maler Kotla: ‘The Guru has killed your brother.
Wreak your revenge on him by slaying his son now.”
Sher Mohammad Khan had not agreed with the
Governor, On the contrary, he had advised him to set the
childien free, since they were innocent and helpless. When
the Governor declined to follow this advice,Sher Mohammad
Khan expressed strong disapproval of his cruel proposal and
left the court in disgust. And, when the Guru heard about
it, he blessed the Khan in his prayer to God.t This was
* Karam Singh ; Banda Bahadur, p. 78.
¢ It was an amount of five thousand ri pecs and some horses,
in addition, Gyani Gyan Singh: Shamsher Khalsa, p. 16.
¢ Inayat Ali Khan: A Description of the Principal Kotla
Afgans, p. 18-14.
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38
another consideration that had weighed with tne Sikhs in
leaving the safety of Maler Kotla intact. They had favour-
ed Maler Kotla and saved it from an avoidable destruction.
Banda Singh procecded to Raikot from there. Its
ruler brought the tribute due to the Sikhs and proceeded to
meet Banda Singh. Humbly and willingly he accepted
the Sikh dominance.
The Sikhs treated the Rai of Raikot with due regards,
and moved on after receiving a tribute of five thousand
rupees, They went to Gujjarwal, Phalleiwal, Jagraon and
other places, from where they received tributes and then
returned to Sirhind, The Sikhs now controlled an arca
yielding a revenue worth fifty-two lakhs of rupees.
Banda Singh was resolved to set up a regular Sikh
administration then. Any such government had essentially
to possess its own territory, its own capital and its own
national flag, army, king, currency and stamps.
The Sikhs already had their own yellow flag, that had been
conferred upon them by Guru Gobind Singh. They had
conquered their own country, the Panjab, from the Muslims
and they had their own King, Banda Singh Bahadur.* But
they had still to procure the remaining emblems of a free
and sovereign state,
Banda Singh had resolved to acquire and establish
all these emblems. Ilis immediate proposal was to choose
- Sirhind as the Capital of the Sikh Government that might
be set up in the Panjab. That was why this town was not
allowed to be destroyed by the hordes of the. free-booters.
But he was doubtful of its full suitability as an administra-
tive, national, capital town: it was situated on the main
road between Delhi and Lahore and was, thus, exposed to
frequent attacks by the imperial forces. Moreover, the
place was a flat and open plain, very susceptible to raiders.
It was for these reasons that he preferred Lohgarh to
Sithind for the seat of his government. Lohgarh had been
formerly named Mukhilispur. The construction of the fort
at this place was started during the reign of Saleem Shah,
the son of Sher Shah Suri. He had named it as Pawa Garh;
but it was left unfinished at the time. The built portion,
* Kattan Singh Bhangoo: Pracheen Panth Parkash, p. 97.
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59
too, later became ruins.
Afterwards, Emperor Shah Jahan ordered this place
to be developed as his hunting ground. He had a special
love for grand buildings as well as for hunting. One of
his officers, Mukhlis Khan by name, built a fort and palaces
there. The place was called Mukhlispur after his name.
Emperor Shah Jahan would often go there on his hunting
trips during the summer season.
The fort was situated at a distance of about six miles
from Sadhaura in the foot-hills. The Sikhs renamed it as
Lohgarh, after they had conquered it. The ruins of Lohgarh
are now included in the area of the village, named Pammu-
wala. The original fort had been built on a high hillock,
hetween two rivulets, formed by the division of one stream.
These two rivulets are named as the Pammuwala and the
Daskawala streams, after the names of the two villages by
which they flow.
Banda Singh found the fort much dilapidated when he
arrived there. He had it properly repaired and set it up
as the capital of the Sikhs, All the material that the Sikhs
acquired from the plunder of Sirhind and other places, was
collected and stored in Lohgarh. And the tributes and
revenucs the Sikhs had received from other places, were,
too, deposited there. The yellow flag of the Sikh nation
waved at the fort and the slogans of its armies resounded
there so as to rend the skies. Banda Singh used the royal
palace as his residence and was known as the king of the
Sikhs among the local people. His one effort was to exalt
the ruling Sikhs to the dignity of the Mughal royalty. The
Mughal kings commemorated their coronation by minting
new coins on the occasion. Banda Singh, too, started his
year, from the date of his conquest of Sirhind. He, also, had
the Khalsa currency inscribed with the names of the Gurus,
Starting with the birth of Guru Nanak and with the follow-
ing words engraved in Persian inscription:
“Sikkah zad bar har do alam tegh-i-Nanak wahib ast,
Fateh Gobind Singh Shal-isShahan Fazal-i-Sacha
Sahib ast.’”
(Coin struck in the two worlds by the grace of the True
Lord; victory to Gobind Singh, the King of Kings; the
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60 - -
sword of Nanak is the granter of desires )
And the reverse side had the following inscription:
“Zarb ba aman-ud-dahar masawwarat shahar zinat-ute
takht-i-mubarik bakht.”
(Coined at the Model City, the Refuge of the World,
the Ornament of the fortunate Throne.)
Banda Singh also had a royal stamp inscribed for his
use. This was a little smaller in size than a paisa, a copper
coin of the Lritish time before 1947, and was used for
making impressions on the orders of his government. Its
inscription read as follows:
“Degh o Tegho Fatch o Nusrat-i-bedirang Yaft az
Nanak Guru Gobind Singh.”
(The kettle (symbol of the means to feed the poor), the
sword (symbol of power to protect the weak and the help-
less), the victory and the unhesitating patronage have been
obtained from Nanak Guru Gobind Singh,)*
The Sikhs now possessed all the insignia of their rule
as did the Mughals: the country, the throne, the capital
place, the coin, the stamp, the flag, the army, the potentate
and other symbols of royalty. The difference, however,
consisted in the fact that, while the Mughal rulers
exercised every governmental authority in their personal
names, the Sikhs wielded every authority for power in
the name of their holy Guru. Banda Singh considered and
called him-self the slave of the Guru, though every-body
else named him as the King.
Anyway, he was the first ruler of the Sikh nation. He
built the structure of a seculer state and government in the
community and defended and headed it like a potentate,
who combined the spirit, the work and the mission of a
nation-builder with the self-denial of a saintly personage.
His talent for fighting skilfully, tenaciously and, even,
brilliantly, to a victorious consummation, had won him a
name among the Sikhs and had made him a nightmare for
their enemies.
He, thus, laid truly the foundation of a Sikh state in
the country, upon which was confidently raised a
* Dr. Ganda Singh: Banda Singh Bahadur, pages 82-83,
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superstructure Jater by his community, which culminated
in the rule of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, the Lion of the
Panjab. Banda Singh’s life as the captain of the Sikh
nation’s ship, though short-lived, was, beyond a ‘doubt as
distinctive as it was. distinguished.
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CHAPTER X
Towards the Jamna
The Sikh Government in those days was no more than
a military rule. Banda Singh had no time to set upa_ civil
administration in the country under him, In spite of that,
what he achieved for the Jatt farmers of the Panjab was —
something that no king in the whole of India had ever done.
Land-lordism was the invariable practice in the country
under the Mughals.* These big landlords fleeced their
tenants mercilessly and they paid their tribute to the king
out of this moncy.
These landlords were the actual rulers inside their
areas, and oppressed their tenants very much, Banda Singh
did away with this system of land-lordism and made the
tenants the owners of the lands that they cultivated. They
were made to pay to his government the revenue directly,
without the intermediary land-lords, The system of direct
payment was continued by the Sikh misalst and, later, by
Maharaja Ranjeet Singh throughout the Panjab. And it
has been in use in the Panjab ever since, Itisas a result
of this system that every farmer here in the Panjab owns
the land that he farms. This system turned some of the
landlords bitterly against the Sikhs. But thousands of the
ee *
*J,and-lordism had been specially strong here, as in the U.P. Tho
moncycd owners of large areas in tho villages forced their tenants
to work for thom. These landicss tenants were helpless aud
totally at the mercy of the owners of lands.
¢ Alike or equal.
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63
Jatt farmers were greatly obliged to them and had accepted
Sikh baptism and turned its defenders.
It was at this time that Banda Singh had given the
Sikhs a new war slogan, ‘Fateh Darshan,’ that is: ‘Victory
Visit.” But the old Sikhs from the time of Guru Gobind
Singh, declined to approve of it. It was, accordingly
dropped during the life time of Baba Banda Singh, =
The Sikhs considered themselves, then, the complete
rulers of their part of the country and the guardians of the
poor sections of the nation. Ifa low caste villager would
join a Sikh party, he would offer himself for baptism as a
Singh, and then he would come back to his own village and
would be appointed an official there under the authority of
Banda Singh, The old, respectable chaudharies of that
village were compelled to dance attendance on him. No
one had the power to disobey his orders.*
The ascendancy of the Khalsa to this power, had
prompted numerous Hindus, from far and near, to embrace
Sikhism. Even some Muslims had preferred to be called
Sikhs. Many Hindus had forcibly, even atrociously, been
converted to Islam during the Mughal rule. They had not
been willingly reconciled to their new religion. As soon as
they felt a little safe from Muslim oppression, they threw
Islam overboard and adopted the Sikh crecd. Hinduism
did not take any of the converts from it back at any cost,
even though they had been jorced to leave it at the point of
the sword, But the doors of Guru Nanak's creed were
always open to welcome anybody, Consequently, these
persecuted citizens gladly found refuge under the protection
of the liberator of the oppressed that Guru Nanak had been
and turned Sikhs, That was why the number of the Sikhs
had grown quickly.
This new movement to seek conversion to Sikhism, was
not restricted to the territory between the rivers Jamna and
Satlej. It had rather spread over a large area. In the
village of Unarsa, inthe pargana of Deoband beyond the
Jamna, @ majority of the residents became converts to
Sikhism, The army officer of Jalalabad, Jalal Khan by
name, felt bitterly annoyed on hearing this news. He
a
“Irvine: Later Mughals, Vol. 1, pages 98-09.
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arrested all these new Sikhs, whose leader was one Kapoor
Singh. He had been sent there under orders of Banda
Singh as their preacher and instructor. He wrote a full
report of this occurrence to Banda Singh.
Randa Singh started with a military force from Lohgarh
as soon as he had this news, The Sikhs crossed the Jamna
at Rajghat and marched straight to Saharanpur, which was
a divisional town of the Delhi province and controlled
Deoband, Rampur, Nanauta, Thanna Bhavan and twenty-
four other parganas,
After crossing the Jamna the Sikhs wrote to the
Commander of Saharanpur, telling him cither to yield or to
face an attack. Commander Sayyad Ali Mohammad Khan
of the place, was a weak-kneed and cowardly person. He
started shivering in his shoes to hear of the ultimatum from
the Sikh messenger. The rich people and the prominent
persons of Saharanpur, did their best to urge him to give
the Sikhs a fight and promised to render him all help and
pressed him not to lose heart. But parrot-like he repeated
that it was far wiser to desert the town while time allowed
it, than to resist the enemy and get destroyed. He conld
not lose sight of the memory of the massacres of Sadhaura
and Sirhind. He rejected the advice of his courtiers
outright, packed all his valuables and ran at nightfall to
Delhi, along with the members of his family.
When the Sikhs approached Sahanpur, a few daring
persons who were well armed, came out to resist them.
They were overthrown during the very first clash with the
Sikhs, A hell was let loose on the people of the town now.
Any one who tricd to oppose the Sikhs, was destroyed.
Only he who had laid down arms and submitted to
attackers, was spared. The entire city was plundered and the
homes of the government officers, were set on fire. It was
arich place and yielded an abundant harvest of property,
cach and jewels to the invaders. The conquest of this town
and desertion of it by its Commander, had brought into the
posession of the Sikhs almost half the division.* All the
neighbouring area of Saharanpur was combed by marau-
ders, and it became desolate in a few days’ time.
® Mohammad Harisi : Ibrat Nama, page 42.
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Beyhut, a village of the pirzadas,t was situated at a
distance of seventeen miles from Saharanpur. They were .
very notorious for cow-killing and for tyrannising over the
poor Hindus. They plundered the property of the Hindus
and killed cows in the streets and the Hindu homes of the
town disdainfully. The Sikhs swooped upon Beyhut as
soon as they came to know of these atrocities. The pirzadas
tried to oppose them. But that was of no avail at all.
They were all put to the sword, except one of them who
happened to have been away to Bulandshahr. He was the
only survivor of the clan. After plundering and burning
the mansions of the Pirzada families, the Sikhs returned to
Saharanpur,
Banda Singh sent his messenger from there to Jalal
Khan. He was told to set his Sikh prisoners free and to
pay to the Panth® the tribute in future. Else the Khalsa
was going to attack him, he was told.
Jalal Khan was a Pathan of a sterling courage, He
had already taken part in many a_ battle successfully
and creditably. He had fought under the command of
Aurangzeb in the Deccan, He had conquered and destroyed
the town, Khera Manihar, of the Rajputs and had built on
its ruins his present town that was called Jalalabad
after his own name, He commanded a very powerful
army of the Pathans of the Khaibar Pass and his town and
fort were both strongly built.
He treated the Sikh messenger cruelly. He made him
ride a donkey and paraded him along the streets of his
town, And he beat him, at last, and sent him back to his
master.
This provoking news made the Sikhs very indignant.
They started for Jalalabad immediately. The town of
Ambeyta fell in their way, though five miles aside. The
majority of its population consisted of Pathan and Gujjar
Muslims. The eminent Muslim saint, Sheikh Abb-ul-Muali,
lived there. His followers, in all that area, used to make
offerings to this pir. The town was thus, quite prosperous,
t Decondants of the Muslim saints, generally rich, influential
families.
*The whole Sikh community.
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The Sikhs directed their attention to this place first, Sheikh
Abb-ul-Muali offered them no resistance. The Sikhs, there-
fore, took no life there: they pillaged the town and marched
on.
It was the turn of Nanauta, next. Nanu Gujjar had
founded this town ancient times, and had given his own
name to it. In course of time the Gujjars were
thrown out of the town by the Sayyads who now occupied
it. Some Pathans and Sheikhs had also settled there later.
Several residents of the Sayyad tribe had held high position
in public life. A Sayyad of this town had been appointed
the Commander of Saharanpur during the reign of
Aurangzeb. He had some large mansions built in
Nanauta.
When the Sikhs left Ambeyta and advanced further, a
large number of the members of the Gujjar tribe from
Rampur turned up to join the Sikhs. They declared that
they were the followers of Guru Nank and that they came
there to take part in that Sikh, religious war, By this
strategem they were able to secure the advantage of making
their own town and its surrounding area safe from pillage.
Moreover, they also became partners in the plunder of
Nanauta.
The Gujjars had some old accounts to settle with the
Sayyads. The Sikhs entered Nanauta on July the 11th,
1710. The Sheikhzadas of the town were brave fighters
and expert arrow-shots. They contested the Sikh on-slaught
over every inch of the ground in every one of the mansions
in their part of the town. Three hundred Sheikhzadas lost
their lives on that say during the courageous fighting in
the court-yard of Sheikh Mohammad Afzal’s house alone.
This sharp, bloody contest led to an utter destruction
of the town. The royal mansions of the Sheikhs and of the
Sayyads were destroyed. The whole town was left in ruins,
It has been called Phuta Shahr or the town in ruins, since
that day. After dealing with Nanauta like that, Banda
Singh advanced toward Jalalabad, that was five miles
distant from it.
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Jalal Khan* made full preparations to resist the Sikhs.
He had collected a sufficient amount of food and war
material in the fort. He had also called a large number of
villagers to fight for him by the side of his regular army.
The Sikhs approached Jalalabad straight from Nanauta.
The ground between the two towns was overgrown with a
big forest of butea frondosa trees.t As the Sikhs advanced
half way, they saw the enemy forces waiting for them.
Jalal Khan had despatched hts nephew,Hazbar Khan,and
his brother-in-law, Ghulam Mohammad Khan, to go ahead
and meet the Sikhs and drive them back. The Pathans had
under them four hundred cavalry-men, one thousand foot-
soldiers and four-to-five-thousand strong special militia
from the villages, besides hordes of the Ghazis.
The Sikhs rushed at the enemies head-long. It was a
very bloody battle. Hazbar Khan and numerous Ghazis
were killed.¢. Jamal Khan and Pir Khan, the nephews of
Jalal Khan, waited in the wings behind, commanding fresh
forces for the aid of the fronts where help was required.
They chose their chance now and attacked the Sikhs. The
fighting raged for three days. Then Dindar Ali Khan, the
son of Jalal Khan, rushed to the battle-field at the head of
fresh and specially selected seven hundred men. But before
he had joined the battle, Jamal Khan and Pir Khan had
been killed. The Sikh army had now encircled the Muslim
defenders. Dindar Khan rushed upon the Sikhs ferociously,
There were many casualties on both the sides. Some-how,
he forced his way to where the corpses of his brothers lay,
And with the help of his men he got hold of the bodies
*Jalat Khan was the son of Mir Hagar Khan. He was a
descendent of the Aurak Zai tribe of the Afyhans, who had
migrated to India during the time of Shah Jahan, Ho had been
granted some villages as his estate, Jalal Khan succucded Hozar
Khan as the landlord of those vilhages. Ne had helped Aurangzeb,
during the latter’s war against Dura Shikoh. Ho was granted a liege
of some more villages in the Pargana of Thanna Bhawan as a re-
ward for his services. He had destroyed Khera Manihar and built a
fort on its ruins and called it Jalalabad.
¢ Itis called Keysoo, dhak or plaas hire,
} Whafi Khan : Mantakhib-al-Labab, page 658,
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of Jamal Khan, Pir Khan and other Sardars* and wangled
his way back through the Sikh encirclement. He then
retreated to Jalalabad.t
The Sikhs besieged Jalalabad.
Jalalabad is situated on a high ground, A_ small
stream, called the Krishna, flows by it. It was the rainy
season now and the stream was in flood. The fort and
the town had large sheets of water standing all around it.
The siege was maintained for a full score of days. The
Sikhs failed to take the fort. Nor did Jalal Khan have
the guts to come out, drive the Sikhs away and put an end
to the sicge. The town was, thus, safe; but the country-
side around it was devastated by the Sikhs.
At the same time Banda Singh had been receiving
urgent calls from the Panjab. The Sikhs, therefore, raised
the siege and re-crossed the Jamna, Jalal Khan breathed
a sigh of relief and took a full vengenance upon the Sikhs
of Unarsa, who were cruelly done to death, along with
Kapoor Singh.
Once across the Jamna, the Sikhs headed straight for
Karnal. Its Commander turned out to oppose the Sikhs.
But he was defeated in the very first clash with them. The
Sikhs held the town in their possession. No small or big
enemy commander there showed the courage to challenge
them. All the territory np to Panipat was captured by the
Sikhs, and Sardar Ram Singh and Baba Binod Singh were
put in charge of it.
The Sikhs roamed the territories of these parganas of
the Dethi division. The Governor, Asaf Daula Asad
Khan, was so afraid of the Sikhs as dare not leave Delhi
and face them. He was, instead, repeatedly writing his
reports to the Emperor.} The very word, Sikh, had
* Their tombs, brick-built, stand near the shrine of Kaley
Shah, on the Saharanpur-Dethi Road.
¢ Jalal Khan wrote a report of all this fighting to the
Emperor that was received in Delhion July 1, 1710.
3 According to the instruction of this Governor, there were
others, too, who had been reporting to the Emperor. The
prominent figures among these were: Diwan Taj Din, Diwan
Hafiz Khan, Police Inspector Hassan Khan, Bakhshi Fakhr-ud-
Din, the Reporter, Reporter Mohammed Tahir, Qazi Darwesh
Mohammad and some others: Tarikh Mohammad Shahi.
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became a bugbear al] over this part of the country. Many
a family of Delhi had been leaving the capital and fleeing
to other provinces. When the Governor of Delhi itself was
afraid of facing the Sikhs, the common people felt, of
course, utterly helpless, JFrrom Panipat to Lahore and from
there to the hills of Pathankot, the country was in
possession of the Sikhs. The Sikh hordes were active on
one side of Panipat; and, on its opposite side, there was
Bazid Khan Qasoori, who commanded a Pathan army;
but, instead of fighting and driving the Sikhs away, he had
both his eyes fixed Delhiward, in order to seek refuge there
when necessary.
The new Sikh Commanders, Ram Singh and Binod
Singh, settled at the inn of Tirauri, now their head-
quarters. The rest of the Sikh forces returned to the
Panjab.
The Governor of Delhi, too, felt some relief now. He
dismissed, Mahammad Ali Khan, the Governor of
Saharanpur, and replaced him by Jalal Khan, He awarded
Jalal Khan a robe of honour, along with this new
appointment, on August 21, 1710. His son, Dindar Ali
Khan, was also promoted to a higher rank in the army.
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CHAPTER XI
Revolution in the Majha
Most of the baptised Sikhs were the residents of the
Malwa, the Doaba and the Majha during the life-time of
Guru:Gohind Singh. When Baba Banda Singh appeared in
the Panjab, many Sikhs joined him in the fulfilment of his
mission. And when he had conquered Sirhind and a large
area besides, the non-Sikhs of the rest of the territory, were
encouraged to accept Sikhism. Besides, the Sikhs of the
Majha had also started their plans and preparations for
establishing a Sikh government there.
There was no locality in the country the residents of
which were not sick of the oppression practised by the
Muslim rulers, As the Mughal hold on the people slackened,
so did the tyrannies practised by the local rulers on
the people, intensify. To rob the property of a family, to
expel a man from his native village, to take the life of
another man or to dishonour the women-folk of others, was
considered to be the birth right of these petty rulers,
This was the reason why the commons were eager to
get rid of their oppressive rulers. The phenomenal success
of the Sikh struggle in the province of Sirhind, had inspired
them, throughout the Punjab, to wageand win a war of libe-
ration.No more did they fear the Mughal imperialism. Rather
they considered themselves to be the sole masters of their
mother-land now. The fond aspiration of their Tenth
Guru, that he was to turn the poor peasants of the Punjab
into princes, was constantly ringing in their ears.
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The Sikh population of the entire Majha stopped pay-
ment of revenue to their rulers. But this was by no means all.
Where two Sikhs met even for ten minutes, they felt as if
they were the masters in their own land, that their Guru
had granted them self-government and that the foreigners
had no right to rule over them. Where a Sikh met another
Sikh, he would accost him with the greeting: ‘The Khalsa
(the Sikhs) belong to God Almighty. Victory be to our
Father God.’”’* It appeared to them as if the whole man-
kind had been converted to Sikhism and all owed allegiance
to the Sikh flag. They were, at last, strongly determined
in every home and every village, to make a united attempt
to conquer the entire country. To govern it was the birth-
right of the Sikhs, ‘Why should the foreigners hold it in
subjection ?’’ they argued.
This view at once took roots in the Majha and bands
of Sikhs assembled every-where. All the Sikhs were invited
by the beat of drums and the waving of flags, to assemble
in Amritsar. Eight thousands of them had crowded in
that holy Sikh centre of their Guru, Ram Dass, within a
few days.f They discussed their plans and the way in
which they were to advance. It was not safe to move
towards Lahore where the Governor and the imperial army
were too strong for them to tackle. Qasoor, too, was well
defended by Kheshgi Pathans, who possessed well trained
armies and well-defended forts. /
They agreed that the easiest area to plunder was the
Riarki. Their minds thus made up, they paid their homage
at their temple, Jater known as the Golden Temple, said
their prayers to their Guru and God and marched on the
way to the Riarki, in Gurdaspur district.
They compelled the chaudhries of every village that
they approached, to pay them the tribute money and made
them promise loyalty to the Sikh rule, and then moved
further ahead. Any village where the chaudhries were not
tractable and yielding, was pillaged by them. The govern-
ment police and revenue officers were dismissed by them
* Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh.
t Dr. Ganda Singh : Banda Singh Bahadur, p. 100. Ganesh
Das: Chahar Gulshan-i-Panjab, p. 189.
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and replaced by Sikhs. It did not take them many days
to plunder all that area.
The Sikh hordes approached Batala next. It was a
prosperous, commercial town. Very rich tradesmen, who
had dealings with Kashmir and Kabul, lived there, It
was well-known for its riches all over the country. The
commander of the town advanced to fight the Sikhs who
quickly swooped upon him like hungry tigers. The Sikhs
swept the enemy away as do the high, flood waters of a
river, Any one who opposed them, was at once done for
with the sword. The defenders had taken fright and had
stampeded. Shouting their war slogans, the Sikhs entered
the town, thoroughly ransacked it and gathered a rich booty
from there, i
Kalanaur was their next target. It is the town where
Emperor Akbar was crowned. The story of Batala was
repeated here, too. The Sikhs plundered it and proceeded
ahead. This legion reached Kahnuwan, next. The Sikh
party from Sathiala and Butala marchad as far as Pathankot
and over-ran the whole of the pargana (district.)*
The major part of the attacking force, however, turned
in the direction of Lahore. This Sikh army plundered all
the towns and parganas and, they passed through punishing
the oppressors of the poor everywhere. It reached the
very outskirts of Lahore and rested in its Shalamar
Gardens. They had replaced all the government functiona-
ries by the Sikhs in the territory between Lahore and
Pathaakot. These now controlled all the police stations in
the area, Sikh parties would go up to the city wall of
Lahore from their Shalamar camp.
The Governor of Lahore was terribly afraid of leaving
his fort. This Governor, Aslam Khan, came of the
Maulvizadas of Kabul and he had been appointed the
Governor in Lahore by Prince Muazaz-ud-Din, the son of
Emperor Bahadur Shah, He was so afraid of the Sikhs
that he had no heart to leave the fort and give them a fight,
There was, hower, one duty that he performed daily :
with a heart sinking with fear, he prayed to God without
fail that He might be pleased to keep the terrible Sikhs at
* Mohammad Qasim: Ibrat Nama, P, 22.
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73
a distance from him !
The Governor, thus, refused to stir out of the town
for fear of the Sikhs. On the other hand, the chaudhris
and the maulvis of the country-side worried him with their
daily complaints and requests, asking the government to
protect them from the rising tide of the marauders. These
chaudharies of the villages, who had suppressed and
oppressed the people largely, were made to pay back .
through their noses for their crimes against the populace.
The common man who had a grouse against any one, now
took his revenge against him to his heart’s content. This
political upheaval saw many persons punished to death.
All they had owned was destroyed and they had to run to
Lahore for their lives.
The Muslim priests or maulvis possessed a deadly
weapon, jihad, or the holy war. They raised their ‘“‘religion-
in-danger’’ call. The maulvis who had migrated to Lahore
from the villages, highly exaggerated tlieir stories. This
terrified the government officers still further. Lahore was
full of these maulvis, who instigated a large number of
Muslims to embark on a jiliad.
The Uaidri flag* was raised in Lahore,in the Id Gah,t out-
side the Delhi Gate.{ Speeches for a jihad were made in all
the streets and at street-corners, Crowds of the people of
Lahore and its surrounding villages started assembling
under the flag at the Id Gah. ‘he promises for sending to
Ileaven those who became martyrs in the holy war, were
freely made by the priests. Governor Aslam Khan was,
however, called all sorts of bad names for his slackness,
The numbers of these Ghazis swelled rapidly to some
thousands. The fanatical enthusiasm of many of them had
gone to the length of their disposing of their homes and
other property, and of binding on their wrists the proverbial
martrydom threads, These enthusiasts sct themselves up
as the leaders of the Ghazi parties, They had donated all
that they possessed for financing this holy war. Two of
these Ghazi leaders, Mohammad Taqi, a relative of Shah
* Muslim flag, named after Hazrat Ali.
¢ The Muslim prayer ground.
¢ It is the site of the present railway station.
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Abdulla, and Moosa Beg, the son of Khuda Vardi Beg
Agharkhani, were quite prominent at the time. The.
Muslim and some Hindu richmen of the town, too, made
their contributions to the Ghazi funds ina big way. The
top-most contributor among them was the grandson of Todar
Mal and the son of Pahar Mall,
Some aged persons also tied the martrydom thread on
their wrists and joined the Ghazi hordes. Respectable
persons among them, like Haji* Sayyad Ismaeel, Haji Yar
Beg, Shah Enaiyat and Mulla Pir Mohammad Waiz, became
the Ghazi leaders.
The Governor, too, found himself. in) good heart now.
He made a move, at last, to wash out his old disgrace and
appointed Mir Ata-ulla Khan Purbia and Muhibb Khan
Kharal, the landlord of Faridabad, commanders of five
hundred cavalry-men and one thonsand foot-soldiers of the
royal army, to reinforce the Ghazi hordes,
This army had its own distinctive dignity. There
stood the two reyal commanders,Ata-ulla Khan and Muhibb
Khan, at the head of the royal army, on one side. And,
on the other, there were thousands of the Ghazis, with
many-colonred, Martyrdom strings deeorating their wrists,
the palms of their hands browned with the water of the
myrtle leaves, dressed in green clothes and holding green,
Muslim flags in their hands waving above their heads. It
was in this splendour that this jihad army left Lahore under
their ULatdet Cig.
* Haji: A Muslim who has been on pilgaimage to Mecca in
Arabia, from a forcign country.
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CHAPTER XII
Fighting the Fanatics
The Sikhs were well in control of the territory they
held now, They divided their active, fighting force into
four regiments. Their first regiment was stationed at
Amritsar and was meant for the Majha, that is,
Amritsar and Lahore districts. The second unit was in
charge of the region of Riarki in ordcr to maintain order
up to the foot-hills. The third one was meant for the area
near Lahore. And the fourth one was the mobile division,
meant to attend to the requirements of any of the other
divisions, that arose from time to time.
The Lahore regiment had heen stationed in the fortress
of Mehta Bhagwant Rai, in the village, called Bharat, by
the bank of the River Ravi, Bhagwant Rai was a resident
of Bharat and the Qanugo* of the pargana of Neyshta
Bharli, He had built a burnt-brick mansion in his village
of Bharat. The people called it the fort of Bhagwent Rai.
It was situated within the pargana of Neyshta Bharli. The
Ghazis marched straight to village Bharat, carrying their
Haidri flag aloft. The Sikhs had the news of it and had
improved . the fortification of the mansion, They also
collected as much ammunition and food stores there as they
were able to procure for the occasion,
The Ghazis soon reached there, marching fast in their
religious ardour. They besieged the fortress. The Sikhs
* Qanugo was a senior revenue Officer.
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were ready to receive them, sitting behind the walls of
their towers and defences. When the Ghazis were within
the range of the Sikh firing, the latter rained on them
showers of arrows and bullets. The foremost rows were
killed and those Ghezis who had stood behind them, now
advanced to the attack. And both the sides were then
shooting fast and hard.
The Sikhs were inside the fortress and protected by its
parapets against the bullets and arrows of the enemy. But
everyone of their shots went home, to the cost of the
attackers, Ina short time there were heaps of the dead
seen among the Ghazis outside the fort. As they fell, fresh
recruits for the glory of Islam stepped forward blindly to
attack the Sikhs in the fort. Their leaders yelled their war
slogan, ‘Hail My Ali,’* in order to egg them on to the attack
repeatedly,
All through the day they continued to attack the Sikhs
and to try to break through the gate of the mansion, And
the whole of the day the Sikhs were laying them low with
their unfailing shots. There was secn by the evening
another wall of the dead outside the brick walls of thie
mansion. Every Sikh had killed several Ghazis; there were
hordes of others of them still, who could be seen jostling
about around the walls.
It was already night-fall. Yet the fighting had not
stopped. The Sikhs desired the fighting to end for the
night; for, they were tired and needed rest badly. But the
enemy outside the fort had no mind to give them any time
for it. The Ghazis who had fought the Sikhs during the
day, were relicved by their fresh comrades in order to have
rest behind the fighting lines, and these, in their turn,
continued the attack through the night. The Sikhs, all
told, were hardly enough to man their defences. They had
their bit of a dinner while protecting their positions at the
parapets.
Three-fourths of the night had passed and yet fighting
had not ceased The Sikhs were much worried about their
safety, indeed. But what could they do? The enemies
*A call on the name of Ali who was the son-in-law of Prophet
Mohammad.
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were sure to press their attacks with redoubled, even four-
fold, strength at day-break. They had been. fighting all
night, without a wink of sleep. .It was obvious that the next
day was to witness a still bigger holocaust, without respite
or recession.
Accordingly, after a serious soeeaitaen it was resolved
that the Sikhs were to attack the Muslims at a weak point,
make a breach there, and escape into the open country
under cover of the night. The Sikhs threw open the gate
of the mansion immediately and attacked a weak point of
a wing. The result was that those of the enemies alone. were
spared, who had made way for them to pass. It was a
smart piece of attack, the Sikhs killed a large number of
besiegers and then hurriedly disappeared into darkness
outside.
This unexpected happening surprised and confused the
Ghazihordes. The resulting chaos led several of them to
strike and kill one another in the dark. But when they
found the mansion emptied of the enemies, their delight
knew no bounds. The Sikhs had escaped, no doubt; but
the Ghazis gave a hell to the residents of-the village. The
Hindu homes were plundered for the reason that they were
said to have co-operated with the Sikhs and some Muslim
families were harassed, on the other hand, for the reason
that they were merely luckewarm in aiding the Ghazis,
The Ghazis started on their way back to Lahore in
the morning. They were jubilant at their victory as if
they had destroyed the Sikhs root-and-branch from the
face of this earth. They cruelly treated the Hindus of the
villages that fell in their way on their return.
Once again they had planted their Haidri flag at the
gate of the Id Gah. These Ghazis who were intoxicated
with their victory over the Sikhs, treated other Muslims
tauntingly. When they met a Muslim, they considered him
as Cowardly and apostate, since he had taken no part in
their jihad. And, if it wasa Hindu they approached, he
was a non-believer or kafir. They could have given some
regard to a cowardly, faithful Muslim; but a Hindu whom,
according to them, God had made a non-believer by birth,
was possibly given no humane consideration. The result
of this hateful tirade was that whoever was even remotely
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78
suspected of being a Sikh or a friend of a Sikh, was
maltreated.** This oppression was extended even to the
government officers, many of whom were insulted by these
Ghazis. ,
In a few days after that, the Sikhs once again assembl-
ed at Kotla Begum, near Chamiari village. There was a
small, mud-work fortress there which the Sikhs occupied.
When the news reached Lahore, the Haidii flag was once
again raised. The call for jihad was made and the Ghazis
left their homes and reached the Id Gah in crowds. They
were more Numerous this time than before. The bad
characters of the town, too, joined them.
They left the town and set out for Chamiari directly.
The Ghazis who sought merit through waging a holy war,
committed untold crimes against the common people. They
plundered all the villages they passed throngh. If some
people protested against this tyranny, their village was
reduced to ashes. Numberless, innocent women, too, were
outraged.t
Even the leaders of the Ghazis were shocked at these
outrages. They punished some of the bad characters
among the Ghazis at Bhilowal and two or three of them
were given the death penalty, toot Even then, the
infuriated Ghazis did not mend their beastly behaviour,
They continued to mal-treat the peasantry all their way till
they came upon the Sikhs at Kotla.
When the watchman on the near trec, known as the
tangoo,* brought the news of the enemy, the Sikhs prepared
themselves for the fight. They were from five to seven
hundred in number. Both the armies started shooting
arrows and bullets at each other when they were within
range of cach other. This was their first encounter. Sayyad
Enaiyat, Mohammad Tagi and Mohammad Zaman Rangarh
came forward to lead the attacks. Bows and rifles were
discarded in many cares, giving place to hand-to-hand
fightings. The earth grew red with blood. The sky was
** Mohammad Qasim: Thrat Nama, p. 23.
+ Karam Singh: Banda Bahadur, p. 105.
$ Mohd. Qasim, Ibrat Nama, p. 23,
* Tangoo meant the man who was made to sit on top of a
tree to keep watch.
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overcast with clouds that day; but the lightning flashed in
the hands of the Sikhs. Whichever way the Sikhs rushed,
the Ghazis ran ahead of one another, instead of coming to
grips with them. The shining, naked swords in the hands
of the Sikhs made the enemies tremble with fear.
The Ghazis were many times the number of the Sikhs,
Fresh reinforcements more than made up for the loss of
those killed or wounded in the cause of Islam. This bloody
battle continued till the afternoon. Both the sides had been
fighting equally well till then. After that, however, the
Pathan cavalry began to give in because of the rising losses
inflicted by the Sikhs on them. They retreated, turned
back and fled the battle-ground in all directions.
That was the end. The Ghazis turned tail and left the
ficld.* Jt was surprising to see them so disheartened as
to throw up their swords. They ran in confusion, empty-
handed, not caring for the direction they took. The Siklis
ran in pursuit of them and spared no-body they could lay
their hands on. If one Ghazi received a sword thrust, a
couple of them more would fall on the ground inv panic. To
add fuel to the fire, at about sunset a dust storm and. then
a deluge of rain overtook them,
The Ghazis had Jeft the battle-field. The Sikhs, there-
fore, prudently took into their possession the material left
behind by the fleeing Ghazis rather than pursue them fur-
ther in that most inclement weather. They cared for their
wounded men and collected the booty and retired behind
their defences to spend the night there. How the Ghazis
fared after this, is hard to tell.
This battle was fouglit when Raba Banda Singh was
fighting against Jala] Khan across the Jamna.
The routed Ghazis recovered their poise the following
morning. But they felt much out of sorts and depressed.
They thanked God that the Sikhs had not pursued them,
Yet, they knew not that the Sikhs were on the look out to
snatch their opportunity again, and lurked furtively behind
them.
The Ghazis halted for the next night at Bhilowal.
* Dr. Ganda Singh : Banda Singh Rahadur, pages 107-108
Mohammad Qasim: Ibrat Nama, pages 23-24,
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Muhibb Khan and Mir Ata-Ulla had rested their royal!
forces in the local fort; and the Ghazis and others who had
spent the previous night in great discomfort and fear, now
went to sleep in the open in a carefree manner, They were
confident that they were out of the reach of the enemy.
But the Sikhs were not at all satisfied with their
performance of the previous day. They were determined
to deal the Ghazis another blow, such as would make the
Sikhs a night-mare for the Muslims.
It was about mid-night when the Sikhs suddenly assaul-
ted the sleeping Ghazis. They were surprised in their sleep
and found no time to rnn away. The Sikh swords cut each
enemy into two. The entire camp was now up, howling and
screaming. Hundreds of the Ghazis were done to death.
Murtaza Khan and the grandson of Todar Mall were cut to
pieces in the confusion, along with many other noted people.
Nothing could be done to challenge and fight the Sikhs in
the circumstances. Hence, Ata-Ulla and Mohammad Taqi
shouted their order to the Ghazis from the house-tops
where they stood, telling them to run and seck refuge inside
the village.
Not a single man who was caught napping by the Sikhs
outside the village, was able to dodge death. The Sikhs
captured horses and plunder worth thousands of rupees and
slipped from Bhilowal before dawn, The Ghazis who had
survived this onslaught, left the place, sighing and in tears,
and hurried back to Lahore. Once again, the Sikhs dogged
them there and plundered the out-lying colonies of Lahore.
The city proper, in the centre, was alone safe.
Some people again proposed raising the Haidri flag.
But, this time, no one came to patronise it. The Sikhs
now controlled the whole of the country from the city
wall of Lahore to Pathankot, between the Rivers Ravi and
Beas.
* Dr. Ganda Singh: Banda Singh Bahadur, page 110.
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CHAPTER XIII
In Jullundur Doaba
The precedent of the risings by the Malwa and the
Majha Sikhs had encouraged the Sikhs of the Doaba* also
to rebel against their Government. Moreover, a force of
the Sikhs from Banda Singh’s bands had turned up to assist
them. They formed an army of a decent size when the local
Sikhs had joined up with them.
Their first victim was the town of Rahon, Enaiyat
Khan, the land-lord of the place, was the chief citizen there.
He was a notorious robber whose reign of terror had made
even the Commissioner of that district helpless, The Sikhs
attacked him and dispossessed him of the gains of his
crimes. The local government army depot was replaced
now by the Sikh soldiers under a Sikh commander. The
chaudhris and other tand-lords of the neighbourhood
were then made to take their orders from their new, Sikh
officer.
_ The Faujdar (military officer) of the division of
Jullundur lived at Sultanpur. He belonged to the Khalf
Zai tribe of the Pathans of Qasoor, Sultan Ahmad Khan,
an ancestor of this family, had been a very well-known
person among the servants of prince Mohammad Azam Shah.
He had four sons: Hussian Khan, Bazid Khan, Pir Khan
and Ali Khan. Ali Khan was a homely sort. He had no
out-standing achievement to his credt. Hussian Khan did
* The area between the rivers Satie} and Beas,
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not seek to serve any prince. He later occupied a large
area of the Majha, after Banda Singh’s time and during
the weak governorship of Abdual Samad Khan, and was,
at last, killed in the battle of Chuhnian, on April 4, 1721.
Bazid Khan was a very smart man. When Bahadur
Shah came to the Panjab to fight against his own brother,
Bazid Khan accompanied him and fought for him. And
when Bahadur Shah ascended the throne, he conferred on
him the title of Qutab-ud-Din Khan and appointed him the
Commissioner of the Jammu DWision. When Bazid Khan
returned to the Panjab from Delhi, he learnt at Pantipat
that the Sikhs had occupied the country to the North.
He settled in Panipat itself and dared not proceed
further into the Sikh controlled region But he wrote to
the Governor of Dellii that he was blocking the imperial
road against the Sikhs, who might have otherwise raided
Delhi. When Bahadur Shah marched from Delhi northward,
he accompanied him from Pantipat. He set himsclf up as
the Gavernor of Jammu, after the Sikhs had been defeated
at Loligarh.
Pir Khan, the fourth brother, had served Bahadur
Shah in a big way. Bahadur Shah bestowed upon his son,
Noor Khan, the title of Shamas Khan and the governorship
of Jullundur in return for the services of Pir Khan,
After the Sikhs took possession of Rahon, they sent
two of their men to Sultanpur in order to ask the Governor
to submit to their suzerainty or be prepared for a fight.
The Governor Shamas Khan was an intelligent and _ states-
man-like officer. When he read the terms of the ultima-
tum, he felt much concerned and care-worn. The Sikhs had
written to him: Set free the Hindu and Sikh prisoners.
Return to their original owners the lands that have been
confiscated by the government. Give us all your arms and
ammunition and make yourself over to the Sikh Panth,
along with all the treasure that you possess,”’
A man who faces a sudden danger is capable of
devising a far more effective strategy than a carefree person,
who is comfortably placed. He welcomed the two Sikh
messengers and gave them full consideration and told them
that he was an obedient servant of the Panth.
He called a separate meeting of the ‘rich persons, his
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officers and other inffuential persons of the town and .
consulted them as to how he was to deal with the Sikhs.
They all assured him, on oath, of their loyalty to him, It
was resolved to give the Sikhs a good fight. But they
agreed that they must gain time to make effective
preparation for it. He told the Sikh emissaries that he
agreed to meet all their demands, that he possessed large
quantities of war material and that he was ready to send
some of it immediately with them. And he promised
personally to take the rest of it in carts, along with the
tribute money; but to arrange all this he needed time.
Shamas Khan, accordingly, got a few cart-loads of the
war material ready and sent them with the Sikh messengers
to Rahon. When they reached there, the Sikh force
assembled there was overjoyed to have the report of the
response of Shamas Khan to their ultimatum. They felt
assured that when the commissioner himself had yielded to
them, no one else could defy them.
On the other side, Shamas Khan gained the time that
he was in need of. He despatched the maulvis to the
villages of the Doaba, who, on their appeal for jihad or holy
war, assembled a Jarge number of the Ghazis. The local
chaudhries then led to Sultanpur crowds of these fighters
for Islam whom they had prompted to join their war, with
the beat of drums in all the villages. Oil-men, cobblers and
weavers and other poor, Muslim workers, too,came willingly;
the weavers were the foremost in the ranks of the warriors
who were spoiling for the coming clash with the infidels.
The jihad was the latest love of these weavers who would
fall down when entangled in their slender threads, but who
were now enthusiastic about their sport of hunting the
tigers.
There assembled hordes of the Ghazis within and outside
Sultanpur. The chaudhris and the maulvis of the territory
were also with them. The traders and the shop-keepers of
Sultanpur had donated their money liberally to the Ghazis
for the cause of this holy war.
Shamas Khan then advanced from Sultanpur at the head
of five thousand horse-men,thirty thousand foot soldiers and
over a hundred thousand Ghazis.* The Sikhs had sent news
* Khafi Khan: Muntakhib-ul-Labab, Vol. IT. p. 668,
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of it to Baba Banda Singh at Jalalabad and prepared them-
selves to face the enemy. A part of their force stayed in the
Rahon fort; but their other comrades advanced out of the
town and took their positions in a deserted brick kiln. They
raised the side walls of the kiln further by placing on them
sacks filled with over-burnt bricks and earth and used them
as the ramparts of a fort.
When the enemy came within range of the Sikhs,
volleys of bullets were fired into them. The front: rows of
the Ghazis licked the earth. And as the second volley was
fired, Shamas Khan ordered a frontal attack. The weavers
formed the front ranks of the Ghazis; but they had never
handled a sword. They did not know how to carry the
weapons like the sword, the bow and the arrows supplied
to them by their commanders.
When the order to attack was given to the Ghazis, all
of them rushed towards the Sikhs rashly. Some of them
fell on the ground, entangled in their own loose, unmartial
dresses and some others were cut down by the Sikh swords
before they had time to unsheath their own swords. This
utter blood-shed by Sikh swords continued for two or three
hours, drenching the soil of the hattle-field with red blood.
The clanging swords reminded one of the noisy scene in a
street of braziers. “Catch him, kill him, oh water, Allah-
hoo-Akbar,f Sat Sri Akaalt were the only sounds that rent
the air. Nothing else could be heard there. The Sikhs were
tired of killing the enemy, who appeared to be endless in
numbers. The only way out of the impasse for them was
to fight a rear guard action and retreat into the fort of
Rahon.*
Shamas Khan besieged the fort. The battle raged
between the Sikhs within the fort and the Ghazis outside
it. It was October the 11th, 1710.¢f The Sikhs saw no
advantage in holding the fort against the over-whelming
enemy. They, therefore, slipped out of the fort about
¢ The Muslim war slogan.
$ The Sikh war slogan.
* The building of the Government Higher Secondary School
atands there now.
tt The emperor had received the report of this battle from
Shamas Khan on October the 26th, 1710
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midnight, breaking safely through a weak point in the
enemy encirclement.
Shamas Khan, too, thanked his stars for this easy
riddance, He did not pursue the Sikhs, therefore. He re-
appointed his officers in Rahon and marched back to
Sultanpur. The Ghazis who had survived the battle,
returned to their respective homes, thanking God for an
escape from the harm’s way.
But the Sikhs had not gone for. They were hiding
themselves in the bush-fields of the neighbourhood. When
Shamas Khan had left Rahon, the Sikhs came out of their
hiding places. By the time he was back in Sultanpur, a
thousand Sikhs attacked the’ Rahon fort, threw out its
guard and retook its possession. But Shamas Khan had no
more courage to occupy Rahon again.
The Sikhs made their foot-hold in Rahon secure. They
then marched towards Jullunder, The Pathans of the
town fled their homes as soon as they heard of the
approaching Sikhs. Thus, the Sikhs occupied the town
without firing a shot, Since they had met with no resistance
there, the town was not pillaged and no one was killed.
The prominent citizens collected the tribute money
voluntarily and paid it to the Sikhs, who occupied all the
territory around it without much ado,-
The Sikhs wrote their challenge to Hoshiarpur, next.
The district officer of the place settled the matter peace-
fully, agreed to take his orders from the Sikhs and paid in
the tribute. Thereafter tributes were realised from
Phagwara and other districts, too. Shamas Khan controlled
Sultanpur at the time, while the rest of the Doab was under
the Sikhs. They raided Sultanpur and skirmished with him
frequently. The author of “the Muasir-ul-Umra” has
written that twenty two small and big actions had been
fought by the Sikhs against Shamas Khan.
The Sikhs entertained feelings of enmity towards
Bilaspur, only a little less in intensity than what they had
felt against Sirhind. Raja Bhim Chand of Kahiloor was
the first man to fight'a battle against Guru Gobind Singh.
He was the real originator of the feuds that followed. And
he was the man who had invited the imperial generals to
fight in his aid. He had instigated the other Hindu hill
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chiefs to fight shoulder to shouldar with the Mughal
imperial army during the sieges of Anandpur against the
Sikh Panth. Obviously, the Sikhs could but ill afford to
let these hill states be alone. They had captured the Doaba
and the Malwa and were determined to punish the hill
rulers for having played the devil with the Guru and his
Sikhs,
The Chief of Bilaspur, therefore, was the first to receive
their ultimatum. Their reason for this choice was that he
was the leader and the most powerful the hill chiefs, The
Sikhs had made it a rule that before they would attack an
enemy, they would give him a written ultimatium in
advance, saying: ‘Obey or fight us.” He who agreed for a
settlement, was not harmed in any way. But any one who
went in for a clash of arms, was invariably given hell.
The Raja of Bilaspur was a little stunned to have this
challenge from the Sikhs and tried to think out what to do
about it. He invited the other hill princess and land-lords
of the neighbour-hood and consulted them.* All of them
decided to fight the Sikhs. The fort of Bilaspur was
repaired and renovated. The articles of food and ammuni-
tio were stored there to meet the requirements of a siege.
Altogether, one thousand and three hundred Miaans (Rajput
leaders and warriors,) assembled there to have a taste of
the sharp sword-blades of the Sikhs. The princes had
stationed seven frantic elephants, drunk with wine, in front
of the gate of the fort to protect it against the enemies. On
the orther side, a Sikh force, commanded by Sardars
Baghar Singh, Kehar Singh. Ranjeet Singh, Ranjor Singh,
Bajjar Singht and other generals advanced to attack
the fort. From a distance they fired warning volleys from
their rifles twice, and then they rushed at the gate of the
fort. The seven elephants that blocked the gate, were
killed and the Sikhs broke into the fort.
The Rajputs put up a stiff resistance for a while, but
soon the Sikh swords started making a clean sweep of them.
* The princes of Darol, Majheloo, Nangloo, Nandey,/Sohal,
Jhandwal, Kaneyt, Dicchann Chilahaley, Ballarh, Pammeyn
and Dadhwa] had answered his call. Rattan Singh Bhangoo:
Pracheen Panth Parkash, p. 95.
¢ Rattan Singh Bhangoo, p. 96.
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The Sikh wrath rose as they recalled the false and treacher-
ous oaths, once before, taken by these Rajput hill-princes,
The swords of the Sikhs made quick work of them and not a
single one of the thirteen hundred lived to tell the tale after.
ward, Then the Sikhs dug thirteen pits and buried one
hundred bodies into cach one of them.
They plundered the royal palaces and the town. They
also sent their nitimata to the other hill cheifs, ‘none of
whom had the stamina to give the invaders fight. All of
them willingly admitted the Sikh over-lordship and paid in
the tributes.
The Sikhs conquered the hill states and proudly re-
tnrned to the plains.
They had now sct up their independent raj in the Majha,
the Doaba and the Malwa. The yellow Sikh flag Mew over
the Majha and the Riaraki territories up to the foot-hills of
Pathankot excluding Lahore, from Jagraon, Machhiwara
and Panipat to Bilaspur, along both the Banks of the
Jumna and up to the high mountains of the Doaha,
Banda Singh was the King of the Sikhs and Lohgarh
was his capital. Fearless fighters, like Baj Singh, were his
commanders. The rising power of the Khalsa saw, indeed,
during this interval, thousands upon thousands of the
Ilindus sceking conversion to Sikhism in the territory bet-
ween the Jumna and the Ravi rivers. The Jatts of the
Majha who had never before becn really converted to any
set creed so far, liad now become staunch Sikhs.
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CHAPTER XIV
Sirhind and Sadhaura Lost.
Bahadur Shah suppressed the rebellion of his brother
in the Deccan, returned north from there and was, at the
time, staying at Ajmer. He intended to punish the Raiputs
for their revolt against him. But fate had destined it
differently. He had news, on May 30, 1710, of the Panjab
having been over-run by the Sikhs who had set up their rule
under their King Banda Singh. Asaf-ud-Daula Asad Khan
and many other officers had sent to him their reports, high-
ly exaggerating the enormity of the position. Some respec-
table Muslims of Sirhind, Samana, Thaneswer, Sadhaura
and other places also came to him, about June the 22nd,
1710, with their complaints.
The seriousness of rhe Panjab situation as presented to
‘the Emperor by the Muslims—officers and emissaries—com-
pelled Bahadur Shah to come to the Panjab directly from
Rajputana, leaving unquelled the Rajput revolt against him.
Bahadur Shah wanted to head the compaign himself; but
his Minister, Munim Khan, advised him otherwise and
argued that it was beneath the dignity of the Emperor of
India to lead the army against an ordinary mutineer who
was not from any royal house.
But the Emperor was bent upon treating this uprising
as a jihad and himself wanted to take part init. He
ordered Asaf-ud-Daula Asad Khan, the Governor of Delhi,
to despatch an army to punish the Sikhs immediately.
Simultaneously, he wrote to Khan Dauran, the Governor
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89
of Awadh, Mohammad Amin Khan the China Bahadur, the
Commissioner of Moradabad, Khan Jahan, the Governor
of Allahabad, Sayyad Abdulla Khan and others, ordering
them to rush to the aid of Asad Khan. He himself started
for the Panjab on June 27, 1710.
Armies from all the provinces of the country were al-
ready with him. He had at first a mind to send them back
to their own stations. But the Panjab news that he had
been receiving, was so fearful as to compel him to change
this view. He rather had to call up more forces now.
Whenever he met a prominent person, he told him to
accompany him to the Panjab. Rajq Chatar Saal and
Sardar Chooramann and some others, thus, accompanied
him. He by-passed Delhi and proceeded directly to fight
the Sikhs,
Wazir Khan, the imperial Governor of Sirhind, had
been killed by the Sikhs. The emperor appointed Zain-ud-
Din Khan as the Governor of Sirhind in his place, on July
18, 1710, . The Emperor and his forces reached Praagpur
on August, the 7th. Feroze Khan Mewati was ordered to
march forward at the head of his advance force. Sultan
Quli Khan, Shakir Khan and some other Sardars accom-
panied Mewati as his assistants. He was given a sum of
fifty thousand rupees to enlist additional forces. Moham-
med Amin Khan the China Bahadur, and Qamrv-ud-Din
Khan also turned up now. Another army, under Sayyad
Wajih-ud-Din, was sent there on August the 22nd, And
an announcement .was made, with the beat of drum, in the
imperial camp and the city of Delhi, on August the 24th,
to the effect that no one from the army camps was allowed
to visit the city and no one from the city was to enter the
army camps.
Kokaltash Khan was ordered to march with his army
to occupy Sonipat. He was followed by the imperial forces
which arrived at that place on October the 22nd.
Most of the Hindus kept long beards in those days.
An order was now promulgated, from the royal camp, on
September the 8th, compelling all the Hindus to shave
their beards, so that they were no longer mistaken for the
Sikhs. All the Hindus in the royal camp had their beards
shaved, accordingly; they were not the Hindus of the age
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of Lord Krishna, who would have rather lost their necks
than their hair. Quite a few Hindus who were court and
revenue officials, were awarded robes of honour by the
Emperor for shaving their beards clean.
It was at Sonipat that Sayyad Saif-ud-Din Ali Khah,
Sayyad Nizam-ud-Din Ali Khan and Sayyad Siraj-ud-Din
Ali Khan, turned up at the royal camp.
The territory of the Panjab up to Panipat had already
been occupied by the Sikhs. Just across the boundary at
Panipat were stationed the armies of Bazid Khan Kheshai
of Qasoor. He had not, so far, moved out of his cup for
fear of the Sikhs. As Feroze Khan reached Panipat with
his royal forces, however, Bazid Khan joined him. Now
this combined force marched into the Sikh controlled area.
The Sikh forces were not concentrated anywhere, They
were scattered all over the territory controlled by them,
The Sikh Sardars administered their own separate areas in
the Malwa, the Doaba, the Riarki and the Majha, As the
imperial army advanced, it entered the territory of Baba
Binod Singh and Sardar Ram Singh, who had no large army
that could have repelled the Mughals. Yet, they were
determined to prove their mettle in the field before retreat-
ing deep into the Malwa. A thick forest of butea frondosa,*
grew all over the land between Thaneswer and Trawari and
the grand road passed across it. Feroze Khan Mewati was
advancing along this road. The Sikhs concealed themselves
under cover of this thick forest near the village of Amingarh
and there waited for the enemy.
The imperial army reached that place on October the
26th, 1710, When the enemy was within range, the Sikhs
showered arrows and bullets at them. This sudden calamity
terrorised them. The Sikhs attacked Muhabat Khan, the
son of Khan-i-Khanan Munim Khan, instantly. Already
the imperial officers entertained a deep fear of the Sikhs,
And now the Sikhs had attacked them with the speed and
force of lightning. The mughal army failed to gain a foot-
hold, When Muhabat Khan saw his soldiers being pushed
back, he himself fled the field. The Sikhs attacked and
* It is called dhak, palaas or Keysoo in north India.
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routed their enemies in the contest.*
Feroze Khan Mewati showed better pluck in this clash
and changed the fortunes of the battle. He called up the
Sayyads of the neighbourhood and advanced to attack the
enemy. Their horse-men were handicapped by the thick
forest, Accordingly, Mewati ordered them to attack the
Sikhs on foot. They fought hand to hand. There was
fierce fighting with swords on both the sides for some time
and the soil under feet was blood-drenched.
The Sikhs were fewer in number. But they possessed
a reputedly wonderful courage. A sikh would be surrounded
by ten enemies and presently he could be seen lying
wounded among the ten corpses of his foes. This fact had
forced even Mewati to doubt his success. The hope of his
winning a victory looked distant.
All the same, he persisted in going all out for a
victory. He urged his entire force to put their best foot
forward in unison, The small number of the Sikhs was
swept away by the mighty deluge of the imperial army.
They were beaten and pushed back steadily deep into the
forest, and those who could escape, disappeared into the
back-woods.
Mewati thanked his stars that his name was not
tarnished. His other soldiers who were afraid of the Sikh
might and had remained in the back-ground, now boast-
fully stepped forward and began attacking the Sikhs, who
had fallen wounded or dead on the ground. They satisfied
their feelings of malice by using their swords on the
martyred enemies. Carts laden with three hundred heads
of the Sikhs, were sent to the Emperor as war trophies,
Many Sikh corpses were hung on the trees by their long
hair. And lumps of flesh from their dead bodies were
displayed on the trees, on both sides of the road and for
miles on end.
The Emperor rewarded Feroze Khan by making him
the Commissioner of Sirhind, and six of his officers with |. .
robes of honour, on October the 30th. He was further
given, on November 4th, asum of one lakh of rupees to
meet his requirements,
* Mohammad Qasim: Ibrat Nama, p. 24.
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The Sikhs repaired from Amingarh to Thaneswar and,
after another skirmish, reached Sadhaura. Feroze Khan
had pursued them from Thaneswer to Shahabad.
Bazid Khan, now, marched towards Sirhind. The
imperial commanders were in high spirits everywhere,
because of the presence of the Emperor. Snamas Khan who
had not stirred out of Sultanpur for fear of the Sikhs, now
called up thousands of the Ghazis and joined forces with
his uncle, Bazid Khan. The Sikh Commissioner of Sirhind,
Sardar Baj Singh, was at the moment away on same duty.
But his two brothers, Sham Singh and Sukha Singh, were
present in Sirhind. As Bazid Khan, Shams Khan and
Umar Khan advanced to attack Sirhind, Sham Singh and
Sukha Singh came out to repel them. The two forces
joind battle in Yaqub Khan’s Garden, near the town. The
Sikhs were small in number. Yet they fought undauntedly
and killed large number of their enemies. The armics were
looked in a grim struggle, when Sardar Sukha Singh was
shot dead,
The Muslims now pressed the Sikhs hard, and the utter
retreated within the fort. Shamas Khan and others besieged
the fort. The Emperor had the news of this battle at the
village of Ukala, on November the 27th. He ordered
Mohammad Amin Khan China Bahadur, to lay siege to
the fort of Sirhind. But before Mohd. Amin Khan reached
there, Shamas Khan had gained its possession. The Sikhs
had fought the enemy from inside the fort for a time. But
when, at last, they saw the numbers o1 the besiegers
swelling from day to day, they slipped quietly out of the
fort one night.
The Emperor reached Sadhaura on December the 4th,
1710. Here he received the flags and three hundred heads
of the Sikhs sent to him by Shamas Khan. Mohammad
Amin Khan had been despatched to conquer Sirhind. He
could not tolerate the credit of the victory of Sirnind going
to Shamas Khan, He, thus, felt envious towards the latter
and wrote the Emperor a detailed letter. “Shams Khan has
enlisted an unnecessarily large force,’ wrote Amin Khan.
“He does not care too hoots for the orders of the Emperor
and is mutinous in all that he does.”
The result was that Shamas Khan was dismissed
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from the Commandership of Sultanpur.* Isa Khan Manjh
succeeded him. Isa Khan was an important personality in
the Doaba. His grand father, Bulaqi, had been a notorious
dacoit, who had terrorised the whole of the Doaba. Isa
Khan proved to be a worse beast. He had taken to robbing
the caravans on the high road in place of raiding small
places. He had, at the same time, developed intimate
relations with the local rulers. He, thus, played safe, escaped
punishment for his crimes, and was taken for one of the
richest persons in the region.
When the Sikh revolution began, he moved into
Sultanpur under protection of Shamas Khan, who asked
him later to look after the Doaba region during his absence
- in Sirhind. He was, next, appointed the Commissioner of
the Doaba by imperial orders. Isa Khan inflicted the most
terrible cruelties on the Sikhs who then returned to the
Doaba. He put to the sword every solitary Sikh, who was
caught moving in the area.
The Sikhs had lost control of nearly all the areas, till
recently under them, They themselves were either scattered
in different places or besieged in Lohgarh and Sadhaura
fortresses. There were large enemy armies encamped
around them. Emperor Bahadur Shah was himself in
Sadhaura. His eldest son, Muazz-ud-Din Jahandar Shah,
was in command of thirty-one thousand cavalry-men;
eleven thousand horse-men were under other princes and
eleven thousand cavalry-men under Jumlat-ul-Mulk, in
addition to seven thousand cavalry-men being under
Muhabat Khan and thousands of foot-soldiers under other
commanders. Rustam Di] Khan, Feroze Khan and some
other generals also joined them there,
TESTS
* Muasrul-Umara, Vol. IIL p. 128.
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CHAPTER XV
The Battle of Lohgarh
About this time the Sikhs had left Sadhaura after some
fighting and joined their comrades in Lohgarh. The fort of
Lohgarh was built on a high mound. It had deep ravines,
streams of flowing waters and high clay mounds all around
it, making it very difficult to approach. The Sikhs had
some what improved its defences, but were deficient in food
supplies. They had occupied the fort; but they were
closely besieged by large enemy armies. The imperial army
itself was over sixty-thousand strong and, besides, robber
bands and the auxiliary armies were countless in numbers.
The Sikhs manned all the mounds around the fort. It was
not, thus, safe for the besiegers to make a frontal attack
on the fort.
That was why the Emperor had forbidden his generals
advancing to attack the fort defences,
The Emperor had actually desired that Banda Singh,
considering that the Mughal army was_ too weak to attack
the fort, should come out to fight in the open field and be,
thus, taken a prisoner easily. But Banda Singh was well
aware of such tactics. The Sikhs raided the weak enemy
positions and struck at them under cover of night, carried
the booty and returned to their posts in a trice, The
imperial army suffered heavy losses during these night
assaults.
Heavy, continuous rains soon descended on them. It
was about the Christmas time of cold winds when winter
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rains, too, had flooded the neighbourhood of Sadhaura.
The royal forces felt heart-broken. All of them had encamp-
ed in low places, The rain waters had flooded all the gorges
around them. They were seriously short of rations, and
frightened to death by the Sikh raids. Thousands of their
horses died for want of fodder, and men died of cold. The
word of Banda Singh's miraculous powers, which could
curse, paralyse and kill the enemy, went the round of the
Mughal posts and drove them to despair. Every general
and eminent person now complained to the Emperor of
Banda Singh's magica! powers to kill or harm them. Even
Bahadur Shah himself shivered in his shoes as he daily
heard these tales. But the rains stopped after a few days
and the royal army had some breathing time.
Prince Rafi-ul-Shan was given the overall command of the
Mughal army. He was assisted by Jumlat-ul-Mulk Munim
Khan Khanei-Khana Minister, his sons: Muhabat Khan and
Khan Zaman, Feroze Khan Mewati, Rustam Dil Khan,
Hamid-ud-Din Khan Bahadur, Raja Chattar Saal, Raja Ude
Singh, Chooramann Jat, Islam Khan Mir Atish, Bakhshi
Afzal Khan and other famous generals.
On December 4, the Emperor deputed Rustam Dil
Khan and Feroze Khan Mewati, to advance and sclect safe
positions for encampment near the enemy, Rustam Dil
Khan and Feroze Khan had hardly advanced a couple of
miles the following day, when the Sikhs suddenly swooped
on them like panthers and rained death on them with
arrows and bullets. Hundreds of the enemies were laid
low. Among the dead was the nephew of Feroze Khan
whose son, too, was wounded. Sword in hand and unafraid
of death, the Sikhs ferociously fell upon the enemy, dealing
them death blows, The enemies lay dead in heaps. The
soldiers ef Rustam Dil Khan lost their foot-hold, and ran
helter skelter in all directions. Another Mughal army
turned up and the enemy was now several times more
numerous than the Sikhs who, however, did not lose
ground, They fought on, steadfastly like brave warriors,
till it was dark. Every Sikh killed several enemy soldiers
before he fell a martyr. At last they retreated in the
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darkness and slipped back into the Lohgarh fort.* This
battle was fought on December the 5th, 1710.
The Mughal army advanced a mile and half and went
in camp there. Khan Khana and Muhabat Khan kept
watch at the camp and Rustam Dil Khan, Afzal Khan and
other Sardars marched half a mile ahead and encamped at
the bank of the Som streamlet. There was a thick forest
on the opposite side of the streamlet from which horrible
noises were heard all the night.
Rustam Dil Khan was awarded the title of Ghazi Khan
Rustam Jang for his bravery and was promoted to command
four thousand foot-soldiers and three-thousand cavalry. A
dinner was sent from the royal kitclien to Khan Khana and
Muhabat Khan as a mark of royal honour to them.
The Emperor too, advanced to the bank of the Som on
December the 9th and encamped there. He had a good
view of the mound of Loligarh from there. Prince Rafi-ul-
Shan took his advance guard to the very foot of the hillock
of Lohgarh on December the 10th. He swerved to his left
for another mile, leaving the army of Bakhshi-ul-Mamalik
in the charge of Ude Singh Bundhela. The Khan Khana
advanced to the right side with the help of a local guide.
His two sons, Mohabat Khan and Khan Zaman. Raja
Chatarsaal Bundhela, Islam Khan Mir Atish, Hamid-ud-Din
Khan and the special forces of the two princes, Azim-ush-
Shan and Jahan Shah, were under him.
Lohgarh was, in this way, closely besieged on all sides.
Sixty thousand men of the special, royal army and thou-
sands of the robbers and the Ghazis were spoiling for a fight
in the command of the Khan Khana.f
The Sikhs suffered from two very severe disabilities:
they were too few in numbers and were starving for want
of food. They had lived on the plunder from the enemy
camps or on their horse-meat. In spite of that, the
Emperor did not show courage enough to attack the fort of
Lohgarh. On the contrary, his orders to his princes and
*Kanwar Khao: Tazkarat-us-Sulatin, para 158, He was
personally present at this "battle. He was in the company of
Prince Rafi-vl-Shahb at the time.
¢t Kamwar, p. 158.
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generals were not to attack the posts held by the Sikhs, ©
however confident of their victory. Khan Khana requested
the Emperor to allow him to go ahead in the task of probing
the strength of the Sikh defences. He did obtain this
permission, but only on the condition that he was in no case
to attack the enemy without imperial orders.*
When Khan Khana was within range of firing, the
Sikhs rained arrows and bullets on the enemy. The Sikhs
occupied a high ground while the royal army fought from
their low level. The latter, therefore, suffered a heavy Joss
of life. When Khan Khana saw his soldiers fall like flies,
he could not resist the urgency to order his soldiers to shoot
in return. He was, at the same time, afraid of disobeying
the royal order. Yet, he felt a stronger urge to make a
name for himself in the battle. The other generals, too,
joined in the assault, against the royal orders, when they
saw him staging his attack first.
The Emperor and his four sons were watching the
fighting from the opposite flank. They disliked this rash-
hess on the part of their generals, though, at the same time,
they were pleased to see them advancing. The imperial
hordes, sixty-thousand strong, swept forward to attack the
Sikhs, who fought ferociously for every inch of every mound
and each one of whom was killed after despatching not
less than twenty enemies. If a position was too hard
pressed by the enemy, the Sikhs retreated to and manned
the next one. By the afternoon the Sikhs had lost their
perches on all these knolls, except the Lohgarh mound
itself, which wasthe last one they possessed. Had the
imperial army dislodged the Sikhs from it, they would have |
safely conquered the fort.
The Sikhs stuck to the Lohgarh mound with might and
main. The enemy would rush forcefully up it to dislodge
the Sikhs from the knoll. But the latter held on to it like
leeches and would not budge on inch. They cut the attack-
ers to pieces with their swords. The dead bodies of the
enemies rose in heaps at the foot of the ridge. a
The son of the court official (peshkar) Sucha Nand
was killed and his body lay on the heap of other corpses.
* Murray : History of India, p. 306.
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Rajas Ude Singh and Chatar Saal hastened to help Khan
Khana. Even then the Sikhs did not let any one gain the
top of the Lohgarh mound till night-fall. The gorge round
Lohgarh was more than half full of the dead bodies. The
Sikhs, too, had been killed in large numbers; but the enemy
losses were many times the number of the dead Sikhs.
The Khan Khana called a halt to fighting when it was
pitch dark. But he ordered all his soldiers to keep armui
all the night. The Minister was gratified with the hope of
capturing Banda Singh by the sunrise. Mirza Rukan made
a detailed report of the day’s fighting to the Emperor.
Though very few in number, the Sikhs were resolute
and undaunted fighters. Each one of them was duty-bound
to die in defence of his leader, If they had possessed enough
food and fighting material, the enemy could not have
captured the fort at all. It was already over a month since
the siege had begun. A few days after the battle of Amin-
garh the imperial army had surrounded Lohgarh and
stopped all supplies from reaching the Sikhs in the fort.
What little they had, was soon consumed. Several of them
had died of starvation. They were considerieg to
slip out of the fort or to attack Khan Khana suddenly on
December the 10th. The day’s fighting had been the
hardest, and thousands of brave warriors had lost their
lives on both sides. The Sikhs entertained no doubts about
what the tollowing day was going to be like.
They finally decided to give the enemy a slip and leave
the fort under darkness of the night. It was very essential
to keep the plan a strict secret from the foe. Sardar Gulab
Singh, the Bakhshi,*® the treasurer of the Sikh force,had the
highest faith in Banda Singh. le offered his life as a. sacri-
fice for the Panth. Gulab Singh offered prayers to God,
put on the dress of Banda Singh, and set himself up on his
seat. A dozen other Sikhs, too, were to stay behind in the
fort with Gulab Singh.
The Sikhs had continued to fire an occasional shot from
the fort till mid-night.- Suddenly they produced a loud,
explosive noise and attacked a weak point of the enemy
encirclement, quickly cut down the enemies in front of
them, and neatly escaped into the hills of Nahan.
* Dastoor-ul-Insha, P- 8.
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CHAPTER xvI
Aftermath of Lohgarh
At sunrise the next morning, December the 11th, 1710,
Jamlat-ul-Mulk Munim Khan Khan Khana Wazir ordered
his men to attack the enemy. A dozen shots were fired
from inside the fort, in reply. Khan Khana could clearly
see Gulab Singh sitting and wearing the clothes of Banda
Singh. The royal army advanced an to the walls of the
fort, broke open the gate and rushed in. The Sikhs who
opposed them, were too few to matter and as they fell
wounded, Gulab Singh, mistaken for Banda Singh, was
captured. Khan Khana was very delighted, hoping that
this victory was to wash away the ignominy of many a
previous deed that the Emperor had disapproved.
Munim Khan was an old servant of Bahadur Shah and
had been appointed a Minister in preference to several
other officials, who had much better claims to the post,
Moreover, the Emperor had conferred the title of Jumlat-
ul-Mulk Manim Khan Khan Khana upon him. This had
openly estranged him from all the other notables of the
court. They told the Emperor that the hawk had flown
away and the huntsman was carrying to him an artificially
coloured parrot, instead.
As customary, Khan Khana was taking with him to
the royal camp a dozen wounded Sikhs and Gulab Singh,
supposedly Banda Singh, in a procession, led by bands
playing and with usual splendour. An angry word from the
Emperor was his reception: “Stop the playing of bands.
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100
Let not Munim Khan dare present himself to His Majesty.”
When Munim Khan learnt his mistake, he felt utterly
ashamed of himself. He had disobeyed the Emperor and
had, thus, carned his displeasure. He, at the same time,
had failed to take Banda Singh a prisoner. He felt heart-
broken and returned to his camp under a heavy load of
sorrow, The royal messenger told him that the wruil of
the Emperor was irretrievable, since he insisted that Munim
Khan must produce the arch-rebel Banda Singh, at what-
ever cost he might be captured. The Minister also learnt
from the messenger that the courtiers were maligning him
freely and that the Emperor was pleased to listen to them.
Munim Khan's mind sank within him at this news and he
realised suddenly that the leanings of the royalty were no
more trustworthy than quick shifting sands. His health
began to fail from that day.
After the disgrace of Munim Khan, Rustam Din Khan,
took with him the Sikh prisoners to the camp of the
Emperor. He also brought with him, from the Lohgarh
fort, five howdahs of elephants, three guns, seventeen small
gun-carriages, one royal umbrella and a few silver staffs.
The Emperor, as usual, presented him a suitable prize.
_ Gulab Singh and the dozen Sikhs were handed over to
the Police Inspector Sarbrah Khan. When the Emperor's
mind was pacified, he called Khan Khana to his court, on
December the 13th, patted him kindly for his services and
awarded him a robe of honour. Bakhshi-ul-Mulk Amir-ul-
Umra, Muhabat Khan Bahadur, Hamid-ud-Din Khan
Bahadur, Islam Khan Bahadur, Raja Ude Singh, Raja
Chattar Saal, Chooraman Jat and some others, too, were
rewarded with presents for their services during the
compaign.
Orders were issued the same day to the Rajasot Nahan
and Sri Nagar® to arrest Randa Singh and to send him to
the reyal court. Hamid Khan was also sent immediately
to take into custody the Raja of Nahan and to bring him
to the Emperor, in case Banda Singh was not captured.
Banda Singh, however, would not obligehim. Hamid Khan
*The well-known hill station, Srinagar, in Kashmir, is a
different place.
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took Raja Bhoop Parkash, the son of the Raja Hari Parkash
of Nahan, a prisoner and presented him to the Emperor
on December the 22nd.. The mother of Raja Bhup Parkash
deputed thirty distinguished persons of the State to the
Emperor to press him for the release of her son. The
Emperor had these notables killed on March the 23, 1711."
And Raja Bhup Parkash and Gulab Singh were enclosed in
iron cages and shut up in the fort of Delhi.
Every inch of the fort of Lohgarh was dug up in search
of the treasure concealed there by Banda Singh, The
scarch succeeded at last on Decémber 16th, 1710, yielding
a harvest of silver and gold coins, worth eight lakhs of
rupees,
The Emperor knew that Banda Singh had taken him-
self to the hills. He had also becn informed about the
large scale disturbances caused by the Sikhs in the Doaba
and the Majha regions, Consequently, he started for
Lahore across the Doaba. He left Lohgarh, travelled by
way of Puri and halted at Bhadoli on February the 15th,
1711, But, being in no hurry to reach Lahore, he halted
there for several days. Unhappy Munim Khan died there
on February the 28th, 1711. His death was, by and large,
due to the disgrace that the Emperor had heaped upon him
for his conquest of the fort of Lohgarh.
The Emperor left Bhadoli on March the 7th and
reached Ropar on April the 30th. He crossed the Sutlej on
May the 17th and arrived at Hoshiarpur on June the 9th.
He, next, crossed the Beas on June the 23rd, reached
Kahnuwan on July 17th, Kalanaur on the 29th, Chamiari on
the 3Uth, Panj Graeen on August the 3rd and was in Lahore
on August the 11th, 1711,
* Kamwar Khan, p. 186.
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CHAPTER XVII
Back in the Panjab
Banda Singh escaped from the fort of Lohgarh, break-
ing through the siege laid by the imperial army. This,
undoubtedly, spelt a defeat for the Emperor. He felt
extremely hurt and outraged. But he saw no way of
driving his prey back into the cage. Though broken-hearted,
he consoled himself with the thought that he was, at long
last, rid of the nasty foe, And he gave himself up to revelry
and enjoyment.
But Banda Singh was not the man to give the Emperor
an easy riddance. He was not at all discouraged by the
loss of Lohgarh. He had disappeared among the dense
trees in the darkness by skipping across the enemy lines.
He donned the orange robes of an ascetic for a few days
and walked towards Anandpur with no definite distina-
tion in view.* He had no intention to pass his time in this
disguise, either. He was thinking of fighting the Mughal
rulers again. Within a fortnight of the battle of Lohgarh
he hastened to write requisitionary letters to the Sikhs
known to him, telling them to unite and arm themselves.
Dr. Ganda Singh has given the text of one such letter in
his book,+ which is reproduced here.
His seal in Persian: ‘The kettle (symbol of the means
* Lateef, p. 278.
¢ Banda Singh Bahadur, p. 153. Dr. Ganda Singh hasa true
copy of one such letter.
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103
to feed), the sword (the symbol of the power to protect the
weak and the helpless,) victory and unhesitating patronage,
have been obtained from Nanak Guru Gobind Singh.”
“Lord God is one. Victory visit.
“I convey to you the injunction of His Holiness the
True Master. The Guru shall save the entire Khalsa of
Jaunpur. Remember the Guru again and again. You shall
gain victory and felicitation in life. You are the Khalsa of
the holiest and deathless divinity. I expect you to meet
me armed with your five weapons. Observe the religious
code and symbols of the Khalsa. Do not use bhang,*
opium, tobacoo, poppy seeds, wine and other intoxicants.
Do not eat meat, fish and onion. Do not commit theft or
adultery. We have tried to build the rule of Heaven on
this Earth, Let every one of you love others. I ordain
that whoever observes the Sikh forms and the Sikh conduct,
the Guru shall protect and bless him.
“Dated Poh the 12th, the year the first, lines ten."’f
His words, “His Holiness the True Master’ in the
letter, have been used for Guru Gobind Singh. “The Guru
* Bhang is an intoxicating drug made from the leaves of
Cannabis sativa.
(Hag. sna sort)
“@a-Q-3a-Q-gsfo-@-anes §-eda
Wes na s'oa Tg dfs fw”
1
a@ e3 wens!
fret He Wise A} at gan 8 AGEs WERT
AGS Ud a ag Ta | TL Ts AUS’ HoH Asa |
SA fact wars yeu at at wem 9, UA adleg
fq a aH eufent ears mrest 1 won tt
Bas We | ga SHQ Vely URS Ug mNS ae}
Bdl wert HA HES! horn ad wer gt Ad
ad adel t mA Asa easter 31 my fef
feng ager i nat ganda wen et sus sada
farel aa wast ada 1 fist GG 92, ANS ufos,
Aga GA 9 |
Dr. Ganda Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur, p. 153.
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104
shall protect and bless him,” the word Guru in it refers to
Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, which is clear from
his reference to the use of ‘Nanak Guru Gobind Singh.” in
the wording of the seal. He had told the Sikhs not to use
any intoxicants whatever. At the same time, he has for-
bidden the use of meat, fish and onion. He had lived for
the greater part of his life as a Vaishnavite, who docs not
take meat, That was why he persuaded others, too, to
shun meat-eating.
We have to remember, in this connection, that when he
was still young, he had seen the death of a doe and its un-
born young ones and this had affected his mind so that he
had turned a wandering hermit. Never in his life had he
overcome this feeling. That was the reason that he
abstained from eating meat and advised others, too, against
taking it.
He laid great stress on two matters : firstly, observing
the code of the symbols of the Khalsa which is a mark of
his keen faith in Sikhism, and secondly, the need of every
Sikh wearing five weapons, which was a proof of his plan to
fight the Mughal rulers again. His letter was dated
December the 26th, 1710.*
The deteat of Lohgarh had not dis-spirited the other
Sikhs, either. They were keen on regaining the freedom,
of which they had already tasted a brief spell. This was
the reason why a large number of the Sikhs met Banda
Singh at Kiratpur ir. answer to his call. Banda Singh had
not yet built a strength sound enough to enable him to
return to Sadhaura and challenge the Emperor there.
Therefore, he quietly went to the Pathankot region to raise
adequate force. It took him about three months before he
was able to work publicly.
At the time the Emperor had besieged Sadhaura, he
had appointed Bazid Khan Qasoori as the Governor of
Jammu, The latter had reached Raipur by then. Shamas
Khan, his nephew, who had been relieved of the
Commissionership of Jullundur, joined his uncle at Raipur.
Bazid Khan was in Raipur when Banda Singh came to
* It was actually dated Poh the twelveth, equavilent to the
above date.
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105
Pathankot.
Bazid Khan (Qutad-ud-Din Khan Kheshgi) was, one
day, about 16 miles away from Raipur when the news of
Banda Singh’s presence in that area reached him. He
despatched Shamas Khan's brother-in-law, Shahdad Khan,
at the head of fifteen hundred cavalry-men to Raipur for
its protection, Shahdad Khan strengthened his defences
after reaching there.
Bazid Khan and Shamas Khan, too, started back for
Raipur. While busy in hunting on the way, the news of
the Sikhs being near at hand came to them. They had a
force of nine hundred men at the time and they made ready
to attack the Sikhs. Shamas Khan, who was closely
followed by Bazid Khan, had hardly gone a mile, when
they saw the Sikhs, Bazid Khan had no mind to challenge
them, before joining his force at Raipur; but Shamas Khan
was for fighting the Sikhs immediately; and against the
warning of his uncle, he advanced to attack them.
But, instead of fighting Shamas Khan, the Sikhs ran
away from him. Bazid Khan again told him not to go in
pursuit of the Sikhs. But the fervour of his young age did
not permit him to heed the warning. The retreating Sikhs,
with Shamas Khan in pursuit of them, had hardly gone a
mile and a half, when they suddenly turned to attack their
pursuers,
With drawn swords in their hands, the Sikhs surprised
Shamas Khan, who was intoxicated with the hope of a
quick victory, but who found himself entangled in a deadly
quandary. Bazid Khan also turned up slowly with his
force. A hot, bloody action was fought by the contestants.
The Pathans were being pushed back, when Shamas Khan
advanced to make a ferocious attack, his target being the
force commanded by Baj Singh, whom he tried to give a
lance thrust. But Baj Singh retaliated by smartly snatch-
ing the lance from Shamas Khan, whom he wounded with
the same weapon.* Shamas Khan, drew his sword and,
undaunted, attacked Baj Singh again. Before the sword of
Shamas Khan could reach Baj Singh, the sword of the
latter slashed the former’s left shoulder and came out on
* pr. Ganda Singh : Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, p. 162.
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106
his right side below the ribs and had completely cut him in
two.
Bazid Khan was cut to the quick to see his nephew
killed. In sheer exasperation he rushed at Baj Singh with
a vengeance. They both were slightly wounded in simul-
taneous blows. Bazid Khan was about to strike again
when Fateh Singh interrupted and returned him such a
blow that Bazid Khan dropped off his horse-back, half
dead. The Pathans, now, lost hope of a victory. But they
were determined not to leave the field without fetching
the bodies of their Sardars. They fought their hardest and
succeeded in carrying away the bodies. Shamas Khan had
died on the spot; but Bazid Khan died on the third day
while on his way back.t Both the bodies were buricd in
their town of Qasoor.
When the Pathans had fled the field, their camp was
left behind intact, and this provided the Sikhs with lots of
booty. This was called the battle of Behrampur, and it
was fought during the last week of March, 1711.
This victory had greatly encouraged the Sikhs. They
plundered the entire region of Pathankot, Batala, Kalanaurr
and Raipur.
In spite of all these achievements Banda Singh did not
want to fight against any army commander protected by
the walls of a fort, for the reason that he did not havea
sufficient force at his disposal. The fall of Lohgarh was a
big blow to the Sikhs, though they had put up with it, no
doubt; but they had not yet regained their former
proportion and might in men. The Emperor did not
return to Delhi after the conquest of Lohgarh ; he was still
firmly chasing the Sikhs. As long as life befriended him,
he was determined to hunt down Banda Singh.
He ordered Saf Shikan Bahadur and Himmat Daler
Khan to go to Lahore in pursuit of the Sikhs. They were
soon followed, on 7th March, 1711,by Hamid Khan Bahadur,
with an army five-thousand strong. Still the Emperor
was not satisfied with what he had already done. He
despatched Kustam Dil Khan on May the 24th and
Mohammad Amin Khan on May the 3!st to join the former
¢ Rattan Singh Bhanygoo: Pracheen Panth Parkash, p. I14.
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generals specdily,
The Emperor had the news of the battle of Belhramput
on June the 4th, 1711, and of the deaths of Shamas Khan
and Bazid Khan. Then he himself, left after his generals
and reached Hoshiarpur on June the 9th.
By the time Mohammad Amin Khan and Rustam Dil
Khan had reached the region of Raipur, Banda Singh had
crossed the River Ravi and entered the Rachna Doab.*
He pillaged Aurangabad and Pasrur and went ahead to the
Jammu hills. However, the Sikhs, next found them»
selves besieged by the royal armies near Kathuha and Parol.
The forces of Mohammad Amin Khan, Agghar Khan and
Rustam Dil Khan had surrounded them on threc sides,
while the high hills obstructed the Sikhs on the fourth.They
were very badly entrapped there. But, instead of wasting
lis time in thinking out plans of an easy escape, Banda
Singh at once rushed at the sector held by Rustam Dil
Khan, and aftersome quick sword-wotk, tore through
the enemy ranks and disappeared from the place.
When the Sikhs had, thus, escaped, the residents of
Kathuha and Parol drifted under a terrible cloud.
Mortitied, Rustam Dil Khan burst upon them like a
terrible storm. Their homes were plundered and numcrous
innocent persons were driven to Lahore and sold in the
slave market there. d
Mohammand Amin Khan and Rustam Dil Khan were
just then alienated from each other. The former wrote to
the Emperor that Rustam Dil Khan had been bribed by
the Sikhs, whom he helped to break through his flank of
the siege. The Emperor was convinced of the truth of the
report, recalled Rustam Dil Khan to Lahore and imprisoned
him there, on August the Ist, 1711, till he was set free
on November the 30th, 1711.
Mohammad Amin Khan alone kept up his pursuit of
the Sikhs. He persisted in keeping track of them, but
refrained from attacking them. He played this gume till
the death of Emperor Bahadur Shah,
* It is the region between the Ravi and the Chenab rivers.
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CHAPTER XVIII
The Scene in Lahore
It was very tough going for the Sikhs and the Hindus
of Lahore and its neighbourhood in those days. The
Muslim oppression and tyrannies heaped upon them were
of the extremely type. There was a general order to kill
the Sikhs wherever they were found. Any one suspected
of being a Sikh or being friendly with one, was put to death
without much ado.
Even the helpless Hindus were treated no less cruelly.
Many of their families had their homes plundered and set
on fire. It was almost impossible for them to live in Lahore.
There was a monastery, opposite the royal palace and on
the bank of the River Ravi, where a number of the
Hindu ascetics lived. The Muslim priests, one day,
incited a mob of their fanatics to attack the place asa
result of which a Hindu woman ascetic was stabbed to
death with a knife by a Muslim. The entire Hindu
population in Lahore was extremely terrorised by such
acts,
Shiv Singh was a Hindu and a clerk of the Khan
Khana. His son had an attack of small-pox one day. The
boy was taken, in a procession by his relatives and friends
who were singing hymns and beating cymbals, to the
temple of the Hindu goddess, known as Sitala. This
incident incited the fanatical Muslim maulvis to cry wolf
and create disturbances on the excuse of ‘irreligion.’
Muslim mobs, thousands strong, and led by Maulvi Vardi
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Beg started pillaging the Hindu homes in the city. The
whole of Lahore was shocked to see this fanaticism and
cruelty.
Bachan Singh Kachhwaha and Badan Singh Bundhelia,
had been appointed by the Emperor to keep peace and
security in Lahore. They had encamped outside the city
at a fine place, and they proclaimed it, with the beat of
drums, that the harassed Hindus were to shift to their
camp for their protection. Numerous Hindu families
moved to the camp, But driven to despair they prepared
themselves to oppose the terrorists. Finding that the
situation was deteriorating fast, Zabardast Khan came in
between the two hostile parties and persuaded the
Governor of Lahore, Aslam Khan, to control the situation
and keep peace between the two communities, the Hindus
and the Muslims.
The Emperor, too, reached Lahore within a few days
after the incident. Respectable Muslims and maulvis
complained to him that their homes had been plundered
by the Hindus and the Sikhs of the city. He asked them
about the difference between the Hindus and the Sikhs,
He was told that the Hindus shaved their heads and chins,
but the Sikhs never did that. He took no other action
against the Hindus except issuing a royal proclamation
telling them that it was compulsory for them to shave
their heads and beards. And any Hindu disobeying the
order, was to be punished as a Sikh.
~ There were many Hindus employed in high posts under
the Muslim rulers. They had shaved their hair and
appeared trim and smart in the royal court the next morn-
ing. Any one of them refusing to shave himself was put
to death. The government officers in the whole of the city
took the barbars with them and whoever met them with
a beard on, was shaved without fail. There were some
Sikhs who, then, lived amongthe Hindus and mixed up
with them, They werc in a great fix in the new conditions.
Some of them, who found time over night, ran away from
the town; but those who were captured, were invariably
killed.
The Emperor and his princes had encamped outside
the town. The former now recalled to mind the previous
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services of Rustam Din Khan. He set him free from the
jail on November the 30th, 1711, and conferred on him the
title of Ghazanfar Khan,
The heatth of the Emperor failed about the end of
January, 1712. He was off his head. His condition
deteriorated further in another month. He ordered the dogs
ani the donkeys in the city to be killed. The Goverinent
officers were going the round of the streets, holding sticks
‘and other weapons in their hands and, as a result, numbers
of dead dogs littered the streets. Another royal order
demanded the yogis, ascetics and fakirs to be turned out
of the city.
Emperor Bahadur Shah held his last, Durbar on
February the 24th, 1712. His health was failing rapidly.
The Sardars and the princes were extra busy in those days.
But they gave no thought to the sinking Emperor : they
were building their respective chances for succession. The
Emperor breathed his last during the night between
February the 27th and the 28th.
This death gave rise to an internecine war among his
sons. It was traditional for most of the Mughal Kings to
ascend the throne through a blood-path of their brothers,
This happened to the sons of Bahadur Shah, too. The
surroundings of Lahore were turned into a battlegroun..
Allthe generals and the Sardars of the kingdom joined
this war of succession and sided with one or the other
prince The guns boomed and the swords changed from
March the 14th to the 28th,
Azim Shah, Jahan Shah and Rafi-ul-Shah were killed
and Jahandar Shah ascended the throne on March the 29th,
1712. He had Rustam Dil Khan, Ala Vardi Khan and
Mukhlis Khan mus dered most cruelly. Muhabat Khan, Jahan
Khan, Hakim-ul-Mulk, Huadayat-uila Khan, Fidwi Khan,
Abdul Qadir Khan, Lutaf-wl-Khan, Mohammad Ali Klan
and some others, about a score in number, were severely
victimised. Their properties and homes were confiscated.
And any one belonging to the royal family that he could
lay his hands upon, was put to the sword. Only he escaped
death who had sided with Jahandar Shah in that family
holocaust. The only other man who was not done in, was
Farrukh Siyer, the son of Azim Shah (Azim-ush-Shan) who,
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later, put Jahandar Shah himself to death.
Jahandar Shah left for Delhi after a month. He
appointed Zabardast Khan the Governor of Lahore.
The new Emperor lacked the ability to rule his empire.
Zulfikar Khan became his Minister and many other non-
entities were given high positions in his court. The Muslim
mirasis (bards), in particular, received great favour from
him.
Most of the high class sardars felt disgusted with his
measures. Farrukh Siyer was the Commander of Bihar-
Bengal at the time. With the assistance of the Sayyad
brothers, Hussain Ali and Abdulla, the Governors of Bihar
and Allahabad respectively, le attacked Dehli. A contes-
ted battle was fought and much blood shed. Jahandar
Shah and his Minister, Zulifkar Khan, were killed and
Farrukh Siyer occupied the throne of Delhi on February the
1ith, 1713. He appointed the Sayyad brothers, Abulla to
Ministership and IIussain Ali to the post of the Comman-
der-in-Chief. Zabardast Khan, the Governor of Lahore,
was replaced by Abdus Samad Khan. In short, all the
high class officers were replaced with new men.
Banda Singh had slipped into the hills of Jammu _ after
the battle of Behrampur, for the reason that Mohammad
Amin Khan had made it impossible for the Sikhs to live in
the. plains, The place in the beautiful Jammu hills where
Banda Singh had spent his time, is still called the Dehra
(hermitage) of Baba Banda Singh, When Mohammad Amin
Khan heard the news of the death of Bahadur Shah and
returned to Lahore, the Sikhs breathed a sigh of relief,
Banda Singh, too, began to organise his power. He
travelled from Jammu to Chamba and Mandi directly along
the mountain paths, The common people, the Hindus, in
particular, had come to believe that Randa Singh could
work miracles and no power on earth could defeat him,
That was why Siddh Sen, the ruler of Mandi and Ude
Singh, that of Chamba, paid their reverence to and sought
the blessings of Banda Singh, who agreed to marry a
daughter of the prince of Chamba under pressure of the
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latter’s requests.* The marriage was celebrated according
to the Sikh rites. The elder son of Banda Singh, Ajai Singh
by name, was the child of this marriage He was martyred
in Delhi along with his father later.
Banda Singh was not idling when the princes and the
generals of Delhi were fighting their battle of succession in
Lahore. He left Chamba and went straight to Sadhaura.
The imperial army was completely concentrated in Lahore,
largely ignoring the territory where Banda Singh was biding
his time. He now occupicd Sadhaura and Lohgarh after
curbing a slight opposition put up by the enemy. Tohgarh
was once again made the Sikh capital, and the devastated
parts of the fort were repaired. And the Sikhs again
controlled a fairly large area around it.
Ae
* The second mattiage contracted by Banda Singh was to a
daughter of a Khatri of Wazirabad, named Sahib Kaur, who
became the mother of Ranjeet Singh, the second son of Banda
Singh.
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CHATTER XIX
The Tussel Continues
After occupying the throne firmly, Jahandar Shah
despatched Mohammad Amin Khan, to reconquer Sadhaura
with the help of Zain-ud-Din Ahammad Khan, the Governor
of Sirhind, Both. these generals besieged Sadhaura. However
hard did they try to take Sadhaura by storm, the Sikhs
attacked them from within with an equal dash and beat them
back, This fight continued till December, 1712. When
Jahandar Shah marched towards Agra in order to defeat
Farrukh Siyer, he called Mohammad Amin Khan from
Sadhaura. This left Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan alone to
carry on his fight with the Sikhs.
Banda Singh then found an opportunity, during the
short interval, to strengthen the defences of the fort of:
Sadhaura. Zain-ud-Din contiuned to maintain the siege.
But he was badly harassed by Sikhs, who kept raining
bullets on his force all the while. Day or night, dining
or doing some thing else, the Sikhs ceaselessly fired on the
besieging force.
Thus irritated, Zain-ud-Din advanced his men and
placed the guns at a short distance of forty to fifty yards
from the walls of the fort. One of these guns kept up
accurate firing. Heavy rain descended during the next
night when the Sikhs made a sally from the fort in the
darkness of the night and pushed that gun into a deep ditch.
Zain-ud-Din had a hard job in retrieving the gun. he had to
employ one hundred men at the rate of fifty rupees each to
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114
pull it out.* While this siege was still on, the officers of the
province were transferred to other places.
Furrukh Siyer occupied the throne of Delhi on
February the 11th, 1713, after killing Jahandar Shah, He
removed Zabardast Khan from the Governorship of Lahore
“and appointed Abdus Samad Khan Daler-i-Jang in his
place, on February the 22nd, 1718, Zakaria Khan, the son
of the latter, was made the Commander of Jammu. Rut
they were, at the same time, toldto drive away the Sikls
from Sadhaura before proceeding futher. Abdus-samad
Khan commanded a.large army and reached Sadhaura. The
army of Zain-ud-Din joined him there.
Banda Singh was at Lohgarh at the time; but most of
the Sikhs were in Sadhaura. As soon as Abdus-Samad
Khan reached Sadhaura he did his best to conquer it. The
Sikhs sallied out of the fort, attacked’ and licked their
besiegers and returned to the fort. Banda Singh himself
deputed some Sikhs of his force at Lohgarh, who would
suddenly assault the Sadhaura Muslim army and return
after inflicting heavy damage on the enemy,
The rations of the Sikh army had totally run out by
then. And the sallics they made, did not fetch them what
they needed. At last, they were forced to vacate the forts.
One night in the first week of October, 1713, the Sikhs left
the fort of Sadhaura, cut through the enemy encirclement
and reached Lohgarh, where Banda Singh and his men
joined them, and all of them together went to the hills the
same night. When the royal generals occupied the Sadhaura
fort and advanced to Lohgarh, they found an empty fort
there, too. The emperor received a report of this develup-
ment on October the 9th,
Abdus Samad Khan proceeded to Lahore after occupy-
ing Sadhaura, and his son, Zakaria Khan, took the heads
of the Sikhs, killed in the fighting, to the Emperor in Dethi.
He presented himself to the Emperor on December the
18th, 1713. The Emperor gave him the robes of honour
and promoted him to a higher rank. Abdus Samed Khan
and Zakaria Khan were despatched to lead a campaign
into Rajputana. The emperor made then costly gifts on
" ® De, Ganda Sinhh: Banda Singh Bahadur, p. 185.
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their return to Delhi from there on June the 8th. They
were again deputed to the Panjab, on June the 26th, with
orders to decimate the Sikhs,
The Sikh rising had once again been put down.
Banda Singh went direct to Jammu after leaving Lohgarh
and stayed in the old place that was later known as Dehra
Bada Banda Singhor his hermitage. Here he was
marricd to one, Sahib Kaur, his second wife.
At this time the rural Muslim population began to
tyrannise over and assassinate their Sikh and Hindu
neighbours. The regular Sikh fighters were beyond their
reach; but they terribly oppressed the Hindus who
sympathised with the Sikhs. The cruelties practised by
the Pathans of Kahnuwan District, in particular, knew
no bounds. At last the non-muslims were literally driven
to desperate countermeasures. The Sikhs of this neigh-
bourhood arose with determination to fight these tyrants.
Sardar Jagat Singh, a local Sikh leader, along with his
brothers, relatives and other Sikhs, attacked the fortress of
the Pathans on March the 27th, 1714. Mohammad Ishaq,
the local Pathan leader, was killed during the action. The
Sikhs gathered a booty worth sixty thousand rupees.
“Quite a few families had left the village of Kahnuwan for
ever, then,*
A severe famine visited the country that year. The
whole of northern India mas gripped by hunger. When
every one was concerned with his own self, Banda Singh
was occupie] with the task of building his military power.
Khidmat Talb Khan replaced Zain-ud-Din Almad Khan
as the Commander in Sirhind about this time. He began
touring the area under him and that made it difficult for
the Sikhs to move about there.
Banda Singh descended from the mountains and came
to the plains in February, 1715. His first target was
Kalanaur. It is the town where Akbar had been crowned
King. Kalanaur had advanced in prosperity with the
stability of the Mughal rule. Beautiful mansions, splendid
palaces and grcen, lovely gardens aflorded special grandeur
to Kalanaur, It was the habitat of rich people in those
* Dr. Ganda Singh: Banda Singh Bahadur, page 193.
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days.
Its Commander, Sohrab Khan, and its revenue officer,
Santokh Rai, made fool-proof preperation for its protection.
Anokh Rai, a brother of the latter, lent a big hand in its
defence preparedness, These two Puri Khatries had a high
opinion of their daring. The three of them called up large
forces of the volunteers from the neighbouring villages and
confidently waited for Sikhs to show up.
Banda Singh rushed upon them with a dash that
simply stunned them. When Sohrab Khan, Santokh Rai
and Anokh Rai saw their men dying like flies at the
flames, they knew no security other than the one ofa flight
from the town. The three run-away musketeers left the
town to the tender mercies of the Khalsa. The Sikhs
plundered the town at their ease and took into possession
the entire pargana.*
The Sikhs next directed their attention to Batala, It
isa very old town. It is said to have been founded by
Ram Dev Bhatti. It is situated in the centre of the fertile
tract of Riarki. It had grown to be a bustling town then.
It had reached its maximum prosperity at the time of
Banda Singh. It was populated by Bukhari Sayyads to the
south of the Thathiari** gate in the west. There stood,
next to it, the street of rich Qazis that extended to the
large Hathit Gate. It consisted of pretty palaces and
magnificent mansions, The mansions and the mosque of the
Qazistt were well-known places there. The street ran from
the Hathi Gate to the Acchli and from there to the Mian
Gate.ttt Inside this gate were the palace, the holy seat
and the school of Mohammad Fazil Qadri.{ttt He was alive
at the time.
There was a slaughter-house between the Acchali and
the Hathi gates, where several cows were killed every day.
The town had a pucca fortress for the Faujdar or
commander in the town. Sheikh Mohammad Daim of
*Karam Singh: Banda Bahadur, page 167. Mohammad Qasim:
Ibrat Nama, p. 41. ** Braziers.
+Elephant.
tt Muslim priests,
ttt A noble man.
tttt Karam Singh: Banda Bahadur, page 168,
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Bharowal was the Commander then. The news of the
imminent Sikh raid made many residents of the town desert
it. Mohammad Fazil Qadri and many of the darweshes and
his other relatives ran away to Sultanpur in the Doaba for
safety. Sheikh Ahimad, Commonly known as Sheikh-ul-
Hind, was a great succeeder. He collected the people and
persuaded them to fight and beat off the Sikhs, They shut
the gates of the town and made full preparations to fight
the raiders. The Sheikh-ul-Hind and the Commander
Mohammad Daim marched out of the town by the Hathi
Gate, to fight the Sikhs.
Banda Singh left Kalanaur, spent the night at Acchal
and raided Batala early in the morning like a ferocious tiger.
The Commander and the Sheikh-ul-Hind fought bravely. A
bloody battle continucd for some time. When tlie Sikhs
made a determined attack, the enemy could not hold out.
Sheikh-ul-Hind* lost his life and the Faujdar fled to
Bharowal. The rest of the residents were cither put to the
sword or ran away from the town.
The Sikhs smashed the gates of the town and entered
it. The first street that they attacked was the one of Qazi
Abdul-Haq. Very rich people had their homes there. The
whole of the street, was, therefore, plundered and reduced to
ashes ¢ The school of Mohammad Fazil Qadri, the mansions
of the Qazis and the houses of the butcl.ers were conipletely
burnt down. In short, the town was devastated ina way that
it could never regain its old prestige. Its residents, who
escaped death, had saved their lives by fleeing to Lahore or
to the hills of Chamba or Dasuha.
The Sikhs once again controlled the entire region of the
Riarki and one half of the Majha. They replaced the
government police by their own appointees in the Majha.
All this news had been sent to the Emperor in Delhi by
his officers,
* The men of the Sheikh-ul-Hind took his corpse to Wazirabad
and buried it two miles outside the town. Tho village at the spot
is called Kotla Sheikh-ul-Hind and his descendents live tyero,
tM. Gregor, p.108. Ahimad Shah Batalia: Zikr-i-Guruan,
p. 12.
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CHAPTER XX
The Beginning of the End
This ascendancy of the Sikh power again shook the
Mughal rule to its foundations. Farrukh Siyer was bent
upon suppressing the Sikh disturbances at any cost and |
by all means. He sent an urgent order to Abdus Samad
Khan Daler-i-Jang, the Governor of Lahore, to capture
Banda Singh at his earliest. On March the 20th, 1715, he
ordered Imad-ud-Daula Mohammad Amin Khan's son,
Qamar-ud-Din Khan, Afra Sayyab Khan, Muzzafar Khan,
Raja Ude Singh Bundelia, Raja Gopal Singh Bhadauria
and several other Hindu and Muslim notable Sardars to
proceed with their armies and reinforce the troops of the
Daler-i-Jang. All the other feudal Sardars and Commanders
in the Panjab also received similar urgent orders to join
the campaign.
Mirza Ahimad Khan, the Commander of Gujrat,
Iradatmand Khan, the Commander of Aminabad, Nur
Mohammad Khan, the Commander of Aurangabad and
Pasrur,Sheikh Mohammad Daim,the Commander of Batala,
Sayyad Hafiz Ali Khan, the Commander of Haibatpur-
Patti, Sohrab Khan, the Commander of Kalanaur, Raja
Bhim Singh Katochia and Hardev, the son of Raja Dhrub
Dev, all marched to Lahore at the head of their armies.
Arif Beg Khan, the Deputy Governor of Lahore, encamped
near Shah Ganj, outside the city, and enlisted new
forces, numbering several thousand. Meanwhile, Daler-i-
Jang, too, was back to Lahore, after he had subdued the
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19
Blattis of the Lakkhi forest.
He now started, at the head of all these forces, to
defeat Banda Singh.
Banda Singh had full information of the enemy plans.
He knew that he commanded too small a force to fight the
imperial army. He, therefore, ordered his Sikhs to build a
mud-walled fort near Kot Mirza Jaan. But the enemy
hordes arrived beforce the Sikh defences were completed,
Abdus Samad Khan Daler-i-Jang, the Governor of Lahore,
was the Commander-in-Chief of the royal forces and Arif
Beg his lieutenant.
Kot Mirza Jaan was situated midway between
Kalanaur and Batala, Banda Singh had opted for the
place for two reasons, if victory favoured him, the enemy
would be left shelterless and completely at the mercy of
the Sikhs; but if, on the other hand, the imperialists had
the upper hand, the Sikhs could have a free retreat into
the hills, Banda Singh had becorne such a bane to the
imperial generals that they were impelled to keep Muslim
saints and priests with them to ward off the evil that he
was likely to do them. There were numerous qazis,mullas and
fakirs with the royal army, and they prayed all the while
to God for the victory of the Emperor and the security of
the lives of the generals, and recited verses from the Quran.*
Not unoften would the army make the saints go in advance
of them, making them recite the scripture louder and louder
still, while the poor souls shivered in their shoes for fear of
the Sikhs.
Diler-i-Jang ordered an attack immediately on
approaching the enemy position. Banda Singh, on the
other hand, met the enemy with a dash and violence that
shattered the enemies’ nerves. Men who fought for the
allurements of pay and prizes and who kept first in mind
the safety of their lives, were ranged against sincere warriors
who had staked their all for the sake of martyrdom or
victory: the two horses were different in spirit as in colour,
The very first onset of the Sikhs had dislodged the imperial
forces from their positions, Faced with an evident defeat,
the royal generals taunted their soldiers, pressed them to
* Rattan Singh Bhangoo, p. 128.
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fight hard and renewed their attacks from all the sides of
the field. Finding themselves outnumbered in a big way,
the Sikhs and their commander slowly retreated. But
this falling back was so confidently and skilfully executed
that the enemy had no chance to come to closer grips with,
and overwhelm, them. The Sikhs had, at last, sought
refuge in the fortress of Gurdas-Nangal.
The old village of Gurdas-Nangal is now only a mound
which is called the Ruins of Baba Banda. This mound is
situated at a distance of one mile from the present village
of Gurdas-Nangal and four miles to the west of the city of
Gurdaspur. There was no regular fortress there. It was
the large mansion of Bhai Duni Chand where the Sikhs
found a refuge from the enemies. This was the so-called
fort of Gurdas-Nangal. The Sikhs had dug the ditch around
it deeper and the banks of the royal canal and of a natural
stream near by were cut to fill the citch with water. This
made it hard for a man or a horse to reach out to the
mansion.t :
It was on April the 17th, 1715, that Delhi received the
news of the rout of the Sikhs and their retreat into Gurdas-
Nangal. A royal message from Delhi ordered Daler-i-Jang
to despatch immediately Banda Singh, alive or dead, to
Delhi. Daler-i-Jang besieged the mansion held by the
Sikhs. The Sikhs who had gone to the villages around to
fetch food and fodder for their army, were captured and
cruelly done to death by the enemies.
Daler-i- Jang then launched repeated attacks against
the besieged, The harder the royal forces pressed the fort-
ress, the more ferociously were they thrown back by the
Sikhs, The assaulters met an iron wall of opposition
against which they broke .their fore-heads and rolled
reeling back. The guns of the enemy hurled tons of cannon
balls on the Sikhs; and the Sikhs retaliated with their
arrows and bullets, which pierced the masses of the enemy
forces, aie
When Daler-i-Jang and his son, Zakria Khan, wer
¢ Mohammad Qartim: Ibrat Nama, p. 42. Qasim was a
scrvant of Araf Beg and had acconipanied the Delhi armies at the
time of the battle of Gurdas-Mangal.
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tired of their repeated attacks and failed to make a headway,
they resolved to crush the Sikhs through starvation by a
siege,
All approaches were then completely plugged by the
enemy forces. Abdul Samad Khan Daler-i-Jang himself
commanded one flank of the fortress.
The second wing was assigned to his son, Zakaria Khan,
the third to Qamar-ud-Din Khan and the fourth to the rest
of the commanders and the landlords. It was not possible
for the Sikhs to receive any more food whatever from out-
side. They were in for the severest hardships,
All the same, the dauntless Sikhs defied all dangers. A
party of the Sikhs, forty or fifty strong, would sally forth,
cut through the enemy defences, snatch whatever they could
lay their hands on, by pressing, killing or plundering the
enemics, and would carry their booty back into the
mansion, The enemy found these sallies most irritating.
Out of desparation they started bombarding the Sikh
defences blindly. Even this failed to make any impression
on the Sikhs, who held the maxim, “to find comfoit in
discomfiture,’’* dearest to their licarts. They raised their
war slogans boldly and lustily from inside their defences
and terrorised the enemy, The’imperial generals repeatedly
prayed to God to rid them of that nasty emergency, Tf
nothing better were to happen, they heartily wished that
their enemy should slip out of the fortress so that the whole
annoying business should any way end.
The Sikhs were severely short of rations and their
enemies of their courage. The Daler-i-Jang had in a way
Inst all hope of a victory. His anxicty was as to how to
dispose of that tantaliser. He recognised an instrument of
doom in Banda Singh, On the other hand, there was the
obvious risk of annoying the Emperor. In addition, there
was the possibility of his fall in the public estimation.
He ordered the sicge of the mansion to be tightened
and strengthened further. His generals had, moreover, the
tents of their soldiers pitched nearer the walls, making the
encirclement fool-proof. Each tent joined with the two on
both its sides, with a fencing of tightened ropes running full
¢ Sf fefe Ay Harel 1 Dukh wich sukh manseen.
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circle on the inner side. There was not an inch of space
that was not covered by tents, ropes and watchmen. The
Sikhs were cornered more tightly than ever before. Yet
they did present a bold front. Baba Binod Singh would
cross the encirclement in disguise and buy sweets and other
food in the royal army market at a higher price than the
normal rate. Whenever he was suspected, he used his sword
to protect himself and slung back into the mansion,
The entire royal force was sick of such skirmishes, It
built platforms of earth, ten to twenty yards long and not
less than six feet high, in front of its tents, as protection
against the Sikh bullets.
But the greatest fear for the besiegers was that of the
magical powers of Banda Singh. Though the qazis, mullas
and fakirs assured them that their prayers had made the
magic of Banda Singh innocuous, yet the generals were still
not convinced of this fact. They belicved that Banda Singh
had the powers even to change his form and go out of, and
back into, his fortress at his pleasure. The result was
that even a dog or a cat that came from the Sikh side, was
made a target of the royal soldiers’ arrows and bullets and
was reduced to lumps of flesh.
Months passed like this. There were urgent and
frequent messages trom the Emperor, urging an early
capture of the fortress. Daler-i-Jang was himself no. less —
impetient with the stale-mate. He requisitioned thousands of
men and sent them inte the surrounding area to cut timber
and used it in building high platforms from where to bLom-
bard the Sikhs. The embankment thus raised outside, was
higher than the walls of the mansion. The generals planned
to place their soldiers there and made them fire on the
Sikhs in their fortress. The Sikhs still retained self-confi-
dence and let no enemy approach their walls.
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CHAPTER XXI
The End Itself
Another regrettable event happened at this stage. The
Sikhs were discussing the question of staying put in the
fortress and to continue fighting or slipping out of it and
through the enemy lines, as was done at Lohgarh. Banda
Singh favoured sticking on to the fortress; but Baba Binod
Singh advocated throwing up of the hot patato. The two
generals even Jost temper as the discussion continucd.
Then their quarrel grew bitterer and they drew their swords
for a fight, when Kahn Singh, the son of Binod Singh,
stepped between the two and appealed to them for peace
and not to damage the Sikh cause in that critical hour. He
further suggested that one of them should leave the fortress.
Baba Binod Singh agrecd to clear out. He rode his horse,
bared his sword and safely pushed through the enemy
defences.* That was the end of that sad incident.
The sicge had already lasted for eight months. The
enemy did not allow anything whatever to trickle into the
fortress. Not much of food and fodder could have becn
stored inside the building. Whatever they possessed, had
already been consumed. The Sikhs had snatched, in their
sallies, a little from the foes. And occasionally they had
purchased a little from a greedy imperial army-man at a
high cost, too. But that did not last for long. Soon men
and horses began to die of starvation. Many a precious
* Karam Singh: Banda Bahadur, pages I76-77.
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life was lost like that.
The Sikh fighters lived on the boiled leaves of trees,
without salt, for some time. They peeled off the bark from
the trees, dried and powdered it and used it for flour.
Harder days came when these resources, too, gave out, in
turn. The killing of the horses for meat followed. Next
came the turn of the mules and the donkeys to live on.
No fuel of any kind was available any more; they now
tried to appease their hunger with raw flesh. Some of
them went to the limit of tearing their own thighs open and
eating their own flesh to keep going. There is no other
example known to history when people were reduced to
such horrible straits to pacify the demands of elemental
hunger. The Chamba wife of Banda Singh and their son,
Ajai Singh, were also among them.* = This innocent child
of four years, too, suffered extreme hardships in the name
of the Guru.
In spite of all this ruination, the Sikhs did not lose
heart. They aimed their rifles at the enemies and pressed
their triggers, even when they were at death’s door. Then
their ammunition, too, finished, as had their rations
already. These warriors with stalwart bodies were now
raduced to mere skcletons, Even then the enemy did not
muster enough courage to advance to attack the besieged
and hungry lions.
At long last, Daler-i-Jang resorted to a diplomatic foul
play. He sent a message to Banda Singh, saying that if
the Sikhs evacuated the fortress, the Emperor would forgive
them for all that they had done. Moreover, they were to be
awarded feudal estates under a royal mandate. He declared
the yenuineness of that promise on an oath on the holy
Quran and sent a present to Banda Singh, in proof of his
earnestness. t
It was under these terms that on December the 17th,
1715, and under orders of Banda Singh, the gate of the
Gurdas-Nangal mansion was flung open. Famished with
* Sahib Kaur, the second wife of Banda Singh, was living at
Dehra Baba Banda Singh, in Jammu territory and it was at this
time that she give birth to her son, Ranjeet Singh.
¢ Rattan Singh Bhangoo, pages 126-27,
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hunger and half dead the Sikhs lay within it helplessly,
Abdus Samad Khan Daler-i-Jang forgot all his words of
honour and oaths and made Banda Singh a captive. He
also had two to three hundred Sikhs bound hands and feet
in ropes, and pushed them down to the tender mercies of
his soldiers, who had dared not attack the mansion before,
but who now used their lances and swords freely against
the helpless captives. All of them were killed most mercil-
essly. This was an unfailing proof of their cowardice and
treachery. The army next entered the mansion in order to
search it. They dug every inch of its flooring and found
nothing there. Had the Shikhs possessed any wealth, ny
would not have stopped fighting.
Every enemy soldier thought that the Sikhs possessd a
huge treasure, The question was: where was it concealed ?
The bodies of the dead Sikhs were torn open to make sure
that they had not concealed gold coins in their intestines,
Thus there were some Sikhs among them who were still
breathing and not dead; they were now lynched.
This gruesome tragedy and holocaust ended at last.
The rest of the Siklis, about two hundred in number,*
were captured along with Banda Singh, and were made to
carry aloft, on the lances, the heads of their former
comrade Sikhs, now dead.
Daler-i-Jang, in this way, marched back from Gurdas-
Nagal, beating drums of triumph.
The Emperor had the news of thi®victory on December
the 22nd, 1715.
Though a captive, the terror of Banda Singh’s powers
still made the minds of his captors tremble and deeply
panicky. They were terribly afraid of his working the
occult powers and flying high over their heads. A bold
man among the arniy officers offered to be tied to the body
of Banda Singh with a stout, iron chain, so that when the
latter attempted to fly, he was to open his vitals with a
dagger.
From Gurdas-Nangal the royal army reached Lahore in
great glory. There were rows of spectators on both sides
of the road to see the fun. The procession of Banda Singh
*Karam Singh: Banda Bahadur, page 177,
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was approaching. Bandsmen, playing their tunes, came
foremost. They were followed by the Mughal army, carry-
ing the heads of about three thousand dead Sikhs on their
lances. Next came Banda Singh, trapped in an iron cage,
placed on an elephant’s back, with a Mughal army officer
chained to him on either sides.* His feet were fettered,
wrists hhand-cuffed, a heavy, iron ring round his neck
and a heavy chain tied around his waist, the two
ends of which were secured fast round the waists of the
two Mughal army men on his sides. Then there came two
hundred Sikh captives, each two of whom were chained to
the back of a camel or that of a donkey. All of them had
been reduced to mere skeletons; but their faces had not lost
their usual lustre. Last of all came the imperial generals,
commanders, rich men, land-lords, Hindu rajas and their
forces. Thousands of the Lahore citizens had crowded the
sides of the roads, the business strcets and the roofs of the
houses. After they had been paraded along soime of the
streets, they were imprisoned in the royal fort.
Abdus Samad Khan Daler-i-Jang asked for the royal
permission to present Banda Singh personally at Delhi; the
Emperor, however, refused. He ordered Daler-i-Jang to
keep in Lahore for controlling the administration of the
territory and to tell Zakaria Khan and Qamar-ud-Din Khan
to take the Sikh captive in their charge to Delhi.
Zakaria Khan started with two hundred Sikh prisoners
as his charge. But he thought this number too small for
a presentation to the Emperor. Therefore, he ordered his
officers to capture as many Sikhs from the villages as they
could lay their hands on. His chaudhris and subordinates
ran amuck in the villages, like hunting dogs, in search of
the Sikhs. He who learnt of it in time, sought safety in
disappearing from his place. The man who oppesed his
capture, was murdered then and there. And the man who
was captured, was handed over to Zakaria Khan as a
prisoner of war. Hundreds of the heads of the innocent
Sikhs who had been thus killed and hundreds: others who
were captured in the villages, were taken to swell the
numbers whom Zakaria Khan took to Delhi. They had
* Rattan Singh Bhangoo: Pracheen Panth Parkash, p. 141.
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127
not disobeyed, or fought with, the Government forces;
their direst crime was that they professed Sikhism.
This procession arrived at Sirhind where it was taken
the round of the main streets. Banda Singh was carried
on an elephant and other Sikhs in bullock carts, Each one
of them had his hands and feet fastencd in chains. Yet, as
they looked at the blood-stained fort of the place, the
muscles of their arms did not fail to tickle with excitement.
Big crowds had assembled in all the streets to have a look
at them. Those who had their houses burnt during the
previous disturbances, called names to, and brick—batted,
the Sikhs. The Sikhs recited their hymns to themselves
caimly.*
he Emperor was informed on February the 25th, 1716,
that the prisoners were nearing Delhi. He deputed Itmad-
ud-Daula Mohammad Amin Khan to go out to mect them
and to take them into Delhi in a proper, presentable form.t
* Rattan Singh Bhangoo: Pracheen Panth Prakash, p. 142,
+ Kamwar Khan: Tazkora-ul-Sulatin Chugtayan, p. 179,
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CHAPTER XXU
In Delhi
The strange procession entered Delhi by the Lahori
Gate, It was led by three thousand army-men, cach carry-
ing a head of a Sikh atop a pole, with the long hair flowing
behind, They were followed by a skeleton of a cat, similarly
held high on a pole, to indicate that not a living creature
had escaped from the mansion at Gurdas-Nangal. Then
came Banda Singh, He was carried on the back of an
elephant, shut fast in a cage, wearing a red turban, covered
with gold chains, The jail executioner sat behind him,
holding a neked sword aloft in his hand.
They were followed by seven hundred and forty Sikh
captives, bound in pairs and carried on camel-backs. Most
of them wore wooden caps and had their faces blackened.
Each one of them had one hand extended forward and the
other backward, thrust ina wooden frame and made fast
there with nails driven around it. The tried generals of
Banda Singh were forced to wear sheep skins and walk on
both sides his elephant.
Next, there came the three Mughal Commanders :
Nawab Mohammad Amin Khan China Bahadur, his son,
Qamar-ud-Din Khan Bahadur and son-in-law, Zakaria Khan
Bahadur, making the rear of the procession. Their army
men stood in file, on both sides of the cavalcade, which was
followed by a huge crowd of the citizcn-spectators. The
streets and the roofs of the houses, too, were full of people,
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come out to watch the Sikhs and their victors.
Mirza Mohammad Harisi, the author of ‘“Ibrat Nama,”
personally accompanied the procession from the Loon
Mandi (Salt Market) to the Shahi (royal) Fort. He has
written in his book, ‘There was not a single person in Delhi
who had not turned up to see that spectacle that day. The
Mulims were beside themselves with delight; yet the Sikh
prisoners, too, felt happy. There was no sign of sorrow or
sadness to be seemin their faces. They looked happy in
reciting their Guru’s hymns.
“Tf anybody offered to give them his sympathy in their.
misfortune, their reply was brief : ‘Sweet is the Will of God.
To another sympathiser who remarked : ‘They are going to
kill you,’ their answer was ; ‘We arc not afraid of death,
You may kill us, if you like. Were we afraid of dying, how
could we have fought you so often ? It was starvation that
had knocked us under. Otherwise, you know the mettle we
are made of and what we are up to.’ ’*
When the procession reached the fort, the Emperor
ordered Banda Singh and some of his Sardars, like Baj
Singh, Fateh Singh and others, to be kept as prisoners in
the fort under supervision of Ibrahim-ud-Din Khan Mir
Atish. The rest of the Sikhs, six hundred and ninety four
in number, were sentenced to death and were handed over
to Sarbrah Khan Kotwalt for execution.
Mohammad Amin Khan, Qamar-ud-Din Khan and
Zakaria Khan were presented with the robes of honour and
other prizes, the next day. Zakaria Khan then deposited all
the booty that he had captured in Gurdas-Nangat fortress
in the royal arsenal. It comprised the following articles ;
Swords 1000
Shields 278
Bows and their bukets 173
Rifles 180
Daggers 114
Small Swords 217
Gold Coins 23
Rupee Coins 600)
* Harisi: Ibrat Nama, pages 58-58.
¢ Jailer.
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130
Gold Ornaments A few*
It was with the help of this very scanty war material
that the Sikhs had been defying the powerful and extensive
. Mughal empire for eight months. But, had they possessed
necessary material to fight with the Mughals on eqnal foat-
ing, no enemy could have forced them to evacuate the
mansion of Gurdas-Nangal. 7
The execution of the Sikhs started on March the 5th
1716, under orders of the Emperor and under the chargc
of the Kotwal, Sarbrah Khan. One hundred Sikhs were
taken to the execution ground in front of the Chabutra
Jail. The executioner sharpened his sword while his
victims looked on. There were spectators standing all
around and in the centre were the captive Sikhs of Guru
Gobind Singh, the lovers of their faith and of death.
The executioner read out the royal sentence that
declared . ‘‘He who will accept conversion to Islam, shall
be absolved of all his crimes and he exalted with royal
honours, But he who declines this favour, shall be be-
headed.”’
There was m xe among those Sikhs who preferred life
to his faith, Tl