Lohgarh - Khalsa Rajdhani, Lohgarh fort - Lohgarh Trust, S. Daljeet Singh Bajwa [early reader books .txt] 📗

so the Sikhs did not face much difficulty in capturing the city. Now only the Fort remained in the possession of Usman Khan, who had shut himself therein.

When the Sikhs were in the control of the town, several Nawabs, ministers and umraa, with a flag of surrender in their hands and leaves of grass in their mouths (symbolizing that they were poor cows), came to the Sikh generals and begged for their (Sikhs’) mercy. Banda Singh forgave them and told them, ‘Should you remain loyal, nothing will happen to you.’

 

 

Although all others had surrendered, Usman Khan was defiant, still inside the Fort. A long struggle and large scale sacrifices might have enabled the Sikhs to capture this Fort. But, Banda Singh did not like to make so many sacrifices to capture this Fort. His final goal was Sarhind and not Sadhaura. But, here too, the relatives of Pir Budhu Shah played their role: some of them were inside the Fort too. They opened one of the doors of the Fort for the Sikh army, which stormed it with great zeal. Usman Khan tried to fight against the Sikhs but he could not do it for long, and finally, he was captured and given the death sentence.18 Sadhaura was a rich fiefdom; here the Sikhs confiscated lakhs of rupees, a lot of gold and diamonds, thousands of arms and horses. This made the Sikhs armory and the army still richer.

After the capture of Sadhaura, the Sikhs did not leave the town and remained there for several days during which they planned attack Sarhind. One day, some Sikhs who were grazing their horses, saw a camel running about and around in a field. To save the crops from the camel the Sikhs tried to drive it away from the fields. In the meanwhile they saw a man walking by the side of that field. He had a bamboo stick in his hands. The Sikhs took hold of his stick and hit the camel with it to make him go away. The stick being hollow broke and a letter fell out of it. One of the Sikhs knew Persian and he could read it. This letter had been written by the umbra of Sadhaura to Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sarhind. It said, “You should attack Sadhura. Banda Singh and his companions trust us. We shall keep the Sikhs’ attention busy with trivial things so that they should not be prepared for a fight. If Banda Singh is not captured in this attempt, he will, at least, flee the town and we shall regain it from the Sikhs.”

The Sikhs arrested the person carrying the letter and produced him before Banda Singh. Banda Singh called a meeting of all the prominent Muslims of Sadhaura. Here, he asked them, ‘What should be the punishment for a traitor, who backs out of his promises.’ All the people said, in one voice: ‘Such persons should be given a death sentence.’ Now Banda Singh showed them the letter. Seeing this letter several of the umraa began trembling and beseeched their mercy. They swore by

 

 

Quran that such a sin would never be committed again. Banda Singh said, “Well, those who enter the mansion of Pir Budhu Shah will be spared.” Hearing this, all those who were the real culprits ran towards the mansion. Their number was between 100 and 150. When they had gone into the mansion, Banda Singh asked them to lock it from inside. Now, Banda Singh also put a lock outside the mansion and ordered that the building be put to fire. Thus, all the conspirators were burnt to death. This exemplary punishment proved a deterrent for others. After this, no one could even dream of committing treason.

The Sikhs did not trouble any innocent resident of the town. They did not desecrate any Muslim shrine. Even today the tomb of Kutub-ul- Aqtab (Shah Abdul Wahab) and Ganj-i-Ilum still exist as they were in December 1709.19

After the victory, the Sikhs hoisted blue20 flag on the Fort of Sadhaura. The Sikhs established a Khalsa Panchayat for the administration of the town. The events of Sadhaura were reported to Bahadur Shah, the Mughal Emperor, when he was at Toda town; and he wrote letters to the Governors of Sarhind and Lahore to take action against the Sikhs.

Banda Singh renamed Sadhaura as Ajaibgarh.21

Banda Singh Declares Lohgarh as the Capital of the Sikh Kingdom

Having captured Samana, Ghurham, Sanaur, Thaska Miranji, Kunjpura, Shahbad, Dahmala, Mustafabad, Kapuri and Sadhaura, In December 1709, Banda Singh declared Lohgarh as the capital of the Sikh kingdom. As mentioned in the first chapter, Lakhi Rai Vanjara, under instructions from the Gurus, had built the Fort Lohgarh. Sikhs had already built defensive walls, raised bastions and set up entrenchments. They constructed buildings for the stores of the wealths, weapons, food and other things as well as a residence for the families of the soldiers. Banda Singh transported all treasures and weapons to this Fort.

This Fort was surrounded by dozens of steep hills, gorges and forests; hence it was not easy to capture this Fort easily. This area was also known as Dabar.22 Dabar word was first used by Iradat Khan in Tarikh-i- Iradat Khani.

 

 

This incident has been reported by Swarup Singh Kaushish, in detail, in his book Guru Kian Sakhian, in Sakhi 110, pages 196-98, of 2003 edition. Page -222, The Mughal Nobility Under Aurangzeb, by Athar Ali, ISBN- 13: 978-0-19-565599-5 & ISBN-10: 0-19-565599-0. Guru Kian Sakhian, Sakhi 111. It is about 40 km from Delhi, about 33 km from Rohtak and about 13 km from Sayyads are the direct descendants of Fatima and Ali (the daughter and the son-in-law of Hazrat Mohammed, the founder of Islam), hence are given special respect by the See latest photos of some of these Muslim mausoleums, in the pictorial section of this Khafi Khan, Muntkhab-ul-Lubab, (1722); vol 2, 652. Ghuram, about 20 km from Sanaur, was an ancient town and had also, sometimes, been the capital of the Kutub-ud-Din Aibak used this as capital before moving to Delhi. When Razia Sultana became emperess, she used this Fort as a jail for royal prisoners. She kept even her rebel brother in this prison. (The story of associating this town with mythical Ram is a much later concoction). It is about 28 km from Samana and 3 km from Now it is a part of Greater Patiala. Miran means belonging to the umraa. Miran is an adjective of Mir, and, like umraa, it too has its root in amir. A hymn of Gurbaani (composed by Guru Nanak Sahib), popularly known as Babar Vani, depicts this A cow in India, according to some Hindu Vaishnavites, is also considered humble and helpless deserving Burning of body is the greatest curse for a Muslim; it is like being condemned to As mentioned in an entry of Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mualla, the records of Jaipur But this figure of 70 thousands seems to be an exaggeration or a mistake. He met the same (rather worse) fate that he had given to Pir Budhu As you sow, so shall you reap. People still remember Pir Budhu Shah but no one (not even the Muslims) knows who was Usman Khan. But, that mansion of Pir Budhu Shah does not exist A school has been set up at that site.

 

 

 

 

 

Banda Singh Bahadur’s Journey from Nanded to Lohgarh     u  75

 

At the time of Guru Sahib, the colour of the Sikh flag was See: Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, Nanakshahi Calender, 2010, pp. 147-150. Muhammed Qasim Aurangabdi Ahwaal-ul-Khawakeen, pp 68-69. Dabar means : high hills surrounded by forest and Tribes and Caste of W.India 1542, W.Crook. Kamvar Khan Tazkiratut Salatin Chagatta, pp 93-94.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5

 

Banda Singh Bahadur’s Actions

from Lohgarh

 

 

 

Preparations for Attack on Sarhind

By April 1710, Banda Singh had freed most of the territory around Sarhind from the Mughal rulers. The land between Yamuna and Satluj rivers, including eight Forts was in the possession of Banda Singh. Though Sarhind was not a province (it was under Delhi state), but it was a major centre of power of the Mughal Empire; hence it was treated just like a province. It had 28 Parganas and its income was 52 lakh rupees in 1710. That is why it was known as Baawani Sarhind (Baawani means fifty- two). The governorship of such a province could be given to a senior person only. Mirza Askari (known more as Wazir Khan) had an Irani background and was amongst the most loyal persons of Aurangzeb. He had a mansab for two thousand horsemen, and, the land between Satluj and Jamuna/Yamuna rivers was under his administration. The Chiefs of Malerkotla, Rupar (now Ropar), Machhiwara etc. were under Wazir Khan.

On May 1710, Banda Singh decided to attack this powerful enemy, the ruler of Sarhind. Wazir Khan too had got the information about the forthcoming attack by the Sikhs. He had in his mind that the Sikhs had already captured eight Forts and major towns. He was also angry for the Sikhs’ attack on his former village Kunjpura. Thus, he wanted to crush them (the Sikhs). At that time, Banda Singh was in Chhat-Banur forest.

Wazir Khan sent messages to his neighbours to be ready for a battle against the Sikhs. He raised the flag of Jehad (holy war) and instigated

 

 

young Muslims to join his army. He sent messages to all the Pathans, Balochs, and Ranghars etc to join his forces. He also recruited thousands of soldiers for the forthcoming battle. Several Muslim Chowdhrys and feudal too promised to send their private forces for his help. His deputy in this campaign was Sher Mohammed Khan of Malerkotla. (Some ignorant writers mentioned him as ‘sympathizer’ of the Sikhs).

Malerkotla Army Attacks the Sikhs of Majha

When the Sikhs of Majha (an area between rivers Beas and Ravi) came to know about Banda Singh’s planning to attack Sarhind, hundreds of them decided to participate in it; they formed various groups and reached Keeratpur. Their number was around two thousand. They had planned to join Banda Singh in Chhat-Banur area. When Wazir Khan received the information about these Sikhs, he asked Sher Mohammed Khan to intercept and attack them. Sher Mohammed Khan, accompanied by his brother Khijar Khan and his nephews Wali Khan and Mohammed Bakhsh, led a big force to attack the Sikhs of Majha. From Malerkotla he went towards Rupar but when he was on his way he got the information that the Majha Sikhs would cross river Satluj at Machhiwara or Behlolpur.1

Having received information about the route of the Sikhs, he proceeded towards Behlolpur. Both the armies fought a pitched battle at Behlolpur. Although the Malerkotla Army was bigger in number and also had better arms, the Sikhs had, in their mind, dedication to their cause and were ever ready to make sacrifices. For the whole day, both fought bravely. On both sides there were heavy casualties; however, the Malerkotla Army seemed to have an upper hand. The battle was stopped after it grew dark. The next day, before the dawn, several more Sikhs reached there. Now, the Sikhs made an aggressive attack on the Malerkotla Army and put it into defending.

By noon the battle was at its highest pitch when a bullet hit Khijar Khan, the brother of Sher Mohammed Khan; and he died instantly. Seeing him fall, the Malerkotla soldiers began running helter-skelter. At this Sher Mohammed Khan raised a loud cry to re-group his loyal

 

 

soldiers. He, with the help of his two nephews (Wali Khan and Mohammed Bakhsh), went forward to pick up the body of his brother. The Sikhs attacked them too. In this attempt, Wali Khan and Mohammed Bakhsh also killed; even Sher Mohammed Khan was wounded. After this no soldier of the Malerkotla Army could hold ground, even for