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

made him nervous and sad. By this time some unmraa of Sarhind and the Pirzaadas of Sadhaura too had reached there. Having learnt about their plight, the Emperor became very despondent. When they narrated the events, all the persons present were frightened.”

On 22 June, the Emperor got news that Banda Singh had stationed himself in Lohgarh Fort. A week earlier, he had ridden an elephant and left the Fort for Gulabnagar (the name given by Banda Singh to Buria), a town about 12 km away. He was escorted by two thousand and a half

 

 

horsemen, and more than ten thousand infantry (soldiers on foot). At Buria, he came to know that the Sikh soldiers had returned to Saharanpur after their defeat at the hands of Jalal Khan. Here, he (Banda Singh) met Amar Singh, the new Sikh police chief. Banda Singh twice stroked his (Amar Singh’s) face with his spear and said: ‘Why did you flee from the battle against the Afghans?’ Amar Singh told him that the Hindu Chowdhry Lal Kanwar Gujjar had deceived them. At this Banda Singh said: “We have begun this crusade for righteousness. What to talk of Gujjars, all the Hindus shall approach us for the job.” After this Banda Singh addressed Jan Mohammed, the Zamindar of Buria and said, “We have forgiven you for all your sins and have appointed you the chief of the pagan. Now, you should take Sardar Khan, the chief of Chandla with you and march to defeat Jalal Khan.” The Emperor was also told that Qazi Shah Mohammed, the chief of Buria, had been arrested. His property had been confiscated and he had been interned in Lohgarh Fort. In his place, now, Gurbakhsh Singh was the chief of the army and administration at Buria and Kishor Singh was his deputy. Banda Singh had re-named Buria as Gulab Nagar and Saharanpur as Bhaagnagar. Such news made Bahadur Shah further despondent and melancholy.15 On 1 July 1710, the caravan of the Emperor reached Roop Nagar (about 45 km from Ajmer). Here, he received a letter from Muaraf Khan narrating that the Sikhs had captured Rampur, Nanauta, Jhunjhana, Bakaur, Barsadu, Sadhaura, Karana, Budhana, Kandhala, Buria etc, and, had established their own police posts in all these places. The Kanungo (land revenue officer) of Saharanpur and rebel Gujjars had also declared their loyalties to him. The Emperor also got the news that Jalal Khan had defeated the Sikhs and had captured two of their cannons, five guns, several rifles, a thousand arrows, four tents and several other belongings including fourteen thousand rupees. This made him (Emperor) a bit comfortable. He sent a robe of honour, a royal letter of appreciation and a horse for Jalal Khan. Just a minor victory made the Emperor so much overjoyed that he decided to offer governorship of

Sarhind and Saharanpur to Jalal Khan.16

On 2 July, someone reads out to Bahadur Shah, the declaration

 

 

made by Banda Singh after the victory of Sarhind. It said: “Guru Nanak’s glory has been established in this and the other world. True Guru is the master of the spiritual and mundane domains.” The Emperor was also told that the Sikhs had coined strange terms for some words. They called a single Sikh as Fauj (army). They had also issued their own coin. They have started a new calendar too and wrote ‘year one’ on the letters being sent to the officials. They charged one third as revenue from the farmers, giving two third to the land-tiller. They had captured a very large amount of wealth from the treasures of Wazir Khan, along with several elephants, horses and other goods. There was a great uncertainty in the mind of the common folk.17

A few days later, Bahadur Shah got the information that Banda Singh himself had reached Saharanpur. Saadat Khan and other umraa were planning to give him a fight. Saadat Khan had seven thousand horsemen. Jalal Khan was sitting in his stronghold, the Fort of Jalalabad. On 7 July, Bahadur Shah received reports that six to seven thousand soldiers of Saadat Khan had given a tough fight to the Sikhs. In this battle, the Sikhs had been defeated and about eight hundred of them were killed. The news also mentioned that Banda Singh too had been among the killed. This news pleased the Emperor, but he wanted to confirm this. He asked Sayyad Wajih-ud-Din to get details. The latter rebutted the news of the death of Banda Singh and told that he had escaped unhurt. Jalal Khan had chased him, but could not reach near him.

On 8 July, Bahadur Shah appointed Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan (then the chief of Sikanderabad and Merrut) as the Governor of Sarhind. His mansab was increased from 1400 horsemen to 2200 hundred horsemen. But Zain-ud-Din was scared of marching to Sarhind.18

On 23 July Bahadur Shah reached Udaipur. Here he came to know that Banda Singh had sent a Sikh army to occupy Panipat. He was told that some royal officials too had joined the Banda Singh’s rank and file. The Sikhs had took complete control of Sarhind and Saharanpur. Even some Muslims had joined the Sikh faith. Bakhshi Mohammed Nasir had joined the Sikh faith and was, now, known as Nasir Singh. Banda Singh had appointed him as the treasury officer. In both these towns, not a

 

 

single Afghan officer had survived. The Emperor was told that Banda Singh had some supernatural power. When he had reached river Yamuna to cross it, he had said: “Give way to cross my army”, the river-water stopped moving (became still) and the Sikh army had crossed it without any difficulty.19

On 25 July the Emperor was told that Saharanpur and Nanauta were fully under the control of the Sikhs. The Emperor received a request asking him to dispatch an army under the command of Firoz Khan Mewati to fight against the Sikhs. He (Emperor) immediately asked Rustam Dil Khan to send Firoz Khan Mewati for the expedition. On 28 July, the Emperor also allowed Sayyad Wajih-ud-Din, Usman Khan Kotwal and Sultan Kuli Khan (brother of Rustam Dil Khan) to join Firoz Khan Mewati. An amount of rupees fifty thousand was also granted to Firoz Khan Mewati.20

Bahadur Shah Himself Leads the Expedition Against the Sikhs

When all these expeditions could not defeat the Sikhs, Bahadur Shah decided to lead the army himself. On 4 August 1710, he sent robes of honor, a decorated palanquin, a horse with golden saddle and an aigrette to Amar Singh, the Rajput ruler of Udaipur, so that he could also be asked to accompany the Emperor in the latter’s expedition against the Sikhs.

On 14 August, Bahadur Shah reached Madgaon. Here, he issued orders that none of the caravan of the Emperor would go to Shahjahanabad (Delhi); nor anyone coming from the Capital would be allowed to enter the caravan.21 The Emperor himself too did not go to Shajahanabad and, instead, went straight towards Sonepat. Soon, the armies of Lucknow, Moradabad and Shahjahanabad, led by their Chiefs, joined the rank and file of the Emperor. Sayyad Abdullah of Bara Saadat, Muzaffarnagar (Faujdar of Allahabad), the Hindu rajas Chhatarsal and Udit Singh Bundela, along with big army units, too joined the royal troops.22

On 26 August, the Emperor sent orders to the Hindu ruler of Kumaon

 

 

asking him to chase Banda Singh, and, after punishing him (Banda Singh), he (ruler of Kumaon) should present himself before the Emperor. On 28 August, the Emperor issued the same orders to Fateh Shah (the ruler of Garhwal) too, asking him to launch a campaign against the Nanak- panthis (Sikhs).23

During this period Firoz Khan Mewati and Sayyad Wajih-Ud-Din had a dispute over the strategy against the Sikhs, Mewati not bothering, he (Sayyad) became angry and withdrew himself from the expedition. When Bahadur Shah came to know about this, he immediately ordered reduction in the mansab of Sayyad Wajih-ud-Din and also sent his gurj bardar (mace-bearers) to summon him to his court.

Having established his supremacy in most of the trans-Yamuna area, Banda Singh began his journey towards the Punjab. He sent Binod Singh and Ram Singh, as an advance party, to occupy Panipat and Travari. He (Banda Singh) handed over the Malwa area to Fateh Singh and Gurbakhsh Singh (Bhai Bhagtu family), Tirlok Singh and Ram Singh (Phul family) and Param Singh and Dharam Singh (Bhai Rupa family); and, he himself retired to Lohgarh Fort.

The scenario in the Punjab was very frightening for the Mughal and Afghan elite; five provinces of the Mughal Empire had been captured by the Sikhs; from Delhi to Lahore, it was all Sikh supremacy; the hills too had accepted the Sikhs’ sovereignty. Mohammed Hashim Khafi Khan (in Muntakhab-ul-Lubab) narrates the situation:

“Here, between a couple of encampments before the capital Shahjahanabad (Delhi) and they’re up to Lahore territory, all the towns and prominent cities had been plundered and crushed under the feet of the unholy Sikhs. The world (zone) had been destroyed by the onslaught of the Kafirs (Sikhs) and innumerable number of people (Muslims) had embraced ‘martyrdom’ (died). Most destroyed were the towns of Sadhura and Karnal as well as villages around them, where their army chiefs along with innumerable number of Muslim companions had drunk nectar of martyrdom (had died).” (The non-Italic text is mine- Author).

On 28 August 1710, in the court of Bahadur Shah, a news reader

 

 

read out a letter, saying: “What to talk about the secret treasures of Sarhind, the bankers have reported that no money has come even from Doaba. It is only the Khalsa which collects the money and cartloads of this money are being carried to Dabar (Lohgarh) which they have established as their capital. On one day, they took (wealth in) three hundred carts. Up to Lahore, there is none who can stop them”.24 (The non-Italic text is mine- Author).

On 29 August, Bahadur Shah issued a new order asking the Hindu officials to shave their beards before appearing in his court; those Hindu officials, who shaved their beards immediately, were presented with robes and pearls.25

By this time, Bahadur Shah was so scared of the Sikhs that he had only one business in his mind, and, all his actions were centered against Banda Singh. He would discuss the issue of the Sikhs’ several times a day with his courtiers and others. On the 29th of September, he called Mahabat Khan (son of Munaim Khan), presented him a robe of honor and asked him to lead an expedition against the Sikhs. The Emperor asked him to station himself in Karnal from where Sarhind was not far away. He also asked Nusrat Khan, Ghulam Nabi Kuli Khan and Sayyad Hussain Ali Khan as well as the Raja Chhatarsal to join Mahabat Khan, which they gladly accepted.26

On 2 October, Bahadur Shah received news that Firoz Khan Mewati had reached near Karnal on 28 September and he was expected to launch an attack on Sarhind very soon.27 On 12 October, the Emperor got the news that Firoz Khan had set up his post at Taravari (about 6 km from Karnal) and the Sikh ‘swines (pigs)’ had fled away. On 14 October, Bahadur Shah got the news that a battle had been fought between Jalal Khan Ruhila and the Sikhs in which 300 royal soldiers and several Sikhs had been killed.28

Battle of Rahon

In September-October, 1710, the Sikhs had attacked Rahon and occupied it. After this the affluent Muslims of the town left their homes, and, established themselves in a new town which came to be known as

 

 

Naushehra (now Nawanshahr).

Since the fall of Sarhind to the Sikhs, the Mughal and the Pathan chieftains and the officials in the Punjab and the surrounding areas had been planning to expel the Sikhs from that town. One of such persons was Shamas Khan, the former chief of Sultanpur Lodhi. On September 1710, Shamas