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

of Mughal generals and some Hindu rulers as well (some believe that the number of these soldiers was between two and three hundred thousand). The second battle was fought in September 1712. It was led by Mohammed Amin Khan, chief general of the Mughal army. The third battle was fought in October-November 1713. It was led by Abdus Samad Khan (Governor Lahore), Zain-ud-Din Ahmad Khan (Faujdar Sarhind), Inam Khan and Zakaria Khan (later Governor Lahore). After this third battle Banda Singh had gone to Jammu but still thousands of Sikh soldiers were present in Lohgarh Sadhura zone. They continued attacking the Mughal posts and plundering the Mughal aristocrats and ministers. The Emperor continued receiving news about such attacks8 till Banda Singh was arrested and executed. The Lohgarh Fort was occupied by the Mughal army much after the execution of Banda Singh.

 

 

After this the task of its demolition was taken up by the Mughals.

According to a report on 29 November 1713, about 900 Sikhs were killed in this battle.9 Abdus Samad Khan severed the heads of the dead Sikhs and sent his son Zakaria Khan to present these before Farukhsiyar. Zakaria Khan reached Delhi on the 29th of November 1713.

Farukhsiyar inspected these heads and ordered that those (heads) should be hanged on spears and exhibited in the Chandni Chowk in Delhi. On the 3rd of December, Farukhsiyar presented a special robe of honour, an aigrette and an insignia to Zakaria Khan; Farukhsiyar also increased the mansab of Abdus Samad Khan from two and a half thousand to three thousand foot-soldiers and one thousand horses;10 besides, a ceremonial nagara (drum) was also presented to him.

Abdus Samad Khan Honored as ‘Great Victorous’

Like Bahadur Shah and Jahandar Shah, Farukhsiyar too considered the Sikh issue as the most important and always gave it special consideration; due to this he had a special regard for Mohammed Amin Khan and Abdus Samad Khan who had been leading campaigns against the Sikhs. In the last week of February 1714, the Emperor received the message that Abdus Samad Khan would visit him on the 24th of February; he asked his ministers and advisors ‘how a great victorious general should be greeted in the Emperor’s court?’ He sought details as to which officers had welcomed and escorted Asad Khan to the court of the then Emperors after the victory of Jinji and Khan Jahan Bahadur after the victory of Bengal.11

Having received information, Farukhsiyar gave instructions to his courtiers to grant a befitting welcome to Abdus Samad Khan; he asked Mir Jumla to welcome Abdus Samad Khan at the gate of Diwan-i-Khas and escort him to his (Emperor’s) presence. When Abdus Samad Khan presented himself before the Emperor, he (Emperor) patted his back and presented him an aigrette with his own hands.12

On the 3rd of March 1714, Isa Khan Manjh too presented himself before the Emperor. The Emperor rewarded him also for his campaign against the Sikhs by permanently granting him the Faujdari (chief of

 

 

law and order) and jagir (estate) of the Lakhi Jungle (most of the present Malwa of the Punjab) area. His mansab too was increased by nineteen hundred soldiers.13 The Emperor rewarded other officials too.

 

 

Endnotes

Arzdashat (letters) written by Chaube Jeth Mall (agent of Raja of Jaipur) to the Raja of Jaipur, on 27 and 29 Augsut 1713, Serial no 64, Arzdaasht no 161 (Rajasthani Documents on Banda Singh Bahadur, edited by Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon). Ibid. Ibid. Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, entry of 10.1713 Muhmmed Qasim Aurangabadi, Ahwaal-ul-Khawakeen, pp 68-69. Muhmmed Qasim Aurangabadi, Ahwaal-ul-Khawakeen, pp 68-69. Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, entries of 4.1714; 7 and 29 May 1714; 12 June 1714; 9,10,18 and 19 July 1714. Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, entry of 11.1713. Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, entry of 12.1713 Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, entry of 2.1714 Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, entry of 2.1714 Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, entry of 3 1714

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13

 

The Last Battle of Banda Singh Bahadur

 

 

Having left Lohgarh, Banda Singh is said to have gone to Chamba. But, according to an entry of Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mulla dated 11 December 1713, Banda Singh had reached Jallapur (district Muradabad, Uttar Pradesh) and the Emperor had sent a message to the Faujdar of Muradabad to take action against him. But, it does not seem true; firstly, there is no village named Jallapur in Muradabad district; there is a village named Jalalpur Khalsa in Dilari tehsil of Muradabad district, but this is about 300 kilometres from Lohgarh. Secondly, according to another entry of Akhbarat-I-Darbar-I-Mulla, on 14 December 1713, the Emperor issued order to send Hamid Khan to Muradabad and punish the rebels, and, on the same day the Emperor Khan Bahadur Muzzafar Jung to go to Lohgarh to chastise Banda Singh. It seems that it might be a band of the Sikh soldiers, which was active in Muradabad which officials wrongly guessed as Banda Singh himself.

On 1 March 1714, the Emperor was told that the Sikh soldiers had plundered the area of Sarhind. Zain-ud-Din Khan, the Faujdar of Sarhind had sent his soldiers to chase them; and, after a battle the Sikh soldiers left that area.1

On 11 March 1714, the Emperor received a letter from Ifsandyar of Jammu which said that the accounts keeper of the ruler of Chamba and the vakils of the Raja of Nurpur had told the deputy Faujdar Abdul Azim that Banda Singh had been staying in village Vaan and was planning to go to Batala via Bahilwal. The Emperor was told that deputy Faujdar Abdul Azim did not have enough number of soldiers, so he could not fight against Banda Singh; and, moreover, no hill ruler had helped him

 

 

to take action against Banda Singh.2

During this period, the Mughal Emperor received information that Iradatmand Khan, the army-chief of Eimanabad had made a secret agreement with the Sikhs; the Sikhs would attack the affluent and elite in the areas between Kabul-Kashmir and Lahore-Gujrat zones and share the plundered money and goods with Iradatmand Khan. The Emperor was also told that the Khan was also embezzling revenues and preparing fake records; hearing this, the Emperor wrote a letter to the Governor of Lahore to suggest some person to be appointed as chief of Eimanabad.3

Sikh Soldiers in Lohgarh, Baddi, Pinjore And Morni Hills

Although, the Mughals had demolished the Fort at Sadhura, they had failed to capture Lohgarh Fort; and thousands of the Sikh soldiers were still present in Lohgarh, Raipur Rani, Toka, Chowki village near Nada Sahib, Baddi, Pinjaur and Morni hills, and, they had been the attacking an area up to Sarhind. Vanjaras Sikhs had been moving out of the area upto Ropar and Pinjor.

In the second week of April 1714, five thousand Sikh soldiers set up their camps near the village of Mehluk; they forcibly harvested the crops of the Mughal and Pathan feudal. When Sharaf-ud-Din, Bakhshi of the Faujdar of Sarhind received this news, he led a large number of soldiers against the Sikhs. The Sikhs gave them a tough fight. Several of the Sarhind soldiers were killed. The next day, they came again along with seven hundred foot soldiers and one thousand horsemen. There followed a pitched battle with swords and arrows, which continued for three pahirs (about 9 hours), resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. When it became dark, the Sikh soldiers returned to hills.4

As per information sent to the Emperor, on 30 April 1714, there were about five thousand Sikh soldiers, staying in the hills near Ropar. Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan, the Faujdar of Sarhind, sent two thousand soldiers under the command of his nephew Mir Abu Mukarram to attack the Sikhs. When the Sikhs found that the number of the Mughal soldiers was less than their own, they came down from the hills. When Mir Abu

 

 

Mukarram received the news of the Sikhs’ arrival at Ropar, he too reached there. This was followed by a pitched battle. Both sides exchanged gunfire, arrows and swords. This battle continued for two pahir (about 6 hours) and ended when it was dark, and the Sikhs returned to the hills. Hundreds of the Mughal soldiers and 300 Sikhs were killed in this battle. Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan severed heads of the three hundred dead Sikhs and dispatched them to Delhi to show the same to the Emperor and get rewarded for that.5

In the third week of May 1714, another battle was fought between the Sikhs and the Mughal army. On 29 May, the Emperor was told that on one day five thousand Sikh cavalry and seven thousand infantry come down from Shivalik hills and were present in Bawasa6 village. At that time Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan, the Faujdar of Sarhind, was also present in that area. He had a big force with him. Having received this information, the Mughal army surrounded them. Soon, a very large number of more Mughal soldiers too joined them; besides the local chiefs also sent several soldiers. According to this report, then the Mughal army too was about five thousand of cavalry and seven thousand infantry. When the Sikhs came to know about the strength of the Mughal army, they decided not to fight against such a huge army; hence, they continued guerrilla battle till they fled towards the high hills; in these skirmishes at least thirty Mughal soldiers were killed and fifty was injured, and many Sikhs too, lost their lives.7

The news of these casualties was reported to the Emperor on 12 June also. According to this report, on 13 may 1714, a big force of the Sikhs soldiers had entered village Manakpur and other villages of Dahona8 pargana. They planned to take away their animals. The zamindar (chief) of the said village and the men of thana (police post) fought against the Sikhs. The Sikhs fought with arrows and swords. In the meanwhile the army of Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan, Faujdar of Sarhind, appeared. In this battle, 11 soldiers of Mughal cavalry and Forty soldiers of their infantry were killed. Many Sikhs too were killed.9 On 3rd July it was reported that Vanjaras were staying at around Nurpur and supplying the Sikhs with food grains, arrows and rifles. 10 There was a ceaseless

 

 

fight between the Mughals and Sikh forces. 11 The obnoxious smell of dead human bodies and animals made it a very fouls many place. The Mughal Emperor, he lost his mind when he came to know about this.12 We have important news regarding the role of Vanjaras in the fourth year of Farrukhsiyyar’s rule. The news from the chakla from the Kangra was submitted to the Emperor that most of the Vanjaras who were Nanak-worshippers were staying in the taaluqas of Heer Chand and Daya Dhamma and the zamindars of the khalsamahal (imperial lands). They acted as spies for the Sikhs rebels and provided them with food grains, arrows and rifles. If captured, they should be punished and in this way the movement of the rebels and the supply of food grains for them would be restricted. The Emperor issued the necessary orders13. In the wake of Banda Singh’s flight to the hills the imperialist had to encounter stiff resistance from the Vanjaras. Later it was reported that

the Vanjaras had ravaged a number of villages there.

Baj Singh Separates Himself From Banda Singh

Some writers (Ratan Singh Bhangu and Giani Gian Singh) have mentioned that Banda Singh and Binod Singh had developed differences with each other in the Fortress of Gurdas Nangal sometime in April- December 1715, and, Binod Singh had left the Fortress; but this is not true; there is no authentic source to prove it.14 However, there is a clear evidence that once Baj Singh did go away from Banda Singh. According to a report, sent to the Emperor by Anand Rao reporter, Baj Singh, along with 14 to 15 thousand soldiers, had parted from Banda Singh and established his camp at Makhowal (Anandpur). He had the support of the ruler of Bilaspur. Baj Singh attacked several