Lohgarh - Khalsa Rajdhani, Lohgarh fort - Lohgarh Trust by S. Daljeet Singh Bajwa (classic books for 7th graders .TXT) 📖

the 13th of September. On the 27th of September, she embraced Islam. After this, the ceremony of betrothal was performed. When this marriage ceremony was held, Farukhsiyar was suffering from piles, so the marriage could not be consummated for two months.7 Farukhsiyar was treated by William Hamilton, an English doctor (to reward the services given by the doctor, Farukhsiyar granted the English right to exemption from custom duty in Bengal).8

Farukhsiyar was so much angry with Jahandar Shah that he issued an order proclaiming that “references to Jahandar’s rule should be erased from history and the period of his (Farukhsiyar’s) reign should be considered from the date of his proclamation of Emperorship in Patna

 

 

on 29th of Safar, 1124 Hijri/Hegira (i.e. The 27th of March 1712 C.E.).”

Farukhsiyar Receives Reports About the Sikhs

On 10 March 1713, Farukhsiyar was told that the rebels (Sikhs) “had raised their heads in rebellion in the villages and Parganas of chakla of Sarhind. They had laid waste the imperial territory. The Faujdar was not able to punish them. Instead the troopers of the Faujdar attacked the villages and took away their grains and their buffaloes. On this account the people of the said chakla are fleeing from there.”9

Farukhsiyar was told that Banda Singh had come out of the caves of the hills (which are out of the territory of government of Hindustan) and, he had strengthened the Fort of Lohgarh and had also occupied the land and the towns around it. His soldiers came out at night and attacked, plundered and killed the Muslim. They moved up from 20 to 30 kos (i.e. 60 to 90 kilometres). Hearing this, the Emperor got so much frightened and scared that it cannot be narrated in words. At that time Qutbul Mulk Sayyad Hassan Ali Abdulla Khan, Amir-ul-Umra Sayyad Hussain Ali Khan, Hamid Khan, Samsam-ud-Daula and some other senior courtiers were also present there. Now, Farukhsiyar decided to send Abdus Samad Khan (the Governor of Lahore) on the expedition against Banda Singh.10On 21 March 1713, Farukhsiyar asked Amir-ul-Umra Sayyad Hussain Ali Khan, to write a letter to Abdus Samad Khan asking him to contact Zain-ud-Din Khan (Faujdar of Sarhind) and make a joint attack on Banda Singh.11

In his letter to Abdus Samad Khan, the Emperor called Him “helper of the government, great personality of the great empire, leader of the leaders, national leader of the great nobles, perfectly wise person and beautiful faced” and asked him to immediately leave for expelling the Sikhs from Lohgarh. The Emperor also stated that he was dispatching seven thousand cavalry and ten leaders (generals)12 under the command of Inam Khan for this expedition. In the same letter, Abdus Samad Khan was requested to work with counsel of and in co-operation with each other (i.e. Sarhind Faujdar and the 13 generals) and the salary for the soldiers was to be given by the Faujdar of Sarhind.

 

 

Banda Singh attacks Nahan

In March 1713, Banda Singh was present in Lohgarh Fort. Here, he got the information that Bhup Parkash (the ruler of Nahan) had been released by the Mughal Emperor Farukhsiyar because the former had agreed to collaborate with the Mughals in their campaign against the Sikhs. Banda Singh also received the information that Bhup Parkash actually had begun taking action against the Sikhs. On this, Banda Singh decided to punish Bhup Parkash. He led an army of 5 to 6 thousand soldiers to Nahan. When Bhup Parkash got the news of Banda Singh’s march, he fled Nahan and took refuge in high hills.13 Banda Singh set up his camp at Nahan. After a couple of days, the rich and the affluent residents of Nahan approached Banda Singh and offered to pay a heavy ransom; Banda Singh accepted the money and left Nahan after about a week. From Nahan, Banda Singh went to Lohgarh. Here, Banda Singh got the intelligence of a possible Mughal attack on Sadhura, so he sent one thousand soldiers to defend Sadhaura Fort.14

Third Mughal Attack on Sadhaura Fort

Since, Banda Singh had received the reports of the plans of the Mughal army to attack Sadhaura; he strengthened both the Forts. With this the Sikh soldiers also took control of all the areas between Lohgarh and Sarhind. Zain-ud-Din, the Faujdar of Sarhind, tried to save his territory from the attacks of the Sikhs but he could not succeed. His power reigned supreme only in his Fort.

By April 1713, seven thousand of Mughal soldiers reached near Sadhaura, but, their generals believed that this force won’t be enough to fight against the Sikhs. They wrote to the Emperor to send still more forces.15

Having made a full preparation, Abdus Samad Khan (the Governor of Jammu), Zain-Ud-Din Ahmed Khan (the Governor of Sarhind) and general Inam Khan led a very big force to Sadhaura, on 22 June 1713, and put siege to the Fort. They set up trenches around the city.16 According to Irvine, the Fort of Sadhaura had high and thick walls,17 hence the guns and the cannons of the Mughals were unable to damage

 

 

them.

Abdus Samad Khan encamped on one side, Zain –ud-Din Khan on the second side and the third side was guarded by another section of the Mughal army.18 According to Muhammed Qasim Aurangabadi Sadhaura had countless number of buildings and these were made of baked bricks. Banda Singh Bahadur had destroyed this area. He had carried away the wooden planks and wood (which were taken from the demolished buildings) and fixed them into the Fort to strengthen it. He had thought that this would save it from the cannon and gun fire, and the walls of the Fort would remain safe.19

On the 22nd of June 1713, the very first night, a large number of Sikhs came out of the Fort and fell upon the Mughal soldiers. It was followed by a pitched battle. A good number of soldiers were killed on both sides; among the Sikh casualties included Albel Singh and Mohar Singh (sons of Bhai Udey Singh) and Saina Singh (son of Bhai Chitar Singh), all the three were grandsons of Bhai Mani Singh. The Mughal casualties included Baqa Begh Khan (brother of Inam Khan) and several others. According to Muhammad Qasim Aurangabadi 152 Sikhs were killed in this battle. Muhammed Qasim Aurangabadi mentions the scene of another battle, which is almost like the battle of, 22 June 1713 (but he says this battle was fought at Lohgarh, which is not true; attack on Lohgarh was made on 13 November 1713).20

On the 15th of July, the Mughal army brought 700 wooden ladders to climb the walls of the Fort, but could not succeed due to vigil by the Sikh soldiers. In spite of this, neither the Sikhs nor the Mughals gave up the battle.

Muhammad Qasim Aurangabadi says that one day the brave soldiers of the Mughal army, ignoring the strong position of the Sadhaura Fort, attacked it. At that time the Sikhs came out of the Fort and made a fierce attack on the Mughal soldiers. The Sikhs fell upon the Mughal army; the battle continued for about three hours. The Mughal soldiers too fought bravely. In this battle 691 Sikhs were killed. He does not give the number of the casualty of the Mughal soldiers, but, mentions that Mir Bazurg, the brother of Janish Khan, Mirza Abdulla Bakhshi and Sayyad Hashim Khan (a close associate of Abdus Samad Khan) were

 

 

killed.21

However, after the shelling of several days, the Mughal army succeeded in putting the Sikhs on the defensive. By this time, the Mughal army occupied the area around the Fort and took positions at a distance of about 35-40 metres of the Fort. Now, they (the Mughals) have dug a wide trench around the Fort in order to stop the Sikhs from coming out of the Fort. By that time they had brought one big cannon too; this cannon was being used to throw shells on one wall of the Fort, which led to a serious damage to any portion of the wall. Now, the Sikhs realised that, sooner or later, the Mughals would succeed in breaking the wall of the Fort unless this cannon was silenced; hence, on the night of 31 July 1713, when it was raining heavily and the Mughal soldiers had taken shelter in their tents, some daring Sikh soldiers came out of the Fort and began pulling the cannon towards the Fort. The Sikh soldiers succeeded in pulling the cannon up to the trench, but here their ropes got broken and the cannon fell into the moat, creating a loud thud. Hearing the sound, several Mughal soldiers came out of their tents and found their cannon missing. Now they looked here and there and finally found it in the moat. The army officials paid fifty rupees each to one hundred soldiers and got it pulled out after a great labour.22

After the failure of the cannon-mission, the Sikhs realized that they wouldn’t be able to hold long; moreover, they did not have a lot of food and ammunition and the number of the Mughal soldiers were very large; so, they decided to begin the guerrilla war.

According to Muhammed Qasim Aurangabadi not a day passed when the Sikhs did not come out of the Fort and attack the Mughal soldiers with swords. One day, at midnight, the Sikhs came out of the Fort and attacked on the trenches of Abdus Samad Khan. It caused disarray in the camp of Abdus Samad Khan. The firing of cannons and guns, and the sound of rockets and bullets was like thunder and lightning. Some Sikhs made a strong attack with their swords. At first the Mughal soldiers were losing the battle, but then Sayyad Kashim Khan and Mir Baba Khan and their sons, brothers and companions reached there and fought bravely. In this battle 200 Sikhs were killed (the author does not tell the number of the casualty of the Mughals,

 

 

but as per the description, the number must be very high).23

The Mughal army had surrounded the Fort from three sides, only one side was open, and the Sikhs used to come out from this side. There, they would graze their horses, buffaloes and oxen. They would even carry grass, etc. into the Fort. When the Mughal soldiers saw them, they would turn their eyes away; they did not have enough courage to challenge the Sikhs. On the other hand, the Sikhs would often challenge and attack the Mughal soldiers. Thus, every day 5-7 soldiers were being killed. In the beginning of August, new units of the army, under the command of Isa Khan, reached there and they blocked the fourth side of the Fort. They were posted so near the Fort that because of this the Sikhs got confined within the Fort. Now, the Mughal soldiers began marching around the Fort, on all the sides.24

The siege of Sadhaura continued for another two months; finally, the Sikhs decided to vacate the Fort. One night they came out of the Fort and fled towards Lohgarh. The Sikhs were given a hot chase by the Mughal army; during these skirmishes several Sikhs lost their lives.

According to Muhammed Qasim Aurangabadi the siege of Sadhaura Fort continued for seven months and a half, but this is not true. The Mughal army reached Sadhaura on 22 June and they occupied it in the third week of September; hence the siege continued for about three months.

How Many Sikhs were Killed in This Battle: In March 1713, there were only 1000 Sikhs in the Fort. According to Muhammed Qasim Aurangabadi, 691 Sikhs were killed in one day, 152 on another day and 200 in the third battle25. So, according to this account 1043 Sikhs were killed in these three days alone. On 31 July 1713, when it was raining very heavily, 500 Sikhs on horses