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Chapter 6
Mughal Action Against The Sikhs
At that time, Bahadur Shah, the Mughal Emperor, had been away to
the south, to quell the rebellion of his brother Kam Bakhsh. Kam Bakhsh
was finally defeated and killed on 2 January 1709, and, Bahadur Shah
began his return journey to his capital on 19 January 1709. On 29
January, he reached ‘Talab Zakir Hussain’. Here, he appointed Khwaja
Abdullah Dil Diler Khan as the Governor of Lahore and Jammu provinces
and sent him a message to take charge. 1
On 6 March 1709, he was near the city of Kamlapur. He was marching
towards Delhi at a slow speed because he was in a relaxed mood after
defeating and eliminating all of his enemies. He, having finished all his
enemies, now, began behaving in an arrogant, aggressive and a peevish
manner too. On March 6, he issued an order commanding that except
on the days of feasts, none other than Munaim Khan Khan Khanan,
Zulfiqar Khan Amir-Ul-Umra, Chugatta Khan, Mahabat Khan, Shah
Niwaz Khan and Hamid Khan, shall wear decorative turbans on his head.
On March 13, he issued an order banning the use of palanquins for
Hindus. It was declared that any Hindu found sitting in a palanquin 2
would be arrested and imprisoned.
On 29 March, Bahadur Shah reached Maadri Nagar. Here, he sent a
message to Asad Khan (Nawab Asif-ud-Daula Nizam-UL-Mulk) and
Mohammed Amin Khan (Chain Bahadur), the chief of army in
Moradabad, asking him to punish Raja Ajit Singh, the ruler of Marwar
(Jodhpur), for his rebellious acts. Besides, Bahadur Shah himself decided
to march towards Rajputana (now Rajasthan) to punish the rebel Rajput
rulers, i.e. Raja Ajit Singh (Jodhpur), Jai Singh Swai (of Amber), Amar
