Page 107 - Lohgarh

Mughal Action Against the Sikhs w 107

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