Page 109 - Lohgarh

Mughal Action Against the Sikhs w 109

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