Page 115 - Lohgarh

Mughal Action Against the Sikhs w 115

chieftains of Nalagarh, Nahan, Garhwal, Jammu, Chamba, Nurpur etc.
The Mughal army remained stationed near Lohgarh while other
contingents of the Sikhs continued to make parallel attacks on most of
the parganas of the provinces of Lahore and Delhi. The Mughal army
was only trying to capture Lohgarh, situated in the present district of
Yamuna Nagar, but the Sikhs had established bastions/Fortresses
everywhere in the present districts of Ambala and Panchkula (of these
Fortresses and bastions, the Mansoorpur & Bavana Fortresses of the
Sikhs still exist). The battle-field, which was on the south side of Fort of
Lohgarh, had undulated contours; and, the cover of dense forest over;
and, on the passage leading to Lohgarh Fort, 52 Fortresses, had been
built on which muskets and rahkalas had been installed. Due to this,
even, the siezure of Sadhaura was not possible for the Mughals; and
what to talk about Lohgarh. The Mughals failed to execute their
important strategy of siezure of Lohgarh. The strategy of checking
supplies of the Sikhs could not be implemented in such a vast area. The
Sikh army had regular supplies of the required goods; therefore the
question of the Sikh army’s surrender before the Mughal army at
Lohgarh never arose. There was ample amount of amenities and food
grains stuff in the Lohgarh Fort and in the depots, which had been
established long back in anticipation of big war. Moreover, there was a
continuous supply of required materials through the secret route to
Lohgarh from the northern side of the Fort. It can be safety presumed
that during the construction of Fort Lohgarh, the Sikh Gurus and Bhai
Lakhi Rai Vanjara had kept in mind the siezure strategy of the Mughal
warfare. Despite being large in number, the Mughal Army had no
planning and strategy to attack the Sikh forces and their defences. In
this dense forest area, it was very difficult to advance, and, moreover,
the Sikhs were good guerrilla fighters and even nature gave advantage
to the Sikh forces which rendered the world’s strongest force of that
time helpless. The Mughal Emperor failed to understand the situation
and gradually started losing his confidence.
The royal army, under the command of Firoz Khan Mewati and
Rustam Dil Khan moved towards Sadhaura and surrounded the Fort.