Page 138 - Lohgarh

Chapter 7

The Emperor Leads Campaign

Against the Sikhs

On the 1st January 1711, Mohammed Amin Khan reached Sadhaura
and told the Emperor that he had brought four cartloads of the heads
of the (slain) Sikhs. He also made a complaint against Shamas Khan of
Sultanpur Lodhi (he was angry with Shamas Khan because the latter
had earned the credit of occupying Sarhind). 1
One day, Bahadur Shah came to know about the Banda Singh’s
presence at Chamba. He decided to dispatch a unit of his army to confirm
the news, and, attack Chamba if necessary. On the 9 of February 1711,
th
Bahadur Shah presented a robe of honor to Hamid Khan and appointed
him general of a five thousand strong army to chase Banda Singh. On
th
6 of March, Mahabat Khan (Bakhshi-ul-Mulk) too was sent to chase
the Sikh army; he was given command of fourteen thousand soldiers. 2
Bahadur Shah had sent several thousand soldiers against the Sikhs
but he, still, was not satisfied. Hence, on March 14, he proclaimed that
he would stay in Lahore, from where he himself would monitor the
actions against the Sikhs. He sent messages to all the government,
reporters and officials to daily report to him about the movements of
the Sikhs. Those who sent regular reports included: Oma Pandit, Askar
Rao, Abdul Rehman, Abdul Rahim, Altaf Khan, Iradatmand Khan, Shankar
Rao, Kesho Rao, Jagjiwan Das, Dianat Rao, Partit Rao and Bhagwati Das
etc (all these names are found in the entries of Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-
Mulla). All these were the official reporters who had, regularly, have
been sending reports from Lahore, Sarhind, Gujrat, Delhi, Jammu, Ajmer
and other places. 3 The Emperor used to give presents to those who
would give him some valuable information or the news of the death or