Page 140 - Lohgarh

140 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

On 22 April 1711, the Emperor held a meeting of the princes and
the umraa (the Muslim aristocracy) accompanying him and told them
that he had decided to establish a cantonment at Ropar. He asked them
to build their mansions there. He gave a new name, Jahangirpur, to the
city of Ropar. He told them that Lahore and Shahjahanpur (Delhi) were
at an equal distance from Ropar. By establishing a cantonment there,
the passage to the hills would be closed. Then neither the hill rulers
will be able to help Banda Singh nor would Banda Singh be able to
escape into the hills. 6
This clearly indicates that the Emperor believed that Banda Singh
was a great force and it was not easy to defeat him. He knew that Banda
Singh’s exit from Lohgarh was a temporary action and as soon as he
learnt that the royal army had left Dabar area, he would come back.
The state of the Emperor Bahadur Shah was like that of Aurangzeb,
when he had to shift his headquarters from Delhi and Agra to
Aurangabad.

Rumour of Banda Singh’s Plan to Occupy Delhi

On 20 May 1711, Bhagwan Das, a news reporter, sent the news to
Bahadur Shah that Banda Singh had returned to Batala and was resting
at Achal (now Achal Watala), about 6 km from Batala. Another informer
reported that a Sikh named Ram Singh had arrived from the hills of
Jammu, along with seven thousand soldiers, to join Banda Singh.
A news reporter informed Bahadur Shah that if any Hindu or even
a Muslim approached Banda Singh, he was admitted into the Sikh army.
He (Banda Singh) has told them (the Sikh soldiers) that if the Mughal
army had marched towards them, they should fight; otherwise proceed
towards Shahjahanabad (Delhi) via Lakkhi Jungle and Ajmer and then
occupy the Capital. This news frightened Bahadur Shah.
On the 25 of May, Bahadur Shah appointed Issa Khan as Deputy
th
Chief for Bist- Doab. On the 30 of May, Bahadur Shah was present at
th
village Hoshiarpur (the headquarters of Hoshiar Khan). Here, Raja Jagat
Singh of Kumaon presented him the heads of 25 Sikhs slain by his army.
The Emperor gave him an award and asked him to throw these heads at