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defeated the Sikhs at Rahon and Sarhind in 1710; and because of their
earlier victory over the Sikhs, they led their army and set out in search
of the Sikhs. Soon they reached the place where the Sikhs were taking
a rest and made a sudden attack. The Sikhs had not expected an attack
and hence they were not prepared for this; so, they did not waste their
power for a combat and fled the place. Soon, the Sikhs found a new
shelter and a better strategic place. On the other hand, Shamas Khan
and Bayzid Khan decided to chase the Sikhs in the hills because they
were well familiar with that area. When they had gone deep into the
hills, the Sikhs found that Shamas Khan and Bayzid Khan were not having
much force with them; so, they made a sudden attack and put the
chasers on defence. In this battle, Shamas Khan was killed and Bayzid
3
Khan was badly wounded (he too died after three days). Their dead
bodies were taken to Kasur for burial. In this battle, the Sikhs captured
a large number of weapons and horses. News of this incident reached
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the Emperor on the 23 of April 1711, when he was near Rupar. 4
Bahadur Shah was so much serious about his campaign against the
Sikhs that he began encouraging and alluring the generals, officials,
chowdhrys (village aristocracy) and others to participate in war against
the Sikhs. He began distributing awards, robes of honour, mansabs and
jagirs to those who would make even minor contribution in war against
the Sikhs. On the 20 th of March, he granted robes of honour to the
Hindu feudal Churamani Jatt and Kishan Singh Naroka and asked them
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to join Mahabat Khan in hunting down the Sikhs. On the 2 of April, he
appointed Saif Khan as the chief of Sultanpur Lodhi and increased his
mansab by six hundred horses. He gave the charge of Lakkhi Jungle
area to Sultan Khan and also increased his mansab to fourteen hundred
horsemen; he was also given a grant of rupees eight hundred thousand
daams (i.e. two hundred thousand rupees) to fight against the Sikhs. 5
th
On the 6 of April 1711, Bahadur Shah received an intelligence that
the Sikh army, led by Banda Singh, was moving towards Lahore; Bahadur
Shah ordered Mahabat Khan to rush after the Sikhs. He (Mahabat Khan)
led an army of fourteen thousand soldiers to chase the Sikhs. Almost at
the same time, Bahadur Shah was informed that the number of the