Page 155 - Lohgarh

Death of Emperor Bahadur Shah w 155

woes; he consoled them and assured that he himself would be staying
in Lahore and they should feel fully safe there. Having got assurance
from the Emperor, these Muslim clergy re-assumed their mission against
the Sikhs and their sympathizers. Several Sikhs, even though they had
nothing to do with the Sikh army, were killed by these clergy. Several
Sikh sympathizer Hindus too were hacked to death.
In Lahore, Bahadur Shah regularly received the latest information
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about Banda Singh and the Sikh army. On the 6 of August 1711, he got
the information that Banda Singh had reached near the bank of the
river Beas and was likely to cross to Majha zone. At that time Mohammed
Amin Khan was present in Kalanaur. Bahadur Shah sent a message to
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the Khan to cross the river and attack the Sikh column. On the 11 of
August, Bahadur Shah was told that before the Khan could reach near
the Sikh positions, Banda Singh and his six thousand companions had
already escaped to the hills.
Now, Bahadur Shah began an action against the ordinary (non-
soldier) Sikhs and their families and relatives too a very large number
of Sikhs were arrested and killed; several Sikh houses were plundered.
Those Muslims whose relatives had been killed during their ‘holy war’
against the Sikhs played a crucial role in getting the Sikhs traced, arrested
and killed. Similarly, several Muslims joined this crusade with an
intension to get awards and/or appreciation of the rulers. In order to
prove their loyalty to the Muslims, even the Hindus of Lahore and other
areas got several Sikhs arrested.
Bahadur Shah had issued a general order for the massacre of the
Sikhs. This situation was misused by some fanatic Muslims against the
Hindus too; some of them took revenge from them for their personal
grudge against them and got them arrested by branding them the
supporters/ sympathizers of the Sikhs. Some Muslim clergy began
creating trouble for the Hindus by opposing even their religious
ceremonies and rituals. One day, some Hindus were moving in a
procession to a local Hindu temple in Lahore, to perform a ritual of
worship of a mythical Hindu goddess, for the health of a Hindu boy
(who had been attacked by small pox) who was the son of Shiv Singh,