Page 161 - Lohgarh

Death of Emperor Bahadur Shah w 161

large armies, arsenals and a lot of sources of wealth, power and man-
force; whereas, the Sikhs were small in number, they did not have
money, horses, ammunition, Forts etc, but Banda Singh was still out of
his reach. When Bahadur Shah had launched action against the Sikhs,
he knew well about the number, their strength and position; hence, he
had a feeling that he would annihilate the Sikhs in a very short time;
but he was shocked at his miscalculation.
Bahadur Shah’s euphoria and his hopes were soon belied; he could
not even reach near Banda Singh, leave alone killing or capturing him.
Thousands of Sikhs had been killed in dozens of battles and a large
number of skirmishes, but, in spite of this, their number had not
diminished as yet; almost all the major leaders of the Sikhs were still in
action. All this made Bahadur Shah despondent and almost psychic. He
began mumbling and murmuring about the Sikhs in half insanity.
Occasionally, he would utter the name of Banda Singh and get
frightened. Bahadur Shah’s insanity went on deteriorating. Soon, he
went fully out of his wits.
Now, he began making strange statements and issuing queer orders.
One day someone complained that the jogis and ascetics, who roamed
around the army camps, had probably been sending information to
Banda Singh; Bahadur Shah immediately ordered that all the ascetics
should be exiled from Lahore and if, still, any ascetic was found in or
around the town, he should be immediately put to sword (Bahadur
th
Shah had issued an a similar order, earlier, on the 28 of October 1711
too).

Bahadur Shah’s Death

During those days, Bahadur Shah had issued an order: ‘if a Sikh was
found anywhere, he should immediately be put to death’; he had issued
orders to the Hindus to shave their beards and heads in order to save
their lives; he had killed several Sikhs in and around Lahore; but, all this
could not finish off the Sikhs; their terror was ever present in his mind;
this made Bahadur Shah totally mad.
Now, he began behaving in a strange manner; he would behave as