Page 173 - Lohgarh
P. 173
Third Mughal Expedition Against the Sikhs w 173
deputy chief of Allahabad, too agreed to join hands with Farukhsiyar.
He was angry with Jahandar Shah because the latter had expressed
doubts about his loyalty. When Jahandar Shah came to know about
this, he tried to win him back, and, increased Sayyad Abdullah Khan’s
mansab from four to six thousands. But, by that time, he had already
joined Farukhsiyar’s camp. Jahandar Shah tried to please other officials
too; he promoted Mohammed Amin Khan (later, died on 27.1.1721) as
Second Bakhshi and Afrasiyab Khan (later, died on 21.8.1718) as Third
Bakhshi. 3
th
On the other hand, at Delhi, when Jahandar Shah, on the 20 of
October 1712, had received information that his nephew Farukhsiyar
had declared himself as the new Emperor, he (Jahandar) had despatched
a big army, under the command of his son Azz-ud-Din, to quell his
rebellion. 4
Now, Sayyad brothers, Hussain Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan, openly
declared their support for Farukhsiyar and they led an army to capture
th
Delhi. They reached Shamugarh (near Agra) on the 17 of November
1712. When this news reached Delhi, some generals of the army of
Jahandar Shah decided to shift their loyalties; they quietly left Delhi
and went to Shamugarh to join Farukhsiyar’s camp. Now, Jahandar Shah
did not have enough forces to challenge an attack by the forces of
Farukhsiyar; he recruited twenty-two thousand new soldiers and began
marching towards Agra.
By this time, Farukhsiyar had forty to fifty thousand soldiers and
heavy artillery. On the 31 st of December, when the rain stopped,
Farukhsiyar ordered his army to make a fierce attack. Jahandar Shah’s
general Kokaltash was killed within a very short time and Rustam-i-Hind
was seriously wounded. By the evening, Jahandar Shah too had fled
from the battlefield. Now, only Zulfiqar Khan was leading the battle. He
too could not continue for long and fled to Delhi. Now, there was none
to stop Farukhsiyar’s army from reaching Delhi.
In Delhi, Jahandar Shah and his give gap took shelter in the bungalow
(it was a fort-like mansion) of Asad Khan. Soon Zulfiqar Khan too reached
there and he too took refuge with Asad Khan. When Farukhsiyar reached
Delhi Asad Khan approached Farukhsiyar and told him about Jahandar