Page 186 - Lohgarh

186 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

too they lost the battle. Had Banda Singh Bahadur not made the mistake
of confining himself to Gurdas Nangal, in March 1715, the results would
have been much different; he could have ended the Mughal Empire (at
least in the Punjab), by 1720. Had the Rajput rulers of Udaipur, Jaipur
and Jodhpur declared rebellion against the Mughals, this would have
resulted in the end of the Mughal Empire in the whole of South Asia.
Banda Singh’s battle was not over with his arrest and execution. The
Sikh struggle of post-Banda Singh period, which ended the Mughal rule
in the ‘Greater Punjab’, was continuation of the Banda Singh’s
expedition.”
Having captured the lower part of Lohgarh Fort, the soldiers went
up towards some stages of the Fort. There they found precious clothes,
including silk and other precious clothes, gold and silver, utensils, spices
like cardamom and cloves, animals (buffaloes and cows, etc.), slaves
and womenfolk etc.; many soldiers plundered whatever they found
there. 7
This was the last battle of Lohgarh Fort. The battle of Lohgarh
continued for three years (November 1710 to November 1713). During
this period three major battles were fought. In the first battle, fought in
November 1710, mammoth Mughal army of more than one hundred
thousand soldiers led by the Mughal Emperor, his four princes and
hundreds of Mughal generals and some Hindu rulers as well (some
believe that the number of these soldiers was between two and three
hundred thousand). The second battle was fought in September 1712.
It was led by Mohammed Amin Khan, chief general of the Mughal army.
The third battle was fought in October-November 1713. It was led by
Abdus Samad Khan (Governor Lahore), Zain-ud-Din Ahmad Khan
(Faujdar Sarhind), Inam Khan and Zakaria Khan (later Governor Lahore).
After this third battle Banda Singh had gone to Jammu but still thousands
of Sikh soldiers were present in Lohgarh Sadhura zone. They continued
attacking the Mughal posts and plundering the Mughal aristocrats and
ministers. The Emperor continued receiving news about such attacks 8
till Banda Singh was arrested and executed. The Lohgarh Fort was
occupied by the Mughal army much after the execution of Banda Singh.