Page 189 - Lohgarh

Chapter 13

The Last Battle of Banda Singh Bahadur

Having left Lohgarh, Banda Singh is said to have gone to Chamba. But,
according to an entry of Akhbarat-i-Darbar-i-Mulla dated 11 December
1713, Banda Singh had reached Jallapur (district Muradabad, Uttar
Pradesh) and the Emperor had sent a message to the Faujdar of
Muradabad to take action against him. But, it does not seem true; firstly,
there is no village named Jallapur in Muradabad district; there is a village
named Jalalpur Khalsa in Dilari tehsil of Muradabad district, but this is
about 300 kilometres from Lohgarh. Secondly, according to another
entry of Akhbarat-I-Darbar-I-Mulla, on 14 December 1713, the Emperor
issued order to send Hamid Khan to Muradabad and punish the rebels,
and, on the same day the Emperor Khan Bahadur Muzzafar Jung to go
to Lohgarh to chastise Banda Singh. It seems that it might be a band of
the Sikh soldiers, which was active in Muradabad which officials wrongly
guessed as Banda Singh himself.
On 1 March 1714, the Emperor was told that the Sikh soldiers had
plundered the area of Sarhind. Zain-ud-Din Khan, the Faujdar of Sarhind
had sent his soldiers to chase them; and, after a battle the Sikh soldiers
left that area. 1
On 11 March 1714, the Emperor received a letter from Ifsandyar of
Jammu which said that the accounts keeper of the ruler of Chamba and
the vakils of the Raja of Nurpur had told the deputy Faujdar Abdul Azim
that Banda Singh had been staying in village Vaan and was planning to
go to Batala via Bahilwal. The Emperor was told that deputy Faujdar
Abdul Azim did not have enough number of soldiers, so he could not
fight against Banda Singh; and, moreover, no hill ruler had helped him