Page 190 - Lohgarh

190 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

to take action against Banda Singh. 2
During this period, the Mughal Emperor received information that
Iradatmand Khan, the army-chief of Eimanabad had made a secret
agreement with the Sikhs; the Sikhs would attack the affluent and elite
in the areas between Kabul-Kashmir and Lahore-Gujrat zones and share
the plundered money and goods with Iradatmand Khan. The Emperor
was also told that the Khan was also embezzling revenues and preparing
fake records; hearing this, the Emperor wrote a letter to the Governor
of Lahore to suggest some person to be appointed as chief of
Eimanabad. 3

Sikh Soldiers in Lohgarh, Baddi, Pinjore And Morni Hills

Although, the Mughals had demolished the Fort at Sadhura, they had
failed to capture Lohgarh Fort; and thousands of the Sikh soldiers were
still present in Lohgarh, Raipur Rani, Toka, Chowki village near Nada
Sahib, Baddi, Pinjaur and Morni hills, and, they had been the attacking
an area up to Sarhind. Vanjaras Sikhs had been moving out of the area
upto Ropar and Pinjor.
In the second week of April 1714, five thousand Sikh soldiers set
up their camps near the village of Mehluk; they forcibly harvested the
crops of the Mughal and Pathan feudal. When Sharaf-ud-Din, Bakhshi
of the Faujdar of Sarhind received this news, he led a large number of
soldiers against the Sikhs. The Sikhs gave them a tough fight. Several of
the Sarhind soldiers were killed. The next day, they came again along
with seven hundred foot soldiers and one thousand horsemen. There
followed a pitched battle with swords and arrows, which continued for
three pahirs (about 9 hours), resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.
When it became dark, the Sikh soldiers returned to hills. 4
As per information sent to the Emperor, on 30 April 1714, there
were about five thousand Sikh soldiers, staying in the hills near Ropar.
Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan, the Faujdar of Sarhind, sent two thousand
soldiers under the command of his nephew Mir Abu Mukarram to attack
the Sikhs. When the Sikhs found that the number of the Mughal soldiers
was less than their own, they came down from the hills. When Mir Abu