Page 193 - Lohgarh

The Last Battles of Banda Singh Bahadur w 193

the Mughal army got this news, they attacked the Sikh camp; seventy
Sikhs and a large number of Mughal soldiers were killed in these
skirmishes. In the third week of August 1714, Baj Singh’s army was again
attacked by the Governor of Sarhind. Instead of fighting, the Sikhs
preferred to move towards the hills.
It is possible that these attacks were led by Baj Singh. There is no
further mention of Baj Singh’s army in any source except that he was
killed along with Banda Singh, in Delhi, on 9 June 1716. To say that the
record of the Mughal times (Akhbarat-I-Darbar-I-Mualla) might have
misspelled or wrongly mentioned Binod Singh as Baj Singh is not true.
Moreover, Baj Singh has been shown to fight all the time against the
Mughal army. It proves that Baj Singh did not part from Banda Singh
due to any differences; rather the Sikh generals themselves divided the
Sikh army into two groups as a part of military strategy. So, it is wrong
that Baj Singh left Banda Singh due to ‘differences’ and he joined hands
with the Mughals. Besides Binod Singh’s name also does not appear in
any Mughal record, source or concern (as referred to, about Binod Singh,
in Ratan Singh Bhangu’s Prachin Panth Parkash).

Banda Singh in Uttrakhand / Kumaon Hills
In the beginning of August 1714, Banda Singh was present in the hills of
the present Uttrakhand zone. According to the report of 10 August, the
ruler of Srinagar was collaborating with Banda Singh. According to this
report, Banda Singh had gone to Bareilly and Moradabad in accordance
with the agreement with the Vanjaras. 17 Hearing this, Baj Bahadur
Chand, the ruler of Kumaon, sent his army to attack the Sikhs. This
battle continued for three days, leading to a few losses on both sides.
Baj Bahadur dispatched heads of 19 Sikhs killed in these skirmishes, to
the Mughal Emperor; and the Raja wished that the Emperor would
reward him with a royal letter, a robe of honour and a turban-decoration,
and the Emperor fulfilled his wish. A report on 12 August mentions
18
the number of the Sikhs killed at twenty. 19