Page 201 - Lohgarh

Battle of Gurdas Nangal and Arrest of Banda Singh Bahadur w 201

Emperor got this news on 23 April 1715. On 28 April, the Emperor
received a request from Abdus Samad Khan asking for a big cannon to
blow up the walls of Gurdas Nangal; the Emperor immediately ordered
despatch of a very powerful cannon. 9
More than one month and a half had passed but the Sikhs did not
surrender nor did they make any attempt to flee from the Fortress. On
th
the 14 of May, the Emperor asked Issa Khan Manjh (chief of Lakkhi
st
Jungle) also to lead his army to Gurdas Nangal. On the 21 of May the
Emperor asked Safvi Khan to issue orders to all the mansabdars and
jagirdars of the Lahore province to join Abdus Samad Khan along with
their soldiers; and that properties of those who do not abide would be
10
confiscated. There was not even a single person whom the Emperor
did not issue orders to join the campaign against the Sikhs; by the end
of May, 24 thousand soldiers of Abdus Samad Khan, 5 thousand soldiers
from Sarhind, 10 thousand soldiers from Lahore, 5 thousand soldiers
from Jammu and about 20 thousand soldiers of the Faujdars of different
areas of the Punjab as well several mansabdars and jagirdars had put a
siege to Gurdas Nangal. On the other hand, thousands of soldiers, led
by Qamar-ud-Din, were also ready to leave Delhi for Gurdas Nangal
within a few days.
Now, the Mughal army engaged one thousand wood cutters and
an equal number of carpenters to clear the jungle around the Fortress.
A very large number of trees were cut down. Two thousand carts pulled
by camels were brought to remove the wood. When all the area around
the Fortress was cleared of all the vegetation etc, the Mughal army dug
trenches all around the Fortress so that the Sikhs should not escape. 11
It was now the middle of June and the Sikhs had been inside the
Fortress for the past two months and a half. Mohammed Qasim, the
writer of Ibratnama, who was present in the camp of Arif Begh Khan
(the deputy Governor of Lahore), writes: “The Sikhs in groups of 40s
and 50s would come out of the Fortress with the purpose of getting
food and water for themselves as well as for their horses. The Mughal
soldiers would try to stop them, but the firing of guns as well as arrows
shot from inside the Fortress would kill a large number of Mughal soldiers.