Page 208 - Lohgarh

208 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

reclining posture leaning towards one side. Though he had been chained
and was put in a cage, still, a soldier carrying an unsheathed sword was
standing by in an ever-ready position to attack Banda Singh, in case the
latter tried to flee by using his ‘magical’ power.
The last in the procession were 740 Sikh prisoners whose faces had
been blackened; their hands had been tightly tied and clamped by their
necks. To insult and make fun of them, cartoon-styled paper caps had
been put on their heads and sheep skin had been wrapped about their
bodies.
The procession was being escorted by Mohammed Amin Khan, his
son Qamar-ud-Din and son-in-law Zakaria Khan, who was riding on
horses with haughty pride, like winners of some great trophy.
This procession entered the walled city of Delhi through Lahori
Gate. 26 Almost the whole of Delhi had come to see this. There was
perhaps no male resident of Delhi who had not seen this procession;
hence, due to this crowd of hundreds of thousands, there was
suffocation and it was difficult to breathe properly. People were passing
remarks making insulting signs and showering abuse on the Sikhs; some
of them were created shrieking/hooting sounds, clapping and even
dancing as if they themselves had achieved the most precious victory
in the history.
But, on the other hand, there was no sign of remorse or
despondency on the faces of the Sikhs; they did not look like defeated
and fallen soldiers. They were chanting hymns and repeating ‘Waheguru’
(the name of God); they were behaving in a manner as if nothing had
happened to them. 27
When Banda Singh was presented before Farukhsiyar, the latter
28
asked him ‘What type of death would you choose for yourself?’’ Banda
Singh replied ‘The same type as the Emperor would opt for himself.’ 29
Muhammed Qasim Aurangabadi says that when Farukhsiyar looked
at the faces of the Sikhs he got frightened. He said that their faces were
filled with scary and thunderous look. Had they survived some more
time, it would have become a very difficult task to uproot them. 30
th
On the 7 of March, Mumtaz Khan Akhtar Beghi presented 16 horses