Page 217 - Lohgarh

Chapter 15

Demolition of Lohgarh

Who demolished Lohgarh and How Much Time Did it Take?

The Mughal Emperor and the generals of the Mughal army were scared
of Banda Singh Bahadur, Sadhaura and Lohgarh Forts. But, Lohgarh Fort
was their bigger concern. The Vanjara Sikhs continued their struggle
even after the martyrdom of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, but were
soon captured as they became leaderless. They had started demolition
of the Sadhura Fort in 1716. But, Lohgarh Fort was their bigger concern.
They were always afraid that if they re-occupied this Fort then again
thousands of Mughal soldiers would have to be engaged to combat the
Sikh army for many years, and, it would mean loss of lives of thousands
of Mughal soldiers, and a lot of money as well; and, still the Mughals
would never be able to keep it under their control for a long time. The
Sikhs would come again and occupy it. So, following the advice of the
army generals, the Mughal Emperor ordered that this port should be
totally demolished.
Chowdhry Musa-Ul-Khan 1 (known more as Massa Ranghar) of
Mandhiala village (13 kilometres from both Amritsar and Jhabal Kalan)
was assigned this job. When Banda Singh Bahadur and all the senior
generals of the Sikh army had been arrested (in December 1715) and
executed (on 9 June 1716), the demolition of the Fort was begun. For
this purpose, hundreds of Mughal soldiers and thousands of laborers
were engaged. They took up each one hill as a unit, and began
demolishing the walls, trenches, foundations and passages of each hill
one by one. Ranghars, who had been brought to demolish the Fort and
carry massacre of the Sikhs, where, later, got settled in 85 villages in old
district of Ambala.