Page 77 - Lohgarh

Banda Singh Bahadur’s Actions from the Lohgarh Fort w 77

young Muslims to join his army. He sent messages to all the Pathans,
Balochs, and Ranghars etc to join his forces. He also recruited thousands
of soldiers for the forthcoming battle. Several Muslim Chowdhrys and
feudal too promised to send their private forces for his help. His deputy
in this campaign was Sher Mohammed Khan of Malerkotla. (Some
ignorant writers mentioned him as ‘sympathizer’ of the Sikhs).

Malerkotla Army Attacks the Sikhs of Majha
When the Sikhs of Majha (an area between rivers Beas and Ravi) came
to know about Banda Singh’s planning to attack Sarhind, hundreds of
them decided to participate in it; they formed various groups and
reached Keeratpur. Their number was around two thousand. They had
planned to join Banda Singh in Chhat-Banur area. When Wazir Khan
received the information about these Sikhs, he asked Sher Mohammed
Khan to intercept and attack them. Sher Mohammed Khan,
accompanied by his brother Khijar Khan and his nephews Wali Khan
and Mohammed Bakhsh, led a big force to attack the Sikhs of Majha.
From Malerkotla he went towards Rupar but when he was on his way
he got the information that the Majha Sikhs would cross river Satluj at
Machhiwara or Behlolpur. 1
Having received information about the route of the Sikhs, he
proceeded towards Behlolpur. Both the armies fought a pitched battle
at Behlolpur. Although the Malerkotla Army was bigger in number and
also had better arms, the Sikhs had, in their mind, dedication to their
cause and were ever ready to make sacrifices. For the whole day, both
fought bravely. On both sides there were heavy casualties; however,
the Malerkotla Army seemed to have an upper hand. The battle was
stopped after it grew dark. The next day, before the dawn, several more
Sikhs reached there. Now, the Sikhs made an aggressive attack on the
Malerkotla Army and put it into defending.
By noon the battle was at its highest pitch when a bullet hit Khijar
Khan, the brother of Sher Mohammed Khan; and he died instantly.
Seeing him fall, the Malerkotla soldiers began running helter-skelter. At
this Sher Mohammed Khan raised a loud cry to re-group his loyal