Page 79 - Lohgarh
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Banda Singh Bahadurs Actions from the Lohgarh Fort w 79
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Chappar Chiri site (now a village) is about 20 km from Sarhind. The
Sikhs were resting there to plan an attack on Sarhind. When they got
the news that Wazir Khan himself was marching towards them, they
took their defensive positions. They had the benefit of defense of the
trees and mounds. Banda Singh divided the whole army into four units,
under the command of Fateh Singh, Karam Singh-Dharam Singh, Aali
Singh-Mali Singh and Baj Singh. The Sikhs had, by then, six cannons
too. These were put under the charge of Shahbaz Singh. Banda Singh
stationed himself on a high mound to observe and give commands as
necessary.
According to Khafi Khan, the number of the Sikh soldiers was 30 to
40 thousand, but they did not have good weapons. They had mostly
swords, spears, arrows and only a few guns and just six cannons. 4
th
On the morning of the 12 of May 1710, both the armies had taken
positions in the fields of Chappar Chiri. Though it is often said that the
number of the Wazir Khan’s soldiers was about one lakh but this seems
to be an exaggeration. Another source mentions the number as 5-6
thousand horsemen, 7-8 thousand artillery and about 8 thousand ghazis
(who had joined them in the name of ‘holy war’); thus, their number
could be around 20 thousand. 5
Wazir Khan’s army was led by elephants, which guarded them from
the Sikhs’ attacks. His soldiers were raising the war cry of Ya Ali, Ya
Ali and Allah Hu Akbar. The Sikhs too began raising slogans of Akal
Akal. Having assessed that the sound of Wazir Khan’s army’s slogan
Allah Hu Akbar was forceful and quick, they coined another war cry
Fateh Darshan which had the same sound effect as that of Allah Hu
Akbar. 6 Some writers believe that Banda Singh never coined ‘Fateh
Darshan’ and it was, like other concoctions, created by Ratan Singh
Bhangu. But this is not true; Elliot and Dowson have referred to this in
clear words. 7
When the battle began, the Sikhs, in order to attack the Sarhindi
soldiers, needed first to remove elephants from the scene; so, they
began throwing cannon balls at the elephants. This achieved the desired
effect and some of the elephants were badly wounded. These elephants
