Page 82 - Lohgarh

82 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

Wazir Khan attacked Baj Singh with his sword too. But, before Wazir
Khan’s sword could hit Baj Singh’s body, Fateh Singh gave a strong blow
with his sword which almost chopped off the right arm of Wazir Khan,
and with another blow his head too was severed. Yar Mohammed, in
Dastur-ul-Insha, writes: “Wazir Khan’s head was hung on a spear and
his trunk was dragged behind a cart up to Sarhind”.
Figures of Casualties: According to common belief, 50 thousands
Muslims and 30 thousand Sikhs were killed in this battle, which seems
to be improbable and unrealistic. The figure of 5 thousand Muslims
and 3 thousand Sikhs seems to be near reality. The number of the
wounded is separate from it. Those who embraced martyrdom among
the Sikh side included the highly revered of elderly Bhai Bajjar Singh
(he had taught martial arts to Guru Gobind Singh). In this battle the
Sikhs captured 45 big and small cannons, dozens of elephants, hundreds
of horses and a large number of guns and sword etc.
After the battle was over, the Sikhs cremated their martyrs in large
groups and bandaged those who were wounded. They did not have
enough bandages, so they had to feel satisfied with whatever they had
at hand. All this time the victorious Sikhs went on chanting hymns in
praise of God. After cremation, the Sikh soldiers left for Sarhind, leaving
some of them there to take care of the cremated bodies and to dispose
of the ashes.
After covering a distance of about 20 kilometres the Sikh army
reached Sarhind. It was not yet dawn. The gates of the walled city were
closed from inside, hence they could not enter; they had to break open
the gates and for this purpose they had to fight the garrison of the
Sarhind regime. The Sikhs were carrying with them the body of Wazir
Khan. They took a round of the main streets of the town to show the
head and trunk of the body of Wazir Khan which, later, they hung from
a tree so that the people might see with their own eyes the fate of the
cruel ruler. It being an extremely hot weather; the body of Wazir Khan
began stinking. The vultures began picking upon the body to get their
share. This frightened the residents of Sarhind and they begged mercy
of the Sikhs. Banda Singh sent them a message telling them that the