Page 94 - Lohgarh

94 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

of these Sikh soldiers returned to their village; they organised local Sikhs
and began to expel the Mughal and Pathan rulers from the villages
around their area, and, several villages of Riarki (a zone between Raavi
and Beas rivers) were now under the rule of the Sikhs. This news reached
Aslam Khan (deputy Governor of Lahore) too, but he dared not march
against the Sikhs. When the Mughal rulers did not take action, the Sikhs
decided to capture some smaller towns too (but they did not march
towards Lahore or Kasur, the major cities and army centers).
Their first targets were Batala and Kalanaur which were only next
to Lahore in importance. Batala was a major center of trade, where
traders from Kashmir had established their markets. The town was also
a residence of several rich and affluent Mughals and Pathans. Similarly,
Kalanaur too was a major town. A folk saying is still popular in literature:
‘If you cannot go to Lahore to see its grandeur then visit Kalanaur’
(meaning Kalanaur was as affluent and grand as Lahore was). It was
here that the Mughal Emperor Akbar had been coronated. This was so
big a town that there were more than 350 mosques in the city at that
time.
The Sikhs put siege to both the towns and cut them from the rest
of the world. All the surrounding areas were already under the control
of the Sikh soldiers and the Mughal rule was confined to the walled
cities of Batala and Kalanaur. 33
Having established their supremacy in the zone, the Sikhs occupied
Batala, Sathiala, Ghuman and Kala Afghana villages too, and, by this
time some Sikhs had occupied Patti (then known as Patti Haibat Khan)
town also.

Attack on Lahore (autumn 1710)

Having established their rule in Riarki and Patti zone, the Sikhs decided
to attack Lahore, the provincial capital, and, a military stronghold, too.
This was supposed to be a major action as the Capital of the Punjab had
a big army and a large arsenal. The province, then, was under the
command of prince Jahandar Shah (son of Bahadur Shah) and Sayyad
Aslam Khan of Kabul was his deputy. Prince Jahandar Shah was mostly