Page 95 - Lohgarh

Banda Singh Bahadur’s Actions from the Lohgarh Fort w 95

in Delhi; hence the affairs of the province were looked after by Aslam
Khan.
Having planned an attack, the Sikhs reached the outskirts of the
city. They occupied the area around Shalimar and plundered the
mansions of the government officials, the feudal and other affluent
people; the Sikhs did not trouble even a single person from amongst
the common folk. Most of the officials and the Muslim elite fled the
Shalimar area and entered the walled city. They got the gates of the
city of Lahore closed so that the Sikhs might not enter it. The officials
asked Aslam Khan, the Deputy Chief of Lahore, to expel the Sikhs from
that area, but he was very much scared of them, he had not forgotten
the battles of April 1709, in which the Sikhs had killed even the Chief of
Patti. So, he just defended the walled city of Lahore by locking all the
gates from inside. His soldiers fought the Sikhs from inside the walls of
the city and showered bullets and arrows on the Sikhs. The Sikhs too
used all the weapons they had. The battle continued for two days, but,
the Sikhs could not succeed in entering the city. Hundreds of people
from both sides died in this battle.
When the Sikhs realized that they wouldn’t be able to break into
the city, they decided to retreat and wait for another opportunity. They,
still, were carrying with them a lot of wealth and just enough weapons
which they had captured from the Mughals. When the Sikhs were
returning from the zone, the so-called low caste people entered the
Sikh files and plundered the houses of the Muslims. 34

Jihad (holy war) Against the Sikhs

According to Mohammed Qasim, in September-October 1710, the Sikhs
again marched towards Lahore. The Maulavis (the Muslim priests) of
Lahore declared a jihad against the Sikhs. They called a gathering of the
Muslims at Idgah, near Delhi Darwaza (the present site of Railway Station
Lahore); and, about ten thousand Muslims responded to their call. Those
who attended included Pir Mohammed Taqi (a relative of the erstwhile
Prime Minister of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan), Musa Begh (son of
Ali Wardi Khan Agarkhani), Mohammed Zaman Rangharh, Maulvi Mir