Page 96 - Lohgarh

96 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

Mohammed and others.
Several Hindus too joined these fanatic Muslims. These Hindus were
headed by the son (his name does not appear in any source) of Pahara
Mal and the grandson of Todar Mal (who had been a minister under
the Mughal Emperor Akbar). He gave liberal donations for the Muslim
jihad and also offered his cannons, guns, arsenals and horses. He
enrolled several young men to fight against the Sikhs and paid them
good salary from his own treasury. Several other Hindus too donated
big sums for this jehad.
Although Aslam Khan (Deputy Governor of Lahore) was scared of
the Sikhs and he had confined himself into the Fort of Lahore, still he
sent one thousand foot soldiers and five hundred horsemen under the
command of Ataullah Khan and Muhib Khan Kharal to fight against the
Sikhs.
These ‘holy soldiers of Islam’ fought three battles against the Sikhs:
at Kotla Begum near the village of Chamiari, Qila Bhagwant Singh
(pargana Sehansara) and Bhilowal (in the area known as Bharli, in Lahore
zone). The first battle took place at Kotla Begum, near the villages of
Bharat and Rani. Thousands of the Muslim ‘holy soldiers of the Islam’
surrounded the Sikhs present there. The number of the Sikhs was very
small; hence, they fought a defensive battle and fled from the area
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after sunset. Their next halt was at Chamiari . The Muslim army chased
them. On their way, the ‘holy soldiers of Islam’ plundered some villages
and even raped some women. When the leaders of the ‘holy army’
received information about these activities, they punished some of
them, but this did not make much difference as most of the ‘holy soldiers
of Islam’ were not true Muslims; they were just anti-Sikh youth.
The next day, a fierce battle was fought at Chamiari between the
Sikhs and the ‘holy soldiers of Islam’. Though in small numbers, the
Sikhs fought bravely, but also continued retreating for a safe defensive
resort. Before it was evening, they (Sikhs) reached near Garhi Bhagwant
Singh and entered the Fortress, and they closed the doors of the
Fortress. Soon the ‘holy soldiers of Islam’ also reached there and put a
siege to the Fortress. In the middle of the night, the Sikhs secretly came