Muntakhab al-lubab 142: The Sikhs.
Muntakhabu-l Lubáb, of Kháfí Khán (Elliot & Dowson, extracts) 142
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- English
The Sikhs.
142.1
[Text, vol. ii. p. 651.] There is a sect of infidels called Guru, more commonly known as Sikhs. Their chief, who dresses as a fakir, has a fixed residence near Lahore. From old times he has built temples in all the towns and populous places, and has appointed one of his followers to preside in each temple as his deputy. When any one of the sect brought presents or offerings for the Guru to the temple, the deputy had to collect them, and, after deducting sufficient for his own food and expenses, his duty was to send the balance faithfully to the Guru. This sect consists principally of Jats and Khatris of the Panjab and of other tribes of infidels. When Aurangzeb got knowledge of these matters, he ordered these deputy Gurus to be removed and the temples to be pulled down.
142.2
At the time that Bahadur Shah marched towards Haidarabad, Gobind, the chief Guru of the sect, came to join him with two or three hundred horsemen bearing spears and some footmen. After two or three months, he died from the wounds of a dagger, and his murderer was not discovered. When the news of his death reached the Panjab, where the bulk of the Sikhs were living, an obscure member of the sect, about the name given to whom there are various statements, gave out that in the course of transmigration, which the Sikhs believe in and call avatar, he had taken the place of the murdered Gobind, who had come to life again as a bearded man in his body, for the purpose of taking revenge. This worthless dog, having published this statement, stirred up disaffection in the sect, and raised the standard of rebellion. By jugglery, charms, and sorcery, he pretended to perform miracles before credulous people, and gave himself the name of Sacha Padshah "True King."
142.3
He began to plunder in the Panjab and the country about Sihrind, and in the course of three or four months he gathered round him four or five thousand pony (yábú) riders and seven or eight thousand motley footmen. His numbers daily increased, and much plunder fell into his hands, until he had eighteen or nineteen thousand men under arms, and carried on a predatory and cruel warfare. He fought with two or three faujdárs who went out to punish him, defeated them and killed them. In many villages which he plundered he appointed thánadárs and tahsíldárs to collect the revenues of the neighbourhood for him, and matters came to such a pass that with three or four thousand infidels who were leagued with him, he wrote orders to the Imperial officials and the managers of the jágírdárs, calling upon them to submit to him, and to relinquish their posts.
142.4
Wazír Khán, Faujdár of Sihrind, had held the charge of the civil and revenue affairs of that district for a long time. He had some troops and treasure, and had obtained a reputation by his firm management. When he heard how districts in his charge had been ravaged and plundered, he set about collecting troops and warlike equipments. He joined with him four or five faujdárs and zamíndárs of name, prepared lead and gunpowder, mustered five or six thousand horse and seven or eight thousand musketeers (barkandáz) and archers, and with these and some artillery and elephants he marched out to give battle and to punish that perverse sect. After marching three or four kos, he came up with the enemy. The accursed wretches had got warning of the movement of Wazír Khán, and advanced to meet him. All his followers kept shouting "Sachá Pádsháh" and "Fath daras." The battle began, and great bravery was shown on both sides, but especially by the confederate sectarians. They advanced sword in hand against the elephants, and brought two of them down. Many Musulmáns found martyrdom, and many of the infidels went to the sink of perdition. The Musulmán forces were hardly able to endure the repeated attacks of the infidels, when a musket-ball made a martyr of Wazír Khán, and they were put to flight.
142.5
Money and baggage, horses and elephants, fell into the hands of the infidels, and not a man of the army of Islam escaped with more than his life and the clothes he stood in. Horsemen and footmen in great numbers fell under the swords of the infidels, who pursued them as far as Sihrind. Sihrind was an opulent town, with wealthy merchants, bankers, and tradesmen, men of money, and gentlemen of every class; and there were especially learned and religious men in great numbers residing there. No one found the opportunity of saving his life, or wealth, or family. When they heard of the death of Wazir Khan, and the rout of his army, they were seized with panic. They were shut up in the town, and for one or two days made some ineffectual resistance, but were obliged to bow to fate. The evil dogs fell to plundering, murdering, and making prisoners of the children and families of high and low, and carried on their atrocities for three or four days with such violence that they tore open the wombs of pregnant women, dashed every living child upon the ground, set fire to the houses, and involved rich and poor in one common ruin. Wherever they found a mosque, a tomb, or a gravestone of a respected Musulman, they broke it to pieces, dug it up, and made no sin of scattering the bones of the dead. When they had done with the pillage of Sihrind, they appointed officers to collect the rents and taxes in all the dependent districts.
142.6
Accounts of the calamity which had fallen upon Sihrind reached 'Ali Muhammad Khan, Faujdar of Saharanpur, and he was terror-struck. Although a number of gentlemen and Afghans gathered round him and urged him to act boldly and to put his fortifications in a state of defence, it was of no avail; he went off to Dehli with his property and family. The men of the town assembled, and, moved by one spirit, they threw up breastworks all round. When the villainous foe arrived, they made a manful resistance, and fighting under the protection of their houses, they kept up such a discharge of arrows and balls, that they sent many of their assailants to hell. Many men of noble and respectable families fell fighting bravely, and obtained the honour of martyrdom. The property and the families of numbers of the inhabitants fell into the hands of the enemy, and numerous women, seeing that their honour was at stake, and captivity before them, threw themselves into wells. A party of brave gentlemen collected their wives and families in one spot, and kept up such a manful resistance that they saved the lives, the property, and the honour of their families.
142.7
After a large booty of money, jewels, and goods of Sarangpur had fallen into the hands of the enemy, they took measures to secure the surrounding country, and they sent severe orders to Jalal Khan, Faujdar of Jalalabad, who had founded the town and built the fort, and was famed for his boldness and valour throughout the country. When the letter of the accursed wretches reached him, he ordered the bearers to be exposed to derision and turned out of the place. He set his defences in order, collected materials of war, and did his best to protect the name and honour of those around him, and to get together a force sufficient to oppose the infidels. Intelligence was brought in that the enemy were only three or four kos distant, and they had attacked and surrounded two villages dependent on Jalalabad, the forts and houses of which were full of property belonging to merchants.
142.8
Jalal Khan sent out three or four hundred Afghan horse, and nearly a thousand musketeers and archers, under the command of Ghulam Muhammad Khan, his own grandson, and Hizbar Khan, to relieve the besieged places and drive off the infidels. Their arrival greatly encouraged the people who were assailed. Four or five hundred brave musketeers and bowmen and numbers of peasants, armed with all sorts of weapons, and with slings, came forward boldly to oppose the enemy, and the battle grew warm. Although the enemy fought with great courage and daring, and Hizbar Khan with a great many Musulmans and peasants were killed, the repeated attacks of the Afghans and other Musulmans of name and station routed the enemy, and they fled, after a great number had been slain. Several fights afterwards took place between Jalal Khan, and the infidels received two or three defeats; but they still persevered with the investment of Jalalabad.
142.9
At length seventy or eighty thousand men swarmed together from all parts like ants and locusts. They brought with them two or three hundred movable morchals made of planks, on which they had placed wheels as upon carts, and with them surrounded Jalalabad as with a ring. It is impossible to relate in full all the brave deeds done by the Afghans in their conflicts with the enemy. The assailants advanced their morchals to the foot of the wall, when they discharged arrows, musket-balls, and stones, and raising their cry of "Fath daras" they strove in the most daring way, with four or five hundred pickaxes and other implements, to undermine the wall, to pass over it by ladders, and to burn the gate. The Afghans threw open the gate, and went out with their drawn swords in their hands, and shields over their heads, and in every attack killed and wounded a hundred or two of the infidels. Many Musulmans also fell. Attacks were also made upon the enemy at night. For twenty days and nights the besieged could get neither food nor rest. At length the infidels, having lost many thousand men and gained no advantage, raised the siege. They went off to reduce Sultanpur and the parganas of the Jalandhar Doab. They sent a letter to Shams Khan, the Faujdar, calling upon him to submit, to carry out certain instructions, and to come to meet them with his treasure. * *
142.10
Shams Khan, with four or five thousand horse and thirty thousand foot, armed with matchlocks, bows and all kinds of weapons, which they had possessed for a long time or newly acquired, went forth accompanied by the zamindars. Gentlemen of every tribe, peasants, and mechanics, principally weavers, came forth boldly to stake their lives and property in resisting the infidels. They pledged themselves to support each other, and contributed their money for the general good. More than a hundred thousand men so assembled, and went forth from Sultanpur with great display. The infidels, on hearing of these bold proceedings of Shams Khan, and of his coming forth with such an army and implements of war, moved with their whole force, amounting to seventy or eighty thousand horse and foot. They had with them the guns they had brought from Sihrind, their plank constructions, bags full of sand for making lines, and lead and gunpowder. Plundering everywhere as they went, they came to Rahun, seven kos from Sultanpur. There they had halted, and took post by a brick-kiln, all the bricks of which they used for making a sort of fort; and having thrown up lines all round, they made ready for battle. They sent out patrols in all directions, and they wrote threatening orders to the chaudharis and kdnúngos calling upon them to submit.
142.11
Shams Khan had many thousands of brave Musulmáns on his right hand and his left, all animated with desire for a holy war and hope of martyrdom, who encouraged each other and said, "If Shams Khan is defeated and killed, our lives and property and families are all lost." Vying with and inspiriting each other, they advanced boldly to within cannon-shot of the enemy. At the close of the first watch of the day, the battle began with a discharge of guns and muskets. Ten or twelve thousand balls and stones from slings came rattling like hail upon the forces of Islám, but by God's mercy produced no great effect, and no man of note was killed. Shams Khan forbade haste and a useless discharge of ammunition. He went steadily forward, and after a volley or two from the infidels, he sent forward an elephant supported by forty or fifty thousand Musulmáns who had come together from all parts. They raised their war-cry, charged the infidels, and killed and wounded great numbers.
142.12
The infidels, after fruitless struggles, were overpowered, and being discouraged, they took refuge in the fort of Rahun, of which they had obtained possession before the battle. This was invested, and a general fire of muskets and rockets began. The garrison of the fort of Ráhun had left in it their warlike stores and provisions when they evacuated it, and of these the infidels took possession and stood firm in the fort. They were invested for some days; but at night parties of them came out, and attacked the forces of Islam, killing men and horses. Both sides were in difficulty, but especially the enemy. They evacuated the fort at night and fled. Shams Khan pursued them for some kos, and took from them a gun and some baggage, camels and bullocks, with which he returned to Sultanpur.
142.13
Next day about a thousand of the enemy attacked the garrison which Shams Khan had placed in Rahun, drove them out and occupied it themselves. The enemy then proceeded to plunder the neighbourhood of Lahore, and great alarm was felt in that city and all around. Islam Khan, the Prince's diwan, and naib of the suba of Lahore, in concert with Kazim Khan, the royal diwan, and other officials, after setting in order the fortifications of the city, went out with a large muster of Musulmans and Hindus, and encamped four or five kos from the city, where he busied himself in cutting off the patrolling parties of the enemy. The people in Lahore were safe from danger to life and property, but the outskirts up to the garden of Shalimar, which is situated two kos from the city, were very much ravaged.
142.14
For eight or nine months, and from two or three days' march of Dehli to the environs of Lahore, all the towns and places of note were pillaged by these unclean wretches, and trodden under foot and destroyed. Men in countless numbers were slain, the whole country was wasted, and mosques and tombs were razed. After leaving Lahore, they returned to the towns and villages of Shadhura and Karnal, the faujdar of which place was slain after resisting to the best of his ability. Now especially great havoc was made. A hundred or two hundred Hindus and Musulmans who had been made prisoners were made to sit down in one place, and were slaughtered. These infidels had set up a new rule, and had forbidden the shaving of the hair of the head and beard. Many of the ill-disposed low-caste Hindus joined themselves to them, and placing their lives at the disposal of these evil-minded people, they found their own advantage in professing belief and obedience, and they were very active in persecuting and killing other castes of Hindus. The revolt and the ravages of this perverse sect were brought under the notice of His Majesty, and greatly troubled him; but he did not deem its suppression so urgent as the putting down of the Rajput rebellion, so the royal armies were not sent against them at present. Giving the Rajput difficulty his first attention, the royal army marched from Ujjain towards the homes of the Rajputs.