Muntakhab al-lubab 142.6

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.