The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.126

v4.c20.126

The Sikh revolt now assumed such a character that it threatened to repeat in the north the disruptive work of the Marāthā rising of the south, and totally destroy Mughul peace. Govind Singh, the tenth and last of the Sikh *Gurūs*, had died in November, 1708, without leaving any son behind him. But his followers produced a man who exactly resembled him and secretly sent him to the Punjab, declaring that he was Gurū Govind, miraculously brought back to life for leading his followers in a war of independence against the Muslims. This man was known under the name of *Banda* (Slave) or the sham Gurū, though he took the title of *Sachā Pādishāh* or the genuine Lord. The impostor appeared in the country north-west of Delhi and, calling himself Govind Singh, summoned the Sikhs to join their returned Gurū. He routed the commandant of Sonpat, and soon gathered 40,000 armed men around him, sacked the town of Sadhaurā (twenty-six miles east of Ambāla), killing many of the people, and gained his crowning victory by defeating and slaying Vazīr Khān, the commandant of Sirhind (22 May, 1710), and plundering his entire camp. Then the town of Sirhind itself was taken, and pillaged for four days with ruthless cruelty; the mosques were defiled, the houses burnt, the women outraged and the Muslims slaughtered. Over twenty million rupees in cash and goods fell into Banda’s hands here. From Sirhind as a centre Banda plundered and occupied the country around, but his progress southwards from Thānesar was checked by a local Muslim officer. Bands of Sikhs crossed into the Jullundur Dūāb. Shams Khān, the commandant of Sultānpur, gathered a large defence force and drove the Sikhs, with heavy slaughter, back into the fort of Rāhon, from which they fled away after some weeks. They recovered Rāhon, after the Khān’s retreat, but the rest of the Dūāb was freed from them. Another Sikh band raided east across the Jumna, plundered Sahāranpur and occupied half of that district, all the people fleeing away at the news of the Sikhs coming. But their attacks on Jalālābād (thirty miles south of Sahāranpur) and two large villages near it were defeated through the desperate courage of the Afghāns and other local volunteers. In the meantime, emboldened by the defeat of Vazīr Khān, the Sikhs assembled at Amritsar resolved to attack Lahore. They ravaged many villages, and reached the suburbs of Lahore, though the city itself escaped. The Muslims of Lahore organised a private expedition by subscription and expelled the Sikhs. Desultory fighting continued, the Sikhs being predominant on the whole, and the north-western road from Delhi was effectively closed.