Later Mughals v1.c6.s18.10

v1.c6.s18.10

Elated by this victory, Banda made his way to the foot of the hills north-east of Sarhind, where Govind Singh early in life had taken shelter. Soon he had forty thousand armed men gathered round him, recruited chiefly from the lower caste Hindus.‡ His chief object was to attack Wazir Khan,§ the murderer of Govind's children and still faujdar of Sarhind, before he had time to make sufficient preparations. The Guru began operations by encamping near the town of Sadhaura, about twenty-six miles east of Ambala, where there was a celebrated Muhammadan shrine, the tomb of Shah Qamis, Qadiri.* Neither officials nor townspeople interfered with him, and by friendly overtures he lulled their suspicions to sleep. Then he attacked the town, killed many of the inhabitants, and plundered their houses.†