Later Mughals v1.c6.s19.11

v1.c6.s19.11

Leaving Thanesar on the 4th Shawwal, 1122 (25th November, 1710), Bahadur Shah, in five marches by way of Shahabad and Aukala, reached Sadhaura on the 13th of the same month. Sadhaura is about thirty-six miles north-east of Thanesar. A few days before this date, it had been reported that the Sikhs had moved southwards from Sadhaura, with 3,000 horsemen and 10,000 infantry,† and had entrenched themselves on the road. Subsequently, they must have thought it wiser not to risk an encounter, for the imperial march was not molested. The Sikhs fled even from Sadhaura, and took refuge in the hills to the north-east of that place. Sadhaura itself is a town on a high hill of steep ascent, standing on the edge of the Markhanda torrent, in a hilly and, in those days, well-wooded country.‡