Later Mughals v1.c6.s19.3

v1.c6.s19.3

The plundered inhabitants of Sarhind and Thanesar, with the Pirzadas of Sarhind and Sadhaura, arrived at the camp in a destitute condition, raising loud cries about the oppression that they had suffered, and making many grievous complaints. Ajmer was quitted on the 1st Jamadi I. 1122 (27th June, 1710), urgent orders being sent to Khan Dauran (afterwards Nizam-ul-mulk) the subahdar of Oudh; Muhammad Amin Khan Chin, faujdar of Muradabad; Khan Jahan, subahdar of Allahabad, and Sayyid Abdullah Khan Barha, calling on them to march without delay and join Asad Khan, subahdar of Dihli and Wakil-i-mutlaq, in his advance against the Sikhs. Meanwhile the Emperor's camp moved on, *via* Rupnagar, Sambhar, Rasulpur, Pragpura and Narnol; the capital, Dihli, being passed on their right hand at a considerable distance.† In order to prevent desertions, proclamation was made on the 1st Rajab, 1122 (25th August, 1710), that no man should visit Dihli without permission, nor should any man's family come out to camp to see him. Another precautionary measure was an order for all Hindus employed in the imperial offices to shave off their beards. As the Sikhs had many well-wishers among the Khatri clerks, these men were thus forced to choose between losing their appointments, or committing an act that excluded them from the Sikh sect. The order was carried out, it seems, in a very harsh manner. Petty officers perambulated the streets and bazars of the camp, followed by barbers bearing dirty water in a scavenger's vessel. Whenever a Hindu was met wearing a beard, he was seized and his beard shaved off. The clerks in the imperial offices hid in their quarters, and did not appear again in public, until they had been shaved.*