History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c48.s2.15

v3.c48.s2.15

The quarrel soon took on a religious colour and assumed the form of a war for the liberation of the Hindus by an attack on Aurangzib himself. An old prophetess appeared among them and declared that her spells could raise an invisible army at night, that the Satnamis fighting under her banner would be invulnerable to the enemy's weapons, and that if one of them fell eighty others would spring up in his place. The movement spread like wildfire and the Government was completely taken by surprise. The rising looked like a sudden "irruption of ants out of the ground or of locusts from the sky." Soon some five thousand Satnamis were up in arms. The local officers underrated the danger and sent out troops in small parties which were successively defeated. These initial victories only raised the confidence of the rebels and confirmed the tale of their magical power. They plundered many villages in the district and when, at last, the faujdar of Narnol came out to meet them, they routed him with heavy loss and seized the town.