Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s2.15

v1.c15.s2.15

One expedition led against the Sikhs by Muin himself towards the close of 1752 is thus described by his page: "When the Nawāb Sāhib (i.e., Muin-ul-mulk) was out on an administrative tour, in the Batālā district, he heard that a large body of Sikhs were causing disturbances in that neighbourhood, stopping the roads and ruining the cultivators. He sent Sayyid Jamiluddin Khan with his bakhshi Ghāzi Beg Khan to punish them. These officers marched to the scene, fought the Sikhs and put them to flight. Nine hundred of the Sikh infantry threw themselves into the small fort of Rāmroti, close to Chak Guru Hargovind, which Jamiluddin immediately invested. After a few days the garrison rushed out sword in hand, fell upon the besiegers, and were all slain. (Miskin, 17.) But this slaughter had no more effect than stamping upon a few hundred white ants. Such conflicts with Sikh bands continued till the very day of Muin's death (3rd November 1753)* and grew more numerous after him.