Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c29.11

v2.c29.11

The news reached Ahmad Shah in Afghanistan and he hastened to the rescue of his officers in the Panjab, with a lightly-equipped cavalry force, accustomed to rapid marching. The Sikhs were then engaged in the siege of Jandiala, a city twelve miles east of Amritsar. It was the stronghold of the Niranjani sect,* who may be equally well described as dissentient Sikhs or Hindu deists,—their religion being a mixture of the tenets and rites of both these great religions. "In the conflict between the Sikhs and Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Niranjanis aided the latter . . with information. In revenge for this the Sikhs invested Jandiala. Akāldās, the Jandiala guru, sent off a sawār post haste to Ahmad Shah, who was . . . at Rohtas. He returned to their aid with a force of cavalry." [Amritsar Gaz. 165.]