1 "188 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB. |
2 The power ofthe and left all the affairs of his high office in the hands of a Hindu named
3 Hindu, Ratan Chand. Ratan Chand, once a retail shop-keeper, but who now exercised uncontrollable
4 authority over all Hindostdén in the name of his indolent master.
5 The Sikhs become The Sikhs, in the meantime, became turbulent in the Panjab, and, emerg-
6 furbulont in the Fane ine from the hills, laid waste the whole country between the Sutlej and
7 Lahore. Abdul Samad Khan, Dilerjang, a Turrani nobleman, leaving
8 Punishment ofthe Arif Khan, his Heutenant, in Kashmir, marched against the Sikhs, with
9 ee Kamar-ud-din Khan, Muhammad Amin Khan and Asghar Khan. The emperor
10 himself moved towards the Panjdéb with a large army. The Sikhs, blockaded
11 and pressed by hunger and deprivation, surrendered at discretion. Two
12 thousand of them were massacred and their guru, Bandd, sent in chains
13 to Delhi, with his associates, where they were all tortured and put to death.*
14 Abdul Samad Khan, having humiliated the Sikhs and caused the destruc-
15 tion of their leader Bandd, now took vigorous steps to destroy their power
16 and to extirpate the race. A royal edict was issued to put all who professed
17 the religion of Naéuak to the sword, and a money reward was offered for the
18 head of every Sikh. The irritated Mahomedans gave them no quarter, and
19 wherever a Sikh was found he was butchered unmercifully. In order to
20 give full effect to the royal mandate, Mahomedans and Hindus were strictly
21 enjoined to clip their hair short. The Hindus were ordered to shave their
22 heads, and any Hindu found with long beard or hair was immediately slain.
23 These extreme measures of resentment and persecution spread terror and
24 consternation throughout the whole Sikh nation. Those who remained
25 of them fled to the mountains to the north-east of the Panjab, or concealed
26 themselves in remote jungles. Many who could not abandon their homes
27 changed their external appearance, had their beard and moustaches clipped,
28 and gave up their outward form of worship.
29 During the sixth year of Farrukhseer’s reign, or in 1716 A.D, the
30 Neath of thoold yenerable Asad Khan, father of Zulfikar Khan, who had been in the public
31 ie” “4 Kha: service since about the twentieth year of Shah Jahdn, died in the ninety-fifth
32 year of his age. He was a member of Mir Jahdn’s family, and, with a lofty
33 spirit and indomitable courage, nevertheless possessed a placid disposition and a
34 charitable heart. He never stooped to the nobles of the new court, but lived
35 with dignity, and preserved his influence throughout the empire to the very
36 sie pe ceeemten the last. The old man on his death-bed prophesied the fall of the Delhi empire.
37 iyi, ~=——s« Ee said to the messenger who had been sent by the emperor on a visit of
38 condolence on his part: “Now the day of retribution seems at hand; the
39 emperor is full in its way; and I much fear, from the appearance of the
40 general disaffection throughout the kingdom, that ruin sits beneath the
41 columns of the throne of Tymur.” These words were ominous, as the
42 event proved ; the fate of the empire was indeed sealed.
43 gee eee ee The emperor considered the yoke of the Sayad brothers burdensome, and
44 brothers. became anxious to strip them of their power. Husein Ali, one of the
45 brothers, was sent on a war with the Mahrattas. The imperial troops under
46 him having been distracted, he entered into a convention with Rdjé Sahuthe,
47 Mahratta, by which the claims of the latter to independent sovereignty
48 were recognized, and other concessions given to the Mahrattas. The emperor
49 refused to ratify this disgraceful treaty, and the breach between him and the
50 Sayads became wider. The minister, making common cause with the
51 Beet area eine Mahrattas, advanced upon Delhi with his own army and a force of 10,000
52 Possession of Delhi, Mahratta auxiliaries, and took possession of the city, after some opposition.
53 Considerable sympathy towards the emperor was shown by the citizens ,of
54 Sri SatguruJ agjit Singha fab Horampt of these proceedlamadhaiElibrayy@.qmeil<om