1 Suchet Singh's
2 address to the soldiers,
3 .
4 Bis gallant be-
5 haviour.
6 The bravery of his
7 comrades,
8 The Raja is slain.
9 526 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
10 cowardice. He resolved to fight, happen what might. The passage from the
11 Ravi was cut off, to prevent Suchet Singh’s levies from the adjacent hills
12 from joining him. At daylight a general assault was made on the devoted
13 little band within the mosque, and a tremendous cannonade was opened
14 on its walls. Amidst the continuous roar of artillery the brave Suchet
15 Singh and his devoted adherents, with complete composure of mind, con-
16 tinued to hear the holy Granth. A school for the secular instruction of
17 darveshes existed at the Khanquah, where'also used to be fed, as now, a
18 large number of destitute blind persons. When this fire was opened,
19 about a hundred of these helpless darveshes and blind men were present
20 at the Khanquah. Midn Sharaf Din the Sajjuda-Nashin, entreated Raja
21 Suchet Singh to leave the mosque, in order to prevent its destruction,
22 promising to conduct him outside in safety, even at this, the eleventh hour;
23 but the Rajd turned a deaf ear to the Midn’s admonitions.
24 In a short time the old walls of the mosque were levelled to the ground,
25 All the blind durveshes were killed, but the others effected their escape.
26 The reader of the Granth now closed his book, and Suchet Singh and his
27 followers rose, sword in hand, to meet their adversaries. Rdjdé Suchet Singh,
28 with a dauntless courage, to which history knows few, if any, parallels, placed
29 himself in front of the advancing column and addressed them in a sten-
30 torian voice as follows: “Relying on your good faith, I came to Léhore
31 at your special invitation. You have forsaken me and have now come to
32 kill me in-such numbers, I beseech you at this moment to behave with me
33 like true soldiers, Come on, my friends, come on, one by one, and let the world
34 see the worth of a Rajput soldier,” and, as the gallant soldier uttered these
35 words, he advanced impetuously closer to the ranks of the enemy. This
36 challenge, made by a person of Suchet Singh’s ferocity and bravery, struck
37 the front columns with such awe that, for a time, the soldiers remained as
38 motionless as statues.
39 In the meantime, Rai Kesri Singh, the Rajd’s wazir, a brave and power-
40 fal man, pulled him back, and the devoted band placed their master in the
41 midst of their small number, thus affording him momentary shelter and
42 showing their fidelity to the last. The handful of brave soldiers then
43 rushed sword in hand upon the foremost rank of their assailants, and so
44 desperate was their assault that they actually drove back four battalions.
45 More than thirty of the assailants in the front columns lay dead on the field,
46 and the heroes continued to cut down those who approached them. The
47 desperate valour displayed by the Rajdé and his companions struck a panic
48 through the Khdlsé army, and the gunners fled in consternation ; not a shot
49 was fired, though Hird Singh was close upon their heels, with a lighted torch
50 in his hand, urging upon them to push on and fire. Rai Kesri Singh, with
51 his own hand, cut down nine of the assailants in the foremost rank. Several
52 who attempted to flee were killed by the bayonets of their own comrades.
53 Bassant Singh, one of the Rdjd’s adherents, was another who stood conspi-
54 cuous for his bravery. Heslew no fewer than 17 Sikhs before he fell. But
55 how long could a handful of heroes stand their ground when their destroyers
56 numbered thousands! After a few minutes more had elapsed, the whole body
57 of the besieged (excepting one, who survived badly wounded) lay dead on
58 the field. The gallant Raja Suchet Singh, it need hardly be said, was among
59 the slain. He slew three men with his own hand before dying from the
60 effect of two bullet wounds. Thus perished this brave Rajput soldier with
61 43 of his faithful adherents, The total loss of the Khdélsé army in this
62 memorable and deplorably unequal combat was about 160 men in killed and
63 Sri Satcnmuyaepit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com