1 52 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 to attempt resistance. The Punjab was traversed
3 without opposition, the Sutlej was crossed, Agra and
4 Muttra were plundered, and the capital city itself fell
5 a prey to the ferocious rapacity of the Afghan soldiers.
6 Laden with spoil, the Shah then departed for his
7 own country, the Sikhs easing him of a portion
8 of his ill-gotten gains as he passed through the
9 Punjab. The impotent Moghul was left in possession
10 of his wrecked capital, but the Punjab and Sirhind
11 were annexed by the conqueror, and his son Timur
12 was left behind to settle their administration.
13 Timur quickly realized that the Sikhs constituted
14 the chief danger to the security of his provinces,
15 and he resolved on active measures for their sup-
16 pression. He decided to strike at the heart of
17 the Khalsa. Accordingly, having collected a large
18 force, he made a rapid march to Amritsar. The city
19 was taken by surprise and captured ; the houses of
20 the inhabitants were pillaged, the Golden Temple was
21 razed to the ground, and the sacred tank filled
22 up with rubbish. Timur had, indeed, struck at
23 the heart of the Khalsa, but he had altogether mis-
24 calculated the effect of the blow. The destruction
25 and pollution of their holy city roused the Sikhs to
26 ungovernable fury. Uniting under the leadership
27 of a carpenter named Jassa Singh, they ravaged the
28 whole province. Timur's troops were everywhere
29 defeated, and he himself was driven to seek refuge in
30 his father's territory. The victorious Sikhs entered
31 and took possession of Lahore, where Jassa Singh
32 proclaimed the Khalsa a state, and rupees were struck
33 in the mint of the Moghuls, bearing the inscription,