Lehal Library

Banda Bahadur 111 he and his guards Jocked inside an iron cage. The other prisoners were likewise secured by iron chains around their necks, hands, and feet, and marched between flanks of Mughal soldiers. Zakarya Khan, who escorted the captives to Deihl, rounded up all the Sikhs he could find in the villages along his route until he had seven hundred bullock carts full of severed heads and over seven hundred prisoners. The gory caravan passed through Sirhind and reached Delhi at the end of February 1716. The captives were paraded through the streets. Banda was dressed in gold brocade to mock his pretensions to royalty; other prisoners had fool's caps put on their heads. Flanking the prisoners were soldiers bearing two thousand Sikh heads mounted on spears. The scene is described by an eyewitness in the following words: 'Those unfortunate Sikhs, who had been reduced to this last extremity, were quite happy and contented with their fate; not the slightest sign of dejection or humility was to be seen on their faces. In fact most of them, as they passed along on their camels, seemed happy and cheerful, joyfully singing the sacred hymns of their Scripture. And, if any one from among those in the lanes and bazaars called out to them that their own excesses had reduced them to that condition, they quickly retorted saying that it had been so willed by the Almighty and that their capture and misfortune was in accordance with His will. And, if any one said: "Now you will be killed," they shouted: "Kill us. When were we afraid of death?"'◄ The executions began on 5 March I 716 and continued for a week. They were watched by thousands of citizens, including two Englishmen who were then in attendance at the Mughal court. In a despatch dated 10 March 1716, they described what they saw: 'The great Rebel Gooroo who has been for these twenty years so troublesome in the subaship of Lahore is at length taken with aJI his family and attendants by Abdus Samad Cawn, the silba of that province. Some days ago they entered the city laden with fetters, his whole attendants which were left alive being about 24 Mirza Mohamm~d Harisi, lbml Niima.