Lehal Library

Ahmed Shah Abdali 151 Seventh Afghan Invasion, 1764: Sikhs Retake Lahore and Extend Operations Beyond Delhi In October 1764-lll an anny ofeighteen thousand Afghans crossed the Indus and were joined at Eminabad by another twelve thousand Balucb tribesmen under Nasir Khan of Kalat. -1-, The forces converged on Lahore, where Kabuli Mal welcomed them. The Sikhs resumed their usual harrying tactics. Pan of the Khalsa army entrenched in the Lakhi jungle began to prey upon the Afghans and Baluchis. 'They come stealthily like thieves and attack like wolves,' wrote Nur Mobammed.~i After a month of shadow-boxing, Abdali marched out towards Amritsar. He was harassed all along the route. (It took the same men who had only two years earlier covered one hundred and fifty miles in two days, four days to cover thiny-five.) The Afghans encircled the city to make sure that no Sikhs escaped. Then some columns advanced gingerly through the tortuous, deserted streets towards the Harimandir. What the Afghans saw at the temple gave them some notion of the sort of people they were up against. Guarding the entrance to the shrine were only thirty Sikhs with 'not a grain of fear about them.... They were there to sacrifice their lives for the Gurus. ' 41 The thirty men led by Gurbaksh Singh 40 There is some confttsion aboul this invasion. Harl Ram Gupta and N. K Sinha ascribe the incidenls narrated lo a later invasion. Qazi Nur Mohammed, who accompanied Abdali on t.his expedition, suppons the present version. The quotacions regarding incidents of this invasion are taken from Dr Ganda Singh's translation of lhe Jang Namii by Qa7i Nur Mohammed. 41 This was a holy war againSl t.he infidel Sikh. The Baluch, Nasir Khan. was contemplating a pilgrimage to Mecca when he received Abdali's admonition: 'I have heard from Multan and also from the Dera that the accursed dogs and lustful infidels (the Sikhs) have overcome the Muslims. . . . How can you think of going to Mecca while this depraved sect is causing havoc? Come. so that we may destroy this faithless sect and enslave their women and children.· The Ghru.is, writes Nur Mohammed, poured in from all sides 'hissing like black snakes.' (Imig Nam.a, pp. 38-44.) 42 Jang Niimii. p. 77. 43 Jang Nli.mii, pp. 97-101.