Lehal Library

The Sukerchakia Misl 185 The Sikh chiefs did not show much fight and began to flee to the hills; even in Amritsar, the Harimandir was left with only a handful of guards to protect it. Ranjic Singh and Sahib Singh Bhangi abandoned their possessions and came to Amritsar. In their absence, the Afghans took Gujarat and massacred the inhabitants. Hindus and Sikhs had fled earlier: the victims were Punjabi Mussalmans. Gujranwala was also sacked. At the meeting at Amritsar, the majority were in favour of fleeing to the hills. But once again Ranjit Singh talked them round and they agreed to stand firm. 'Victory is the gift of God,' they said. 'Let us make one effort to oppose him [the Shah].' Ranjit Singh was again chosen to be the leader.' Shah Zaman sent orders to Sansar Chand and the Raja of Jammu not to afford shelter to Sikh women and children who had been evacuated and sent to the hills,4 since he intended to extirpate the race. Sikh families found refuge in other hill states. The people who suffered most.at the hands of the invaders were the Punjabi Muslims who, believing that the Afghans would not touch their co-religionists, had remained in their homes. The Afghan army took all the provisions it needed from the Muslim peasantry. N'izamuddin Khan led an assault against the Sikhs across the Ravi at Shahadara. The Pathans were badly mauled and by the time reinforcements were ferried over the river, the Sikhs had vanished. The Pathans and Afghans wreaked vengeance for their dead comrades by falling upon the unarmed local population;5 Shahadara was almost entirely inhabited by Punjabi Mussalmans. On 27 November 1798 the Shah entered Lahore. He tried to alienate the Punjab Muslims, Hindus, and Malwais from the Majha Sikhs. Zaman found willing pawns for the game: 3 During both these invasions, the person who really persuaded Raajit Singh to fight the Afghans in the plains was his mother-in-law, Sada Kaur. On the second occasion, Ranjit •s uncle, Dal Singh, reassured the Sikhs that the Afghans were overrated as soldiers and that be had looted the Shah's baggage without much difficulty. PC 30 of 11.1.1799. 4 PC 21 of 24.12.1798. 5 PC 21 of 24.12.1798.