23^ SICETCH OP THE SIKHS..: 



himself sufficiently strong to venture on an a6lion with Foujdar Kha'jt, 

 the governor of the province of Sarkind, and the man of all others mosjt 

 •abhorred by the Sikhs, as the murderer of the infant children of Guru' 

 GoviND. This a6tion was fought with valor by the Muhammedans ; and 

 with all that desperation on the part of the Sikhs, which the most savage 

 spirit of revenge could inspire ; and this, aided by the courage and con- 

 duct of their iMder, gave- them the victory, after a severe contest. 

 Fou J D AR Kha'i^' fell, with most of his army, to whom the enraged Sikhs 

 gave no quarter; lior was their savage revenge satiated by the destru61:ion 

 of the M///z<2mm^^/a/? army : they put ; to death the wife and children of 

 ViziR KhA^N', and almost all the inhabitants of Sarkind. They destroyed 

 or polluted the mosques of that city ; a/nd,, in a spirit of wild and brutal 

 rage, dug up the carcases of the dead, and exposed them to be devoured 

 hy beasts of prey; Encouraged by this success, and hardened by the 

 lessons of Band a, to deeds of the most horrid atrocity, the Sikhs rushed 

 forward and subdued ail the country between the Satlcj and the Jumna; 

 and, crossing that river, made inroads into the province of Sdhdranpur.* 

 It is unnecessary to state the particulars of this memorable incursion, 

 which, from all account^, appears to have been one of the severest scourg- 

 es with which a country was ever afflicted. Every excess that the most 

 v/anton barbarity could comii[iit,'e#ry crueky that an unappeased appetite 

 of revenge could suggest, was inf!i6led upon the miserable inhabitants (>f 

 the provinces, through which they passed. Life was only granted to those 

 who conformed to the religion, and adopted the habits, and dress of the 

 Sikhs; and if Beha'dur Shah hadt not quitted the Dek'hin, which he did 



* TUis province lies a few miles to t?he N. E. of Dehliy between the rivers Jwm?zfl and 

 Ganges. 



