SKETCH .OF THE SIKHS. 239 



in A. D. 1710, there is reason to think the whole of Hindustan would 

 have been subdued by these merciless invaders. 



The first check the Sikhs receiveA, was from an army under Sultan 

 Ku'li Kha'n. That chief defeated one of their advanced corps at Pdni" 

 pat'h, which, after being dispersed, fled to join their leader IBanda, at 

 Sarhind. The death of Beha'dur Shah prevented this success froni be- 

 ing pursued, and the confusion which followed that event, was favorable 

 to the Sikhs. Banda defeated Islam Kha'n, the viceroy of Lahore, and' 

 one of his fanatic followers stabbed Ba'yezid Kha'Nj the governor of 

 Sarhind, who had marched out of that town to encounter this army, ThiSj 

 however, was the last of Banda's successful atrocities. Abdal Sa'mad 

 Kha'n, a general of great reputation, was detached, with a large army, by 

 the emperor Farakhseir, against the Sikhs, whom he defeated in a very 

 desperate a61:ion, in which, agreeable to Muhammedan authors, Banda 

 performed prodigies of valor, and was only obliged to give way to the 

 superior numbers and discipline of the imperialists. The Sikhs were 

 never able to make a stand after this defeat, and were hunted, like wild 

 beasts, from one strong hold to another, by the army of the emperc^, by^ 

 whom their leader, and his most devoted followers, were at last taken, 

 after having suffered every extreme of hunger and fatigue.* 



Abdal Sa'mad Kha'n put to death great numbers of the 5/^5, after 

 the surrender of Ldhgad', the fortress in which they took refuge ; but sent 

 Banda, and the principal chiefs of the tribe, to Deh/i, where they were 



* They were taken in tlie fort of Lohgad', which is one hundred miles io (he North-East 

 of Lahore. This fortress was cornph'fcly surrbunded, and (he -S /A/; AMvere only starved into 

 surrender, having been reduced to such exlrcraes, that they were reported to have eaten, what 

 io thera must have been most horrible, the flesh of the cow. 



