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W. Irvine —Guru Gobind Sirjgh and Bandah. 
[No 3, 
and other places, in the duabah of Baith Jalandhar. They wrote in the 
form of a pancdnah (that is, as if he were their subordinate) to Shams 
Khan, the faujdar, calling on him to submit, to send such supplies as 
they needed, and to come out to escort them in, bringing with him such 
money as he might have in his treasury. Shams Khan, by the advice 
of the chief men of the town, gave the messengers the answer, that he 
could not send the powder and lead they asked for, as he required the 
necessary carriage for his friends and followers. The shops in the bazar 
were full of lead, and he had store-house upon store-house full of powder. 
If they furnished means of conveyance, a supply would be sent. 
Shams Khan then took the field at the head of four thousand to 
five thousand horsemen, and thirty thousand matchlockmen and bowmen, 
partly old troops and partly newly-raised men sent in by the zamindars. 
The better classes of all kinds, also the poorer classes, and many artisans, 
chiefly weavers, joined his standard, resolved to defend their homes and 
sell their lives dearly. Contributions in money were also given. 
Altogether more than one hundred thousand men had collected, and a 
start was made from Sultanpur. 1 As soon as the Sikhs heard that 
Shams Khan was coming, they moved at the head of 70,000 horse and 
foot, with the cannon taken at Sirhind, much siege materiel in the shape 
of planks and sand-bags for preparing batteries, with cart-loads of powder 
and lead. Plundering as they moved, they drew near to the town of 
Rahim, about fifty miles east of Sultanpur, before which they encamped. 
They occupied the mounds formed by some brick-kilns, and w T ith the 
bricks and debris built a sort of fort, placed entrenchments round 
their camp, and awaited an attack. They sent out foraging parties in 
all directions with menacing letters to the head revenue payers ( chau - 
dhris), and revenue officers ( qanungos ) of the parganahs, demanding 
their submission. 
Shams Khan’s supporters well knew that if he were defeated, their 
lives, families, and property would be sacrified. Therefore they ad¬ 
vanced boldly till they were about the distance of a musket-shot from 
the Sikh entrenchment. The cannonade began at three hours after 
sunrise. Thousands of balls and stones from slings fell like hail on the 
Muhammadans, but without causing much loss. Shams Khan had warned 
his troops against too hasty an advance and a useless expenditure of 
powder. They bore onward slowly and steadily. After two volleys 
from the Sikhs, the Muhammadans, reinforced by a number of their co¬ 
religionists from the country around, rushed on their foes with loud cries 
of Allahu-Akbar (God is Great). Many of the Sikhs were killed and 
wounded ; their efforts at resistance were fruitless, and in a panic, they 
1 About 40 m. W. of Ludhiana and over 80 m. W. of Sirhind. 
