128 
W. Irvine —Guru Cobind Sirjgh and Bandah. 
[No. 3, 
him to submit. He lived at a town founded by him, and called Jalala¬ 
bad ; it lies about thirty miles south of Saharanpur and about twenty 
miles west of Deoband. The town is surrounded by a wall, and many 
Afghan soldiers had their homes there. When the Sikh messengers 
came before Jalal Khan, he ordered them to be paraded derisively 
through the streets and ejected from the town. Immediate preparations 
were made for its defence. Soon word was brought that the Sikhs bad 
surrounded two large villages, dependent on and situated four or five 
miles from Jalfilabad. The chief sent out a strong force to relieve these 
villages, putting at its head Ghulam Muhammad Khan, his grandson, 
and Hizbar Khan, his cousin. Encouraged by the arrival of reinforce¬ 
ments, the villagers, four or five hundred men, armed with matchlocks 
or bows, and a number of their tenantry armed in various ways, many 
with only slings and stones, came out boldly to disperse the Sikhs. In 
the fight, Hizbar Khan and a number of both Muhammadans and vil¬ 
lagers lost their lives. But, in the end, pressed by repeated onslaughts 
from the Af gh ans, the Sikhs gave way. 1 2 * * 
Other contests followed between the Sikhs and Jalal Khan, and the 
former were repulsed two or three times. In spite of these reverses, 
they persisted in their attempts against the town. Seventy to eighty 
thousand men had collected from all parts. The assailants prepared 
two or three hundred movable batteries, formed of planks and mounted 
on cart-wheels. Jalalabad was closely invested. When these batteries 
were brought to the foot of the walls and close to the town gate, the Sikhs 
showered from them bullets and arrows and stones upon the Af gh ans. 
i 
then with cries of Fath Bards four or five hundred men, carrying 
mattocks and other tools, rushed forward, intending to dig through the 
earthen wall, to affix ladders, and to set fire to the gates. At such mo¬ 
ments, the Af gh ans threw open the gates and, sword in hand, with their 
shields raised before their faces, made a rush upon the foe. At each 
sally they cut down two or three hundred of the Sikhs, at the same 
time losing many lives on their own side. At night-time other 
sallies were made, Avhen the besiegers were caught unawares and 
put to the sword. For twenty days the besieged found no proper 
leisure to eat their food or to take rest. In the end, after losing some 
thousands of men, the Sikhs withdrew without having been able to 
take the town. 8 
When the outbreak in Sirhind and the defeat of Wazir Khan 
1 Khafi Khan, II, 655. 
2 Khafi Khan, II, 656. The Emperor received Jalal Khan’s report of these 
events on the 15th Jamadi I, 1122 (11th July, 1710),—Kamwar Khan, (entry of 
that date). 
