134 
W. Irvine —Guru Gobind Siqgh ctnd Bandah. 
[No. 3, 
where we want it, namely, half-way between Nahan and Sadhaura. 
Dakar (with the Hindi, or cerebral d) must have been the name of the 
region round Mukhlispur. It is described as “a place seven or eight Jcos 
“ from Sadhaura, near the northern hills, and on the edge of it is a 
“ small hill, difficult of access, on which Islam Khan, son of Sher Khan, 
a Sur, in his day of brief authority, began to build a strong fortress, 
“ under the name of Pavagarh. It was left unfinished at his death, 
“ and fell into ruins, parts of which still remain. Bandah restored 
“ and extended these ruins. 1 ” 
Here the Sikhs had built a strong fort as a place of refuge, ap¬ 
parently the first to resort to this quarter haying been Guru Gobind 
Siijgh, in the period of seclusion succeeding his father, Tegh Bahadur’s, 
death. The name given to the stronghold was Lohgarh, or Iron Fort, 
either in allusion to the prominence of iron in the Guru’s new ritual, 
or with reference to the fort’s supposed impregnability. Its exact 
situation cannot be determined, but it was about half-way between the 
towns of Kalian (in Sirmur) and Sadhaura (Sirkar Sirhind) ; probably 
it stood on some spur of the hills over-looking one of the dry, stony, 
torrent beds, or rads, which form such a peculiar feature of the hill 
country and its border-land, both there and in the north of the Saha- 
ranpur district. The fort may have been on the Som rao, or more 
probably, on the rao still bearing the name of Lohgarh. 2 Roughly 
speaking, it lay some twelve miles to the north-east of Sadhaura. 
Here the Guru stood at bay, having the walls of the fort mounted with 
small cannon and pierced for musketry. 3 
At Lohgarh, Bandah tried to assume something of regal state. He 
was the Sacd Padshah, or Veritable Sovereign, his disciples all Siyghs, 
or lions. A new form of greeting, Path dard.s (May you behold victory !), 
was invented, and Muhammadans were slightingly called Maslah. Coin 
was struck in the new sovereign’s name. One side bore the lines : 
Sihkah zad bar har do i ddam teah-i-Ndnah wahib ast, 
Path Gobind, Shah-i-shdlidn fazl-i-Saca Sahib ast . 
If we are to judge by this halting, obscure verse, Bandah was a 
better warrior than he was poet. The lines, an obvious imitation of 
the inscriptions on the Mu gh al coins, seem to mean “ Fath Gobind, 
“ king of kings, struck coin in the two worlds, the sword of Nanak is 
“ the granter of desires, by grace he is the veritable Lord.” On the 
1 “ Anonymous Fragment,” fob 14 b. This work is tract No. 4, in a miscel¬ 
laneous volume, formerly in the library of Dr. Lee, now owned by me. Salim Shah 
(Islam Khan) reigned 1545-1553. 
2 Indian Atlas, sheet No. 48. 
3 Kamwar Khan, 79. 
