Life of Ahmad — Page 12
AHMAD’S as FOREFATHERS as 12 alcohol. He died in about 1800 A. D. (It may be remarked here that this refusal to take brandy in the circumstances was really an example of over-cautious piety. In such an extreme case there is nothing religiously wrong in it). Mirza Gul Muhammad was succeeded by his son Mirza ‘A ta Muhammad. By this time the Sikhs had risen to power and those of Ramgarh entered into a league with some of the neighbouring families. The state became so crippled that out of 84 villages of the Ta‘alluqa of Qadian yielding an annual income of Rs. eight lacs, 2 only the capital was left. Qadian was then like a fortress, being surrounded by a wall 22 feet high and about 18 feet wide. There were four towers in which was lodged the army with a few guns. At last, possibly in 1802, the Sikhs of Ramgarh, Jassa Singh or his followers, found their way into Qadian through treachery, and the members of the family were all made prisoners. Everything was looted. Mosques and buildings were pulled down, and one of the mosques was turned into a Gurdaw a ra , i. e. , a Sikh temple, which can be seen to this day. The whole of the library containing a large number of valuable books was burnt to ashes. A number of people were killed, but the members of the family were spared and on a cold wintry night they were all expelled from Qadian. They had to leave the town by night, shivering with 2 Shamsheer Khalsa Part II, page 284, by Giy a n Singh, Guru Gubind Singh Press, Sialkot, 1892.