Battle of Bhilowal | |||||||
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Part of Mughal-Sikh Wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
First Sikh State | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Banda Singh Bahadur | Mir Mohammad † Attaullan Khan † Mohabbat Khan † Murtaza Khan † Pahar Mal † Haji Babar Beg † Mir Inayat Ali † Pir Muhammad † Mirza Naki (WIA) Many Other Leaders Killed | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
20,000 | 50,000-60,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Massive |
The Battle of Bhilowal was fought in October 1710 by the Sikh forces led by Banda Singh Bahadur and the Mughal forces led by Mir Mohammad.
In 1710 the Muslims of the Lahore province declared jihad on the Sikhs and led an expedition against the Sikhs called Haidri Jhanda (Flag of Haidar) to expel the entire Sikh population in one blow. [4] [5] The Mughals amassed an army of 50,000 while the Sikhs could only raise an army of around 20,000.[ citation needed ] The Mughal mujahedeen hoisted the Haidri flag. [6] The Mughals had first besieged an army of the Sikhs in Kahnuwan but after a month of fighting were defeated. A Sikh contingent went to Bharatpur in situated in the banks of Ravi River and hid in a mansion of a Kshatriya named Bhagwant.[ citation needed ] A Mughal contingent found out about the Sikhs hideout and laid siege to the mansion. The Sikhs routed this contingent and took this as a chance to escape.[ citation needed ] The Mughals then put up camp at Bhilowal, soon planning to march towards Lahore. The Sikhs after finding out about this marched quickly there to attack the Mughals.[ citation needed ]
The Mughals delayed their march to Lahore. The Sikhs suddenly fell upon them. The horses were standing so the Sikhs took them and went to battle. [7] The Sikhs were out of bullets so they drew out their kirpans. [8] A Muslim Rajput in the Mughal Army named Ataullan Khan shouted to his soldiers to flee or die. The Mughals left innumerable amount of bodies before fleeing. [9] [10] [11] [12] Bhagat Lachhman Singh in his Sikh Martyrs says "Some Turks (archaic word for Muslim) were cut down while fleeing, some struck against the trees and other impediments and fell; some broke their skulls, some lost their eyes." [13]
This battle left many important Mughal leaders to perish.[ citation needed ] They had collected immense booty and left for the hills.[ citation needed ] After this event, the Sikhs fought the Mughals again in the Battle of Rahon.
Mirza Muhammad Mu'azzam, commonly known as Bahadur Shah I and Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal Emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth. He was also governor of the imperial provinces of Agra, Kabul and Lahore and had to face revolts of Rajputs and Sikhs.
The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the British East India Company in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. It was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous misls. At its peak in the 19th century, the empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east as far as Oudh. It was divided into four provinces: Lahore, which became the Sikh capital; Multan; Peshawar; and Kashmir from 1799 to 1849. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 4.5 million in 1831, it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the British Empire.
Guru Nanak founded the Sikh religion in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century and opposed many traditional practices like fasting, Upanayana, idolatry, caste system, ascetism, azan, economic materialism, and gender discrimination.
The Bhangi Misl was a large and powerful Sikh Misl headquartered in Amritsar. It was founded in the early 18th century by Sardar Chhajja Singh Dhillon, who was baptised by Banda Singh Bahadur. The misl received its name "Bhangi" because Chhajja Singh and his soldiers frequently used the herbal intoxicant bhang. It was a first misl to established a Khalsa Raj and publish Khalsa currency coins. The Bhangi Kingdom/Misl was founded by Dhillon Jats.
The Sikh Rule in Lahore initiated from the conquest and rule of the Sikh Misls and extended till the Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh which ended in 1849. The Sikhs began gaining power following the decline of the Mughal Empire in Punjab and consisted of a collection of autonomous Punjabi Misls, which were governed by Misldars, mainly in the Punjab region.
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Adina Beg Khan was a general, administrator, and statesman from the Punjab region who served as the Nawab of Punjab from April 1758 until his death in September of the same year. He began his career as a Patwari (accountant) and later as a Sepoy after joining the Mughal army, eventually drawing the attention of the Punjabi nobles. After serving through various posts in Punjab, he was recognised as the Nawab by Emperor Alamgir II during the power vacuum in 1758, earning the title Zafar Jang Bahadur.
Banda Singh Bahadur; born Lachman Dev;, was a Sikh warrior and a general of the Khalsa Army. At age 15, he left home to become an ascetic, and was given the name Madho Das Bairagi. He established a monastery at Nānded, on the bank of the river Godāvarī. In 1707, Guru Gobind Singh accepted an invitation to meet Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I in southern India, he visited Banda Singh Bahadur in 1708. Banda became disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and was given a new name, Gurbaksh Singh(as written in Mahan Kosh), after the baptism ceremony. He is popularly known as Banda Singh Bahadur. He was given five arrows by the Guru as a blessing for the battles ahead. He came to Khanda, Sonipat and assembled a fighting force and led the struggle against the Mughal Empire.
Lohgarh is a historic town in Bilaspur tehsil of Yamunanagar district of Haryana in India. It was the capital of First Sikh State under Baba Banda Singh Bahadur from 1710 to 1716.
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The Battle of Lohgarh was fought between the First Sikh State, and the Mughal Empire in 1710. The Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah's army moved towards Lohgarh, Bilaspur where they engaged with the Sikhs to capture the fort on 16 December 1710. The battle is noted for its use of guerilla tactics and being a pitched battle.
The Battle of Samana was fought between the Khalsa under the leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur and the Mughal Government of Samana in 1709. Following the battle, Banda Singh Bahadur shook the administration of Delhi.
The siege of Jalalabad occurred in 1710 between the Mughal forces of Jalal Khan and the Sikh forces of Banda Singh Bahadur. Banda Singh Bahadur attacked the Mughal stronghold of Jalalabad. The army opposing Banda Singh was composed of a sizeable number of the Mughal zamindars and shurafa, including many Sadat, Banda Singh Bahadur repelled Mughal and Pathan forces after four days from the battlefield and back into the town, but failed to capture the town and withdrew.
The Battle of Chappar Chiri, also called Battle of Sirhind, was fought between Mughal Empire and the Sikhs on 12 May 1710 at Chappar Chiri, located 20 kilometers from Sirhind.
The Battle of Rahon was fought between Sikhs and Mughal Empire on 11 October 1710.
Isa Khan Manj, was a Punjabi Muslim warlord from the Manj tribe of the cis-Sutlej territory in the Mughal Empire. He is credited with the killing of the Mughal prince Azam Shah during the Battle of Jajau, and for establishing an independent territory that defied Mughal authority.
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