Battle of Bilaspur | |||||||
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Part of Banda Singh Bahadur's invasion of the Hill States | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
First Sikh State | Kahlur Assisted by: 21 Hill States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Banda Singh Bahadur Baghar Singh Ranjor Singh Bajar Singh Kehar Singh Ranjit Singh | Raja Ajmer Chand | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
5 accompanied voluntary by a large number of Sikhs | 1,300 Mian Rajputs 7 war elephants | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Entire Army [2] |
The Battle of Bilaspur was fought in 1711 by Sikh forces led by Banda Singh Bahadur and the rulers of the Sivalik Hills led by Raja Ajmer Chand of Princely State of Kahlur (Bilaspur).
After fighting for Punjab against the Mughal Empire and suffering defeat in the Battle of Lohgarh, Banda Singh Bahadur launched an attack towards the Hill States. [3] He established his headquarters at Kiratpur Sahib and positioned his troops at Anandpur Sahib. [4] He warned Kahlur to prepare for battle, feeling frustrated that this state always helped Mughals against Guru Gobind Singh. [5] [6]
After hearing this, the Raja of Kahlur positioned around 1,300 Mian Rajputs and seven war elephants. [2] [7]
Banda Singh first sent only five Sikh warriors towards the fort who were accompanied voluntarily by a large number of Sikhs. [3] These five Sikhs were Baghar Singh, Ranjor Singh, Bajar Singh, Kehar Singh and Ranjit Singh. [8] [9] Kehar, Ranjor and Ranjit Singh managed to slay all the war elephants. Bajar Singh broke down the fort's door and started to kill the enemy along with Baghar Singh. Then a large number of Sikhs arrived and assaulted the fort. [3] At last, Kahlur was defeated with a heavy cost of 1,300 lives. [10] [11]
After this crushing defeat, the Sikhs ruthlessly plundered Bilaspur. [12] Mandi was the next target of the Khalsa. Raja Sudh Sain of Mandi declared himself as a follower of Guru Nanak and turned himself to Banda Singh. [13]
Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth and last human Sikh Guru. He was a warrior, poet, and philosopher. In 1675, at the age of nine he was formally installed as the leader of the Sikhs after his father Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed by Emperor Aurangzeb. His father was the ninth Sikh Guru. His four biological sons died during his lifetime – two in battle and two executed by the Mughal governor Wazir Khan.
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.
Dal Khalsa was the name of the combined military forces of 11 Sikh misls that operated in the 18th century (1748–1799) in the Punjab region. It was established by Nawab Kapur Singh in late 1740s.
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 Battle of Bhangani was fought between Guru Gobind Singh's army and Bhim Chand (Kahlur) of Bilaspur on 18 September 1686 or 1688, at Bhangani near Paonta Sahib. An alliance of Rajput Rajas of the Shivalik Hills participated in the engagement on behalf of Bhim Chand of Bilaspur State's side, including the states of Garhwal and Kangra. It was the first battle Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, fought at the age of 19.
The Battle of Nadaun, alternatively known as the Hussaini Yudh, was fought at Nadaun, between Raja Bhim Chand of Bilaspur (Kahlur) and the Mughals under Alif Khan. Bhim Chand was supported by Guru Gobind Singh and the Mughals were supported by other hill chieftains, notably Kirpal Chand from Kangra and Dayal Chand from Bijharwal. Bhim Chand and some hill chieftains, after conclusion of Battle of Bhangani had refused to pay tribute to the Mughal emperor which led to the battle at Nadaun. The battle resulted in the victory of Bilaspur State and Sikh alliance.
The second siege of Anandpur, also known as the second battle of Anandpur (1704), was a siege at Anandpur, between Sikhs and the Mughal governors, dispatched by Aurangzeb, Wazir Khan, Dilwaar Kahn and Zaberdast Khan, and aided by the vassal Rajas of the Sivalik Hills which lasted from May 1704 to 19 December 1704.
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.
Banda Singh Bahadur, 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.
Binod Singh, a Trehan Khatri and a descendant of Guru Angad, was an army man and disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and was among few Sikhs who accompanied him to Nanded in 1706. In Budha Dal Chronicles, Guru Gobind Singh made Baba Binod Singh the head of the Khalsa.
The Battle of Basoli was fought between the Mughal Empire and the Sikhs.
The first siege of Anandpur was a thirty-five-day-long siege at Anandpur led by the Rajas of the Sivalik Hills and the Gujar and Ranghar tribesmen against the armies of the Sikh under Guru Gobind Singh.
Bhim Chand was the Rajput King of Bilaspur state and Anandpur Sahib fell under his territorial area. He launched his first expedition against Guru Gobind Singh in 1682. In 1686 he conflicted with the armies of Guru Gobind Singh and his disciples in Battle of Bhangani. In 1692, Bhim Chand fought Battle of Nadaun against Mughals and came out victorious.
The Hill States–Sikh wars, also known as the Sikh–Pahari Raja wars, was a set of battles and conflicts fought by the Sikhs and the rajas (kings) of the Hill States located in the Sivalik Hills.
The Battle of Anandpur (1685) was fought between the Sikhs and an allied force of rajas of the Hill States of the Sivalik range, specifically Kahlur, Kangra, and Guler.
Banda Singh Bahadur's invasion of the Hill States was a Sikh military invasion of the Hill States.
The Battle of Talwara was fought in 1770 by the Sikh forces led by Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and the Kangra forces led by Raja Ghamand Chand.
The First Sikh State was a breakaway and short lived sovereign Sikh state during the 18th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent that existed from 1709 to 1715. It was established by Banda Singh Bahadur after the Battle of Samana and lasted until his defeat in the Battle of Gurdas Nangal.