Battle of Gurdas Nangal
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Battle of Gurdas Nangal | |||||||||
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Part of Mughal–Sikh Wars | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
First Sikh State | Mughal Empire | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Banda Singh Baj Singh Binod Singh Hakim Nand |
Farrukhsiyar Abd al-Samad Khan Zakariya Khan Qamar-ud-din Khan | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
1,250[2] | 35,000[3] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
300 dead 750 captured | Unknown |
History of India |
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Timeline |
The Battle of Gurdas Nangal took place in April 1715 between the
Due to all escape routes being barred, Banda Bahadur and his army rushed into the haveli of Duni Chand, which had a large open compound with a wall around it, at the village of Gurdas Nangal, 6 km to the west of Gurdaspur. In it, Banda accommodated 1,250 men along with a small number of horses.
The Sikhs dug a
Muhammad Qasim, a Mughal soldier who fought against the Sikhs in this campaign, wrote:
The brave and daring deeds of the infernal Sikhs was wonderful. Twice or thrice everyday some forty or fifty of the black-faced Sikhs came out of their enclosure to gather grass for their cattle, and, when the combined forces of the Mughals went to oppose them, they made an end of the Mughals with arrows, muskets and small swords, and disappeared. Such was the terror of the Sikhs and the fear of the sorceries of the Sikh Chief that the commanders of this army prayed that God might so ordain things that Banda should seek his safety in flight from the Garhi.
Eventually, the supplies of foodstuffs and fodder dwindled. All animals perished, and their flesh was eaten. Next, their bones and the bark of trees were powdered and eaten. Many Sikhs died of hunger and the rest were completely famished and reduced to a skeletal appearance. Seeing that resistance had completely ceased, the Mughal Army on 7 December 1715, ventured into the enclosure. About 300 Sikh men, all on the verge of death, were beheaded. Their bodies were then cut up in search of gold coins which the Mughal army believed that they had swallowed. Banda was then, along with his 750 followers, captured and taken to Delhi for execution.
Item | Quantity |
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Swords | 1000 |
Shields | 278 |
Small Kirpans | 217 |
Matchlocks | 180 |
Bows and Quivers | 173 |
Daggers | 114 |
Silver Rupees | 600 |
Gold Mohars
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23 |
Gold Ornaments | 11 |
References
- ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5.
- ISBN 81-215-0248-9.
- ISBN 81-215-0248-9.