Battle of Gurdas Nangal

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Battle of Gurdas Nangal
Part of
Mughal–Sikh Wars
Date1 April – 7 December 1715
(8 months and 1 week)
Location
Result Mughal Victory[1]
Territorial
changes
Fall of the First Sikh State of Banda Singh and all of his territories are captured by the Mughals.
Belligerents
First Sikh State Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
Banda Singh Surrendered  Executed
Baj Singh Surrendered  Executed
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

The Battle of Gurdas Nangal took place in April 1715 between the

Lahore’s troops, consisting of 10,000 men under Abd al-Samad Khan, marched from the south. Finally, Jammu troops numbering nearly 5,000, under Zakariya Khan, approached from the north. To the west of the fort was the River Ravi, which had no bridge over it. All the boats had been withdrawn to the opposite bank, which was closely guarded by numerous local chiefs and Mughal government officials. The Mughal pursuit made it so the Sikhs could not enter the fort at Gurdaspur. Thus, the Sikh army quickly turned west.[citation needed
]

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

trenches all around the enclosure. The battle then commenced at the beginning of April 1715. The news of the battle reached Farrukhsiyar
on 17 April 1715. The siege lasted a little over eight months. The whole summer from April to June, the entire rainy season from July to September, and half of winter from October to the beginning of December passed during the siege, with frequent sorties and occasional skirmishes.

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.

Articles recovered from the enclosure
Item Quantity
Swords 1000
Shields 278
Small Kirpans 217
Matchlocks 180
Bows and Quivers 173
Daggers 114
Silver Rupees 600
Gold
Mohars
23
Gold Ornaments 11

References