Battle of Amritsar (1709)

On 29 March 1709 during Vaisakhi, the Sikhs held a gathering at Amritsar. Chuhar Mall Ohri, a Khatri had a son named Ramu Mall. A dispute between the Sikhs and Ramu Mall arose, on the issue of some mulberry trees.[1][2] Ramu got so mad that he started cussing on Guru Granth Sahib. This made the Sikhs enraged and they gave Ramu a beating. Upon learning about this Chuhar Mall was infuriated. Bhai Mani Singh tried to pacify him but he was so aggressive that he announced his attention to expel Sikhs from Amritsar.[1] Chuhar asked Aslam Khan who asked Har Sahai, the chief of Patti to attack Amritsar. A few days later a large army set up camps outside the Golden Temple hoisting the Mughal flag. From Lahore, carts full of bullets and gunpowder had arrived.[3]

Learning about the invasion of Har Sahai, the Sikhs were prepared for a battle. A battle was fought on the 6th of April. Many Sayyids and Brahmins were killed in action.[4] Har Sahai was killed by Bhai Tara Singh Wan.[1] Then Aslam Khan sent Chaudary Deva Jatt with men and munitions of war from Lahore to march against the Sikhs.[4] On April 12, the Sikhs defeated this army. Chaudary Deva Jatt fled the battle.[5][6]

When Aslam Khan learned about the defeat, he was in tears. Aslam sent a note to the Mughal emperor requesting to attack Amritsar again. Bahadur Shah I wrote a letter to Aslam saying "Have you lost your mind! The House of Nanak is eternal; you have raised your sword against it."[3] The Sikhs were also rich in a lot of ammunition and other valuable items for war.[1]

• Nihang
• Martyrdom and Sikhism