Battle of Amritsar (1738)

The Battle of Amritsar was fought in 1738 by the Sikh forces led by Nawab Kapur Singh and the Mughal forces led by Qazi Abdul Rehman.

This article is about the Battle of Amritsar, a conflict that took place in the year 1738. For other Battles of Amritsar, see Battle of Amritsar (disambiguation).
Battle of Amritsar
Part of Mughal-Sikh Wars
Date1738
Location
Amritsar
Result Sikh Victory
Belligerents
Dal Khalsa Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nawab Kapur Singh
Sukha Singh
Braj Singh		 Qazi Abdul Rehman †
Strength
Unknown 2,000

Background

In 1737, Zakariya Khan took Amritsar, the holy city of the Sikhs and blocked them from visiting the Golden Temple. An army of 2,000 Mughals always guarded the gurudwara. Qazi Abdul Razzaq was chosen to be the controller of Amritsar.[1] The Sikhs would disguise themselves during midnight and would take a dip in the holy water, not afraid of death.[2] When they were seen, they would often be taken prisoner or slain.[3] One time the Qazi announced that the Sikhs could not face them. This infuriated Nawab Kapur Singh and the Sikhs started planning for a battle.[4]

Battle

One day Sukha Singh and Braj Singh, the nephew of Bhai Mani Singh went for a dip and went back to join a few hundred Sikhs outside.[5] Abdul Rehman thought that it was only two Sikhs and decided to follow them, only to be attacked by the Sikhs waiting outside.[6] Instead of retreating they attacked the Sikhs, only to suffer heavy losses and Abdul Rehman to be killed.[7]

Aftermath

After the death of Qazi Abdul Rehman, Amritsar was in the control of Massa Ranghar who changed the Golden Temple into a place to enjoy the nautch. On 11 August 1740, he was slain by Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh Bhangu.[8][9][10]

References
  1. Sohan Singh Seetal (1971). Rise of the Sikh Power and Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. p. 178.
  2. Singh, Ganda (1990). Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. p. 26.
  3. John Malcolm (1812). Sketch of the Sikhs. p. 88.
  4. Baljit Singh (3 April 2019). The Sikh Generals (PDF). p. 13.
  5. Surinder Singh Johar (2002). The Sikh Sword to Power. p. 54.
  6. Surjit Singh Gandhi (1999). Sikhs In The Eighteenth Century. Singh Bros. p. 102. ISBN 9788172052171.
  7. G.S. Chhabra (1960). Advanced study in History of the Punjab. p. 363.
  8. Fenech, E. Louis; Mcleod, H. W. (2014-06-11). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  9. Fenech, E. Louis; Mcleod, H. W. (2014-06-11). "Sukha Singh". Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. xxvi. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  10. Singha, Dr H. S. (2005). Sikh Studies. Hemkunt Press. ISBN 9788170102588.

See also


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