Indian campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded India eight times between 1748 and 1767. After the assassination of Nadir Shah, Ahmad Shah Durrani succeeded the throne of Afghanistan and started plundering wealth from nearby regions. In the Chota Ghalughara and Vada Ghalughara, Abdali managed to massacre many through ambush, but in the end, Abdali retreated when he encountered the Sikhs on his way to India on the banks of river Chenab. That was his last invasion he would ever do as shortly after he died. After Durrani returned to Afghanistan, the Sikhs rebelled and annexed several cities in the Punjab region. His repeated incursions destroyed the Mughal empire and at Panipat, dealt a major blow to Maratha dominions in the North and created a power vacuum. His objectives were met through the raids (taking the wealth and destroying sacred places belonging to the Indians) and caused political issues in India.

Objectives of his Indian invasions

Ahmed Shah Abdali invaded India eight times from 1748 to 1767. The frequency of his repeated invasions reflected his "tireless energy, ambition" and purpose. It was "necessary" for Abdali to invade a "rich but poorly defended neighbouring country" India to plunder and exploit her resources. He also wanted to establish "political hegemony" in India. During his time, the Mughal empire was disintegrating and he was "eager to step into the shoes of the decadent Mughal authority" to fill up the "political vacuum without any loss of time".

First Invasion

Main article: Battle of Manupur (1748)

Durrani attacked India in 1748. He had faced Mughal, Rajput and Sikh coalitions in Sirhind, Ahmad Shah's Afghan troops swept aside the Mughal army's left flank (of Rajput stock) and raided their baggage train but a fire beginning in a captured rocket cart went on to ignite the Durrani artillery store, roasting thousands of soldiers alive and forcing Ahmad Shah Durrani's retreat. After the retreat of Durrani, Sikh bands under Charat Singh continued to harass them as they retreated to Kabul. he had to return home in failure. He lost to the Mughal soldiers, Rajput force's and Sikhs of the Phulkian Misl (also known as the Patiala State).

Second Invasion

Ahmad Shah Durrani marched on India the next year to avenge his defeat. This invasion resulted in the Afghans achieving victory and taking control of the territory to the west of Indus. He made an alliance with Nawab Muzaffar Khan of Multan and Ahmed Khan Sial of Jhang. This paved the way for his invasion of Punjab.

Third Invasion

Main article: Battle of Lahore (1752)

In the winter of 1751, he invaded India for the third time on the pretext that Mir Mannu, the Mughal governor of the province of Punjab, had refused to pay him tax which he had promised to give on a monthly basis. Abdali started the battle by successfully besieging Mannu in the Lahore Fort. Though Mannu wrote to the Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur for help, he received no reinforcements from Delhi. Failing to put up a fight, he surrendered to Abdali on 6 March 1752. After signing the instrument of surrender, Abdali's forces looted and plundered the city. On his orders, nine hundred Sikhs who were trapped in the fort of Ram Rauni were killed. But Abdali was impressed by the "heroic fight" put up by the Mughal governor; so he appointed him as the province's governor on his own behalf. Abdali also conferred him the title "Farzand Khan Bahadur Rustam-e-Hind".

Consequently, Mannu held a reception at Lahore in honour of Abdali. He also signed a peace treaty under which the two territories of Punjab – Multan and Lahore - were to be ceded to Abdali's Afghan empire. Once the treaty was signed, Abdali sent his troops to Multan to take possession of the city and some of his men to Delhi to confirm the treaty with the Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Bahadur, with advice from the royal advisor Javed Khan, put his seal on the treaty on 3 April, which cut Punjab from the Mughal empire. At that time, the wazir of Delhi Safdar Jang was in Awadh to suppress a rebellion. He returned at the end of the month with fresh recruits to confront Abdali, but learned of the treaty and retreated.

Fourth Invasion

Main articles: Battle of Bharatpur (1757) and Battle of Amritsar (1757)

Ahmed Shah Durrani invaded again along with his son Timur Shah Durrani in 1756 on the invitation of Mughlani Begum, the wife of Mir Mannu, late subedar of Punjab under Mughal Empire. They conquered the Mughal cities of Lahore, Sirhind, Delhi, Mathura, Vrindavan. And they were able to take women slaves including daughters of late emperor Muhammad Shah and Alamgir II along with of other Hindu women from towns of Mathura, Vrindavan and Agra.

Further the troops of Adina Beg fought together against Afghans at Hoshiarpur. Later troops of 20,000 horsemen of Timur Shah Durrani was defeated and captured by Sikhs. This resulted in insecurity in mind of Adina Beg, who invited the Marathas, who had taken Delhi to come to Punjab and recapture Lahore resulting in the Maratha conquest of North-west India. Marathas rout Afghans from Lahore by March 1758. Adina became subedar of Punjab, by promising 75 lakh rupees a year to be paid to Marathas. The Chief Qazi of Lahore fearing Hindu domination by Marathas invited Ahmed Shah Abdali to Punjab, causing his sixth invasion.

• Durrani occupation of Delhi (1757)
• Battle of Bharatpur (1757)

It was fought between Jats and Abdali's forces. Maharaja Surajmal's troops fought against him in Ballabgarh, Chaumunha, Gokul, Kumher and in Bharatpur. At last Abdali had to leave the war and retreat. During this he ruined and looted the holy places of Mathura and Vrindavan.

• Battle of Amritsar (1757)

The battle was fought between the Nihang Sikhs of the Shaheedan Misl and the Afghans. In this battle the Nihang Sikhs of the Shaheedan Misl decisively won. Although their leader Baba Deep Singh ji was martyred.

Fifth invasion

Gold coin of Ahmad Shah Durrani, minted in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi), dated 1760/1

• Battle of Lahore (1759)
• Battle of Attock (1758)
• Battle of Peshawar (1758)
• Battle of Barari Ghat
• Second Battle of Sikandarabad (1760)
• Siege of Kunjpura (1760)
• Third Battle of Panipat (1761)
• Battle of Gujranwala (1761)
• Battle of Sialkot (1761)
• Siege of Lahore (1761) .

The Fifth Invasion was the most crucial of the invasions. In this invasion, the Marathas lost the battle of Panipat and lost Delhi, Punjab, Lahore, Multan and Attock. They lost many civilians and soldiers and Ahmed Shah Durrani freely plundered them. Later, in all his next invasions, he fought against the Sikhs on every occasion, where he was less successful and the Sikhs became stronger. In the end the Sikhs drove him away from India all the way back to the Indus.

Sixth Invasion

• Skirmish of Gokul

The Naga Sadhus were camping in a small village when the Afghan Soldiers were going towards the city of Mathura. They saw them and since the Naga Sadhus were armed with Trishools and daggers they tried to fight the Afghans. Naga Sadhus were easily defeated by the Afghans.

Seventh Invasion

• Battle of Harnaulgarh
• Battle of Amritsar (1762)
• Battle of Kup also known as Sikh genocide of 1762.
• Battle of Sialkot (1763)

In November 1766 Abdali came to the Punjab for the eight time with the avowed object of "crushing the Sikhs". The Sikhs had recourse to their old game of Dhai-phut('hit, run and turn back to hit again') tactics (later made famous at the Battle of Chillianwala against the British). They vacated Lahore, but faced squarely the Afghan general, Jahan Khan at Amritsar. Inflicting a humiliating defeat, and forcing him to retreat, with five thousand Afghan soldiers killed. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia with an army of about twenty thousand Sikhs roamed in the neighbourhood of the Afghan camp, plundering it.

Eighth Invasion (1764–1767)

• Battle of Sirhind (1764)

Jassa Singh continued with his campaigns. After Abdali's ninth and last invasion in 1769, Jassa Singh wrested Kapurthala in 1774 from Rao Ibrahim Bhatti and made it his headquarters and capital. This later became the Kapurthala State.

Overview

Ahmad Shah Abdali had accompanied Nadir Shah to Delhi in 1739, and had seen the weakness of the ruler there. To pay for the maintenance of the army, he had to conquer new lands.

In 1747, Ahmad Shah then began his career as head of the Abdali tribe by capturing Ghazni from the Ghilzai Pashtuns, and then wresting Kabul from the local ruler, and thus strengthened his hold over most of present-day Afghanistan. Leadership of the various Afghan tribes rested mainly on the ability to provide booty for the clan, and Ahmed Shah proved remarkably successful in providing both booty and occupation for his followers. Apart from invading the Punjab three times between the years 1747–1753, he captured territory to the west as well.

In December 1747, Ahmed Shah set out from Peshawar and arrived at the Indus river-crossing at Attock. From there, he sent his messenger to Lahore but reception from Shah Nawaz was frosty. When Ahmed Shah reached the bank of the Ravi on 8 January 1748, the Lahore army of 70,000 prepared to oppose the invader. The Pashtun army crossed over on 10 January and the battle was joined on the 11th. Ahmed Shah had only 30,000 horsemen, and no artillery. But during the Battle of Manupur (1748), a force of 5,000 Pathans of Qasoor under Jamal Khan defected to his side, and he was able to crush the poorly trained forces of Lahore. Shah Nawaz fled to Delhi, and Adina Beg was equally fast in running away to the Jalandhar area.

Ahmed Shah entered the city on 12 January 1748, and set free Moman Khan and Lakhpat Rai. He then ordered a general massacre. Towards evening, the prominent leaders of the city including Moman Khan, Lakhpat Rai and Surat Singh collected a sum of three million rupees and offered it as expenses to Abdali, requesting him to halt the looting and slaughter. Ahmed Shah appointed Jamal Khan of Qasoor Governor of Lahore, and Lakhpat Rai his minister, and restoring law and order around the town by 18 February, he set out towards Delhi.

Meanwhile, in the preceding three years, the Sikhs had occupied the city of Lahore, and Ahmed Shah had to return in 1751 to oust them.

Then in 1756/57, in what was his fourth invasion of India, Ahmed Shah sacked Delhi looting every corner of that city and enriching himself with what remained of that city's wealth after Nadir Shah's invasion in 1739. However, he did not displace the Mughal dynasty, which remained in nominal control as long as the ruler acknowledged Ahmad's suzerainty over the Punjab, Sindh, and Kashmir. He installed a puppet Emperor, Alamgir II, on the Mughal throne, and arranged marriages for himself and his son Timur into the Imperial family that same year. Leaving his second son Timur Shah (who was wed to the daughter of Alamgir II) to safeguard his interests, Ahmad finally left India to return to Afghanistan. On his way back, Ahmed Shah captured Amritsar (1757), and sacked the Sikhs' holy temple of Golden Temple.

In 1761, Ahmad Shah and Marathas were at war, called the Third Battle of Panipat with heavy casualties on both sides. Ahmed shah returned to kabul and after ten years Maratha army recaptured Delhi in 1771 and in 1772 Marathas invaded rohilkhand doab area. Marathas looted and devastated of rohilas and pathans in rohilkhand.

As early as by the end of 1761, the Sikhs had begun to occupy much of Punjab. In 1762, Ahmad Shah crossed the passes from Afghanistan for the sixth time to crush the Sikhs. He assaulted Lahore and Amritsar (the holy city of the Sikhs), massacred thousands of Sikh inhabitants, destroyed their temples and again desecrated their holy places.

Within two years, the Sikhs rebelled again, and he launched another campaign against them in December 1764. However, he soon had to depart from India and hastened westward to quell an insurrection in Afghanistan.

After the departure of Ahmad Shah Durrani, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia attacked Sirhind and in the Battle of Sirhind (1764), the Afghan Governor Zain Khan Sirhindi was killed. Jassa Singh also paid a visit to Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, and restored it to its original shape after defilement by Durrani.

Later the Sikhs under Hari Singh Nalwa Campaigned against the Afghans in the third phase of the Afghan Sikh wars and they took even the Winter capital of the Afghans Peshawar, Decisively defeating Afghans in Battle of Nowshera which led to their occupation of the Peshawar Valley.

Following their victory, the Sikhs destroyed the Afghan royal court and the fort of Bala Hissar, Peshawar. However, Hari Singh Nalwa soon commenced the reconstruction of the fort.

References

• Mehta, Jaswant Lal (January 2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813. Sterling Publishers. ISBN 9781932705546.
• Kohli, Surinder Singh (1990). The Sikh and Sikhism. Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. ISBN 9788171160938.