Battle of Anandpur (1700)


The Battle of Anandpur was fought at Anandpur, between the armies of the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and the Mughal forces aided by the Nawab of Bahawalpur state, Rajas of the Sivalik Hills.[2]

Battle of Anandpur
Part of Mughal-Sikh Wars
Date1700[1]
Location
Result Sikh victory.[1]
Belligerents
Sikh flag.jpg Khalsa

Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg Mughal Empire

Commanders and leaders
Sikh flag.jpg Guru Gobind Singh
Sikh flag.jpg Bhai Daya Singh
Sikh flag.jpg Bhai Dharam Singh
Sikh flag.jpg Bhai Mohkam Singh
Sikh flag.jpg Bhai Himmat Singh
Sikh flag.jpg Bhai Sahib Singh
Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg Din BegTemplate:WIA
Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg Nahid Khan 
Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg Painde Khan  
Strength
7,000 10,000 Mughals + an unknown number of troops under hill rajas[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown, General Painde Khan was killed by Guru Gobind Singh.[1]

CauseEdit

The increasing power of Guru Gobind Singh, and his establishment of a military order (Khalsa) alarmed the Rajas of the Sivalik hills. The hill Rajas were concerned about Gobind Singh's rising power and influence in their region and following the defeat of Alim Chand and Balia Chand that unnerved the hill Rajas.[2][3] After some failed attempts to check the Guru's power, the Rajas teamed with the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and his Mughal General Wazir Khan to help them against the Guru.[2]

The Mughal viceroy of Delhi sent his generals Din Beg and Painda Khan, each with an army of five thousand men, to subdue the Guru.[4] The Mughal forces were joined by the armies of the hill chiefs at Rupar. The Guru appointed the Panj Piare, his five beloved Sikhs, as the generals of his army.[2]

BattleEdit

According to the Sikh chronicles, Guru Gobind Singh refused to play the role of an aggressor, as he had vowed never to strike except in self-defence.

In the course of along action near Anandpur, northeast of Ludhiana, Painda Khan was killed—reputedly in single combat by Guru Gobind Singh. After Painde Khan's death, Din Beg assumed the command of his troops.[5] However, he failed to overpower the Guru's forces. The hill Rajas fled from the battlefield, and Din Beg was forced to retreat after being wounded. He was pursued by the Guru's army as far as Rupar.[2]

AftermathEdit

After the Mughal generals failed to drive off the Guru from Anandpur, the hill Rajas formed an alliance and attacked Anandpur, leading to the Battle of Anandpur (1701).[6]

In popular cultureEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jacques, Tony. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Gandhi, Surjit Singh (2007). History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 815. ISBN 9788126908585.
  3. Fenech, Louis. The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh. OUP USA. p. 161. ISBN 9780199931453.
  4. Banerjee, Indubhusan. Evolution of the Khalsa. Calcutta: A. Mukerjee. p. 25. OCLC 5880923.
  5. Macauliffe, Max Arthur (1996) [1909]. The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings, and Authors. Low Price Publications. p. 125. ISBN 978-81-86142-31-8. OCLC 1888987.
  6. Kaur, Madanjit (2007). Guru Gobind Singh : historical and ideological perspective. Chandigarh, India: Unistar Books. ISBN 9788189899554.