List of battles

involving the Sikh

Empire

The Sikh Empire (1799 – 1849 CE) was est ablished by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Throughout it s
hist ory, it fought various adversaries including t he Durrani Empire of Afghanist an and t he Brit ish
East India Company.

Background

The Sikhs first raised t heir weapons against t he Mughal Empire under Guru Hargobind. Shri Guru
Hargobind Ji was son of t he 5t h Shri Guru Arjan Dev Ji who was execut ed by t he Mughal ruler
Jahangir. Aft er his fat her's deat h, Shri Guru Hargobind Ji added t he mart ial element t o Sikhism
which was unt il t hen a religion mainly focused on Spirit ualit y. But at t his point t he need for self
defence was felt . Hence Shri Guru Hargobind Ji st art ed recruit ing an army which he called
"Risaldari", aft er t raining his men in cavalry and Sikh Mart ial Art s. He adopt ed Royal symbols like
wearing "kalgidhari t urban" and keeping bodyguards. Along wit h t hat he asked his followers t o gift
him horses and weaponry inst ead of anyt hing else. So t he 6t h Guru at one point managed t o
command 700 cavalry and wit h t his might his Risaldari fought several small scale bat t les in
1620s and 1630s against Shahjahan's forces and some ot her warlords in Poadh and Majha. The
t ent h and t he last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh organized Sikhs int o a milit ary sect called Khalsa
(means "pure"), in 1699, against t he Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Before his deat h in 1708, he sent
Banda Singh Bahadur t o lead t he Sikhs of Punjab. Banda Singh Bahadur t hrough his out st anding
leadership skills weakened t he Mughal grasp over India. But he was lat er capt ured and beheaded
in Delhi in 1716, during t he reign of Farrukhsiyar.

Thereaft er, Sikhs were divided int o Misls. In 1738, Nadir Shah of Iran, at t acked India , loot ed Delhi
and Mughals were never able t o recover t heir power in Punjab. Lat er, Punjab was subject t o
const ant invasions of Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanist an. He was defeat ed every t ime.

Abdali t ried many t imes t o recover Lahore but ult imat ely had t o ret urn t o Pasht un t errit ories.
Aft er his final invasion of Punjab in 1767, he left Lahore which was when it was re-capt ured by
t he Sikhs. For more t han t hree decades, Sikhs consolidat ed t heir power in areas of Punjab. But
t he decisive moment came in 1790, when Ranjit Singh of Sukerchakia misl became misldar. He
st art ed unit ing misls and finally t ook Lahore in 1799. His coronat ion on 12 April 1801 marked t he
beginning of t he Sikh Empire, which went on t o conquer t he whole Punjab, Kangra, part s of
Kashmir and briefly, t he cit y of Peshawar.

Battles fought by Sikhs

1. Bat t le of Rohilla (1621)

2. Bat t le of Kart arpur (1635)

3. Bat t le of Amrit sar (1634)

4. Bat t le of Lahira (1634)

5. Bat t le of Bhangani (1688)

6. Bat t le of Nadaun (1691)

7. Bat t le of Guler (1696)

8. Bat t le of Basoli (1702)

9. Bat t le of Anandpur (1700)

10. Bat t le of Nirmohgarh (1702)

11. Bat t le of Anandpur (1701)

12. First Bat t le of Chamkaur (1702)

13. First Bat t le of Anandpur (1704)

14. Second Bat t le of Anandpur (1704)

15. Bat t le of Sarsa (1704)

16. Second Bat t le of Chamkaur (1704)

17. Bat t le of Mukt sar[1][2][3][4][5](1705)

18. Bat t le of Sonepat (1709)

19. Bat t le of Ambala

20. Bat t le of Kapuri (1709)

21. Bat t le of Samana (1709)

22. Bat t le of Chappar Chiri[3] (1710)

23. Bat t le of Sadhaura (1710)

24. Bat t le of Rahon (1710)

25. Bat t le of Lohgarh (1710)

26. Bat t le of Jalalabad (1710)

27. Bat t le of Jammu (1712)

28. Siege of Gurdaspur or Bat t le of Gurdas Nangal (1715)

29. At t ack on Nadir Shah (1739)[6]

30. Killing Massa Ranghar

31. Killing Jaspat Rai[7][8]

32. Siege of Amrit sar (1748)

33. Killing Salabat Khan[9]

34. Siege of Ram Rauni

35. Bat t le of Amrit sar (1757)

36. Bat t le of Lahore (1759)

37. Bat t le of Sialkot (1761)

38. Bat t le of Gujranwala (1761)

39. Sikh Occupat ion of Lahore [10] (1761)

40. Vadda Ghalughara or Bat t le of Kup

41. Bat t le of Harnaulgarh (1762)

42. Skirmish of Amrit sar (1762)

43. Bat t le of Sialkot (1763)

44. Bat t le of Sirhind (1764)

45. Capt ure of Delhi and Red Fort (1783)[11]

46. Bat t le of Amrit sar (1797)

47. Bat t le of Gujrat (1797)

48. Bat t le of Amrit sar (1798)

49. Bat t le of Kasur

50. Bat t le of Jammu (1808)

51. Gurkha-Sikh War(1809)

52. Bat t le of At t ock (1813)

53. Bat t le of Mult an (1818)

54. Bat t le of Shopian (1819)

55. Bat t le of Balakot (1831)

56. Bat t le of Peshawar (1834)

57. Bat t le of Jamrud (1837)

58. Sino-Sikh War (1841-1842)

59. Bat t le of Mudki (1845)

60. Bat t le of Ferozeshah (1845)

61. Bat t le of Baddowal (1846)

62. Bat t le of Aliwal (1846)

63. Bat t le of Sobraon (1846)

64. Bat t le of Chillianwala (1849)

65. Bat t le of Ramnagar (1848)

 66. Siege of Mult an (1848-1849)

67. Bat t le of Gujrat (1849)

Gurkha-Sikh War

The Gurkha-Sikh War was fought bet ween t he forces of t he Sikh Empire and t he Nepalese
Army.[12]

Katoch-Sikh War

Sikh-Kat och War was fought bet ween t he Sikh Empire and t he Kat och Dynast y[12]

Afghan-Sikh Wars

Afghan-Sikh Wars were fought bet ween t he Sikh Empire and t he Durrani Empire.

Battle of Attock

The bat t le t ook place on 13 July 1813, in which Sikhs ut t erly dominat ed t he Durranis. It was t he
first major vict ory of Sikhs against t he Afghan adversary.

Battle of Multan

Bat t le of Mult an st art ed in March, 1818 and ended t hree mont hs lat er on 2 June 1818. Sikhs
ut t erly dominat ed Durranis and capt ured Mult an. The Afghan governor Muzaffar Khan Sadozai
was killed. As a result , t he Afghan power collapsed in Punjab and t he regions t o t he east of Indus
virt ually came under Sikh influence.[13]

Battle of Shopian

The bat t le t ook place on 3 July 1819 during t he Sikh expedit ion t o Kashmir. The dominat ion t hat
came from t he Sikhs led t o t he end t he five cent uries old Muslim rule in Kashmir. The Afghan
governor Jabbar Khan fled and Kashmir became a province of t he Sikh Empire.[14]

Battle of Nowshera
The bat t le was fought on 14 March 1823 in which t he Sikhs capt ured t he cit y of Peshawar.

Battle of Peshawar

The bat t le was fought on 6 May 1834. Under t he command of Hari Singh Nalwa, Sikhs finally
capt ured t he cit y of Peshawar.

Battle of Jamrud

Sino-Sikh War

Sikhs invaded and capt ured Ladakh in 1834. In 1841. At Leh, t he Qing army successfully capt ured
Leh and t hen successfully capt ured Ladakh from t he Sikhs.[15] But was re capt ured by t he Sikhs.

First Anglo-Sikh War

Battle of Mudki

The bat t le was fought on 18 December 1845 during night . The Brit ish won wit h heavy casualt ies
on t he higher ranks.

Battle of Ferozeshah

The bat t le was fought on 21–22 December 1845, in which t he Brit ish forces under Sir Hugh
Gough won a Pyrrhic vict ory over t he Sikh army under Lal Singh.

Battle of Baddowal

In t his bat t le, a large number of Sikh soldiers crossed Sat luj aft er being defeat ed at Mudki and
Ferozeshah. When General Harry Smit h marched t o Dharmkot t o relieve Ludhiana, t heir rear was
at t acked by Sikhs under Ranjodh Singh Majit hia. Hence, Sikhs gave a defeat t o Brit ish in t he
bat t le of Baddowal.[16][17]

Battle of Aliwal
The bat t le was fought on 28 January 1846, in which t he company t roops decisively defeat ed t he
Sikh army. It proved as t he t urning point in t he war.

Battle of Sobraon

The decisive Sikh Vict ory by t he East India Company at t he bat t le of Sobraon fought on 10
February 1846 ended t he war.

Second Anglo-Sikh War

Battle of Ramnagar

In t he bat t le of Ramnagar fought on 22 November 1848, Sikhs under Sher Singh At t ariwalla
defeat ed t he company forces under Sir Hugh Gough

Battle of Chillianwala

In t he bat t le on 13 January 1849, t he Sikh army under Sher Singh At t ariwalla defeat ed t he Brit ish
army under Sir Hugh Gough.

Siege of Multan

The prolonged siege of Mult an by t he Brit ish army last ed from 19 April 1848 t ill 22 January 1849,
when t he fort was breached and Dewan Mulraj surrendered.

Battle of Gujrat

This was t he last bat t le of t he war and t he Anglo-Sikh bat t le. Sir Hugh Gough's army decisively
defeat ed t he Sikh forces. The Sikh Empire officially ended as t he young emperor, (Maharaja
Duleep Singh) was kidnapped and t aken t o England. Punjab was annexed as a province of t he
Brit ish Indian Empire.

See also

Guru Gobind Singh

 Banda Singh Bahadur

Baghel Singh

Massa Ranghar

References

1. McLeod, W. H. (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism (https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC&pg=P

A134) . Scarecrow Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-81086-344-6.

2. Dhillon, Dr Dalbir Singh (1988). Sikhism – Origin and Development (https://books.google.com/books?id=

osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA152) . Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. p. 151.

3. Sagoo, Harbans (2001). Banda Singh Bahadur and Sikh Sovereignty (https://books.google.com/books?
id=MIL4xwcCmxkC) . Deep & Deep Publications. ISBN 9788176293006.

4. Jacques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O (https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jy

dKXikoC&pg=PA695) . p. 695. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5.

5. Fenech, E. Louis; Mcleod, H. W. (11 June 2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65) . Rowman & Littlefield. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.

6. Chhabra, G.S. (2005). Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707-1803) (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=UkDi6rVbckoC) . Lotus Press. ISBN 9788189093068.

7. Grewal, J. S. (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab, Volumes 2-3 (https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab00

00grew/page/90) . Cambridge University Press. p. 90 (https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000g
rew/page/90) . ISBN 9780521637640.

8. Singha, H. S (2000). The encyclopedia of Sikhism (over 1000 entries) (https://books.google.com/books?

id=gqIbJz7vMn0C) . Hemkunt Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-81-7010-301-1. Retrieved December 22, 2011.

9. Singha, Dr H. S. (2005). Sikh Studies (https://books.google.com/books?id=fa6B20l9AeQC&q=kasur+ara

bic+punjab&pg=PA31) . Hemkunt Press. ISBN 9788170102588.

10. Mehta, J. L. (2005). Advanced study in the history of modern India 1707–1813 (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&pg=PA250) . Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 303. ISBN 978-1-932705-
54-6. Retrieved 2010-09-23.

11. Singha, H. S (2000). The encyclopedia of Sikhism (over 1000 entries) (https://books.google.com/books?
id=gqIbJz7vMn0C) . Hemkunt Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-81-7010-301-1. Retrieved December 22, 2011.

12. Raj Pal Singh (2004). The Sikhs : Their Journey Of Five Hundred Years (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=ra19YSPDliQC&q=hargobind+jahangir&pg=PA140) . Pentagon Press. p. 139 & 140.
ISBN 9788186505465.

13. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges F-O p.696

14. Kashmir:History and people p.145

15. The Troubled Land: Arunachal Dispute (http://www.asiatimes.com.au/the-troubled-land-arunachal-dis

pute/) , "Chinese forces dragged the Sikh army from Ladakh and capturing it alongside Leh"

16. Jacques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges (https://books.google.com/books?id=06k5ygAA

CAAJ) . Greenwood Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5.

17. Jacques, p. 93

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