Conflict: | Battle of Saharanpur |
Place: | Saharanpur |
Partof: | Mughal-Sikh Wars |
Date: | July 1710 |
Result: | Sikh-Gujjar alliance victory |
Combatant1: | First Sikh State |
Combatant2: | Mughal Empire |
Commander1: | Banda Singh Bahadur |
Commander2: | Unknown |
Strength1: | Unknown |
Strength2: | Unknown |
Casualties1: | Unknown |
Casualties2: | High |
The Battle of Saharanpur was fought between the Sikh and Gujjar forces led by Banda Singh Bahadur and the Mughal forces of Saharanpur
Banda Singh was deeply angered when he learnt that Jalal Khan and Ali Hamid Khan, the faujdars of Jalalabad and Saharanpur were harassing Sikhs in the area.[1] He sent some Sikhs to Uttar Pradesh to punish the faujdars. The Khalsa Fauj marched upon Saharanpur on their way to Jalalabad.[2] [3] The local faujdar Ali Hamid Khan and all those who could, fled to Delhi.[4] [5] The Sikhs had spread so much terror that most of the inhabitants fled even before the Sikhs attacked.[6] When the Sikhs learnt about this, they made all haste to the spot and overcame the minimal resistance of the remaining inhabitants.[7] The place was plundered like Sirhind previously. Many noble men and respectable families fell fighting.[8] The Sikhs seized the entirety of the city.[9] The Sikhs punished and plundered the people of Behat and Nanauta as well for atrocities against Sikhs and others.[10]
The Sikhs addressed a letter to Shamas Khan, the Faujdar of Jalandhar, ordering him to hand over his treasury to the Khalsa or meet a similar fate.[1] Jihad was declared soon after and thousands of Muslims gathered to crush the Sikh revolt.[10]