Battle of Rohilla
Battle of Rohilla | |||||||
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Part of Mughal-Sikh Wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Sikh Fauj (militia) | Governor of Punjab - Abdul Khan and Local Mughal jagir | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Guru Hargobind Rao Mandan Rathore Rao ballu ji † ( grandfather of bhai mani singh ) Bhai Jattu Das Baba Praga Bhai Peda Das |
Muhammad Abdul Khan † Nabi Bakhsh † Karim Bakhsh † Ratan Chand † Karam Chand † | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
unknown | unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
unknown | unknown |
The Battle of Rohilla was a 1621 campaign by the Mughal Empire against the growing influence of the Sikhs.[1] Because of historic persecution from the Mughal Empire and the martyrdom of the fifth Guru of the Sikh, Guru Arjan (Also Guru Hargobind's father), Guru Hargobind and Rao Mandan Rathore fully militarized the Sikhs into a properly militia mostly based on an irregular cavalry style of warfare. This resulted in increased political and military power in the region leading to fears of usurpation by local feudal lords (jagirdars) like Bhagwan Das Ghererh who were relative of Chandu Shah (Chandu who had a key role in martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji) . The immediate cause of the battle was creation of town hargobindpur or called ruhilla in those times and beheading of Bhagwan Das Ghererh by Sikhs as initially Ghererh spoke ill words about sixth Guru despite Guru told Sikhs to ignore his words but Sikhs couldn't tolerate the blasphemous nature of Chandu's descendant Bhagwan Das Ghererh. Thus the Sikhs were attacked by a group of local jagirdars like Rattan Chand and Karam chand who were sons of Chandu Shah under the command of the Governor of Punjab, Abdul Khan as the Guru was rebuilding the town Hargobindpur after Guru Arjans martyrdom which was left in ruins/Veeran. The attacking forces were killed by Rao Mandan Rathore and the surviving portions of the mughal army fled the field of battle resulting in a decisive Sikh victory.[2]
A subsequent campaign against the continuely growing influence of the Sikhs saw 4,000 Mughal troops sent to northern Punjab to support local Governor Abdul Khan against Guru Hargobind following his sound defeat in the initial skirmish. Although the Sikh General Bhai Jattu was killed in heavy fighting northeast of Amritsar at Rohilla, Ratan Chand, Karam Chand, Abdul Khan were ultimately defeated and killed, along with Abdul's sons Nabi Bakhsh and Karim Bakhsh, greatly enhancing the Sikh cause.[2]
References[]
- ^ Jaques, Tony. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 860. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ a b Jaques, Tony. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 860. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- Battles involving the Mughal Empire
- Battles involving the Sikhs
- 1621 in India
- Conflicts in 1621
- Battle stubs
- Indian history stubs
- Sikhism stubs