Battle of Amritsar
Part of Afghan-Sikh wars
Date12 January 1797[1][2]
Location
Amritsar
Result Sikh victory
Belligerents
Durrani Empire Sikh Misls
Commanders and leaders
Zaman Shah Durrani Ranjit Singh
Strength
80,000
70 Guns[3]		 50,000
Casualties and losses
20,000 (exaggerated) 15,000 (exaggerated)

The Battle of Amritsar took place on 12 January 1797 between the Durranis and the Sikh Misls as part of the Afghan-Sikh wars which ended with Sikh victory and retreat of Zaman Shah Durrani.[4][5][6][7]

Background

On 11 January 1797, Amritsar was raided by a group of light cavalry of Durrani Empire, but they were defeated by the body of Sikhs in hand-to-hand combat with swords and spears.[4][8] The Durrani soldiers fled and the Sikhs pursued them to a faraway distance.[4][8] Upon the news of defeat of his army, Zaman Shah Durrani felt deeply insulted and marched towards Amritsar with the biggest share of his army. The Sikhs also prepared themselves by gathering an army of 50,000 soldiers.[4]

Battle

On 12 January 1797, Zaman Shah Durrani and his army reached Amritsar where the Sikhs were readily awaiting for him, following which a furious battle took place which began at 8 in the morning with intense firing from the Durrani's camel artillery whereas the Sikhs returned fire with just their matchlocks.[4] After the relentless battle continued till 2 in the afternoon, the Sikhs felt that they hadn't made an impact on the Durranis, therefore decided to lead the onslaught by charging directly at their opponents, as they were known to be much more effective in a close combat and so sped directly into the Durrani army with nothing but swords where the battle continued for about 4 more hours when the Durrani army started fleeing with Sikhs in their pursuit, all the way to the entrance of Lahore.[4][9][10] The casualties on both sides were great but the following numbers seem to be exaggerated according to historians which states that about 20,000 Durrani soldiers were killed while the Sikh casualties were 15,000 killed, an overall 35,000 casualties in the battle.[4][11][10]

Aftermath

After Zaman Shah Durrani and his soldiers fled back, reaching Lahore at night, the Sikhs carefully patrolled Amritsar and mounted 7000 horsemen and 10,000 infantry within the fort.[4] According to the Delhi chronicle, after the defeat and retreat of Zaman Shah Durrani back to Lahore, the people of Lahore rebelled against the Durranis for their bloody battle in Amritsar, which led Sher Muhammad Khan Wazir and two other Durrani chiefs to kill several people and plunder one street of Lahore for such defiance.[12] Sometime after 15 January, a Durrani army contingent was sent to get intelligence on Amritsar but soon after they left Lahore, they were attacked by the body of Sikhs, causing the Durranis to flee back into the walls of Lahore, where about 300 were killed and wounded on both sides in this battle.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Gupta, Hari Ram (1939). History of the Sikhs Volume 3. S.N. Sarkar. pp. 76–77.
  2. ↑ Gupta, Hari Ram (1998). History of the Sikhs Volume 4. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. pp. 474–476. ISBN 9788121505406.
  3. ↑ Seetal, Sohan Singh (1971). The Sikh Empire And Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. pp. 23–24. page 23:Shah Zman invaded India as soon as he had made sure of his competence for victory. He commanded an army, eighty thousand strong, equipped with sixty-three big and seven small guns. page 24:Shah Zaman attacket Amritsar the following day, at the head of his entire army.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gupta 1939, p. 76.
  5. ↑ Rai, Jyoti (2013). Empire of the Sikhs. Peter Owen Publishers. p. 60. ISBN 9780720615241.
  6. ↑ Mehta, Jaswant Lal (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. New Dawn Press, Incorporated. p. 680. ISBN 9781932705546.
  7. ↑ Yasmin, Robina (2022). Muslims Under Sikh Rule in the Nineteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 9780755640348.
  8. 1 2 Rai 2013, p. 60.
  9. ↑ Gandhi 1999, p. 583.
  10. 1 2 Mehta 2005, p. 680.
  11. ↑ Gandhi, Surjit Singh (1999). Sikhs of the Eighteenth Century. Singh Bros. p. 583. ISBN 9788172052171.
  12. ↑ Gupta 1998, p. 475.
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