Battle of Kalanaur (1748)
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| Battle of Kalanaur | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Afghan-Sikh Wars and Indian Campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Dal Khalsa |  Durrani Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Sukha Singh (WIA) Charat Singh | Ahmad Shah Abdali Moman Khan | ||||||
The Battle of Kalanaur was fought in February 1748 by the Sikh forces led by Sukha Singh and the Afghan forces led by Ahmad Shah Abdali. This was the first major battle fought in the Afghan-Sikh Wars.
Background and Battle[edit]
After defeating the Mughals in the Battle of Lahore (1748), Ahmad Shah Abdali marched towards Delhi.[1] The Sikhs had previously encountered the Durranis at Noor-di-Sarai and Verowal in which they fought no pitched battles because the Durrani armour was way more stronger than the Sikh ones.[2] Abdali was busy with the Mughals so he sent an army under Moman Khan to fight the Sikhs who were near Kalanaur under the lead of Charat Singh and Sukha Singh.[3] When the 2 parties met each other, the Sikhs were challenged to fight ten Durranis with five men to proof if they were really lion like. The Durranis also challenged them to fight a sword battle since their armour was far more superior than the Sikh's and also because the Sikhs were good at marks men guns.[4] The following day an Afghan messenger arrived at the Sikh camp and began to insult every Sikh in the name of the guru.[5] Charat Singh could not tolerate anymore and put his gun aside to come and fight with a sword. Sukha Singh asked him to stop and not to fight since the Afghan was around four times more well equipped than him and was way more buff than him.[2] After hearing about what Charat said Sukha Singh gained confidence and went ahead with 4 other men to challenge the Durranis.[1] It was a well matched duel but at the end, Sukha Singh stabbed the Durrani with a dagger in his belly and started screaming the victory slogan. The entire army now attacked him so the entire army of the Sikhs came and a pitched battle was fought in which the Afghans were beaten back by the Sikhs.[5]
Aftermath[edit]
After this battle, the Durranis were defeated by the Mughals, Jats and Sikhs in the Battle of Manupur (1748).[6][7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Bhangu, Rattan Singh (1914). Panth Prakash Vol.2 English Translation. pp. 181–193.
- ^ a b Surjit Singh Gandhi (1999). Sikhs In The Eighteenth Century. Singh Bros. pp. 162–163. ISBN 9788172052171.
- ^ Singh, Giani Gian (1898). Panth Prakash. pp. 305–311.
- ^ Ghulam Ali, Sayyid. Imadus Saadat.
- ^ a b Singh, Ganda (1990). Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. pp. 46–50.
- ^ Grewal, J.S. (1990). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN 0-521-63764-3.
- ^ Jacques, Tony (2006). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Press. p. 631. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26.
See also[edit]
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