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Battle of Gurdas Nangal
Part of Mughal–Sikh Wars
Date 1 April – 7 December 1715 (8 months and 1 week) Location Gurdas Nangal, Punjab Result Mughal Victory [1] Territorial changes Fall of the First Sikh State of Banda Singh and all of his territories are captured by the Mughals.
Belligerents
First Sikh State	Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
Banda Singh    Baj Singh    Binod Singh Hakim Nand	Sayyid Brothers Farrukhsiyar Abd al-Samad Khan Zakariya Khan Qamar-ud-din Khan
Strength
1,250 [2]	35,000 [3]
Casualties and losses
300 dead 750 captured	Unknown

Part of a series on the
History of India
Timeline
Prehistoric Madrasian culture Soanian, c. 500,000 BCE Neolithic, c. 7600 – c. 1000 BCE Bhirrana 7570 – 6200 BCE Jhusi 7106 BCE Lahuradewa 7000 BCE Mehrgarh 7000 – 2600 BCE South Indian Neolithic 3000 – 1000 BCE
Ancient Indus Valley civilization, c. 3300 – c. 1700 BCE Post Indus Valley Period (Cemetery H Culture), c. 1700 – c. 1500 BCE Vedic civilization, c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE Kuru Kingdom, c. 1200 - c. 500 BCE Early Vedic Period Rise of Śramaṇa movement Later Vedic Period Spread of Jainism – Parshvanatha Spread of Jainism – Mahavira Rise of Buddhism Kingdom of Magadha Haryanka Dynasty c. 544 – c. 413 BCE Shaishunaga Dynasty c. 413 – c. 345 BCE Nanda Dynasty, c. 345 – c. 322 BCE Mahajanapadas, c. 500 – c. 345 BCE
Classical Kingdom of Magadha Maurya Dynasty, c. 322 – c. 185 BCE Shunga Dynasty, c. 185 – c. 75 BCE Kanva Dynasty, c. 75 – c. 30 BCE Sangam period Kushan Dynasty, c. 30 – c. 230 CE Satavahana Dynasty, c. 30 BCE – c. 220 CE Gupta Dynasty, c. 200 – c. 550 CE
Early medieval Chalukya Dynasty, c. 543 – c. 753 CE Harsha's Dynasty, c. 606 CE – c. 647 CE Karakota Dynasty, c. 724 – c. 760 CE Arab Invasion, c. 738 CE Tripartite Struggle, c. 760 – c. 973 CE Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty Rastrakuta Dynasty Pala Dynasty Chola Dynasty, c. 848 – c. 1251 CE 2nd Chalukya Dynasty, c. 973 – c. 1187 CE
Late medieval Delhi Sultanate, c. 1206 – c. 1526 CE Slave Dynasty Khalji Dynasty Tugluq Dynasty Sayyid Dynasty Lodhi Dynasty Pandyan Dynasty, c. 1251 – c. 1323 CE Vijayanagara, c. 1336 – c. 1646 CE Bengal Sultanate, c. 1342 – c. 1576 CE
Early modern Mughal Dynasty, c. 1526 – c. 1540 CE Suri Dynasty, c. 1540 – c. 1556 CE Mughal Dynasty, c. 1556 – c. 1857 CE Bengal Subah, c. 1576 – c. 1757 CE Maratha Empire, c. 1674 – c. 1818 CE Company Raj, c. 1757 – c. 1858 CE Kingdom of Mysore, c. 1760 – c. 1799 CE Sikh Empire, c. 1799 – c. 1849 CE
Modern The Great Rebellion, 1857 – 1858 CE British Raj, 1858 – 1947 CE Independence Movement Independent India, 1947 CE – present Dominion of India, 1947 – 1950 CE Republic of India, 1950 CE – present
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The Battle of Gurdas Nangal took place in April 1715 between the Sikhs, led by Banda Singh Bahadur, and the Mughal Army, led by Abd al-Samad Khan. Banda, at that time was carrying out operations and small raids to the north of Amritsar. During these operations, the Mughal Army confronted the Sikhs. When confronted, the Sikhs moved northward taking shelter in the fort of Gurdaspur. It had been recently extended to accommodate 60,000 horses, and stores of food, grain and fodder had also been collected there. The Mughal Army converged upon the fort from three sides. The Delhi force of 20,000 men under Qamar-ud-din Khan advanced from the east. The Governor of Lahore’s troops, consisting of 10,000 men under Abd al-Samad Khan, marched from the south. Finally, Jammu troops numbering nearly 5,000, under Zakariya Khan, approached from the north. To the west of the fort was the River Ravi, which had no bridge over it. All the boats had been withdrawn to the opposite bank, which was closely guarded by numerous local chiefs and Mughal government officials. The Mughal pursuit made it so the Sikhs could not enter the fort at Gurdaspur. Thus, the Sikh army quickly turned west.^{[ citation needed]}

Due to all escape routes being barred, Banda Bahadur and his army rushed into the haveli of Duni Chand, which had a large open compound with a wall around it, at the village of Gurdas Nangal, 6 km to the west of Gurdaspur. In it, Banda accommodated 1,250 men along with a small number of horses.

The Sikhs dug a ditch around the enclosure and filled it with water from the canal flowing nearby. The Mughals also dug trenches all around the enclosure. The battle then commenced at the beginning of April 1715. The news of the battle reached Farrukhsiyar on 17 April 1715. The siege lasted a little over eight months. The whole summer from April to June, the entire rainy season from July to September, and half of winter from October to the beginning of December passed during the siege, with frequent sorties and occasional skirmishes.

Muhammad Qasim, a Mughal soldier who fought against the Sikhs in this campaign, wrote:

The brave and daring deeds of the infernal Sikhs was wonderful. Twice or thrice everyday some forty or fifty of the black-faced Sikhs came out of their enclosure to gather grass for their cattle, and, when the combined forces of the Mughals went to oppose them, they made an end of the Mughals with arrows, muskets and small swords, and disappeared. Such was the terror of the Sikhs and the fear of the sorceries of the Sikh Chief that the commanders of this army prayed that God might so ordain things that Banda should seek his safety in flight from the Garhi.

Eventually, the supplies of foodstuffs and fodder dwindled. All animals perished, and their flesh was eaten. Next, their bones and the bark of trees were powdered and eaten. Many Sikhs died of hunger and the rest were completely famished and reduced to a skeletal appearance. Seeing that resistance had completely ceased, the Mughal Army on 7 December 1715, ventured into the enclosure. About 300 Sikh men, all on the verge of death, were beheaded. Their bodies were then cut up in search of gold coins which the Mughal army believed that they had swallowed. Banda was then, along with his 750 followers, captured and taken to Delhi for execution.

References