The Battle of Balakot was fought between the forces of

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

and

Syed Ahmad Barelvi Syed Ahmad Barelvi or Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed (1786–1831) was an Indian Islamic revivalist, scholar and military commander from Raebareli, a part of the historical United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (now called Uttar Pradesh). He is considere ...

Balakot Balakot (; ur, ; ) is a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The town was destroyed during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, but was later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and Saudi P ...

Mansehra District Mansehra District is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It was established as a district in 1976, prior to which it was a tehsil within the former Hazara District. Two former subdivisions of Mansehra were ...

on 6 May 1831. Barelvi declared ''

jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

'' against the

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

and established a camp in Balakot. Along with

Shah Ismail Dehlvi Shah Ismail Dehlvi (26 April, 1779 – 6 May, 1831) was an Indian Islamic scholar and Salafi-oriented Sufi reformer. He was an active member in the jihad proclaimed by Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareilly with the support of Pashtun tribes against ...

and his tribesmen, he attacked the Sikhs at dawn. The battle lasted all day. The Sikh soldiers eventually

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

Syed Ahmad Barelvi, and hundreds of his followers were killed causing the Muslim army to flee the battlefield.

Battle

On 6 May 1831, Syed Ahmad Barelvi’s

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

forces prepared for the final battle at

in the mountainous valley of

Mansehra Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province. The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Goj ...

. Sikh troops started landing at Balakot from Metikot Hill while Syed Ahmad and most of the Mujahideen forces were staying in and around the Masjid-E-Bala. The Mujahideen force was encamped far along the Satban waterfall. The Sikhs had warned Syed Ahmed that they would execute him and his followers if they didn't retreat, to which Syed Ahmed refused to surrender. Syed Ahmad suddenly left Masjid-E-Bala to ambush the Sikhs and reached Masjid-E-Yarin. Then he marched towards the foot of Metikot Hill with the Mujahideen forces. Every inch of Tiller in Metikot Hill was quickly filled by Sikh troops. Syed Ahmad was at the forefront of the Mujahideen forces but he turned back after some Islamic warriors were left behind. Suddenly, he was killed in the fountain of Metikot Hill and was beheaded by the Nihangs who took his head as a trophy which was a common practice done by soldiers in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

at that time. A large group of Mujahideen fighters did not realize that Syed Ahmad had been killed and went in search of him. Besides, small groups of Mujahideen were killed while fighting in different places. This battle lasted at least two hours. Then the Mujahideens started shouting loudly to different groups that Syed Ahmad had been taken to the top of the hill and told them all to come to the top of the hill. As a result, the Mujahideen moved towards the mountains to the north. When they reached the top of the mountains, they realized that they were surrounded. They tried to escape but were massacred and slain by Sikh soldiers coming from all sides of the hills and mountains. Thus, the deadly battle had come to an end. Another rumor about the death of Syed Ahmad is that he was at their vanguard and had infiltrated a group of Sikh soldiers. The peaks surrounded him which his followers did not notice. Thus he was killed but his body could not be identified by the Mujahideen. For this reason, even after a long time, the remaining Mujahideen could not believe that Syed Ahmad was dead. In the battle,

was also slain by the Sikh soldiers. Thus, the battle was a victory for the Sikhs who had now added Balakot to their empire and extended the western border of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

deep into

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

territory which included Balakot and the whole of Mansehra District. After this major victory, the Sikhs turned their ambitions towards conquering

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

from the

Afghans Afghans ( ps, افغانان, translit=afghanan; Persian/ prs, افغان ها, translit=afghānhā; Persian: افغانستانی, romanized: ''Afghanistani'') or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry f ...

. Syed Ahmed's refusal to surrender to the Sikhs and his insistence on entering the battle with inferior forces and his death commanding the mujahideen in Balakot made him a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

amongst

Indian Muslims Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

and would inspire future generations of

militant Islamist Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

ideologues and

Jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

i activists in the

References

{{Reflist Battles involving the Sikhs Conflicts in 1831 Syed Ahmad Barelvi