The Battle of Delhi was fought between

Khalsa Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,Kha ...

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 the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

in 1783.

Background and battle

The Sikhs under Baghel Singh, leader of the Karorsinghia Misl, began raiding and plundering the outskirts of Delhi in 1764. In April 1782, Najaf Khan hitherto the highest commander of the Mughal army died, after which a power struggle ensued allowing the Sikhs to capture Delhi. The Sikhs reappeared in Delhi and plundered its environs and laid waste the country up to Khujra. Some of the Sikhs having ravaged the Gangetic

Doab ''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...

contemplated approaching Ruhilkhand, though they were deterred by the arrival of the Nawab of Oudh's forces as well as some English battalions to the area, forcing them to concentrate solely on the Doab. Some of the rajas reigning over areas dominated by the Sikhs agreed to pay tribute to them. The main body of the Sikhs having plundered

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

and Buland Shahar proceeded towards Delhi where they further set Malka Ganj and Sabzi Mandi on fire. They managed to capture the

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift hi ...

on 11 March after defeating a defence by Prince Mirza Shikoh. Thereafter, a settlement was agreed upon between the Sikhs and the Delhi court which entailed a cash present of three lakh rupees and Baghel Singh staying behind at the head of 4000 Sikh troops to oversee the construction of gurdwaras in the city. The main body of Sikhs left Delhi on 12 March 1783 following the settlement.

Dispute over throne

Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was placed on the throne of Delhi as Badshah Singh of Delhi but Ramgarhia objected that no one can sit on the throne without the approval of

Sarbat Khalsa Sarbat Khalsa (lit. meaning ''all the Khalsa''; Punjabi: (Gurumukhi)), was a biannual deliberative assembly (on the same lines as a Parliament in a Direct Democracy) of the Sikhs held at Amritsar in Panjab during the 18th century. It literally t ...

Aftermath

Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia captured the

of Delhi in conjunction with Sardar Baghel Singh. He detached the throne of Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

(on which he ordered the death of 9th guru

Guru Teg Bahadur Guru Tegh Bahadur ( Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਤੇਗ਼ ਬਹਾਦਰ (Gurmukhi); ; 1 April 1621 – 11 November 1675) was the ninth of ten Gurus who founded the Sikh religion and the leader of Sikhs from 1665 until his beheading in 167 ...

ji) and brought it on elephants and kept it at Golden Temple,

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. Even today it is present at the Golden Temple known as

Ramgarhia Bunga Ramgarhia Bunga or Burj is the three-storeyed red stone watchtowers complex located near southeastern edge of the Golden Temple, Amritsar. The two minaret-style Ramgarhia Bunga high towers are visible from the ''parikrama'' (circumambulation) w ...

.http://sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=2532&cat=14

Photo gallery

Mughal slab from Delhi was roped with horse and brought to Amritsar in Punjab. Image: Historic stone slab of Mughal throne.jpg, Slab of Mughal throne placed in Bunga

References

Sources

*{{cite book, editor-last=Singha, editor-first=H. S, title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqIbJz7vMn0C , year=2000, publisher=Hemkunt Press, isbn=978-81-7010-301-1

External links

News article on Baghel Singh

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Conflicts in 1783 1783 in India