The Battle of Lahira was fought between
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 ...
and
Sikhs in 1634.
Battle
Guru Hargobind
Gurū Hargobind (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿਗੋਬਿੰਦ, pronunciation: l 19 June 1595 – 28 February 1644), revered as the ''sixth Nānak'', was the sixth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He had become Guru at the young age of e ...
's popularity became a cause of the tension between Sikhs and Mughals. The concerned Mughal Emperor
Shah Jahan, sent his two generals, Husein Mirza Beg and Lala Beg, with around 36,000
[Suraj Granth Raas 7] soldiers arrived at
Bathinda
Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...
to chastise
Sikhs. The Mughal Generals in their desire for a quick victory and with the promise of great rewards marched their soldiers nonstop to the Guru's Position in extreme, bone-chilling winter of the Punjab. Guru had 3,000 Sikhs under his command, supported by 1000 Sikhs under Rai Jodh's command.
Being outnumbered, the Sikhs employed
guerilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...
to great effect fully utilizing the extremely cold and lack of moonlight on the first night of battle to their advantage to thoroughly demoralize the exhausted Mughal soldiers. The main battle took place at Lehra Beg the next morning in which both the Mughal commanders were killed along with large numbers of Mughal soldiers. On the other side, 1200 Sikhs were killed. After the Mughal generals were killed, the
Mughal army
The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...
, defeated, and demoralized rushed back to
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
.
Guru Hargobind
Gurū Hargobind (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿਗੋਬਿੰਦ, pronunciation: l 19 June 1595 – 28 February 1644), revered as the ''sixth Nānak'', was the sixth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He had become Guru at the young age of e ...
built Guru Sar at the site of the battle in order to commemorate the great victory.
References
1634 in India
1634 in the Mughal Empire
Lahira
Lahira
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