The Siege of Amritsar was a siege that took place on March 1748.The Battle was fought between the Sikhs led by

Nawab Kapur Singh Nawab Kapur Singh Virk (1697–1753) is considered one of the major figures in Sikh history, under whose leadership the Sikh community traversed one of the darkest periods of its history. He was the organizer of the Sikh Confederacy and the ...

against the Mughal Forces lead by Salabat Khan.The Sikhs successfully defeated and killed Salabat Khan and conquered the city of Amritsar from the Mughals.

Background

After the execution of

Bhai Mani Singh Bhai Mani Singh was an 18th-century Sikh scholar and martyr. He was a childhood companion of Guru Gobind Singh and took the vows of Sikhism when the Guru inaugurated the Khalsa in March 1699. Soon after that, the Guru sent him to Amritsar t ...

,control over the city of Amritsar was taken by 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 ...

. The first person in charge of the city was Qazi Abdul Rehman Khan who was killed while fighting the Sikhs in a battle. The second was

Massa Ranghar Massa Ranghar, formally Ranghar, also known by his birth name Musalal Khan was the Ranghar choudhary of Mandiala. In 1738, Qazi Abdul Razzaq was killed in an encounter with the Sikhs under Nawab Kapur Singh. The Governor of Lahore Zakariya Khan Ba ...

who was assassinated by Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh Bhangu. In 1747, a Muslim Rajput named Salabat Khan was appointed the 3rd person to be in charge of the city of Amritsar. The Mughal Empire was preoccupied with the invasion of

Ahmad Shah Abdali Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

,thus the Sikhs took the opportunity to retake Amritsar.

Battle

Nawab Kapur Singh promoted Jassa Singh Ahluwalia as the main commander to lead the campaign.They along with Tara Singh Waeeyan, Chuhar Singh Bhakniya and their armies besieged Amritsar. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia marched towards Salabat Khan and beheaded him with his

Khanda Khanda may refer to: Places * Khanda, Sonipat, a very big and historical village in Sonipat district of Haryana, India * Khanda, Jind, a village in Jind district of Haryana, India * Khanda Kheri, a village in Hansi Tehsil of Hisar district of ...

. His nephew Nijabat Khan attacked Jassa Singh but Nawab Kapur Singh killed him. Another commander named Qutab-ud-Din was slain by the Sikhs. After the death of the Mughal commanders,the Mughal army was routed.

Aftermath

The Sikhs looted a large amount of ammunition and weapons left by the Mughals in the Shri Harmandir Sahib. The temple was repaired,and Sikhs were able to visit and pray after several years of Mughal occupation. The Sikhs had a

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 literal ...

during

Vaisakhi Vaisakhi ( Punjabi: ), also pronounced Baisakhi, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April as a celebration of spring harvest primarily in Northern India. Further, o ...

on 29 March 1748 in which Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was chosen to be the supreme leader of the Sikhs and the start of the Sikh Misls.

References

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Background

Battle

Aftermath

References

See also