niaz
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Victory & defeat in a battle can be due to a variety of reasons and one cannot judge a people based on the outcome of a single battle. I am a student of history and prefer to base my observations on facts and the events whose outcome directly results in a change of regime and / or fate of a nation. Okay the Sikh got defeated in a battle; have anyoneone given a thought as to why and how Sikhs came to rule a very vast area from Khyber to Sirhand and from Kashmir to Sind borders in the first place?
History of Punjab and the Sikhs is not very old and thus not shrouded in the mists of time.
While Marathas were active in the Central & Eastern fringes of the Mughal Empire, main reason for the rise of the Sikh power in Punjab were invasions by the Muslim adventurers Nader Shah Afshar & Ahmad Shah Abdali.
Arguably; primary reason for the fall of the Mughal Empire was short-sighted policies of Aurangzeb who bankrupted Mughal Empire in a long and disastrous war with the Marathas. Also by finishing off the Muslim states of Golconda & Bijapour he also eliminated two major enemies of the Marathas. Mughal territories in the northern subcontinent remained largely intact until the 1730's.
As if the infighting among the Mughal princes as to who would be the king and intrigue of the Syed brothers was not enough; Mughal state was dealt a fatal blow when Nader Shah with about 60,000 Iranians & Afghans defeated 200,000 strong Mughal Army of Mohamed Shah Rangeela at the battle of Karnal in 1739. However, since we are discussing Sikhs, let us limit this discussion to Punjab.
IMO last nail in the coffin of the Mughal / Muslim rule in Punjab were the invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Afghan king defeated Mughal governor Nasir Khan and seized Peshawar in October 1747. Abdali then crossed Indus and in January 1748, 30,000 Afghans aided by 5,000 Pathans led by Jamal Khan of Kasur; defeated 70,000 troops of the Shah Nawaz - Mughal governor of Punjab.
Ahmad Shah Abdali is considered one of our heroes because he defeated the Marathas at Panipat in 1761, but he was also responsible for the rise of the Sikh power in Punjab. It is an undeniable fact that Afghan presence in Punjab during 1748 to 1767 destroyed whatever was left of the Mughal state apparatus and paved the way for the Sikh conquest.
Sikhs were already on the rise but until 1738, Sikhs could only engage in guerrilla warfare against the Mughal Subedars of Punjab. Charat Singh Shukchakia was the first Sikh warlord to establish an independent fiefdom at Gujranwala in 1763.
Ahmad Shah left Najibuddaula, the Rohila Afghan leader in charge of Delhi (grandfather of Ghulam Qadir Rohilla who raped Moghul princesses and blinded Shah Alam II). Rohillas were however unable to keep Delhi safe. Najibudaula was forced to pay a tribute of 11 lakhs to Baghel Singh of Karor Singhia Misl in 1764. Baghel Singh later began to raid other parts of Mughal state at the behest of his Rohilla allies Zabita Khan & Ghulam Qadir.
There was no stopping the rise of Sikh power after the death of Ahmad Shah in 1773 which culminated in Ranjeet Singh crowning himself as Raja of Punjab in 1801.
According to the 1941 census conducted by the British Total population Punjab including the princely states was 34.3-million. Muslims were 53.2%, Hindus 29.1%, Sikhs 14.9% rest were being Christians, Buddhists etc. Pray tell me how could 15% of the population; at the time when fighting was mostly by swords and arrows and single shot guns; manage to seize the power from Muslims who numbered more than 50% of the population and hold on to it for more than 50 years! Muslims of Punjab had to wait until 1849 and the British to be rid of the Sikh yoke.
I am not praising the Sikhs here. They were out to plunder & loot. Instead I am trying to say that while I whole heartedly praise Dilasa Khan for his victory over the Sikhs; it was a minor battle with little or no impact on the health of the Sikh state. Hari Singh Nalwa conquered Peshawar (winter capital of Afghan empire) in 1834. Afghans were again defeated at the battle of Jamrud in April 1837.
History of Punjab and the Sikhs is not very old and thus not shrouded in the mists of time.
While Marathas were active in the Central & Eastern fringes of the Mughal Empire, main reason for the rise of the Sikh power in Punjab were invasions by the Muslim adventurers Nader Shah Afshar & Ahmad Shah Abdali.
Arguably; primary reason for the fall of the Mughal Empire was short-sighted policies of Aurangzeb who bankrupted Mughal Empire in a long and disastrous war with the Marathas. Also by finishing off the Muslim states of Golconda & Bijapour he also eliminated two major enemies of the Marathas. Mughal territories in the northern subcontinent remained largely intact until the 1730's.
As if the infighting among the Mughal princes as to who would be the king and intrigue of the Syed brothers was not enough; Mughal state was dealt a fatal blow when Nader Shah with about 60,000 Iranians & Afghans defeated 200,000 strong Mughal Army of Mohamed Shah Rangeela at the battle of Karnal in 1739. However, since we are discussing Sikhs, let us limit this discussion to Punjab.
IMO last nail in the coffin of the Mughal / Muslim rule in Punjab were the invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Afghan king defeated Mughal governor Nasir Khan and seized Peshawar in October 1747. Abdali then crossed Indus and in January 1748, 30,000 Afghans aided by 5,000 Pathans led by Jamal Khan of Kasur; defeated 70,000 troops of the Shah Nawaz - Mughal governor of Punjab.
Ahmad Shah Abdali is considered one of our heroes because he defeated the Marathas at Panipat in 1761, but he was also responsible for the rise of the Sikh power in Punjab. It is an undeniable fact that Afghan presence in Punjab during 1748 to 1767 destroyed whatever was left of the Mughal state apparatus and paved the way for the Sikh conquest.
Sikhs were already on the rise but until 1738, Sikhs could only engage in guerrilla warfare against the Mughal Subedars of Punjab. Charat Singh Shukchakia was the first Sikh warlord to establish an independent fiefdom at Gujranwala in 1763.
Ahmad Shah left Najibuddaula, the Rohila Afghan leader in charge of Delhi (grandfather of Ghulam Qadir Rohilla who raped Moghul princesses and blinded Shah Alam II). Rohillas were however unable to keep Delhi safe. Najibudaula was forced to pay a tribute of 11 lakhs to Baghel Singh of Karor Singhia Misl in 1764. Baghel Singh later began to raid other parts of Mughal state at the behest of his Rohilla allies Zabita Khan & Ghulam Qadir.
There was no stopping the rise of Sikh power after the death of Ahmad Shah in 1773 which culminated in Ranjeet Singh crowning himself as Raja of Punjab in 1801.
According to the 1941 census conducted by the British Total population Punjab including the princely states was 34.3-million. Muslims were 53.2%, Hindus 29.1%, Sikhs 14.9% rest were being Christians, Buddhists etc. Pray tell me how could 15% of the population; at the time when fighting was mostly by swords and arrows and single shot guns; manage to seize the power from Muslims who numbered more than 50% of the population and hold on to it for more than 50 years! Muslims of Punjab had to wait until 1849 and the British to be rid of the Sikh yoke.
I am not praising the Sikhs here. They were out to plunder & loot. Instead I am trying to say that while I whole heartedly praise Dilasa Khan for his victory over the Sikhs; it was a minor battle with little or no impact on the health of the Sikh state. Hari Singh Nalwa conquered Peshawar (winter capital of Afghan empire) in 1834. Afghans were again defeated at the battle of Jamrud in April 1837.
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