This was the time when Sikhs were being persecuted openly and robbing Sikhs was legal. The great massacre or Wadha Ghalughara or the second genocide of Sikhs was done by Ahmed Shah Abdali and his allies. So, first, we need to know about Ahmed Shah Durani (Abdali). He had born in October 1722. His family background belongs to a Zeus family which lived in the period of the Prophet Muhammad. A Zeus named Kees changed his religion to Muslim and becomes Abdul Rashid. In the 16th generation, they got the title ‘Abdal’ from Ahmed Bilal Chisti. So they called Abdali after that. In the 21st generation of Abdul Rashid were Muhammad Zamaan Khan and his brother Sar Buland Khan. Muhammad Zamaan Khan’s wife was Zukna and had two sons one was Zulafkar Khan and Ahmed Khan. Muhammad Zamaan Khan died at an early age.
At that time Ismile was governor in Harat. Zukna married her daughter in the family of Ismile so that her sons can go under safe wings. As both sons, Zulafkar Khan and Ahmed Khan grew, they were sent to the army at Harat. As time passed, due to some incidents, both brothers were sent to prison in 1737. Nader Shah attacked Harat in 1737 and set free these two brothers and kept them with him. On Nader Shah’s invasions of Punjab, both Zulafkar Khan and Ahmed Khan were with him. So they were familiar with the area of Punjab. In the last three years, Nader Shah lost his ability to think. He killed some Iran officials in his court. The relatives of those victims killed Nader Shah on the night of 19th June and 20th June 1747. After hearing this, Ahmed Khan attacked the camp of Nader Shah and killed those who killed Nader Shah. He took the Kohenoor diamond (which was tied on Nader Shah’s arm) and his court stamp ring. After, he conquered Kandhar. He was Afghan and was supported by Afghans also. After that Ahmed Khan was known as Ahmed Shah. Ahmed Shah was given the title of Durr-E-Durran (pearl of the pearls) by his religious leader Saber Ali. This added one more name to him, Ahmed Shah Durrani.
Ahmed Shah Durani (Abdali) fought against Marathas in the third battle of Panipat on 14 January 1761. Panipat is a city about 97 kilometers North of Delhi. Marathas were not alone, Pashtun Rohillas under the command of Najib-Ud-Daulah, the Baloch Khanate of Kalat, and the Oudh state under Shuja-ud-Daula and also the support of the Mughal Empire. The Maratha army was led by Sadashivrao Bhau. Despite a great number, Marathas got defeated in this battle.
After the death of Zakarya Khan, the battle started for the throne between his two sons Yahiya Khan and Shah Nawaz Khan. On the suggestion of Adina Beg, Shah Nawaz Khan wrote a letter for help to Ahmed Shah Durrani that if Ahmed Shah attacks Lahore, then Shah Nawaz Khan will stand with him. Kamrudin-Mir-Atish was ruling Delhi at that time and he was Shah Nawaz Khan’s mother’s brother. He asked Shah Nawaz Khan that we can solve the issue by ourselves as family and he shouldn’t call anyone from outside. Shah Nawaz Khan agreed to this. When Ahmed Shah Abdali attacked, he faced retaliation from the combined forces. Shah Nawaz Khan went to Delhi but send a force against Ahmed Shah Abdali under the command of Diwan Kaura Mall. Ahmed Shah Abdali overcomes the forces. He stayed in Lahore for several months. Once, his camp was between Nurdin’s inn and Veroval. Just three miles away from his camp were Sikh groups including leaders like Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Nawab Kapoor Singh, Sardar Mitt Singh Dalewalia, and Sardar Charat Singh. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was of the view to attack Abdali but Sardar Dalewalia told that Abdali did not come for them. After discussion, all leaders agreed to have a small conflict with Abdali. The dominating reason was that Abdali might not attack Sikhs this time but he will come back and will have conflicts with Sikhs who are the son of the soil. So, to know about war tactics and the type of weapons of Afghan forces, they should indulge in conflicts with Afghans. It was the time of 1748. There was no causality among Sikh leaders. Nawab Kapoor Singh got hit by a bullet and in 1753 he died due to this wound. This was the first time when Abdali saw Sikhs, fighting on the battlefield.
After the battle of Panipat, Abdali took a lot of wealth and about 2200 ladies from Marathas and Mughals as slaves to him. Sikhs attacked Abdali on his way back to Afghanistan when he was near Goiendwal, and set free these 2200 ladies from Ahmed Shah Durrani and send those ladies of Hindus back to their homes. Ahmed Shah Abdali was not able to stand against Sikhs and went back to Afghan. Sikhs also killed the military general appointed by Abdali at Lahore. This thing created anger in the mind of Ahmed Shah that I have defeated a large army of Marathas and no one came in my way, how this small number of people dares to challenge me and block my way. Ahmed Shah Abdali sends one of his generals, Nur Din back to Punjab with sixteen thousand soldiers to destroy Sikhs. When Nur Din reached Sialkot where Sikh leader Sardar Charat Singh challenged him. Sikhs were only four thousand in number and Nur Din was with sixteen thousand soldiers. After a few hours, Sikhs overcome the invader and Nur Din got scared of the Sikhs and went into the fort of Sialkot. On the third night, he disguises and flees from the fort. The army in the fort was without any leader. Five deputy generals of this force came to Sikhs for the surrender of sixteen thousand army personnel. This was one of the biggest surrenders of Abdali’s forces. Thus Sikhs also got good horses and weapons. Sikhs did not kill any one of those who surrender. Sikhs asked them to leave Punjab and told them not to rob anyone in Punjab. At that time Lahore Faujdar was Umaid Khan. When Lahore Faujdar came to know that Nur Din fled away, he with his soldiers went to help Nur Din. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia stopped Umaid Khan on his way. Ubaid Khan went back to Lahore. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia followed him and reached Lahore. Umaid Khan went into the fort. He was limited to the fort only, whereas Jassa Singh was having full control of Lahore. Sardar Jassa Singh also introduced the coin. The coin was having same wording as Baba Banda Singh Bahadur’s stamp.
DEGO TEGO FATEH, NUSRAT BED RANG, YAFAT AJ NANAK GURU GOBIND SINGH.
Umaid Khan died of shame in the fort. The city’s Kazies (religious leaders of Islam) were very upset with it. They conspire and made a fake coin that has wording against Abdali and sends that with a message to Abdali that Jassa Singh Ahluwalia insulted you on his coin. The wording of the fake coin made by them and send to Abdali was – SIKKA YAD BAR HAR DO ALAM FAZAL AKAAL, MULAKH AHMED GRIFAT ASAT JASSA KALAAL.
Abdali was very disappointed with it because his general at Lahore was afraid of Sikhs and couldn’t come for the help of that commander that Abdali sent to destroy Sikhs. Abdali’s commander also fled as a result of the fear of Sikhs. And Abdali was also fully trapped in the conspiracy of the Kazies of Lahore.
On the other side, on 27th October 1761, Sikhs on their general gathering (Sarbat Khalsa) which includes all Sikhs and groups on the occasion of Bandi Chhor Divas and did some resolves. The main resolve was to punish the agents, informers, and collaborators of the Afghans. One of the enemies of Sikhs was Aqil Das Niranjania. He was from Jandiala and head of the heretical Niranjania sect and an inveterate enemy of Sikhs. He was the descendent of the people who wrote a false book known as ‘Janam Sakhi’ and make false allegations about Guru Nanak. His thinking was the same.
After knowing that Sikhs siege Zandiyala and can attack him, Aqil Das send a message to Ahmed Shah who was already on his way to Punjab. Aqil Das’s messenger meets Ahmed Shah at Rohtas. Ahmed Shah was determined to finish Sikhs, so he raised the Jihad flag against Sikhs to finish Sikhs completely. He sent messages to the different groups of Pathans. Ahmed Shah himself reached Lahore. When Sikhs heard this news, they knew that Zandiyala is not far from Lahore. Abdali can easily reach Zandiyala from Lahore. Sikhs were having families in this area. So they think that fighting a strong enemy while families are with them can be a dangerous thing for families. Sikh leaders decided to drop the families at some safe place in the Malwa region and then fight the final battle with Ahmed Shah. Sikhs crossed the river Beas and started heading toward Malwa. In the meantime, Ahmed Shah reached Jandiyala and meet Aqil Dass. Aqil Dass made a false claim here that Sikhs were about 90 thousand, which was not true. But Ahmed Shah believe that and after hearing this, he started recruiting more army personnel. Ahmed Shah stayed about one week at Jandiyala and then went to Lahore for increasing his army. When Sikhs reached the area of Kup Rahira, Bhikhan Khan, the Faujdar (Chief) of Malerkotla came to know about the arrival of Sikhs in his area. He sends a messenger to Ahmed Shah about it. Messenger meets Ahmed Shah on 1st February 1762. Ahmed shah sends him back with a message that Ahmed Shah will reach there in two days, till then, try to keep Sikhs busy in fighting so that Sikhs couldn’t leave that area. The other message he sends is that the army fighting against Sikhs should put green leaves or green stems in their turbans so that his army can distinguish between friends and enemies. The messenger reached Bhikhan Khan on 4th February 1762. According to historical sources, the number of Sikhs was slightly above 40,000. Only 15,000 were the fighters and the others were children, women, and old people. Sikhs were planning to take their families to a safe place in Lakhi Jungle in the Malwa region so that they can have a final battle with Ahmed Shah.
Ahmed Shah, with a light cavalry force, while covering the distance of 200 km reached Kup Rahira in 48 hours. His way included two river crossings. He first reached Jandiyala and did some rest, after he reached Talwan and finally he reached there on the dawn of 5th February 1762. Sikhs were encamped at Kup Rahira, a village 12 km north of Malerkotla. Before Ahmed Shah reached Kup Rahira, Kasim Khan, Murtaza Khan Wrainch, Bhikhan Khan and Lakshmi Narayan with their forces made a sudden attack on the Sikhs. Sikhs were not expecting any kind of attack like this and this was the reason for maximum damage. Sardar Sangu Singh from Kaithal, Bhai Sekhu Singh, and some more leaders was given the responsibility to take the families forward and the other Sikh leaders stood behind the families to make a wall in order to safeguard the moving caravan of families from behind. Families were moving and Murtaza Khan along with the combined forces was attacking them in between, they were Sikh fighters to save their families. Sikhs showed a good fight and Murtaza Khan got scared. He went back to Malerkotla and did not return to the battlefield on 5th February. Kasim Khan also run from the battlefield and crossed Malerkotla. They got a lifeline when Ahmed Shah reached there. Ahmed Shah meets with Murtaza Khan and asked him to combine the forces of Tehmaaz Khan, Lakshmi Narayan, and Bhikhan Shah and attack the Sikh caravan from the front. Most of the Sikh fighters were at the back of the caravan to save them from the attack. When combined forces attacked Sikhs from the front of the caravan, Sikhs got scattered and had a big loss of their families. By watching this, Sikh leaders changed their strategy. They decided to dissolve the Missels(Groups) and formed into one. The other thing they decided to stand, fight and walk together in order to save Khalsa. This was about Khalsa combined and not about the individual. According to their decision, the families got in the center and the fighters will be on the outside in the form of a circle. The whole caravan will move in a circular motion forward. Attackers tried their best to break the outer border of the caravan so that they can kill all the families of Sikhs. The strategy of Sikhs was so perfect that despite less number of Sikhs, a huge number of enemy forces were killed. As Sikhs were moving in a circular formation, they were getting some time off from the fight and preparing themselves to fight again. Ahmed Shah attacked six times in a day with his fresh soldiers to break the border of the circle of families to get in but he got defeated every time. After watching this that Ahmed Shah is attempting, again and again, to enter the circle, Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia took four thousand Sikh fighters and attacked Ahmed Shah directly. In the first two attempts, they could not reach Abdali. In the third attempt, Sardar Jassa Singh reached in front of Abdali. Sardar Jassa Singh challenged Abdali directly and said, “Abdali, If you think that you are the lion of Afgan, then why you are making other people fight for you and die. My self Jassa Singh challenges you to a fight. Accept my challenge to prove your courage. After hearing this, Abdali could not make the courage to face Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and went behind his troops like a coward. After that, he could not show the courage to lead his troops from the front. He kept on giving instruction from a camp behind his troops. While fighting and walking, Sikhs reached a village named Gahan. Sikhs thought that the people of that village will help them but people close their house doors. After that, Abdali sends a huge army under his general Zahaan Khan with fresh soldiers to attack Sikhs. Zhaan Khan was one of the main generals who defeated the combined army of Marathas in the third battle of Panipat. But this time his opponents were Sikhs. Despite his large army, he was not able to overcome the Sikhs. While fighting and walking, Sikhs reached villages named Khutba and Bahmnia. Sikhs thought that villagers might open their doors for their help. Sikhs were not aware of the fact that both these villages belonged to Pathans and were under Bhikhan Khan. When Sikhs from the front of the caravan reached these villages, they were attacked by the combined forces of these villages. A sudden attack from the front killed a huge number of Sikhs. When Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia came to know about this attack, he took 1000 soldiers with him to the front. After a fierce battle, all the attackers from these villages were killed or left the battlefield like cowards. After watching this, Ahmed Shah sends a message to Lakshmani Narayan through a messenger to attack the Sikhs’ caravan from the front with the combined forces of Bhikhan Khan, Zain Khan, Wali Khan, and Lakshmi Narayan. Thus Sikh fighters will move to the front and Ahmed Shah can kill the families from the back of the caravan. In reply, Lakshmani Narayan said,” It’s easy to talk while at the back, but it’s hard to fight in the front of Sikhs. While fighting and walking, the front of the Sikhs’ caravan reached the village Hathor. This village was having a water pound. Sikhs started drinking water from it, as well as their horses. Horses were also having multiple wounds by the time. At the last of the caravan of Sikhs were the leaders like Sardar Charat Singh, Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Baba Sudh Singh, and Sardar Mit Singh Dalewalia. This was the time when on one side, Sikhs were drinking water and on the other side, Abdali and his allied forces were drinking water. From that point, Sikhs move forward but the attackers did not follow them and Abdali returned back. Sikhs moved forward and reached villages Raj Braar’s. Sikhs hope to find shelter in the villages, but the people did not help them. Even people of these villages wore the red turbans like Abdali’s forces and pretend to be Abdali’s army. They attacked Sikhs. Sikhs recognized this at first attacked and defend their families. The people of this village got defeated and run away. Sikhs’ caravan moved on through this area and become safe.
The battle was very fierce. By the end of the day, about 37000 to 40000 Sikhs lost their lives. In the evening, the prayers of Sikhs include that the fake has been shed; the true Khalsa remains intact. This was the height of the morale of Sikhs. All Sikh leaders were having not less than 18 wounds on their bodies. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was having 22 wounds and Sardar Charat Singh was having 19 wounds and three bullets wounds by the end of the day. About 20-25 thousand attackers also got killed in this battle.
‘Damdama Sahib Wali Bir’ of Guru Granth Sahib Ji could not be saved in the battle.
Abdali remained in the Malerkotla area till 12th February and after he moved via Sirhand to Lahore and reached there on 15th February 1762. There is one incident that needs to mention here. This incident was reported around 10th February 1762. Pandit Lakshmi Narayan told Abdali that Ahla Singh help Sikhs. We can bring him to Islam as well as we can get 5 lakh rupees as a ransom for his life. Abdali agreed to it and attacked the city Barnala. Ahla Singh was not there, he was in the fort of Bhawanigarh. When Ahla Singh came to know about this, he approached his known Najib-Ud-Daula, who was having his approach Abdali also. Ahla Singh meets Abdali through him. Ahla Singh gave 5 Lakh rupees to spare his life and 1.5 Lakh rupees for not converting him to Islam. Thus he saved his kingdom. Abdali kept him for six days with him. His main intention to keep Ahla Singh with him was to know why he cannot finish Sikhs and what are the qualities saved Sikhs. Ahla Singh told him that the Guru gave them this spirit and if one Sikh gets martyrdom, there will be four Sikhs to replace him. So even death cannot scare Sikhs and thus, Sikhs cannot be defeated. After hearing this, Abdali told Ahla Singh that he wants to be allied with Sikhs and wants to do some table talk. The thing to note here is that Abdali fought against Marathas, Mughals, and many more, but he never invited them for a table talk. He had seen Sikhs on the battlefield, he was aware of the bravery and character of Sikhs and this was the reason that Abdali was defeated from inside also, despite he did a big massacre of the Sikhs and their families. Despite the very less number of Sikhs, Abdali does not want to continue the enmity with them. He actually came to know that the character of Sikhs make them undefeated warriors of the soil of Punjab and without their consent, he couldn’t be the ruler of this area or the areas beyond it. Ahla Singh told that he cannot be mediocre in the talk. Ahla Singh offered his lawyer Naanu Singh to Abdali to talk to Sikhs. Abdali sent a message to Sikhs through Nanu Singh Grewal that Abdali do not want to make more damage to Sikhs. Sikhs can rule the area and pay a nominal price for that which includes local farm produce. This message was read in the court of five Sikh leaders named Sardar Charat Singh, Sardar Karam Singh, Sardar Jassa Singh, Sardar Hari Singh and Sardar Sud Singh. Sikh leaders replied that although this is a good deal for those who have fear of death it’s not for us. The other thing is that we are made sovereign by our Guru. Abdali is no one to offer us the rule, we will rule with our swords by the grace of our Guru. Abdali could not find the courage to face them and go back to Lahore. In March, Abdali attacked Darbar Sahib and destroyed the building with his cannons. When he was bombarding Darbar Sahib, one broken brick strike on his nose leaving a swear injury. Abdali was not able to put the cloth off his nose till his death. This injury gave him pain till his death.
The next battle was held at Amritsar between Abdali and Sikhs on 17 October 1762. It was a solar eclipse on that day. Sikhs were less in number, but they fought with such strength that Abdali run away from Amritsar to Lahore. Sikhs followed him and sieged Lahore. Abdali could not find the courage to face Sikhs on the battlefield and he fled to Kandahar.
Abdali was thinking that he defeated Maratha’s army in a battle and they could not stand in front of him till now. He was expecting that Sikhs will not come in his way because he made a sudden attack on them and killed maximum of their fighters and families. But he was wrong. After such a big massacre on 5th February, Sikhs captured Malerkotla on 20th April. Sikhs captured Bhikhan Khan (Faujdaar of Malerkotla). Sikhs did not kill him because one of his ancestors was in Wazir Khan’s court and was disagree with the Wazir Khan’s decision of killing two innocent younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Even today, Sikhs remind their stand against the wrong decision. Even though Bhikhan Khan killed a lot of Sikhs in February 1762 Ghallughara, Sikhs did not kill him. Bhikhan Khan asked for an apology by making lines on the ground with his nose in front of Sikh Sardars. Contrary to Abdali’s thinking, in the first week of May, Sikhs attacked Sirhind and destroyed it. Zain Khan was captured but Sikhs did not kill him, because Sikhs do not kill a captured enemy. Zain Khan gave them money in return for his life. It’s estimated that he gave them 50,000. Lakshmi Narayan and Rehmat Ullah Khan got killed in battle.
There is one incident that needs to mention here. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was surrounded by enemies. He was having many wounds on his body. His bodyguard Sardar Gurmukh Singh saw this and thought that a few more wounds can kill Sardar Ahluwalia. If the leader will die then it will not be a good sign for Sikhs. So he tried to push his horse out of the siege of the enemy. Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia stopped him and said I will break the siege of the enemy by fighting and not by running away. Sardar Ahluwalia fought bravely and breaks the siege of the enemies.
There are Gurudwaras in remembrance of this massacre in different villages where this massacre was held.