Battle of Bhangani

VictorGuru Gobind Singh’s Sikhs and alliesGuru Gobind Singh

1688vs

SideAllied hill rajasRaja Fateh Shah of Garhwal, with Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur

Guru Gobind Singh’s first battle, fought when he was about twenty-two. He tells of it himself in the Bachitra Natak.

Date: 1688 CEWhere: Bhangani, near Paonta Sahib on the Yamuna, Sirmaur, Himachal PradeshType: Battle

Result

The Guru’s small force held the field and the hill rajas withdrew.

01Paonta and the hill rajas

The young Guru had settled at Paonta on the Yamuna at the invitation of the Raja of Sirmaur. His growing following and his armed Sikhs alarmed the hill rajas, chief among them Bhim Chand of Kahlur. Fateh Shah of Garhwal led their combined force against Paonta. The Guru met them six miles away at Bhangani. In the Bachitra Natak he names the men who fought beside him, among them his cousin Sango Shah, who was killed, and the Udasi Mahant Kirpal Das, who fought with a heavy club.

02Pir Budhu Shah

The Sufi Pir Budhu Shah of Sadhaura brought his sons and followers to fight for the Guru, and two of his sons were killed. After the battle the Guru returned to Anandpur. The armour plate he wore that day, inscribed with verses of the Japji and the Akal Ustat, survives.

Person · 1666–1708 CEGuru Gobind SinghGuru Gobind Singh became Guru at nine after his father’s martyrdom, created the Khalsa at Anandpur on Vaisakhi 1699, and lost all four sons in the war with the Mughals. Before he died at Nanded in 1708 he declared the Granth the eternal Guru.Read →

Why it matters

Bhangani marked the Sikh Panth’s turn to arms in its own defence, eleven years before the Khalsa was founded.

01Paonta and the hill rajas

02Pir Budhu Shah

People

Guru Gobind Singh