Battle of Chappar Chiri and the fall of Sirhind

01From Nanded to the Punjab

Banda Singh, born Lachman Dev, had been a bairagi at Nanded on the Godavari when he met Guru Gobind Singh in 1708. The Guru gave him five arrows, a few companions and letters to the Sikhs of the Punjab. Within two years he had taken Samana and Sadhaura. In May 1710 he met Wazir Khan’s army on the plain of Chappar Chiri. Sikh accounts say Fateh Singh cut Wazir Khan down; the Mughal army broke.

02The first Sikh rule

Sirhind fell two days later. Banda Singh made Lohgarh in the Shivalik foothills his seat, struck coins in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh and gave land to those who tilled it. The Fateh Burj at Chappar Chiri, raised in 2011, marks the battlefield.

Person · 1670–1716 CEBanda Singh BahadurBorn Lachhman Dev in the Rajouri hills, he became the bairagi Madho Das, met Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded in 1708 and was sent north as Banda Singh. In 1710 he took Sirhind, struck coins in the name of the Gurus and broke the hold of the Mughal jagirdars over the Punjab countryside.Read →