The battle of Bhangani was the first real battle fought by Guru Gobind on 18 September, 1688 when he was 22 years of age. The cause of the battle was the old native enemy Raja Bheem Chand and his relative Raja Fateh Chand of Garhwal who were driven by the hatred towards Guru and his Sikhism that preached equality of all castes.
Guru had made Mokhowal village of hill region his centre of activities. First Guru Teg Bahadur operated from there. Later Guru Gobind also made it a sub-centre of his operations. The operations included working for the upliftment of the lower castes which was not liked by the hill kings. Through centuries the lower castes had been treated like beasts of burden and worked to their bones. Hill kings carried a grudge against Sikhs.
In the marriage of Ajmer Chand and the daughter of Garhwal Raja all the hill kings had come together to attend the ceremony. On his way back from the ceremony Raja Fateh Chand of Garhwal suddenly launched an attack on Guru Gobind at Bhangani, a place 6 miles off Paonta.
It was a complete surprise for Guru Sahib who had even sent a gift to the bride on her marriage and had worked a friendship pact between Raja Medini Prakash of Sirmaur and Fateh Chand who were having strained relationship. Fateh Chand had returned the gift on the advice of the groom’s father Raja Bheem Chand.
Sikh soldiers accompanying Guru Sahib put up a stout defence. When Muslim fakir, Sayyad Buddhu Shah heard about the attack on Guru Sahib he rushed to the latter’s help with an army of 500 Pathan soldiers. He was an ardent devotee and ally of Guru Sahib. His soldiers joined Guru’s Sikh army. Pathan force was commanded by four captains—Hayat Khan, Bheekham Khan, Najawat Khan and Kaale Khan. Out of the four, enemy was able to buy three of them. Only Kaale Khan stayed with Guru Gobind. Rest of them defected.
When Buddhu Shah learnt about the defection he was dismayed and anguished. He again rushed to the help of Guru Sahib himself with four of his sons and seven hundred disciple soldiers. They jumped into the fray and fought valiantly the make to enemy flee. Two of his sons lost their lives. On Guru’s side Mahant Kripal Das stood out in the battle. He was able to kill the defector Hayat Khan.
After the war Guru Gobind presented a turban, Kangha, Kripan and a citation to Buddhu Shah to honour him for his helpful role.
Besides Mahant Kripal Das others also too shined. Sikh soldiers were led by Sango Shah, Jeetmal, Gopal Chand, Gangram and Mehrichand. The warring forces fought a grim battle.
Raja Hari Chand’s arrows were able to bring down Jeetmal. Sango Shah died at the hands of Pathan Najawat Khan. Then, Guru Gobind himself plunged into the battle on his horse. He was confronted by Raja Harichand. Guru shot his arrow at him and it claimed the Raja. As he fell dead his army ran away. The armies of hill kings got demoralised. Raja Fateh Chand retreated to his kingdom.
Thus, Guru Gobind won his first battle.
After the battle the injured were given proper treatment. The dead were duly cremated or buried as the respective customs demanded. All those who did not take part in the battle were expelled from the town. Now the hill kings knew for certain that they were not dealing with a spiritual sermoniser but a leader of the faith who also was a warrior.
After Bhangani battle Guru Sahib returned to Paonta but he didn’t feel like staying there anymore. He shifted to a state called Kahiloor which was also situated in present day Himachal Pradesh as is Sirmaur and Bilaspur. From there he went to Makhowal village of Anandpur region.
Around Anandpur Sahib he got four forts of strategic importance constructed called Lohgrah, Anandgrah, Keshgarh and Fatehgarh.
During his stay at Paonta he met Ramrai, the son of Seventh Guru, Harrai. He had been expelled from Sikh faith because he had twisted a couplet of holy Guru Granth Sahib to please Aurangzeb. He lived in the nearby town called Dehradun. He died there on 4 September, 1687.
Shopping Cart
