Question

Write a note on the battle of Chamkaur Sahib.

Answer 1

Hint:
This war between the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh and the allied forces of the Mughals and Rajput hill chiefs was fought over three days from December 21 to 23, 1704.

Complete solution:
2.5 lacs became the army of the Mughal and 22 armies of the hilly ruler, 1 lac Ranghars followed them, 2 lacs Pathan or Afghans also joined these forces. Local Gujjars joined Mughals in big nos in the region around Chamkaur Sahib, which made a total of 10 lacs.
Due to the fear of invasion of the Persian empire in the earliest part of his reign, the Aurangzeb held 2 lacs troops under Lahore. Apart from these military bases, 1 lac 50,000 troops were still there in Sirhind being the main military centre, the Mogul were able to mobilise troops from Avadh, Agra the elite of troops. Mogul India had an Afghan military system at the time. The Mogul system was originally from Afghanistan. Punjab was, along with Bengal and Avadhh, the great state and was the foundation of the Mogul kingdom. Numerating 5 lacs joined central Pathan tribes and Rangars apart from Mogul.
The Mogul forces surrounding Guru ji at Anandpur Sahib were about 1.5 lacs from Lahore under Zabardast Khan, as the Emperor ordered him to gather all forces from Majha to Strike. Under Ajmer Chand, the hilly Kings had 80,000 troops Sirhind had 1 lac troops with 1 lac reserves and most important was the elite troops under Delhi Governor the Turkish Musketeers and most professional Gunners in the world 30,000 same troops were able to win several frontal battles in south and Rajputana for Moguls. The hilly kings supported these fights. The Governor of Delhi was the top Mogul official after the Emperor. The actual commander in chief was the Governor of Delhi, who was killed by the arrow of Guru Ji on the first day of battle in Chamkaur. Other Kashmir, Avadh and Kabul backed up troops, but the greatest surprise for the Sikhs was the unexpected assault on the other side of the River Sirsa by 2 lacs Rangars and followed by 3 lacs Pathans and Gujjars, who came to fight willingly. The enemy forces could be more than 10 lacs.

Note:
The Battle of Chamkaur laid bare the Mughal imperial forces' moral decay, cowardice and weakness. The fact that they used deception to beat an enemy much smaller in strength showed their inability to compete with resolve. The Battle of Chamkaur led to the infusion among peasants of a powerful military philosophy that led to the eventual dissolution of two of the greatest empires (Muslim and Afghan) seen in world history and the formation of a new one the Sikh Empire.