14 January 1764[Gupta][EoS][EoS]4 Magh 1820 Bikrami
The Sikhs take Sirhind
Two years after the Vadda Ghallughara, the Dal Khalsa defeated the Afghan governor Zain Khan and took Sirhind for good. The victory gave the Sikhs lasting control of the province and opened the way to the Yamuna.
Sirhind had been Banda Singh Bahadur's great prize in 1710 but had been lost again. Hari Ram Gupta puts the Sikh force of January 1764 at about 50,000, including Baba Ala Singh's contingent. Zain Khan, the Afghan governor, sent out detachments to draw attention while he tried to escape, and part of the Sikh force turned to the baggage.
The Buddha Dal under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia surrounded him, and he was shot dead trying to break away. The Sikhs entered the town after brief resistance and plundered it, and the province was divided among the chiefs in the following weeks.
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism treats this as the point at which Sikh chiefs began to hold territory in their own right. Within a month, Sikh forces under Baghel Singh and others had crossed the Yamuna and taken Saharanpur.[Gupta][EoS][EoS]
Dates in the sources
- 1763-12: Hari Ram Gupta notes that recent Punjab historians place the fall in December 1763. He follows Ratan Singh Bhangu, whose father was present.[Gupta]