Battle of Jalalabad (1710)

Banda Singh Bahadur was notified that Sikh people were imprisoned and persecuted in the village of Unarsa, and the conditions were distressing for the Hindus, facing cruel treatment and tyranny in the city of Jalalabad, ruled by Jalal Khan and his army. Banda Singh sent his emissaries to Jalal Khan to stop the oppression against the non-Muslims but his messengers were mistreated and sent back.[2] Therefore, Banda Singh Bahadur marched towards Jalalabad.[3] On the way to Jalalabad, Banda Singh defeated, captured and plundered Sarsawa, Saharanpur, Beyhut, Ambeyta, Nanauta, with half the administrative towns of Saharanpur falling under Sikh rule.[4][5]

Upon hearing of the nearby villages assailed by the Sikhs and their advance towards his capital, Jalal Khan began preparations to defend his town and fort. He dispatched an army of musketeers, archers and horsemen to provide relief to the besieged villages. The arrival of Jalal Khan's reinforcements encouraged and emboldened the besieged peasantry and villagers to engage the Sikhs in battle. Several conflicts later ensued between the Sikhs and the Afghans. As the Sikhs advanced half way from Nanauta to Jalalabad, they were confronted by the Afghan army commanded by Jalal Khan's nephew, Hazbar Khan, and his brother in law, Ghulam Mohammad Khan. The sanguinary battle took place for 3-4 days during which the relatives of Jalal Khan inflicted heavy losses on the Sikh encampments during their night attacks. Jalal Khan's nephews Jamal Khan and Pir Khan were ultimately killed along with Hazbar Khan and numerous ghazis, resulting in the repulsion of the Pathan army back into the city fort.[1][6] The city was eventually besieged, the countryside of Jalalabad was devasted by the Sikhs but they were repulsed during their numerous attempts to capture the fort and town. Their tactics included encircling the town with wooden cannons, attempting to destroy the fort's walls, climbing up the walls and burning the gates but they remained unsuccessful. Due to the strong walls of the fort, the unpleasant weather that flooded the surrounding of the fort, along with its banks overflowed by the river Krishna, and especially after being notified of urgent calls from the Sikhs of central Punjab appealing for help against their local faujdars, and that the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah had sent reinforcements to recover the lost territories in Punjab, Banda Singh Bahadur abandoned the siege for more urgent matters after 20 days of ineffectual fighting and the loss of several soldiers. At the time of the siege, Banda was reported to have been commanding an army of 70,000-80,000 men.[1][7][6][8]