Khalsa Fauj

The Khalsa Fauj () were the military forces of the Khalsa order of the Sikhs, established by the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, in 1699. It replaced the Akal Sena that had been established by the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind.

History

Origin

Guru Gobind Singh succeeded his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, as guru in 1675. He felt that the Akal Sena was not living up to the challenge and sought to reform the Sikh military forces. Therefore, it was replaced by the Khalsa Fauj after the formalization of the Khalsa order into the sanctified framework of Sikhism at Anandpur on 30 March 1699. Guru Gobind Singh had an ultimate vision of Sikh sovereignty. The precedence and authority for establishing the Khalsa Fauj was traced back to the teachings of Guru Nanak. It was committed to freeing the Punjab of foreign domination. The army followed the principle of violence only when all other means to address an issue have been exhausted, a principle of dharamyudh (righteous warfare).

Guru Gobind Singh

The Khalsa Fauj frequently warred with the Mughal Empire and Rajas belonging to various Hill States of the Shivalik Hills. The army had to relocate from Anandpur in 1704. A short-lived reconciliation between the Mughals and Sikhs occurred in 1707, when Gobind Singh and his Khalsa Fauj spent around 10 months encamped alongside the Imperial Mughal Army of Bahadur Shah whilst the latter was campaigning in Rajasthan. However, Gobind Singh felt that the Mughal emperor was avoiding having discussions with him on the issue of Punjab and therefore he sent Banda Singh Bahadur to the northwest to place pressure on the Mughals.

Banda Singh Bahadur

Banda Singh Bahadur had been given the mantle of leadership by the Guru himself when he was blessed with five arrows from the Guru's own quiver as a symbol of victory. The Guru saw potential in Banda as a warrior against tyranny and injustice, therefore he prepared him for future missions and assigned a group of Panj Pyare (five beloved ones), consisting of Binod Singh, Kahan Singh, Baj Singh, Daya Singh, and Ram Singh, to assist the newly converted Sikh in his affairs, alongside 20 other Sikh warriors. Banda Singh was promoted to Jathedar of the Panth (General of the Khalsa) on 5 October 1708 by the Guru. Banda and his retinue were instructed to go to Sirhind to take revenge for the tyranny of the local Mughal governor of the area. After the passing of Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded in the Deccan (located modern-day Maharashtra), Banda Singh Bahadur became the caretaker of the Khalsa Fauj. He would go on to rebel against the Mughal empire and form the first sovereign Sikh republican state, ruling over parts of the Punjab, especially in the southeastern regions, albeit the polity was a short-lived one. Most of the recruits into the Khalsa Fauj during the years of Banda's reign drew from the Jat peasantry. The headquarters at this time was Lohgarh. Banda and 2,000 of his followers were captured and publicly executed in 1716 by the Mughals.

Post-Banda After the death of Banda Singh Bahadur, the Khalsa Fauj divided into various jathas (armed group or band of Sikhs). Since the Sikh community had dispersed to the jungles, deserts, and mountains to avoid state persecution, the focus of the Khalsa Fauj turned to plunder for the time being. There was no clear leader during this period. Small groups of bands of Sikh horsemen still carried out guerilla ambushes on the enemy when the opportunity arose. The period between the death of Banda Singh Bahadur and the hegemony of the Sikh Confederacy is one of the darkest annals in Sikh history, with the Khalsa Fauj fighting for the very survival of the Sikh community faced with certain elimination by genocide perpetrated by Emperor Farrukhsiyar. By the 1720s, the rebellion of the Sikhs had been extinguished. During this time, Abdus Samad Khan, a Turani official and commander of the Mughal military stationed in Punjab, had a very harsh policy against the Sikhs. Any Sikh which was found was given the choice of conversion to Islam or death. When Zakaria Khan, son of Abdus Saman Khan, became the subahdar (governor) of Lahore subah (province) in 1726, he wanted the Sikhs to join the Mughal cause against the Afghan invaders or at the very least remain neutral but things did not work out that way.

Army details

Tactics Significance was heavily placed on cavalry and hand-to-hand combat on horseback. The Khalsa Fauj used guerrilla warfare tactics.

Equipment

Horses for the army were sourced from small zamindars (feudal lords) located between the Ravi and Beas rivers. Some warriors possessed matchlock guns whilst others still used bows and arrows.

Organization Various village chieftains made-up the ranks of the Khalsa Fauj under Guru Gobind Singh. Some chiefs had a larger group of warriors under them (up to hundreds) whilst others only had a few. The base-of-operations for these chiefs was usually their native village, which were often fortified.

Pay There was no regular salary for soldiers in the Khalsa Fauj during the period of Guru Gobind Singh. Rather, they had the chance to plunder their enemies' estates under a religious cause.

Symbols

Coiled snake Guru Gobind Singh compared the Khalsa Fauj to a coiled snake ready to pounce, which he calls the pechida maar, in his Zafarnama (epistle of victory) letter addressed to Aurangzeb:

Colour

The uniform and colours of the Khalsa Fauj were blue due to Guru Gobind Singh witnessing his youngest son, Fateh Singh, donning such garbs in this colour. Thereafter he standardized them in his army.

Successor It was succeeded by the Dal Khalsa of the Sikh Confederacy, established by Nawab Kapur Singh in the 1730s. The Sarbat Khalsa united the various jathas of the Khalsa Fauj into more organized and streamlined formations. This reform would lead to the Sikh Confederacy, ruled by various misls.

Legacy Sikh armies in later periods up till the present are sometimes called "Khalsa Fauj", including the military forces of the Sikh Empire, the Sikh Khalsa Army. During the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest, songs were made that compared the victorious protesting farmers to the Khalsa Fauj of Guru Gobind Singh.

Timeline

1699 – Founding of the Khalsa Panth, the functionalities and institution of the Akal Sena is absorbed into the Khalsa Fauj 1699 – Battle of Anandpur (1699) 1700 – Battle of Anandpur (1700) 1700 – First siege of Anandpur (1700) 1700 – Battle of Taragarh 1702 – Battle of Basoli 1702 – First Battle of Chamkaur 7 March 1703 – Siege of Bassi Kalan 1704 – First Battle of Anandpur (1704) May to December 1704 – Second siege of Anandpur (1704) 21 December 1704 – Battle of Sarsa 21 December 1704 – Battle of Shahi Tibbi 22–23 December 1704 – Second Battle of Chamkaur 29 December 1705 – Battle of Muktsar 1707 – Battle of Baghaur 20 June 1707 – Battle of Jajau 2 April 1708 – Battle of Chittorgarh 5 October 1708 – Banda Singh Bahadur is promoted to general of the Khalsa Fauj by Guru Gobind Singh and sent on a mission to conquer Punjab 7 October 1708 – passing of Guru Gobind Singh due to partially healed wounds, from an injury sustained in a previous assassination attempt, opening up 6 and 12 April 1709 - Battle of Amritsar 1709 – Battle of Sonipat 1709 – Battle of Kaithal 26 November 1709 – Battle of Samana 1709 – Battle of Ghuram 1709 – Battle of Sanaur 1709 – Battle of Thaska 1709 – Battle of Shahabad 1709 – Battle of Mustafabad 1709 – Battle of Dhamala 1709 – Battle of Ambala 1709 – Battle of Kunjpura 1709 – Battle of Thanesar 1709 – Battle of Kapuri 1709 – Battle of Karnal 1709 – Battle of Panipat 1710 – Battle of Sadhaura 12 May 1710 – Battle of Chappar Chiri May 12-May 14, 1710 – Siege of Sirhind and establishment of the first Sikh state 1710 – Battle of Banur 1710 - Battle of Buria July 1710 - Battle of Saharanpur 1710 – Battle of Behat 1710 – Battle of Ambheta July 1710 - Battle of Nanautu 1710 - Battle of Jalalabad 1710 – Battle of Muzaffarnagar 1710 - Battle of Bharath 1710 - Siege of Kotla Begun October 1710 - Battle of Bhilowal 11 October 1710 - Battle of Rahon 1710 – Battle of Kalanaur 1710 – Battle of Batala 1710 – Battle of Pathankot 13 November 1710 - Battle of Thanesar 10 December 1710 - Battle of Lohgarh 1711 - Battle of Bilaspur 1711 - Battle of Kullu 1711 - Battle of Bahrampar 1711 - Battle of Kalanaur 1711 - Battle of Batala 1711 - Battle of Aurangabad 1711 - Battle of Pasrur January 22, 1712 – Battle of Jammu 1712 - Battle of Sadhaura December 1712 - Battle Of Lohgarh 1713 - Siege of Sadhaura 1713 - Battle of Lohgarh 1714 - Battle of Kiri Pathan 1714 - Battle of Ropar 1715 - Battle of Kalanaur 1715 - Battle of Batala 1715 – Battle of Gurdas Nangal 1715 - Siege of Gurdaspur - fall of the first Sikh state soon after battle and capture of Banda Singh and his followers by the Mughal forces June 1716 – Banda and 2,000 of his followers are brutally executed publicly in Delhi by the Mughals 1716 – 1726 – Abdus Saman Khan viciously persecutes Sikhs, trying to wipe them out entirely. Khalsa Fauj evacuates the community to remote areas and initiates a guerilla warfare against the Mughal authority 1726 – Zakaria Khan becomes the new governor of Lahore province. He attempts to neuter the Sikh aggression towards the Mughals or get them to join the Mughal camp against the Afghans but fails in either objective 1731 - Battle of Thikriwala 1733-1735 – succeeded by the Dal Khalsa of the Sikh Confederacy

Khalsa Fauj

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