View source for Battle of Chamkaur

{{Short description|1705 battle in Punjab, India}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}{{Not to be confused with|First Battle of Chamkaur|text=the [[First Battle of Chamkaur]], another previous battle in 1702 at the same location}}

{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Chamkaur
| partof            = '''[[Mughal-Sikh Wars]]''' and '''[[Hill States-Sikh Wars]]
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| caption           = 
| date              = 6 December 1705<ref name="Gobind Singh ,Guru">{{cite web|title= Gobind Singh ,Guru|date=19 December 2000 |url=https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/sikh-gurus/gobind-singh-guru|access-date= 6 March 2021}}</ref> or 1704<ref name="Singha 2000 page=43">{{harvtxt|Singha|2000|page=43}}</ref>
| place             = Near the village of [[Chamkaur]], [[Rupnagar district]], [[Punjab, India]]
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| territory         = 
| result            = Mughal and Hindu Hill Chief victory<ref>Louis E. Fenech, ''The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh'', (Oxford University Press, 2013), 66; "''The Ẓafar-nāmah in this light assumes the form of an intriguing tautology: certainly the Guru was routed by Mughal forces at both Anandpur and Chamkaur; put bluntly, he and his Sikh were militarily defeated and left scattered.''"</ref><ref name=eos />
* Failed to capture [[Guru Gobind Singh]]
| combatant1        = [[File:Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|30px]] [[Mughal Empire]]<br>[[File:Bilaspur_flag.svg|30px]] Alliance of Hindu Hill chiefs
| combatant2        = [[File:Sikh flag.jpg|30px]] [[Khalsa]] ([[Sikhs]])
| commander1        = [[File:Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|25px]] 
Mughal Commanders
* [[Aurangzeb]]
* [[Wazir Khan (Sirhind)|Wazir Khan]]
* Zabardast Khan
* Khwaja Muhammad{{WIA}}
* Nahar Khan{{KIA}}
* Mu'nim Khan.<ref name="Fenech2013p14">{{cite book|author=Louis E. Fenech|title=The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh: A Discursive Blade in the Heart of the Mughal Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUUfAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-993145-3 |pages=87 }}</ref>
* Ghairat Khan{{KIA}}
[[File:Bilaspur_flag.svg|30px]]
Hindu Hill Chief Commanders
* Ajmer Chand
* Fateh Shah
*
| commander2        = [[File:Sikh flag.jpg|25px]] [[Guru Gobind Singh]]
* [[Daya Singh]]
* [[Dharam Singh (Sikhism)|Dharam Singh]]
* [[Mohkam Singh]]{{KIA}}
* [[Himmat Singh (Sikhism)|Himmat Singh]]{{KIA}}
* [[Sahib Singh (Sikhism)|Sahib Singh]]{{KIA}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://sikhism.about.com/od/historicalpersonalities/tp/Panj-Pyare-The-Five-Beloved.htm |title=Panj Pyare the Five Beloved of Sikh History – Guru Gobind Singh Creates the Original Panj Pyare of 1699 |work=about.com  |access-date=27 April 2012}}</ref>
* [[Alam Singh Nachna]]{{KIA}}
* [[Ajit Singh (Sikhism)|Ajit Singh]]{{KIA}}<ref>{{cite book|title= The Sikhs : Their Journey Of Five Hundred Years|author= Raj Pal Singh|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ra19YSPDliQC&q=hargobind+jahangir&pg=PA34|publisher= Pentagon Press|year= 2004|isbn= 978-8186505465|pages= 34}}</ref>
* [[Jujhar Singh]]{{KIA}}
| strength1         = Unknown, but much larger<ref name="Singha2000">{{cite book|last=Singha|first=H. S|title=The encyclopedia of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqIbJz7vMn0C|access-date=22 December 2011|year=2000|publisher=Hemkunt Press|isbn=978-81-7010-301-1|page=31}}</ref> {{small|(Gobind Singh's ''[[Zafarnama (letter)|Zafarnama]]'' metaphorically states that the Mughal soldiers numbered 1 million)}}<ref name= ZFN >[http://www.sikhs.org/transl5.htm English Translation Zafarnamah] stanza 19 " And, what could my forty men do (at Chamkaur), when a hundred thousand men, unawares, pounced upon them? (19)"</ref><ref name = ZFN2>{{ cite web|title= Zafarnamah Hindi|url=https://www.dekho-ji.com/zafarnama#hindi|quote=“गुरसनह चि कारे कुनद चिहल नर gursaneh ch kaare kunadh chihal nar कि दह लख बरआयद बरो बेख़बर stanza १९ k dheh lakh baraayadh baro bekhhabar stanza 19”}}</ref><ref name=ZFN3>{{cite book|title= Zafarnamah (Patshahi Dasveen)|url=https://archive.org/details/zafarnamah-p-10/mode/2up| first=Sokhi|last=Jagtar Singh|page=21|quote= gursaneh ch kaare kunadh chihal nar k dheh lakh baraayadh baro bekhhabar what can forty hungry men do when ten lac strong army pounces upon them ?|date=2016–2017|publisher=Jagtar Singh Sokhi, Sokhi House ,ward no. 4 Mudki Distt Ferozepur|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=guru Gobind singh'sZAFARNAMAH|url=https://archive.org/details/GuruGobindSinghsZafarnamah/page/n41/mode/2up|last=Singh|first=Prof. Surinderjit|page=44|quote=Gursanah chi kare kunad chihal nar. Ki dab lak bar dyad baro bekhabar.19.What can at all do, the forty famished men, When attacked suddenly by a million foemen.19|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref><ref name=DG>{{cite book|title=Dasam Granth Manuscript|url= http://www.panjabdigilib.org/webuser/searches/displayPageContent.jsp?ID=12774&page=1180&CategoryID=3&Searched=W3GX|publisher=Panjab Digital Library of custodian Dera Gurusar Khudda Hoshiarpur|quote= Translation written on the ANGS of Sree Dasam Granth – By Mashaqat Singh}}</ref>
| strength2         = 40<ref name=ZFN2/><ref name=ZFN/>
| casualties1       = * Khwaja Muhammad injured
* Nahar Khan killed
* Ghairat Khan killed
* Innumerable Mughal soldiers Killed.
| casualties2       = * [[Ajit Singh (Sikhism)|Ajit Singh]] killed
* [[Jujhar Singh]] killed
* [[Mohkam Singh]] killed
* [[Himmat Singh (Sikhism)|Bhai Himmat Singh]] killed
* [[Sahib Singh (Sikhism)|Sahib Singh]] killed
* 32 other Sikh soldiers killed<ref name=dalbirsingh144>{{cite book |last=Dhillon |first=Dr Dalbir Singh |date=1988 |title=Sikhism – Origin and Development |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA144 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors |page=151 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917230548/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA144 |archive-date=17 September 2016}}</ref>
}}
{{Campaignbox Aurangzeb}}
{{Campaignbox Mughal-Sikh Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Hill States-Sikh Wars}}
[[File:Zafarnama.jpg|300px|thumb|The Zafarnama of [[Guru Gobind Singh]]]]

The '''Battle of Chamkaur''', also known as '''Battle of Chamkaur Sahib''', was a battle fought between the Khalsa, led by [[Guru Gobind Singh]], and the coalition forces of the Mughals led by [[Wazir Khan (Sirhind)|Wazir Khan]] and of Hindu hill chief. Guru Gobind Singh makes a reference to this battle in his letter [[Zafarnama (letter)|Zafarnama]].

==Preamble to the battle==
After Guru Gobind Singh left [[Anandpur Sahib]] on the night of 5 and 6 December 1704,<ref name="Singha 2000 page=43"/> or 1705<ref name="Gobind Singh ,Guru"/> he crossed the Sarsa river with his disciples. While they were crossing, the mughals and hill chiefs attacked. Guru Gobind Singh and his followers asked permission of the city chief for shelter to rest for the night in their ''garhi'' or [[haveli]]. He refused, but his younger brother allowed the Sikhs to stay in the haveli.<ref name=eos>{{cite web |url=https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/punjab/chamkaur-sahib |title=Chamkaur Sahib |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |date=19 December 2000 |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=28 December 2020}}</ref>

==The battle==
Despite giving assurance of safe conduct, the Mughal soldiers were looking for Guru Gobind Singh, to take his head as a trophy. After learning that the party of Sikhs had taken shelter in the haveli, they laid siege upon it. The actual battle is said to have taken place outside the haveli where Guru Gobind Singh was resting.<ref name=eos/> Negotiations broke down and the Sikh soldiers chose to engage the overwhelming Mughal forces, thus allowing their Guru to escape. Another Sikh who resembled the Guru, Sangat Singh, donned the Guru's clothes and remained with the soldiers. The next morning the remaining Sikhs were killed by Mughal forces.<ref name="Dogra">{{cite book |last1=Dogra |first1=R. C. |last2=Mansukhani |first2=G. S. |title=Encyclopaedia of Sikh Religion and Culture |year=1995 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=0706983688 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofs0000dogr/page/100 100] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofs0000dogr/page/100 }}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The Guru emphasised how he was proud that his sons had died fighting in battle, and that he had 'thousands of sons – the Singhs'. He also said that he would never trust Aurangzeb again due to the broken vow he took on the Quran.<ref name="ZN3">{{cite web|last=Singh|first=Guru Gobind|title=Zafarnama stanza 45|url=http://www.zafarnama.com/Download/zafarnama.pdf|publisher=zafarnama.com|access-date=24 September 2013}}</ref>

==Zafarnama==
[[Zafarnama (letter)|Zafarnama]] or "Epistle of Victory" is a letter that was written by Guru Gobind Singh to the then Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Zafarnama vividly describes what happened at Chamkaur, and also holds Aurangzeb responsible for what occurred and promises he broke.

After his escape from Chamkaur, the exhausted Guru is said to have been carried by two Pathans (Ghani Khan and Nabi Khan) to Jatpur where he was received by the local Muslim chieftain. He later went to Dina, and stayed at mayi Desan ji house, where he wrote "Zafarnama" in Persian, in 111 verses.<ref name="ZN3" />

== See also ==

{{Empty section|date=March 2023}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070701000619/http://www.singhsabha.com/battle_of_chamkaur.htm Battle description at singhsabha.com]

{{coord missing|Punjab (India)}}
{{Guru Gobind Singh}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamkaur, Battle Of}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1704]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Mughal Empire|Chamkaur]]
[[Category:1704 in India]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Sikhs|Chamkaur]]