The Battle of Amritsar
After the death of Jahangir, his son Shah Jahan became Mughal Emperor in February, 1628. Shah Jahan issued a public announcement that preaching of any religion except Islam is banned and punishable. All the temples constructed in the recent times were demolished and the construction of new temples was strictly stopped. Such incidents alerted the Sikhs and they became more vigilant and started preparating to defend Amritsar.
One day, the sixth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib with his group of Sikhs was hunting near Amritsar where they set their hawk in search of a prey. Coincidently the Mughal royal family was also hunting close to the same location and they also released a white hawk. Guru Sahib’s hawk brought down Mughal’s white hawk which Sikhs caught and took to their camp. The Mughal hunting group came to the Sikhs and abused and threatened them to get the royal white hawk back which Sikhs refused. There was a small encounter between both the groups but the Mughals had to leave.
When Shah Jahan came to know about this, he was infuriated and sent a troop of 7000 soldiers under the leadership of his General Mukhlis Khan. When Guru Sahib heard about this, he gathered his forces in Lohgarh fort and ordered his Generals to take up their positions. The battle continued for two days and resulted in the increase of high tensions between Mughals and Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib. On the first day of battle, the Mughals besieged the Lohgarh barrack but could not move further. The Mughal forces attacked Guru Sahib’s house as well but could not harm him. During the second day of battle, Bhai Bhanno ji was killed and Guru Sahib took up the command.
Mukhlis Khan challenged Guru Sahib for a man to man fight which Guru Sahib accepted. Mukhlis Khan waived his sword twice at Guru Sahib but missed it on both occasions. Then Guru Sahib didn’t give him any more chance and struck such a blow with his double edged sword that Mukhlis Khan was split in two. Seeing their leader fall dead in such a way, there was a chaos in the Mughal camp and they left the battlefield. This was the first battle between the Mughals and the Sikhs which endorsed Guru Sahib's efforts to militarize his followers. The Sikh victory destroyed the idea of Mughal’s dominance and increased Guru Sahib's support among the people of Punjab. The Mughals tried to conquer Amritsar many times and one of such attempts was made in April 1709. The Sikhs prevented this attack under the leadership of Bhai Mani Singh ji and Bhai Tara Singh ji. When Baba Banda Singh Bahadur occupied several areas in Punjab, Bhai Mani Singh ji chose to leave Amritsar but came back in 1721 and resumed regular worship.
In the year 1737, the Mughal government restricted Sikhs from visiting Amritsar and taking a holy dip in Sri Harmandir Sahib Sarovar. There was a strong resentment among the Sikh community on this decision. Bhai Mani Singh ji asked permission from Governor Zakaria Khan to celebrate Diwali at Sri Harmandir Sahib. The Governor granted permission but on a payment of Rs. 5,000 as tax money for which Bhai Mani Singh ji agreed. The devotees were expected in huge number but Zakaria Khan and Diwan Lakhpat Rai planned a surprise attack on Sikh devotees. Somehow, Bhai Mani Singh ji came to know about this plan and he sent messages to the Sikhs not to participate in the celebrations. The devotees who already reached had to leave when they saw Mughal forces and hence no offerings could be collected and no tax money could be paid to the Governor.
Bhai Mani Singh ji was arrested for not paying the tax and was moved to Lahore court where Zakaria Khan asked Bhai ji to either embrace Islam or face death sentence. Bhai ji refused to betray his religion and happily accepted the death sentence. Zakaria Khan gave the most brutal execution to Bhai ji where he ordered to cut his body into pieces joint by joint starting from the fingers of the hands. When the executioner started to excute from the wrists, Bhai ji reminded the executioner to follow the orders of the Governor and to start from the fingers. The executioner felt embarrassed and followed the orders unwillingly. Bhai Mani Singh ji was executed at Lahore in December, 1737.
After this, several attacks were carried by the Mughal forces to invade Amritsar. In 1740, a Mughal official Massa Ranghar who also happened to be the Kotwal of Amritsar attacked Sri Harmandir Sahib. He converted it into a civil court and used it for organizing private gatherings. This torched anger among the Sikhs and two warriors, Bhai Sukha Singh and Bhai Mahtab Singh killed him in August, 1740. They entered the temple complex in the disguise of farmers, severed the head of Massa Ranghar with a single blow of kirpan (sword) and fled away with the executed head on one of their spear.
In 1746, Lakhpat Rai, a Diwan of Lahore Darbar fouled the Amrit Sarovar and desecrated Sri Harmandar Sahib. In June 1746, he along with Yahiya Khan led the Mughal forces and fought a fierce battle with the Sikhs in which nearly seven thousand Sikhs were martyred. After this genocide, the Sikhs uner the efficient leadership of Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia retaliated back and recaptured both Amritsar and Sri Harmandar Sahib. They cleared and cleaned the holy Sarovar and restored the Maryada (sanctity) of Sri Harmandar Sahib.
In 1757, Afghan army led by Ahmed Shah Abdali attacked Amritsar and demolished Sri Harmandir Sahib and filled the Sarovar with garbage. On hearing this, the great Sikh leader and warrior Baba Deep Singh ji led thousands of Sikhs and fought a major battle against Afghans near Amritsar where Baba ji was severely wounded at his neck. He gripped and supported his severed head with his left hand and went on mowing down the Mughal forces with his Khanda (double edged sword) in his right hand. The scene terrorized the enemy and they started running back. Finally, Baba ji reached the holy precincts and laid down his life for maintaining the sanctity of Sri Harmandar Sahib.
On 10th April, 1762, Ahmed Shah Abdali attacked Amritsar and demolished Sri Harmandir Sahib with gun powder and desecrated Amrit Sarovar. In December, 1764, the Afghan army again raided Sri Harmandar Sahib with the purpose of destroying the Sikh nation. But Baba Gurbakhsh Singh ji and his thirty Sikhs fought the massive Afghan army and gave them a tough fight but were finally martyred. Abdali pulled down the newly constructed structure of the Shrine and leveled the Amrit Sarovar. Sri Harmandir Sahib was attacked and destroyed by Afghans many times and every time Sikhs were ready to sacrifice their lives to restore its sanctity.
During the eighteenth century, Amritsar faced many difficulties including the attacks and destruction of sacred monuments. This all ended with the foundation of the sovereign authority of the Sikh misls all over the Punjab. Later, Amritsar came under the control of several misl chiefs. Different chiefs or heads constructed their own residential houses and palaces around “Katras” and wards encouraging businessmen from different trades to reside there so that they could control the system in a proper manner. The “Katras” are residential areas that provided a distinctive defence system during the attacks on the city. Apart from houses and palaces, these “Katras” had havelis, spacious and beautiful gardens, parks, factories and markets. Trade, commerce and craft flourished in different markets of these “Katras”. Slowly and gradually, Amritsar became one of the major trading centres of Punjab.
All the sacred shrines were managed by a joint council including delegates of the chiefs who had donated land for their maintenance. Even prior to the Sikh dominance, joint council known as Sarbat Khalsa was given responsibility to take crucial decisions on political matters. With all misl chiefs having their bungas in Amritsar, the city became a common capital of the Khalsa. Devotees from far and near rushed to visit the holy city after six decades of persecution.
Increased pilgrimage and resident population prospered the business, craft, trade and commerce around the “Katras” and local markets which helped in maintaining the stability in the city. A market called Guru Ka Bazar, presently known as Guru Bazar was established for a regular supply of essential merchandise and exchange of goods. People were encouraged to participate in the trade and craftsmen were persuaded to manufacture goods. By the end of the eighteenth century, Amritsar had become one of the major trading hubs in Punjab.