LesliGirard6 at 08:03, 15 October 2025

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{{Short description|Sikh raid on Delhi during the fall of the Mughal Empire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Delhi 1783
| partof = Mughal-Sikh Wars and [[Sikh attacks on Delhi]]
| image = Sikh_Delhi.jpg
| caption = Baghel Singh, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, and Jassa Singh Ramgharia marching through Delhi next to the Red fort.
| date = 11 March 1783<ref name="sikhs18">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/SikhsInTheEighteenthCentury/page/n560/mode/2up?q=firoz |title=Sikhs In The Eighteenth Century
|page=560}}</ref><ref name="google1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6sg_9N_AHbMC&pg=PA89 |title=Views and Reviews |first=Jasbir Singh |last=Sethi |publisher=Sanbun Publishers |isbn=9788190825986}}</ref>
| place = [[Delhi]]
| territory = The Sikhs temporarily conquer Delhi
| result = Sikh victory.<ref name="google1" /><ref name=fenechmcleod54>{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1 |pages=54}}</ref>{{sfn|Singha|2000}}<ref name="Bhagata 1993 271–282">{{cite book|last=Bhagata|first=Siṅgha|title=A History of the Sikh Misals|publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University|year=1993|pages= 271–282|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BihuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA271|quote=Baghel Singh, Baghel Singh took the leadership of karorisingha misl.}}</ref><ref name="sikhs18" />

* Construction of [[Gurudwara Bangla Sahib]], [[Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib]]<ref name="randhir">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCyYDQAAQBAJ&q=1783+sikh+delhi&pg=PT62 |title=Sikh Shrines in India |first=G.S |last=Randhir |year=1990|publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting |isbn=9788123022604}}</ref>
* [[Shah Alam II]] surrenders to the Sikhs.
* [[Jassa Singh Ahluwalia]] is temporarily enthroned on the throne of Delhi as "Badshah Singh of Delhi."
* The throne of [[Aurangzeb]] is taken back to [[Amritsar]] by [[Jassa Singh Ramgarhia]]
| combatant1 = [[File:Sikh Akali flag.svg|23px]] [[Dal Khalsa (Sikh army)|Dal Khalsa]] ([[Sikhs]])
| combatant2 = [[File:Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|23px]] [[Mughal Empire|Mughal Sultanate]]
| commander1 = [[File:Sikh Akali flag.svg|23px]] [[Baghel Singh]]<br />[[File:Sikh Akali flag.svg|23px]] [[Jassa Singh Ahluwalia]]<br />[[File:Sikh Akali flag.svg|23px]][[Jassa Singh Ramgarhia]]
| commander2 = [[File:Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|23px]] [[Shah Alam II]]{{Surrender}}<br />[[File:Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|23px]] Mirza Shikoh{{Surrender}}
| strength1 = 30,000<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hari Ram Gupta |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280259 |title=History Of The Sikhs 1769 1799 Vol Ii |date=1944 |pages=141}}</ref>
| strength2 = Unknown
| casualties1 = Unknown
| casualties2 = Unknown
}}
{{Campaignbox Mughal-Sikh Wars}}
The '''Battle of Delhi''' was fought between the [[Dal Khalsa (Sikh Army)|Dal Khalsa]] of [[Sikhs]] and the [[Mughal Empire]] in 1783.{{sfn|Singha|2000|p=26-27}}

==Background and battle==
The Sikhs under [[Baghel Singh]], [[Jassa Singh Ahluwalia]], and [[Jassa Singh Ramgarhia]], began raiding and plundering the outskirts of Delhi in 1764. In April 1782, [[Mirza Najaf Khan|Najaf Khan]] hitherto the highest commander of the Mughal army died, after which a power struggle ensued allowing the Sikhs to capture Delhi. The Sikhs reappeared in Delhi and plundered its environs and laid waste the country up to Khujra. Some of the Sikhs having ravaged the Gangetic [[Doab]] contemplated approaching [[Rohilkhand|Ruhilkhand]], though they were deterred by the arrival of the [[Nawab of Awadh|Nawab of Oudh's]] forces as well as some English battalions to the area, forcing them to concentrate solely on the Doab. Some of the rajas reigning over areas dominated by the Sikhs agreed to pay tribute to them. The main body of the Sikhs having plundered [[Aligarh]] and [[Bulandshahr|Buland Shahar]] proceeded towards Delhi where they further set Malka Ganj and Sabzi Mandi on fire. They managed to capture the [[Red Fort]] on 11 March after defeating a defence by Prince Mirza Shikoh.<ref name="sur" />

== Dispute over throne ==
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was placed on the throne of Delhi as Badshah Singh of Delhi but Ramgarhia objected that no one can sit on the throne without the approval of [[Sarbat Khalsa]].{{sfn|Singha|2000|p=26-27}}<ref name="google1" /><ref>Hari Ram Gupta, ''History of the Sikhs: Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire, 1764–1803,'' second ed., Munshiram Manoharlal (2000) {{ISBN|978-8-12150-213-9}}</ref><ref>Ram Gupta, ''History of the Sikhs: The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of the Misls'', rev. ed., Munshiram Manoharlal (2001) {{ISBN|978-8-12150-165-1}}</ref><ref name="randhir2">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCyYDQAAQBAJ&q=1783&pg=PT62 |title=Sikh Shrines in India |first=G.S |last=Randhir |year=1990|publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting |isbn=9788123022604}}</ref><ref>Baba Baghel Singh Museum's paintings and their brief history - Page 53</ref>

== Settlement ==
A settlement was agreed upon between the Sikhs and the Delhi court which entailed a cash present of three lakh rupees and Baghel Singh staying behind at the head of 4,000 Sikh troops to oversee the construction of gurdwaras in the city. The main body of Sikhs left Delhi on 12 March 1783 following the settlement.<ref name="sur">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/SikhsInTheEighteenthCentury/page/563/mode/2up?view=theater|title=Sikhs In The Eighteenth Century |pages=559, 560}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
[[File:Historic stone slab of Mughal throne.jpg|thumb|Slab of Mughal throne placed in Ramgarhia Bunga<ref name="sikhchic.com"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Untitled Document |url=http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/heritage/Amritsar/Amritsar.htm}}</ref>]]
Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia captured the [[Red Fort]] of Delhi in conjunction with Sardar [[Baghel Singh]]. He detached the throne of [[Mughal emperor|Mughal Emperor]] [[Aurangzeb]] (on which he likely ordered the death of the 9th Sikh guru [[Guru Teg Bahadur|Guru Tegh Bahadur]]) and brought it on elephants and kept it at [[Golden Temple]], [[Amritsar]]. Even today it is present at the [[Golden Temple]], in the [[Ramgarhia Bunga]] minaret.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pashaura |last2=Barrier |first2=Norman Gerald |title=Sikh Identity: Continuity and Change |year=1999 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-81-7304-236-2 |page=264 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIN0AAAAMAAJ&q=Ramgarhia+Bunga+golden+temple+jassa+singh |language=en}}</ref><ref name="sikhchic.com">{{cite web| url=http://sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=2532&cat=14 | title=Restoration of The Bunga Ramgharia | access-date=2024-02-20}}</ref><ref name="Untitled Document">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/heritage/Amritsar/Amritsar.htm|title = Untitled Document}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Sikh raids on Delhi]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|editor-last=Singha|editor-first=H. S|title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqIbJz7vMn0C |year=2000|publisher=Hemkunt Press|isbn=978-81-7010-301-1}}

==External links==
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060305/society.htm#2 News article on Baghel Singh ]

[[Category:Battles involving the Sikh Confederacy|Delhi]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1783]]
[[Category:1783 in India]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Mughal Empire|Delhi]]
[[Category:1780s in the Mughal Empire]]

Battle of Delhi 1783 - Revision history

LesliGirard6 at 08:03, 15 October 2025