Battle of Bhangani Sahib Paonta Sahib

  • The battle of Bhangani Sahib was fought in the year 1689 between Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the Hillly Rajas (Kings) led by Raja Bhim Chand. Raja Bhim Chand was Jealous of Guruji's growing popularity and wanted Guru Sahib to follow his rules and be under him.
    It is said that the hill chiefs were very eager to attack Guru Sahib in order to earn the favour of Aurangzeb.
    tenth Guru Guru Gobind Singh in a fight
    It should be noted that Guru Gobind Singh Ji fought the battle of Bhangani at the mere age of 20 years!

    Raja Bhim Chand had come to know about the valuable items presented to Guru ji by a devotee. The gifts comprised of a Beautiful Canopy, 'Prasadi' elephant and a huge war drum named 'Ranjit Nagada'. Raja Bhim Chand was about to wed his son to the daughter of Raja Fateh Prakash and found it a suitable opportunity to borrow the items from Guru Gobind Singh Ji. However Guruji was aware of his evil intentions and refused lending the items to him saying that the items were given to him as a present and he could not give them to him. This annoyed the Raja very much. On the other hand, Raja Fateh Prakash was a devotee of Guru Sahib and had even invited him to the marriage. Though Guru Sahib couldn't go on the celebration, he however sent his representatives Bhai Nanad Chand and Bhai Daya Ram along with 1.25 lakh rupees for the bride.Around 500 horsemen were sent with them in order to guard the money.
    Weapon at Gurudwara sri paonta sahib
    Raja Bhim Chand could not see the increasing friendship between Raja Fateh Prakash and Guruji and threatened to break the marriage if he didn't send the gifts back and didn't break his friendship with Guruji. Thinking about his daughter, he sent the gifts back and agreed to be with Raja Bhim Chand in the war against Guru ji. The Hill Rajas thought of attacking the party that was taking the gift back. Guruji's horsemen were attacked but they fought bravely and defended themselves. On reaching Paonta Sahib, Bhai Nand Chand described the whole incident in front of Guruji. Guruji now knew that the Rajas could attack them anytime and asked their warriors to prepare for war.

    In the year 1869, the hill chiefs with a strong force of 30,000 men marched towards Paonta Sahib under the leadership of Raja Bhim Chand. On the other side, there were only 4000 Sikhs to face the huge army. Some of the PAthans who took employment under Guruji were bought by Bhim Chand. Knowing the unfaithful behaviour of Pathans, Guruji himself led the warriors to a place called Bhangani.

    Upon hearing about the acts of PAthans, Pir Budhu Shah was deeply hurt and called his sons alongwith another 600-700 followers to be with Guruji's side. All the sons of Pir Budhu Shah fought with great valour as did he himself. A large number of warriors died in the bloody battle with two sons of Pir Budhu Shah. The battle went on for 12 days and was finally won by Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

    It was then that the place Bhangani Sahib was highly regarded and recognized.. There is a beautiful Gurdwara built at this place, about 1 Km from Gurdwara Tir GArhi Sahib. This place holds a lot of scenic beauty, with river Yamuna adorning it from one side and mountains on the other side.