Battle of Balakot

The Battle of Balakot was fought between the forces of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Syed Ahmad Barelvi in Balakot, Mansehra District on 6 May 1831. Barelvi declared jihad against the Sikhs and established a camp in Balakot. Along with Shah Ismail Dehlvi and 600 tribesmen, he attacked the Sikhs at dawn. The battle lasted all day. The Sikh soldiers eventually beheaded Syed Ahmad Barelvi, and hundreds of his followers were slayed.[4][5][6]

Location of conflict, Balakot
Battle of Balakot
Part of the Afghan-Sikh wars
Date6 May 1831
Location
Balakot (in present-day Pakistan)
34.0034°N 71.3786°E / 34.0034; 71.3786
Result
Belligerents
Mujahideen Sikh Empire
Commanders and leaders
Strength
600 10,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

Battle

On 6 May 1831, Syed Ahmad Barelvi's Mujahideen forces prepared for the final battle at Balakot in the mountainous valley of Mansehra. The total number of fighters in the Mujahideen was 600 and the number of Sikh soldiers was 10,000. Sikh troops started landing at Balakot from Metikot Hill while Syed Ahmad and most of the Mujahideen forces were staying in and around the Masjid-i Bala. The 600-strong Mujahideen force was encamped far along the Satban waterfall. Syed Ahmad suddenly left Masjid-e-Bala to attack the Sikhs and reached Masjid-e-Yarin. He then marched towards the foot of Metikot Hill with the Mujahideen forces. Most of the Sikh soldiers who landed at the foot of Metikot Hill were immediately massacred, but already every inch of Tiller in Metikot Hill was quickly filled by Sikh troops. They came down from every place and launched a fierce attack on the Mujahideen. Syed Ahmad was at the forefront of the Mujahideen forces. Suddenly, he was killed in the fountain of Metikot Hill and was beheaded by the Sikh soldiers who took his head as a trophy which was a common thing done by soldiers in the Indian subcontinent at that time.

A large group of Mujahideen fighters did not realize that Syed Ahmad had been killed and went in search of him. Besides, small groups of Mujahideen were killed while fighting in different places. This battle lasted at least two hours. Then the Mujahideen started shouting loudly in different groups that Syed Ahmad had been taken to the top of the hill and told them all to come to the top of the hill. As a result, the Mujahideen moved towards the mountains to the north. When the they reached the top of the mountains, they realized that they were surrounded and they tried to escape but were massacred and slain by Sikh soldiers coming from all sides of the hills and mountains. Thus the deadly battle had come to a end. The reason why the Mujahideen did this was either because of the instigation of the Sikhs because if the Mujahideen were fighting in Metikot, many more Sikh fighters would have been killed or it may be assumed that the remaining Mujahideen had to resort to such tactics for the purpose of migration. Another rumor about the Death of Syed Ahmad, the Emir and Commander-in-Chief of the Mujahideen forces, is that he was at their vanguard and had infiltrated a group of Sikh soldiers. The peaks surrounded him which his followers did not notice. Thus he was killed but his body could not be identified by the Mujahideen. For this reason, even after a long time, the remaining Mujahideen could not believe that Syed Ahmad was dead. In the battle, Shah Ismail Dehlvi was also slain by the Sikh soldiers. Thus, the battle was a victory for the Sikhs who had now added Balakot to their empire and extended the western border of the Sikh Empire deep into Afghan territory which included Balakot and the whole of Mansehra District. After this majority victory, the Sikhs turned their ambitions towards conquering Peshawar from the Afghans.

References
  1. eBook in Urdu language on Shah Ismail Shaheed with introduction by Abu Ala Maududi, Published 1 October 1943 by Qaumi Kutub Khana, Lahore
  2. Taqwiyat-ul-Iman (Strengthening of the Faith) an eBook translated in English and originally written by Shah Ismail Dehlvi on islamhouse.com website
  3. Profile of Dehlvi on books.google.com website Retrieved 16 August 2018
  4. Ahmad, M. (1975). Saiyid Ahmad Shahid: His Life and Mission (No. 93). Lucknow: Academy of Islamic Research and Publications. Page 27.
  5. Adamec, Ludwig W. (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 978-0-8108-6303-3
  6. Jalal, Ayesha (2009), "The Martyrs of Balakot", Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia, Harvard University Press, pp. 58–113, ISBN 978-0-674-03907-0
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