Mughal-Sikh Wars
Part of the decline of the Mughal Empire
Painting of Guru Gobind Singh in battle. Illustration from a manuscript of Krishnavatar.
Date 1621 – 12 March 1788 Location North India
Belligerents
Mughal Empire	Akal Sena (1621 - 1699) Khalsa Fauj (1699 - 1748) First Sikh State (1709-1715) Sikh Confederacy (1748 - 1788)
Commanders and leaders
Mughal Emperors Jahangir I Shah Jahan I Alamgir I Azam Shah Shah Alam I Jahandar Shah Farrukhsiyar Rafi al-Darajat Shah Jahan II Muhammad Shah Ahmad Shah Shah Alam II  Mughal Governors Jalal Khan Orakzai Kale Khan † Qutab Khan † Adina Beg Wazir Khan † Dilwaar Khan Mian Khan Nasar-ul-Mulk Abd al-Samad Khan Zakariyya Khan Salabat Khan † Yahya Khan Shahnawaz Khan Moin-ul-Mulk Abdul Khan † Zabardast Khan Mughal Generals Mukhlis Khan † Lal Beg † Qumer Beg † Painde Khan † Hussain Khan † Nahar Khan † Gharit Khan † Shamas Khan Nahid Khan  † Din Beg  (WIA) Zain Khan Sirhindi  † Khwaja Muhammad  (WIA) Muhammad Yarbeg Khan † Ahmed Khan  † Fateh Khan  † Jamal Khan	Sikh Gurus Har Gobind Har Rai Gobind Singh X Sikh Generals Bhai Jattu Bidhi Chand Baba Gurditta Bhai Sohela † Bhatt Kirat Bhai Desu † Bhai Bhano Tyag Mal  Ajit Singh † Jujhar Singh † Bhai Daya Singh Bhai Dharam Singh Bhai Himmat Singh † Bhai Mohkam Singh † Bhai Sahib Singh † Mata Bhag Kaur Banda Singh Bahadur  Baj Singh  Binod Singh † Bhai Mani Singh  Baba Deep Singh Baba Darbara Singh Nawab Kapur Singh Jassa Singh Ahluwalia Baghel Singh Jassa Singh Ramgarhia Charat Singh Sukha Singh Haqiqat Singh Kanhaiya Tara Singh Ghaiba Jai Singh Kanhaiya

Many battles and campaigns between the armies of the Mughal Empire and various Sikh states took place, and started with the martyrdom of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev in 1606, on the orders of Mughal emperor Jahangir. Guru Hargobind Sahib, the sixth Sikh guru, introduced the militarization to Sikhi. In response to his father's execution, he established the Akal Sena and fought several battles against the Mughal army and defeated them. Later, the ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was also executed on the orders of Aurangzeb in 1675, after he refused to convert to Islam. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last human Sikh guru, started the Khalsa tradition and fought further battles against the Mughals and their allies. Before Guru Gobind Singh's passing in 1708, he appointed his newly converted Sikh, Banda Singh Bahadur as the leader of the Khalsa Fauj and ordered him to go fight in Punjab. Banda Singh Bahadur fought further battles against the Mughal's and their allies and established the first Khalsa Rule in 1710 but was captured in 1715 and executed in 1716. After this, the Sikhs later reorganized themselves into Misls creating the Dal Khalsa which fought further battles against the Mughals under the leadership of Nawab Kapur Singh, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and other Misl leaders. The Dal Khalsa was victorious in the last major battle in 1783 with a few smaller fights happening until the conflict ended in 1788.

• Sikh raids on Delhi
• List of battles involving the Sikh Empire
• Hill States–Sikh Wars
• Afghan-Sikh Wars
• Chhota Ghallughara
• Indian Campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani
• Gurkha-Sikh War
• Sino-Sikh War
• First Anglo-Sikh War
• Second Anglo-Sikh War
• Mughal–Maratha Wars
• Rajput Rebellion
• List of wars involving the Mughal Empire

Sources

• Shaw, Jeffrey M.; Demy, Timothy J., eds. (2017). War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict. ABC-CLIO. pp. 574–577. ISBN 978-1-61069-517-6.
• Jacques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 421. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5.

• Media related to Mughal-Sikh Wars at Wikimedia Commons