Battle of Bhilowal

The Battle of Bhilowal was fought in October 1710 by the Sikh forces led by Banda Singh Bahadur and the Mughal forces led by Mir Mohammad.

Background
In 1710 the Muslims of the Lahore province declared jihad on the Sikhs and led an expedition against the Sikhs called Haidri Jhanda (Flag of Haidar) to expel the entire Sikh population in one blow. The Mughals amassed an army of 50,000 while the Sikhs could only raise an army of around 20,000. The Mughal mujahedeen hoisted the Haidri flag. The Mughals had first besieged an army of the Sikhs in Kahnuwan but after a month of fighting were defeated. A Sikh contingent went to Bharatpur in situated in the banks of Ravi River and hid in a mansion of a Kshatriya named Bhagwant. A Mughal contingent found out about the Sikhs hideout and laid siege to the mansion. The Sikhs routed this contingent and took this as a chance to escape. The Mughals then put up camp at Bhilowal, soon planning to march towards Lahore. The Sikhs after finding out about this marched quickly there to attack the Mughals.

Battle
The Mughals delayed their march to Lahore. The Sikhs suddenly fell upon them. The horses were standing so the Sikhs took them and went to battle. The Sikhs were out of bullets so they drew out their kirpans. A Muslim Rajput in the Mughal Army named Ataullan Khan shouted to his soldiers to flee or die. The Mughals left innumerable amount of bodies before fleeing. Bhagat Lachhman Singh in his Sikh Martyrs says "Some Turks (archaic word for Muslim) were cut down while fleeing, some struck against the trees and other impediments and fell; some broke their skulls, some lost their eyes."

Aftermath
This battle left many important Mughal leaders to perish. They had collected immense booty and left for the hills. After this event, the Sikhs fought the Mughals again in the Battle of Rahon.