Battle of Shujabad (1780)

The Battle of Shujabad took place in February 1780, during the Afghan–Sikh Wars. The Afghans were led by Muzaffar Khan and Timur Shah Durrani, while the Sikhs were led by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and other Sikh chiefs.

Background
Early in January 1780, Timur Shah Durrani laid siege to Multan. Though the Sikhs were fewer in number, Timur Shah believed his resources were not enough, and as a result, dispatched a small force to Bahawalpur, while leaving the majority of his force at Multan. The Nawab of Bahwalpur gave tribute to Timur Shah and supplied him with 12,000 reinforcements. News also came that Jassa Singh, Gujar Singh, Haqiqat Singh, Lahna Singh, and Bhanga Singh, alongside other Sikh chiefs, were arriving from Lahore with an army of 15,000 to relieve Multan.

Battle
Muzaffar Khan left Bahawalpur and met the Sikh force at Shujabad, where the battle was fought on 8 February 1780. During the battle, a dust storm flew, and Muzaffar Khan captured a Sikh drummer. Muzaffar Khan spared the drummer's life on condition that he would beat the drum to bring the Sikhs into battle, as Muzaffar Khan planned a trap. The Sikh drummer began beating the drum and the Sikh forces who had heard it rushed into a dust storm, despite poor visibility. Muzaffar Khan arranged his forces into two columns, arranged in such a way that when a Sikh force was encountered, one soldier would grab an opponent, and the other would kill him. This continued until the Sikhs lost thousands of men via the trap, which forced the Sikhs to retreat to Lahore. The Sikhs were defeated and suffered between 700 and 2,000 casualties. The Sikh force fled to Lahore and Timur Shah dispatched 20,000 soldiers in pursuit. The force overtook the Sikhs at Hujra Muqim Khan, 40 miles west of Lahore and defeated them.

Aftermath
Following this, the Afghans reorganized at Multan and took it in the 1780 Siege of Multan. Muzaffar Khan became governor of Multan following its capture by the Afghans.