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5th February |
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| 1762 | Ahmad Shah invaded for the 6th time. This invassion was primarily against the Sikhs. The Sikhs had besieged Jandiala. Ahmad Shah reached Jandiala by forced marches. In the meantime Sikhs had moved to Malerkotla. Ahmad Shah surprised the Sikhs at Kup Raheera near Malaerkotla (now in Sangrur district) and the two armies met in a straight fight. Sikhs were encumbered with families and camp followers and lost more than 30,000 Sikh – mostly old men, women, and children, out of a total of 50,000. However, the main body of the Sikhs fighting force remained intact. Hwowever, the hand written copy of the Holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib had to be lodged near here in the house of a muslim, who kept the holy scripture respectfully for about two centuries. It is said to have been taken to Pakistan by that family at the time of India’s Partition in 1947. This battle is known as the "Wada Ghallughar." Ahmad Shah reached Amritsar and destroyed Hari Mandir and the holy tank. Ahmad Shah stayed the entire year 1762 in Panjab to subdue and crush the Sikhs, but he totally failed in the objective. Despite the heavy loss of life and the Holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs fought several subsequent wars with Ahmed Shah Abdali and eventually convince him to leave Punjab. Soon they recuperated and established their own kingdom, the Khalsa rule in Punjab. With the establishment of the Sikh rule, the Western borders of India were sealed forever to the Mughal invaders.
-Ref. Mahan Kosh.
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| 1921 | The famous Sikh shrine, Punja Sahib was brought under management control of Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC)
PANJA SAHIB gurudwara is situation at HassanAbdal, Pakistan. This place contains a spring on a hilltop, whose water collects in a pond nearby. During Guru Nanak’s visit to HassanAbdal, his companion, Mardana, sought some water from this pond to quench his thirst. However, Mardana’s repeated requests were denied by the muslim Faquir who controlled this area, Walli Kandhari. Angered by the repeated requests, he dropped a heavy rock from hilltop on Guru Nanak, who were resting at the foothills below. Guru Nanak Dev Ji stopped the rock with his hand. The imprint of his hand is visible even today, engraved in the rock at this place. Subsequently, Guru Nanak had a fruitful dialogue with Walli Kandhari and impressed upon him that it does not behove men of God to discriminate between humans on religious grounds. All are the children of God and He loves all his children equally. Sikh Jathas from all over the world, travel to this location for celebrating Vaisakhi every year. Today, HassanAbdal is also known as Panja Sahib. -Ref. Mahan Kosh
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