| Vadda Ghalughara | |
|---|---|
| Part of Afghan-Sikh Wars and Indian campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani | |
| Native name | ਵੱਡਾ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ ("Greater Massacre") |
| Location | 45–50 kilometre stretch of a route from Kup-Rahira to Barnala, passing through the villages of Kup, Rahira, Kutba, Bahmania, Gehal and Hathur[1] |
| Date | 5 February 1762 |
| Deaths | 10,000 to 50,000 Sikh men, women, and children |
| Victims | Sikh non-combatants |
| Perpetrators | Afghan Durrani Empire, Malerkotla State |
| Assailants | Ahmad Shah Abdali, Zain Khan, Bikhan Khan, Kasim Khan, Tahmas Khan Miskin, Wazir Shah Wali Khan, Dewan Lachhmi Narayan |
| Defenders | Eleven Misldars, including Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Charat Singh Sukerchakia |
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Vadda Ghalughara (Punjabi: ਵੱਡਾ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ Punjabi pronunciation: [ʋəɖɖäː kəl˨luːkäː˨ɾäː]; alternatively spelt as Wadda Ghalughara) was the mass murder of Sikhs by the Afghan forces of the Durrani Empire during the years of Afghan influence in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent owing to the repeated incursions of Ahmad Shah Durrani in February 1762.[2] It is distinguished from the Chhota Ghalughara (the Smaller Massacre). Mostly non-combatants were killed in the event,[3] and an estimated that 10,000 to 50,000 Sikhs were killed on 5 February 1762.[4][5][6][7][8]
The Vadda Ghalūghārā was a dramatic and bloody massacre during the campaign of Afghanistan's (Durrani Empire) provincial government based at Lahore to wipe out the Sikhs, an offensive that had begun with the Mughals and lasted several decades.[9]
- ^ Kaur, Amrit (8 February 2018). "Vadda Sikh Ghallughara - The Bigger Holocaust". Punjab Khabar. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ According to the Punjabi-English Dictionary, eds. S.S. Joshi, Mukhtiar Singh Gill, (Patiala, India: Punjabi University Publication Bureau, 1994) the definitions of "Ghalughara" are as follows: "holocaust, massacre, great destruction, deluge, genocide, slaughter, (historically) the great loss of life suffered by Sikhs at the hands of their rulers, particularly on 1 May 1746 and 5 February 1762" (p. 293).
- ^ Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy, p.26, Routledge, Pritam Singh
- ^ Lansford, Tom (2017). Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. ABC-CLIO. p. 21. ISBN 9781598847604.
- ^ Sardar Singh Bhatia, "Vadda Ghalughara", The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Volume IV, Patiala, Punjabi University, 1998, pp. 396; Syad Muhammad Latif, The History of Punjab from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Time, New Delhi, Eurasia Publishing House (Pvt.) Ltd., 1964, p. 283.
- ^ Shani, Giorgio (6 December 2007). Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-10188-7.
- ^ Sandhu, Gian Singh (28 March 2023). Who Are the Sikhs?: An Exploration of the Beliefs, Practices, & Traditions of the Sikh People. Archway Publishing. ISBN 978-1-6657-3953-5.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:02was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume I: 1469–1839, Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1978, pp. 127–129