Meanwhile in Amritsar 1757
We are tracking the events of Colonel George Washington and Fort Loudoun in 1757 during this year of 2021.
Every once in awhile something elsewhere in that year catches our eye.
We are introducing our "Meanwhile" series.
It is sometimes an eye opener to jump out of our bubble and look at something completely different.
And something completely different occurs on the other side of the world.
The British and the French were occupying this other side of the world.
And they fought each other for dominance of the India subcontinent.
In January 1757, Robert Clive later freed the remaining survivors of the Black Hole of Calcutta in which 143 of 164 British prisoners held in a small sweltering prison died in 3 days. Other accounts say less. This happened for 3 days in June 1756. A month earlier, Fort Loudoun Winchester VA construction started.
By the way, Charles Mason of Mason Dixon Line fame, spends time with an astronomer Nevil Maskelyne, the brother-in-law of Lord Robert Clive of India.
And then another major event:
"The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. ""
But back to the Battle that caught our eye in 1757.
The site of this battle is at the holiest of all holy sites for Sikhs.
It did not involve Britain or France, even though they were fighting each other on this subcontinent at the same time.
In fact this battle in 1757 is just one of many over a long history of conquests of this site.
The last major attack of this site occurred in 1984, when Indira Gandhi Premier of modern India thought this site was hiding a military arsenal.
After negotiating failed, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent a force to attack it. The siege lasted a few days.
The fighting started on 5 June [1984] with skirmishes and the battle went on for three days, ending on 8 June [1984].
The destruction of several sites around the Golden Temple and a beautiful building Akal Tahkt. ultimately led to many Sikhs resigning their positions in India government and many Sikhs returning any awards they received from the government of India.
And finally India's Prime Minster Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh body guards.
"Public outcry over Gandhi's death led to the killings of more than 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi alone, in the ensuing 1984 anti-Sikh riots."
The Battle of Amritsar:
This battle was fought between Durrani Empire and Shaheedan Misl of Dal Khalsa on 11 November 1757.
Below is what led up to this battle:
Ahmad Shah Durrani had finished raiding Hindustan and was returning back to Afghanistan after sacking Delhi in January 1757, but on the way his army was attacked by Baba Deep Singh.
He managed to escape along with his remaining army and in retaliation for the attack, he attacked Amritsar and desecrated the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikhs, by having waste poured into the pool along with entrails of slaughtered cows in order to hurt the religious sentiment of the Sikhs.
Note: While called the Golden Temple, it was not golden during this time until 1830. See this for reconstructions from 1709 to 1762. Then see the is reconstruction of marble and copper and later a gold overlay Golden reconstruction.
Upon his return to Kabul, Abdali sent his son Timur Shah Durrani to chastise the Sikhs.
The news of the desecration of the holy Golden Temple had reached Baba Deep Singh so Baba Deep Singh vowed to avenge the desecration of the holiest Sikh site and promised to clean and defend the temple even if it meant sacrificing his own life.
Baba Deep Singh, along with an army of 5,000 volunteers set off and began marching towards Amritsar.
The Afghan Army met with the Sikh Army and a battle was fought at the village Gohalwar where the Sikhs drove off the Afghans.
Baba Deep Singh, the leader of the Sikhs, was killed during the battle.
This Battle of Amritsar was fought between Durrani Empire and Shaheedan Misl of Dal Khalsa on 11 November 1757
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Notice toward top center is the Golden Temple and below that is Akal Tahkt.
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Another Aside:
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See a comparison between what the Nawab of Bengal did to his British prisoners in that Black Hole of Calcutta and what the British did in the Rev War against the patriots they held in prison ships in NYC:
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