Battle of Babeli
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| Battle of Babeli | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Babbar Akali Movement | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Babbar Akalis (Sikhs) | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Lt. Karam Singh † Udai Singh † Bishen Singh † Mohinder Singh † | Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur Francis Smith | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| - | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4[1] | 2,200[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4 | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Babeli was fought on 1 September 1923 between four Babbar Akalis and the British.
On the night of 31 August 1923, a group of 18 Babbar Akalis in Babeli village took shelter in the house of their associate Shiv Singh Chahal.[1] Anup Singh, one of the Babbars, betrayed them; he told the British colonial police to destroy all of the party's ammunition with the exception of the gun Karam Singh carried with him.[2] A contingent of 2,200 British soldiers and policemen under the command of Mr. Smith encircled the village next morning.[citation needed]
Battle
The four Babbars were fighting near Gurudwara Chaunta Sahib.[3] Smith challenged them that he would have them arrested alive before 12 o'clock. The Babbars refused to surrender and replied, "What good was taking you who have brought a posse of 2,000 soldiers just to arrest four men. We will not be caught by you alive."[4] Udai Singh and Mohinder Singh were killed by gunshots while Bishen Singh managed to crawl towards the Gurudwara in a wounded state but eventually died due to the loss of blood.[1] The 2,200 soldiers and police officers all attacked Karam Singh who was killed.[5]
