Battle of Bilaspur (1711)

After escaping from Lohgarh, Banda Singh set his plans in motion by issuing Hukamnamas that called upon people to rise up and free Punjab, instructing them to gather at Kiratpur in the Shivalik Hills.^[2][5] His campaign began with an assault on Raja Ajmer Chand—a man who had long been a persistent irritant to Guru Govind Singh and had played a major role in the military campaigns led by both the hill chiefs and the imperial forces from Sirhind and Lahore against the Guru, Raja Ajmer Chand, along with other local hill rulers, had taken measures to reinforce the city’s defenses in anticipation of conflict.^[6][5]Despite these preparations and the determined resistance led by Raja Ajmer Chand and his coalition of allies, the fortified position at Bilaspur could not withstand the forceful advance of the Sikh army. In the ensuing battle, over thirteen hundred Mians—comprising both regular troops and irregular forces—were completely defeated. Their bodies were methodically gathered into groups of one hundred and interred in thirteen long ditches. As a consequence of this decisive victory, Bilaspur fell to the Sikhs, and they seized a substantial amount of treasure from the town.^{[5][7][8][9][10][11]}