Battle of Kup
| Battle of Kup | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Afghan–Sikh Wars, Indian Campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani and Vadda Ghalughara | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Durrani Empire | Sikh Confederacy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Ahmad Shah Durrani Jahan Khan Shah Wali Khan Zain Khan Sirhindi Bhikhan Khan Murtaza Khan Baraich Qasim Khan Marhal Lachhmi Narayan |
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (WIA) Charat Singh (WIA) Jassa Singh Ramgarhia (WIA) Baghel Singh (WIA) Hari Singh Dhillon | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
Unknown believed to be larger (According to Khuswant Singh) Many Ranghar Villagers |
30,000 Soldiers and Non Combatants (According to Tom Landsford) 50,000 Soldiers and 5,000 Non Combatants (According to Hari Ram Gupta) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 5,000 to 30,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Kup (part of the Vadda Ghalughara, meaning "greater massacre") was fought on 5 February 1762, between the Afghan forces of Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Sikhs, under the command of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Charat Singh. Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Afghan forces reached Malerkotla, west of Sirhind. They were met by between 30,000 and 50,000 Sikhs. Abdali's forces outnumbered the Sikhs in hand-to-hand combat and the Sikhs couldn't use their usual tactics of hit and run, but had to engage in battle while protecting the civilians at the same time. The Sikhs created a human ring around civilians as protection and fought the battle as they advanced towards Barnala. Abdali was able to break the ring and carried out a full scale massacre of the Sikh civilians. Ahmad Shah's forces killed several thousand Sikhs, and the surviving Sikhs fled to Barnala. According to various different estimates, as many as 5,000 to 30,000 Sikh men, women, elderly and children were killed in what is known as the second Sikh genocide (Vadda Ghalughara).