KA
Battlefield
Kahnuwan marshes
ਕਾਹਨੂੰਵਾਨ
Swampland near the Beas where thousands of Sikhs were killed in the Chhota Ghallughara (Lesser Holocaust) of 1746.
The Kahnuwan chhamb is a marshy wetland near the Beas in Gurdaspur district. In 1746 thousands of Sikhs took refuge in its marshes and reeds from the armies of Lakhpat Rai and Yahiya Khan.
Trapped between the army, the river and the hills, they were killed in great numbers in the Chhota Ghallughara, the Lesser Holocaust.
The wetlands, much reduced, still exist and are a habitat for birds; a gurdwara at Kahnuwan remembers the dead.
