Last stand at the Akal Takht
During Abdali's seventh invasion a small band stayed to defend the Harmandir Sahib and died to a man.
In December 1764 Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded the Punjab for the seventh time and marched to Amritsar. The Sikh armies had withdrawn into the countryside to wear him down.
Only thirty Sikhs remained at the Akal Takht, led by Baba Gurbakhsh Singh, then about seventy-six. On 1 December, as the Afghan army approached, they came out to meet it. They fought until every one was killed.
Qazi Nur Muhammad, a Muslim chronicler with Abdali's army, wrote in his Jangnama of the courage of the thirty, and called the Sikhs lions. His account, though full of abuse, is one of the best contemporary descriptions of the Khalsa.
Same era
Misls, Mughals and Afghans, 1709 – 1799
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The emperor himself marched against the Sikh capital. A Sikh named Gulab Singh put on Banda Singh's clothes and was captured in his place while Banda slipped away.
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The only time Abdali was beaten in a pitched battle in India. Sikh bands attacked his retreating columns.