Siege of Lohgarh
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.
Alarmed by Banda Singh's conquests, the emperor Bahadur Shah, who had been campaigning in the Deccan, marched north in person with a large army. He ordered all Hindus in imperial service to shave their beards so that Sikhs could be recognised.
In December 1710 the imperial army surrounded Lohgarh, Banda Singh's fortress in the Shivalik hills. The Sikhs fought hard, and on the night of the final assault, a Sikh named Gulab Singh put on Banda Singh's clothes and sat in his place to deceive the attackers, while Banda Singh escaped into the hills.
When the fort fell, the Mughals found Gulab Singh, not Banda Singh. The emperor was furious. Banda Singh fought on for five more years, and Bahadur Shah died at Lahore in 1712 without catching him.
Same era
Misls, Mughals and Afghans, 1709 – 1799
Banda Singh's first great strike, on a wealthy town that was home to the executioners of Guru Tegh Bahadur and the younger Sahibzade.
Banda Singh avenged Pir Budhu Shah, who had been killed by Sadhaura's governor for helping Guru Gobind Singh.
The peasant army of Banda Singh routed the Sirhind army and killed Wazir Khan, the man who had executed the Guru's younger sons. Sirhind fell two days later.
Banda Singh and his followers held out in a walled compound for eight months, eating grass and bark, before surrendering. They were marched to Delhi and executed.
Nadir Shah crushed the Mughal army in a few hours, then sacked Delhi and carried off the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor.
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The only time Abdali was beaten in a pitched battle in India. Sikh bands attacked his retreating columns.
Baba Deep Singh, in his seventies, marched from Damdama to free the desecrated Harmandir Sahib and was killed near its precinct.