Battle of Nadaun

The Battle Of Nadaun fought on 20 March 1691 between an imperial expeditionary force aided by Raja Kirpal Chand of Kangra and Raja Dyal of Bijharval in the Sivalik hills on the one hand and several other neighbouring chieftains who enjoyed the support of Guru Gobind Singh on the other. The hill Rajas, taking advantage of Emperor Aurangzeb's preoccupation with the endless Maratha insurgency in the South, had neglected to pay their annual tributes into the imperial treasury for three years.

Early in 1691 orders were issued to Hifzullah Khan alias Miari Khan, Governor of Jammu, to collect the arrears. Miari Khan despatched a punitive force under Alif Khan. Two of the chieftains. Raja Kirpal Chand and Raja Dyal, submitted without opposition and in fact became Alif Khan's allies. Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur (Bilaspur), the most powerful of the Chieftains rallied the rest of the rulers to resist the Mughal demands. Guru Gobind Singh, who did not cotton to the idea of anyone paying tribute to Aurangzeb and his religious wars, was asked for help and joined in the combined effort to route Alif Khan and his punitive force.

The Guru came to his assistance with a body of his choice Sikhs. The opposing armies met at Nadaun on the left bank of the River Beas, 32 km southeast of Kangra and 12 km from the town of Javalamukhi with its Durga temple with the eternal flame. The very Mandir to which Guru Angad had once guided his band of devotees yearly.

Guru Gobind Singh described in his autobiographical poem, Bachitra Ndtak the action that took place. As the enemy, he says, advanced with Dyal and Kirpal in the vanguard, a fierce battle commenced. It however did not take long to decide the issue. From Guru Gobind Singh's poem.

"The Almighty God hastened the end of the fight and the opposing host was pushed back into the river... Alif Khan fled in utter disarray leaving his camp to take care of itself..."

Gurudwara Dasvin Patshahi (Nadaun) on the west bank of the River Beas commemorates the battle. The sanctum, a 6 metre square room with doors on four sides, has a dome with a brass pinnacle. The Guru Granth Sahib is seated on a raised platform. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had a Gurdwara built on the spot where the thenth Guru camped for seversl days after the battle. The present building was constructed by Rai Bahadur Baisakha Singh in 1929. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which took over control of the shrine in 1935, now administers it through a local committee.