Battle of Manupur - Key Personalities

Battle of Manupur: March 11th, 1748 – Part # 1

The battle of Manupur was ASD’s first battle with the Moghuls. ASD knew that Lahore had to be conquered before he would be able to engage with the Moghuls.

Before we dive into The Battle of Manupur we need to look into some of the other battles that took place before such as The Battle of Lahore plus some of the leading personalities involved.  

Personalities:

Nadir Shah (NS): Nadir Shah was the Persian emperor who entered India through the Khyber Pass, swept through the plains of Punjab, and engaged and massacred the numerically superior Moghul army in the Battle of Karnal in 1739.  After massacring thousands in Delhi and its vicinity the Moghuls were brought to their knees. The Moghul Emperor Muhammad Shah was pardoned by Nadir and finally, he left India with the famed peacock throne and the Kohinoor diamond wrapped around his neck. We will devote an entire chapter later to discuss the rise and fall of Nadir and the Battle of Karnal.

Zakariya Khan (ZK): ZK was the Moghul emperor’s Wazir(viceroy) at Lahore and after the Battle of Karnal and the defeat of the Moghuls, NS gave control of Lahore to ZK.  ZK was responsible for the massacre of thousands of Sikhs during “Chhota Ghallughara” (Smaller massacre). Chhota Ghallughara meets the criteria of genocide and we will devote an entire chapter for that later.  

Yahya Khan YYK) and Shah Nawaz Khan (SNK): ZK had two sons, Yahya Khan (YK) and Shah Nawaz Kha (SNK). YK was married to the daughter of the Wazir of Delhi (High ranking political advisor) Qamar-ud-din Khan and was politically influential. There was bitter rivalry among the brothers for power.

Muhammad Shah (MS): MS was the 13th Mughal emperor and was the great-grandson of Aurangzeb. He became the emperor at the age of 17. MS was born in Afghanistan and became the emperor at the age of 17. When he took control the decline of the Moghul empire had already begun and MS was not capable of enough to restore it. During his reign, the Moghuls were devastated by the Mughal-Maratha wars (1728-1763), the Sikh wars and were brought to knees by the rampaging Persians in the Battle of Karnal.

Qamar-ud-din Khan (QMK):  QMK was the Wazir of MS and was the Commander in chief at the Battle of Manupur and died in the battle

Adina Beg Khan (ABK): ABK was the last Moghul governor of Punjab. He was known to play the role of a double agent working with both the Afghans and Moghuls. He was also known to have committed atrocities against the Sikhs.

In the next post, we will discuss The Battle of Lahore.