Battle of Balakot
| Battle of Balakot | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Jihad movement of Ahmad Barelvi | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Sikh Empire | Mujahideen | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Sher Singh Akali Hanuman Singh |
Syed Ahmad Barelvi † Shah Ismail Dehlvi † Mirza Hayat Dehlvi † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,000 | 700 (including 600 Hindustanis)–3,000 (including unarmed peasants) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 300–500 | ||||||
The Battle of Balakot was fought between the Sikh forces under prince Sher Singh and Mujahideen under Syed Ahmad Barelvi at Balakot on 6 May 1831. Barelvi had declared jihad against the Sikhs and made the Peshawar Valley as the centre of his movement. After the betrayal and massacre of his companions on the hands of Pashtun tribesmen in November 1830, Barelvi left Peshawar and shifted to Hazara, intending to move to the Kashmir Valley. Sher Singh besieged the Balakot valley where Barelvi was encamped and attacked his camp at night. The battle lasted all day. The Sikh soldiers eventually killed Syed Ahmad Barelvi, along with Shah Ismail Dehlvi and several hundreds of his followers.