Sikh holocaust of 1762

Vaḍḍā Ghallūghārā (Punjabi: ਵੱਡਾ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ [ʋəɖɖɑ kə̀lːuɡɑ̀ɾɑ] (or the Great Massacre), also known as The Sikh Holocaust of 1762 was the mass murder of the Sikhs by Afghan forces of the Durrani Empire that happened during the years of Afghan influence in the Punjab region owing to the repeated incursions of Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1764. As such, it is distinguished from the Chhōtā Ghallūghārā (the Lesser Massacre).

The Ghallūghārā's not pogroms in the sense of the killing of masses of defenceless people. Since the martyrdom of the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev in 1606, Sikhs wielded arms in self-defense. The first holocaust was a program during the Afghan provincial government's campaign to wipe out the Sikhs, an offensive that had begun during the Mughal Empire and lasted several decades.

In the eighteen years following the first great carnage, the Punjab roiled with five invasions and several years of rebellions and civil war. Under these unsettled circumstances, it was difficult for any authority to carry on a campaign of oppression against the Sikhs. Instead, they were often sought out and valued as useful allies in the various struggles for power.

In times of relative calm, however, the Governor at Lahore and his Afghan allies resumed their genocidal campaigns against the Sikhs. These were characterised by the desecration of Sikh places of worship and the organised capture, torture and execution of tens of thousands of Sikh men, women and children.

Mir Mannu (shortened from Mu'in ul-Mulk) became Governor of Lahore and the surrounding provinces in 1748 through his exploits in battle against the Afghan army. His first act as governor was to storm the Sikh fort at Amritsar, where 500 Sikhs had taken shelter. Mir Mannu then stationed detachments of troops in all parts of Punjab with any Sikh inhabitants with orders to capture them and shave their heads and beards. His oppression was such that large numbers of Sikhs moved to relatively inaccessible mountains and forests. The governor ordered the apprehending of Sikhs and to send them in irons to Lahore. Hundreds were thus taken to Lahore and executed in the horse market before crowds of onlookers.

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Wikipedia