Festivals : Tercentenary of Khalsa Panth (1699-1999) - Some important milestones

1469: Guru Nanak is born in Talwandi (present-day Pakistan).

1666: Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, is born in Patna (Bihar).

1675: Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru and Guru Gobind Singh's father, is beheaded in Delhi on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

13th April 1699: On Baisakhi in Anandpur Sahib Guru Gobind Singh establishes a new fraternity - the Singhs and calls them the Khalsa (the pure ones). Five followers (later known as Panj Pyare) - Daya Ram from Lahore, Dharam Dass from Hastinapur, Mohkam Chand from Dwarka in Gujarat and Himmat Das from Puri in Orissa- are baptised with amrit as Khalsas.The Guru gets himself baptised by the Panj Pyares.

1707: Guru Gobind Singh dies. Directs Sikhs to follow Guru Granth Sahib as the only guru.

1708: Banda Singh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh's lieutenant, captures the city of Sammana.

1710: Sikhs, under Banda, conquer the city of Sarhind.

1716: Banda and thousands of Sikhs are captured by the Mughal army and brought to Delhi where they are tortured and beheaded.

1748: Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, commander of Dal Khalsa, liberates Darbar Sahib from the Mughals; Sikh congregations declare Khalsa a state with Jassa Singh Ahluwalia as its head.

1762: Wada Ghalughara (Great Massacre): between 10,000 to 30,000 Sikhs (many were women and children) are killed in the Battle of Kup with Ahmad Shah Abdali's Afghans.

1763: Charat Singh of Sukerchakia misl, grandfather of Ranjit Singh, wrests control of Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple).

1799: Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore. On April 12, 1801, Ranjit Singh declares himself Maharaja of Punjab, on the day of Baisakhi, when Guru Gobind Singh had created the Khalsa.

1849: British annex the Sikh Kingdom after two Anglo-Sikh wars in 1845-46 and 1848-49.


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