Nagas and Abdali

A forgotten sacrifice of Naga Sadhus; A rare setback for Abdali in India.

Ahmad Shah Abdali is the father of the Nation of Afghanistan. He is infamous in India for the mass slaughter of Marathas after the 1761 Panipat battle. He conducted Ghallugara (ethnic cleansing) of Sikhs in 1762 and desecrated Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. In Mathura, he turned Yamuna red with blood for seven days and destroyed many temples. There were dead bodies everywhere.

What is generally not known and glossed over by historians is the setback of Abdali’s army at the hands of Naga Sadhus in 1757.

Abdali invaded Gokul with a band of 40,000 Afghans and was intent on the destruction of the temple of Lord Krishna (Gokul Nath). 4000 Naga Sadhus of Gokul issued out of their Akharas and put up a gallant defense of the holy city.

In this desperate struggle against a numerically and technically superior Afghan force, 2000 Naga Sadhus died on the battlefield opposing the advance of Afghans. Finally, Abdali had to give in and withdraw from Gokul without destroying the temples and monasteries. This was a rare setback for Abdali whose career in India was marked by victories, slavings, and mass slaughter.

Source:

1. https://trueindologytwitter.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/when-the-nagas-defeated-abdali/
2. Book source of the snippet: Ahmad Shah Durrani, Father Of Modern Afghanistan, Asia Publishing House,1959 Page 176