During the First Anglo-Sikh War, four small battles were fought and the battle of Mudki was the first of these four. It was fought on 18th December 1845, in a small village Mudki, 18 miles away from Firozpur district, Punjab.
Post Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839, Punjab fell into chaos. The British strengthened their cantonment in Firozpur due to the ferocious reputation of the Khalsa army. Major-General Sir Hugh Gough, the Commander-in-Chief in India, led the British army of 12,000 soldiers and 42 guns and defeated the Sikh troops comprising 10,000 cavalry, 4,000 infantry, and 22 guns in Mudki led by Lal Singh. The Sikh army nicknamed the British forces Shaitan-ke-bachche or the Devil’s children. The victory did not come easy to the British as they lost 215 lives, including General Sir Robert Sale, Sir Joseph McCaskill, Brigadier Boulton, and almost 600 wounded soldiers. The battle lasted nearly two hours, and when it finally came to hand-to-hand combat, the Khalsa army fought like there was no tomorrow despite the heavy death toll.
The Sikhs might have lost the war, but their courage, fervor, and sacrifice became an inspiration for the upcoming Indian freedom struggle.
Source: Indian Culture Portal