Gurdwara Sri Plaaha Sahib is situated near the old Khairabad village but has now become part of the outer limits of Amritsar city.
Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji would come here to a rest in a leafy green wooded area surrounded by trees.
It was from here that an incident led to the first Sikh battle with the mughals.
After persecution from the mughal government the Sikhs began organizing regular training exercises and became a rallying point for people disaffected by the mughals.
Increasing tensions erupted during a clash between a group of Sikh and mughal hunting parties.
The Battle of Amritsar started with the capture of a rare white Baz (hawk) which had been a gift to Shah Jahan from the Emperor of Persia. (The Hawk was at the time one of the royal symbols of authority).
On Vaisaki a party of Shah Jahan's troops were hunting in a royal private reserve near Gumtala village near Amritsar at the same time as some of the Guru's Sikhs.
The Guru's hawk downed a special, rare white hawk that had been a gift of the Shah of Persia. The Sikhs had picked up and tethered the white hawk unaware that it belonged to the emperor. The mughal troops, no doubt in a panic had seen the hawk fall and came looking for the Emperors prized Baz.
The mughals are said to have used some derogatory language towards the Sikhs who refused to return the hawk and this soon escalated into a small violent conflict between the two parties with the mughals leaving the fight.
The mughals returned with a 7,000 strong army against 700 Sikhs but were eventually defeated.
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