ĀLSŪN, an obscure village in Himāchal Pradesh, is alluded to in Gurū Gobind Siṅgh's Bachitra Nāṭak, canto IX, verse 24, as the site of a brief skirmish when the Gurū was on his way back to Anandpur after the battle of Nadauṇ (March 1690). According to Sikh chroniclers, the Rājpūts of Ālsūn were the subjects of Rājā Bhīm Chand of Kahlūr and were therefore inimical towards Gurū Gobind Siṅgh. They did not welcome the Gurū and his Sikhs and were chastised by Dīwān Nand Chand under orders from the Gurū.

        The village of Ālsūn is no longer extant. A modern researcher, Nariñjan Siṅgh Sāthī, has identified the site as present-day village of Samālṛā, in Baṅgāṇā sub-division of Ūnā district, on the basis of local tradition. It is six kilometers from Baṅgāṇā on the road to Ūnā.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Bachitra Nāṭak.
  2. Kāhn Siṅgh, Bhāī, Gurushabad Ratnākar Mahāṅ Kosh. Patiala, 1974

Major Gurmukh Siṅgh (Retd.)