CASUALTY RECORD // June 8, 1857
Battle of Badli-ki-Serai
Estimated casualties — killed, wounded, captured, and missing — by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Casualties by side
1 sides catalogued · combined 1,000 estimated
Mughal Empire
1,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Badli-ki-Serai was an early engagement of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which a British and Gurkha force under Sir Henry William Barnard defeated a substantially larger force of sepoys commanded by Mirza Mughal and Mirza Khizr Sultan. The East India Company force of approximately 2,000 overcame a Mughal Empire force of roughly 9,000, inflicting around 1,000 casualties. The victory was strategically consequential: it cleared the route to Delhi and enabled the Company to establish the siege of the city that would culminate in its capture. Control of Delhi carried symbolic as well as operational weight, as the city was the seat of Mughal authority and a rallying point for the rebellion. By winning at Badli-ki-Serai, the Company secured the momentum needed to press the siege and ultimately suppress the challenge to its authority in the region.
‹ Full battle dossier