Battle of Jamrud

Battle of Jamrud
Part of the Afghan-Sikh wars

A portrait of the Jamrud Fort
Date30 April 1837
LocationJamrud, modern day Khyber Agency
Result Afghan tactical victory[1][2][3][4][5][6] and later withdrawal
Belligerents
Emirate of Afghanistan Sikh Empire
Commanders and leaders
Akbar Khan
Afzal Khan		 Hari Singh Nalwa  †
Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Strength
7,000 cavalry
2,000 matchlock
20,000 Khybers
50 pieces artillery[7]		 800 Jamrud garrison
10,000 relief force/reinforcements[7]
80,000 Reserve forces[1]

The Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Sikh Empire on 30 April 1837. The Sikhs were building up towards crossing the Khyber pass in order to invade Jalalabad. This led Afghan forces to confront the Sikh forces at Jamrud. The Afghan attempt to retake Peshawar from the invading Sikhs failed, but the killing of Sikh General Hari Singh Nalwa[8] limited the Khyber pass as the western extent of the Sikh Empire, which was ended about a decade later by the British. The battle resulted in a victory for the Afghan forces, but the Afghans withdrew when Sikh reinforcements arrived.[7] After the battle, Amir Dost Muhammad took up the title of "Commander of the Faithful."[2]

Background

The Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Sikhs under Maharajah Ranjit Singh and the Afghans under Emir Dost Muhammad Khan. Since the consolidation of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh had turned the wave of invasions on Afghanistan. The Afghans had been losing their long held territories to Sikhs over the preceding years due to internal conflicts, and had seen their once mighty empire shrink with the loss of the Punjab region, Multan, Kashmir, Derajat, Hazara and Peshawar. The last three now largely constitute Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to the well trained Fauj-I-Khas. The loss of Peshawar was the most personal as the inhabitants of the region were Pashtuns and the city was the second capital of Afghanistan.[9]

Prelude and Battle

Towards the end of 1836, Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa attacked and captured the small, though very strategic, fortified Misha Khel Khyberi village of Jamrud, situated on the south-side of a range of mountains at the mouth of the Khyber pass. With the conquest of Jamrud, the frontier of the Sikh Empire now bordered the frontier of Afghanistan.

In 1837, the Sikh army was in Lahore for the wedding of Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh, the grandson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is alleged that the Dogras sent information about this to Kabul, and this encouraged the Afghans to attack. The Emir of Afghanistan, Dost Muhammad Khan, accompanied by five of his sons, rushed with his army to drive the Sikhs out of Peshawar. The Sikh general Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa was killed in the battle by a hidden Afghan marksman. Many eyewitnesses claimed Nalwa ordered his under garments to be hung outside the fort before he died, discouraging the Afghans from attacking, believing Nalwa was still alive.[10] The battle resulted in a victory for the Afghan forces. Amir Dost Muhammad defeated the Sikhs and took up the title of "Commander of the Faithful."[2] Soon afterwards, Ranjit Singh arrived with reinforcements, and the Afghan forces withdrew to Jalalabad without fighting.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Battle of Jamrud (1837), Khyber.ORG
  2. 1 2 3 Frank Clements, Conflict in Afghanistan: A Historical Encyclopedia, He also defeated the Sikhs at the Battle of Jamrud in 1837 and took on himself the title of "Commander of the Faithful.", p. 74
  3. ↑ Sir. Lepel Henry Griffin, The Panjab chiefs, historical and biographical notices, At the battle of Jamrud, on the 30th April, 1837, Sirdar Amar Singh commanded the centre 'miyana' of the Sikh army, consisting of the Maharaja's Orderly troops, called the Jamadarwala Derab, and a thousand irregular cavalry, and distinguished himself by his conspicuous bravery; but the Afghans were very numerous, and the Sikh army was defeated with the loss of the General., p. 99
  4. ↑ Percy Sykes, Hist Afghanistan V 1 & 2, The Battle of Jamrud, 1837 - Ranjit Singh, mistaking the character of his opponent, followed up his "golden" victory by threatening villages dependent on Kabul. Thoroughly aroused, the Amir despatched his son, Akbar Khan, with a force which won a victory at Jamrud, the noted Sikh general, Hari Singh, being among the slain., Routledge
  5. ↑ Mukhtar Ali Isani, Melville and the "Bloody Battle in Affghanistan", The victory of the Afghans against the Sikhs at Jamrud was attributed to the training he gave to the Afghan army..., The Johns Hopkins University Press, p. 649
  6. ↑ Joseph Davey Cunningham and H.L.O. Garrett (1918), A History of the Sikhs, Ranjit Singh's rejoicings over the marriage and youthful promise of his grandson were rudely interrupted by the success of the Afghans at Jamrud, and the death of his able leader Hari Singh..., p. 216
  7. 1 2 3 4 Maharaja Ranjit Singh: A short life sketch, Ganda Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh: First Death Centenary Memorial, (Nirmal Publishers, 1986), 43.
  8. ↑ http://www.harisinghnalwa.com/index.html
  9. ↑ The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View, by Byron Farwell Published by W.W. Norton, 2001. ISBN 0-393-04770-9, ISBN 978-0-393-04770-7.
  10. ↑ Chief and families of Note in Punjab, Vol II, op.cit., pp. 87,89,90

External links


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