Defeat of Sikh army and death of Hari Singh Nalwa in battle of Jamrud

[Jaggu]

I agree thats why i didnt mixed my personal views with the article and posted it separately in the second post.
I am not impressed by Hari singh, why sikhs ignore the achievements of their hindu general Dewan Mokham Chand?. In my opinion hari singh nalwa was a fearless but ruthless general, a fanatic and a poor administrator who accelerated the hostility and resistance from occupied pashtun areas even many times more, with his anti-muslim tactics. His first real test in battle came in 1837 at jamrud and he got failed.

Jamrud was not the first major battle for hari singh. Since the day he was recruited into the army he fought every major battle till his death. He fought in in kasur, multan, kashmir and all the major battles in the nw frontier.

He was especially good in dealing with insurgencies. He knew how to fight the insurgents, where they would be hiding and strike them. He was the biggest threat to the Afghans because of which the death of Hari Singh is celebrated as the biggest victory of the pashtuns over the Sikhs since the battle of kup. Without his death, the battle of Jamrud is meaningless for pashtuns. The afghans fought well. Akbar khan had displayed remarkable leadership.

 

[notsuperstitious]

And afghanistan was made in 1947, so was india

If India was made in 1947, Pakistan was made in 1971.

 

[Samandri]

Jamrud was not the first major battle for hari singh. Since the day he was recruited into the army he fought every major battle till his death. He fought in in kasur, multan, kashmir and all the major battles in the nw frontier.

He was especially good in dealing with insurgencies. He knew how to fight the insurgents, where they would be hiding and strike them. He was the biggest threat to the Afghans because of which the death of Hari Singh is celebrated as the biggest victory of the pashtuns over the Sikhs since the battle of kup. Without his death, the battle of Jamrud is meaningless for pashtuns. The afghans fought well. Akbar khan had displayed remarkable leadership.

I am aware of that but it was the first major battle under his command against a proper army, thats what i said,.............in kasur, multan , attock, kashmir etc, he was fighting under command of other generals.
And i think his strategy in dealing with insurgency was too simple, he aggravated it further. Historically stick and carrot policy, and divide and rule policy , has worked against any Pashtun insurgency. Take the example of Aurangzeb, he ended the deadliest pashtun insurgency, with stick and carrot.....mostly diplomacy and rewards worked .British did the same.
Hari singh on the other hand , was simply slaughtering population from where resistance was coming. if intention was to subdue pashtuns through terror, it didnt worked, pashtuns had experienced worst from times of mongols to nadir shah.

 

[Jaggu]

Ahmad Shah Durrani's men saved Punjabi Muslims many times from looting of Sikh forces. Punjabi Muslims look up to him besides that the only other Pashtuns we are proud of are Pakistani Pakhtuns.

True Ahmad shah Abdali never looted the punjabi muslims, but neither did the Sikhs. Sikhs only looted the mughal government. And later the sikhs began looting the Afghans while they were on their way back to Afghanistan after looting Delhi. So sikhs were looters who were looting the looters That is the point where Ahmad Shah abdali's conflict with the sikhs began.

Second reason why the sikhs never looted the punjabi muslims was because like the sikhs they were peasents. And the peasentry was the biggest support of the Sikhs. How else could the sikhs have succeeded without their support?

 

[Bilal Arbab]

PESHAWAR:
A few kilometres out of Peshawar city, along main Jamrud Road, lies Tehkal Bala village. In its small ancient graveyard is a corner that is marked by an old grave. Its gravestone proclaims it is the last resting place of Arbab Behram Khan, an ardent supporter of Syed Ahmad Barelvi Shaheed who was killed with his amir in the famous battle of Balakot, Mansehra.
It was Friday, May 6, 1831. The stage was set for the battle that would be fought between the Hindustani mujahideen and the Sikh Army.
The Sikh Army had already captured the high ground and had taken positions on the rocky slopes of the Balakot hills just outside the town which was under the mujahideen’s control.
In his famous book, Syed Ahmad Shaheed (1952),Maulvi Ghulam Rasool Mehar describes the scene. “The Sikh Army appeared at the north of Balakot and their numbers were increasing with each movement. They were firing their guns at the town and the mosque where Syed Ahmad had stayed was being hit.”
The mosque was flying three standards. The black banner was Syed Ahmad Barelvi’s grandfather Abul Hassan’s, the second one, also black was of Ibrahim Khan Kherabadi and the third one, of the native mujihideen, was white and red. Syed Ahmad Barelvi had selected his grandfather’s standard to be carried into the battlefield that day and asked him to accompany them, writes Mehar.

Arbab’s body was found a day after the battle and buried, but six months later his remains were taken to his ancestral town Tehkal Bala. PHOTOS: RIAZ AHMAD/EXPRESS
“When Syed Ahmad Barelvi left the mosque and headed toward a group of Sikhs surrounded by his followers, Arbab Behram was running ahead of him like a shield, with a gun in his hand. When his amir sat there, taking cover [behind] a large stone and started firing at the enemy, Behram Khan was spotted on [his] right… engaged in the bloody skirmish with the Sikh infantry and [this] was the last time they were seen alive by anyone.” On the second day, Arbab’s body was found and buried, but six months later his remains were taken to his ancestral town by his son-in-law.
Arbab Behram Khan hailed from the famous Arbab family of Tehkal Bala. He was appointed the head of his Khalil clan after the death of Arbab Sarfaraz Khan but he soon developed differences with Sardar Sultan Muhammad Khan and Pir Muhammad Khan, two of the four Barakzai brothers who ruled Peshawar, and left for Jamrud.
In 1830, when Syed Ahmad Barelvi Shaheed marched on Peshawar after inflicting a crushing defeat on the Barakzai army in the famous battle of Mayar, Mardan, the sardars had no choice but to welcome him to the city and offer him the olive branch in the name of Islamic brotherhood. He accepted.
On this occasion, Arbab Behram Khan was with Syed Ahmad Barelvi. They used the Regi route inhabited by Arbab’s Khalil tribesmen to enter Peshawar. Arbab was not in favour of returning the city to its old rulers and offered that he should be made the ruler of Peshawar as its annual income was estimated at one million rupees, which could be used for jihad.
He offered Syed Ahmad Barelvi 4,000 foot soldiers and assured to pay for all expenses if he was granted Peshawar. He insisted that with the help of his Khalil clan he would be able to keep the Kabuli army at bay and would provide the mujahideen all possible assistance too.
Syed Ahmad Barelvi, who was staying at Gor Ghatri, turned down the offer on the grounds that their goal was not to conquer lands. The return of Peshawar proved to be a real disaster later for the mujahideen.
The Sikhs were a real threat and an organised force in their day. There was no unity among the local population and the local Barakzai rulers of Peshawar were also not able to match them. The Sikh raids played havoc with the villages.
“They burnt houses and plundered them so it was natural that people gathered under the banners of Syed Ahmad Barelvi against the common enemy,” said Humayun Akhund, a Peshawar enthusiast, while talking to The Express Tribune. Arbab Behram Khan drew Syed Ahmad Barelvi’s attention towards the family feuds among the residents of the region and tried to end them by enforcing Sharia rule.
“He was not able to fulfill his dream of reforming Pakhtun society but he played his due role in fighting the common enemy — the Sikh Army — and lost his life to this end,” he said, adding that Arbab Behram was a hero and will remain so, albeit a forgotten hero.
“It was not an easy job as the local rulers tried their best to make life a living hell for those who were the supporters of Syed Ahmad Barelvi, but Arbab Behram accepted this as part of the game and never complained about it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.

 

[Samandri]

True Ahmad shah Abdali never looted the punjabi muslims, but neither did the Sikhs. Sikhs only looted the mughal government. And later the sikhs began looting the Afghans while they were on their way back to Afghanistan after looting Delhi. So sikhs were looters who were looting the looters That is point where Ahmad Shah abdalis conflict with the sikhs began.

Second reason why the sikhs never looted the punjabi muslims was because like the sikhs they were peasents. And the peasentry was the biggest support of the Sikhs. How else could the sikhs have succeeded without their support?

In my opinion , Afghans failed to keep their rule over Punjab because other than local long settled Afghans (Kasur, Malerkotla etc), they didnt get active support from local muslims or as you previously said, they didnt cultivated support among punjabii musalman. Afghans were foreigners and they needed a strong local military support. I refuse to believe that a man like Abdali would make such a blunder , perhaps Punjabi muslaman at that time were mostly peaceful peasants not interested in the war between afghans and Sikhs. Sikhs were fighting at their home ground, Afghans installed by Abdali were limited to cities.

Within the life time of Abdali, it was evident that Afghans would lose Punjab to Sikhs. His army mostly consisted of irregular volunteers from tribes raised on emergency basis, with no fixed pay. When i compare him with sher shah suri, i find abdali very weak ruler. His empire was loose tribal confederation like Lodhi empire and was bound to fail in the absence of strong institutions.

 

[Samandri]

PESHAWAR:
A few kilometres out of Peshawar city, along main Jamrud Road, lies Tehkal Bala village. In its small ancient graveyard is a corner that is marked by an old grave. Its gravestone proclaims it is the last resting place of Arbab Behram Khan, an ardent supporter of Syed Ahmad Barelvi Shaheed who was killed with his amir in the famous battle of Balakot, Mansehra.
It was Friday, May 6, 1831. The stage was set for the battle that would be fought between the Hindustani mujahideen and the Sikh Army.
The Sikh Army had already captured the high ground and had taken positions on the rocky slopes of the Balakot hills just outside the town which was under the mujahideen’s control.
In his famous book, Syed Ahmad Shaheed (1952),Maulvi Ghulam Rasool Mehar describes the scene. “The Sikh Army appeared at the north of Balakot and their numbers were increasing with each movement. They were firing their guns at the town and the mosque where Syed Ahmad had stayed was being hit.”
The mosque was flying three standards. The black banner was Syed Ahmad Barelvi’s grandfather Abul Hassan’s, the second one, also black was of Ibrahim Khan Kherabadi and the third one, of the native mujihideen, was white and red. Syed Ahmad Barelvi had selected his grandfather’s standard to be carried into the battlefield that day and asked him to accompany them, writes Mehar.

Arbab’s body was found a day after the battle and buried, but six months later his remains were taken to his ancestral town Tehkal Bala. PHOTOS: RIAZ AHMAD/EXPRESS
“When Syed Ahmad Barelvi left the mosque and headed toward a group of Sikhs surrounded by his followers, Arbab Behram was running ahead of him like a shield, with a gun in his hand. When his amir sat there, taking cover [behind] a large stone and started firing at the enemy, Behram Khan was spotted on [his] right… engaged in the bloody skirmish with the Sikh infantry and [this] was the last time they were seen alive by anyone.” On the second day, Arbab’s body was found and buried, but six months later his remains were taken to his ancestral town by his son-in-law.
Arbab Behram Khan hailed from the famous Arbab family of Tehkal Bala. He was appointed the head of his Khalil clan after the death of Arbab Sarfaraz Khan but he soon developed differences with Sardar Sultan Muhammad Khan and Pir Muhammad Khan, two of the four Barakzai brothers who ruled Peshawar, and left for Jamrud.
In 1830, when Syed Ahmad Barelvi Shaheed marched on Peshawar after inflicting a crushing defeat on the Barakzai army in the famous battle of Mayar, Mardan, the sardars had no choice but to welcome him to the city and offer him the olive branch in the name of Islamic brotherhood. He accepted.
On this occasion, Arbab Behram Khan was with Syed Ahmad Barelvi. They used the Regi route inhabited by Arbab’s Khalil tribesmen to enter Peshawar. Arbab was not in favour of returning the city to its old rulers and offered that he should be made the ruler of Peshawar as its annual income was estimated at one million rupees, which could be used for jihad.
He offered Syed Ahmad Barelvi 4,000 foot soldiers and assured to pay for all expenses if he was granted Peshawar. He insisted that with the help of his Khalil clan he would be able to keep the Kabuli army at bay and would provide the mujahideen all possible assistance too.
Syed Ahmad Barelvi, who was staying at Gor Ghatri, turned down the offer on the grounds that their goal was not to conquer lands. The return of Peshawar proved to be a real disaster later for the mujahideen.
The Sikhs were a real threat and an organised force in their day. There was no unity among the local population and the local Barakzai rulers of Peshawar were also not able to match them. The Sikh raids played havoc with the villages.
“They burnt houses and plundered them so it was natural that people gathered under the banners of Syed Ahmad Barelvi against the common enemy,” said Humayun Akhund, a Peshawar enthusiast, while talking to The Express Tribune. Arbab Behram Khan drew Syed Ahmad Barelvi’s attention towards the family feuds among the residents of the region and tried to end them by enforcing Sharia rule.
“He was not able to fulfill his dream of reforming Pakhtun society but he played his due role in fighting the common enemy — the Sikh Army — and lost his life to this end,” he said, adding that Arbab Behram was a hero and will remain so, albeit a forgotten hero.
“It was not an easy job as the local rulers tried their best to make life a living hell for those who were the supporters of Syed Ahmad Barelvi, but Arbab Behram accepted this as part of the game and never complained about it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.

Syed Ahmed Bareilwi lost the credibility among Pashtuns when he started enforcing his wahabi reforms on Pashtuns, instead of focusing first on defeating Sikhs completely. Surely Barakzai sardars were incompetent but braeilwi defeating them is not a great achievement at all , these barakzais of peshawer had no military strength thats why they agreed to pay tribute to Sikhs in the first place. Your syed Ahmad bareilwi lost every battle against Sikhs, so did the lashkars before him so i dont understand why so much hype around him in pakistani academics. Just because he was from UP and more relevant to hindostan?
Let me mention some of his stupidities.

1- He declared himself Amir-ul-momineen after capture of peshawer
2- he appointed his hindostani companions, the qazis and hakims of the regions under his influence, ignoring thousands of his local supporters.
3- He banned jirga , pashtunwali along with some unislamic customs etc acting on his wahabi philosophy.......completely ignoring priorities and sensitivities of local population who were more focused on dealing with sikhs than reformation movement..
3- He asked yousafzis to give their unmarried daughters to his hindostani companions. Yousafzais refused due to cultural reasons, he condemned it as anti-islamic behavior which infuriated the yousazfais further.
4- He attacked local rivals and earned enmities.
5- At the end , Syed Ahamd became a nuisance and was expelled from the region.

If Syed Ahmad was a local Pashtun, he could have succeeded in his jihadi movement, its very easy to mobilize pashtuns on the basis of jihad. But being a hindostani, he lacked even basic understanding of pashtun ways , their nature and society.

 

[Sam_Bajwa]

The battle of jamrud can be considered a stalemate. Victory of the Afghans was in the death of Hari Singh only. The Lahore Durbar still managed to retain hold over Jamrud fort which was repaired after the death of Hari Singh. As you have mentioned, this time the Afghans came prepared. Dost Mohammad Khan had sent the flower of the Afghan army. This army consisted of 7000 Afghan horsemen, 2000 matchlockmen and 9000 guerrilla fighters besides this the green banner of Jihad was hoisted which resulted in 20,000 Ghazis reinforcing the Afghan army.

Hari Singh was not unaware of what was happening. He had sent a letter to M Ranjit Singh while the Afghan army was still in Jalalabad to send help immediately. Ranjit Singh replied he would send help as soon as his British guests were gone. Hari Singh again sent a letter on April 21st informing Ranjit Singh the Afghans had crossed the Khaiber Pass and were entrenched just 3 km from Jamrud. Another letter from Hari Singh dated April 28 stated that the Afghans were carrying on an incessant shower of cannon balls upon the walls of the fort which resulted in one side of the fort being demolished. Jamrud fort was then being commanded by Mihan Singh.

Seeing the desperate position of Mihan Singh and no reinforcements coming from Lahore, Hari Singh had to manage to do what ever he could to save Jamrud fort from falling into the hands of the Afghans. He left his fort with 6000 foot, 1000 regular cavalry and 3000 irregulars and about 20 pieces of artillery in order to lure the Afghans from the fort and into an open plain. Once the Afghans were lured, the Najib battalion began heavy cannonade which resulted in the Afghans retreating. When the Sikhs saw the Afghans retreating they broke rank in order to plunder the Afghan baggage. Just then a fresh force of Afghans had arrived at the scene and they attacked the Sikh troops killing many. Seeing this Hari Singh rallied his troops, and rode to the front. Hari Singh was struck by two balls. One inside the stomach and one to his side. He was immediately taken inside the fort where he died. Reinforcements finally did arrive, the Afghans had retreated by then but it was too late for Hari Singh Nalwa.

Hari Singh Nalwa as not an arm chair general who directed his troops from behind. What made him respected was that he would lead his army to battle and fought where the fighting was the thickest. He was not the only one, many Punjabi generals back then were like this which is why so many of them would die in battle. He was crucial for conquering and maintaining control over the turbulent NW frontier province.


Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa in battle

View attachment 143894

What ever you have said I second that.
I think it was the Rajkumars wedding and dost khan was also invited by sher-e-punjab he showed up with his band of jihadis and because of this wedding reinforcements were not sent I hope you have read that book by vanita nalwa a descendant of Sardar Hari singh .the book brings about various aspects of the possible reasons for this delay and most importantly the involvement of dogra brothers gulab singh and his brother dhyan singh since barakzais paid tributaries to the Lahore darbar though them and dost khan was under heavy debt .

Whàt ever be the circumstances leading to his death he lived like a true son of sardar they say no enemy dare look him in the eye even the man who shot him did so from behind .
Once He destroyed an army of 20 thousand with just 7 thousand solders and even in this battle as soon as he entered the battle though enemy was 4 times that is almost 40 thousand the sikh army which was not more than 7 thousand the enemy deserted the battle field with their tails between their legs

 

[Sam_Bajwa]

I wont say Pashtuns/Afghans forced some thing on Sikhs, but some people are of opinion that Guru Gobind Singh, the founder of Khalsa, was inspired from Afghans of Punjab. Afghans there had characteristic martial outlook and code, Goru Gobind felt the need that Sikhs need to transform into a martial nation on the pattern of Afghans with some code.

That's not true although the Guru at one time had more than 5 hundered shia Pathans in his army who had earlier served in aurangzebs army but were removed from their services because they were shias they were initiated in the sikh army due to the reference of a Sufi named pir Buddhu shah who was a friend of the 10 th master but when the rajas of the punjab hills and Aurangzeb declared war against the Guru most of these Pathans abandoned the Guru . Pir Buddhu shah who was a sayyed fought along with his sons and followers with the Guru against the Mughals he was later hanged and some time later Sardar Banda singh avenged the death of Pir Buddhu shah by killing Mughals who had hanged him.

 

[Jaggu]

What ever you have said I second that.
I think it was the Rajkumars wedding and dost khan was also invited by sher-e-punjab he showed up with his band of jihadis and because of this wedding reinforcements were not sent I hope you have read that book by vanita nalwa a descendant of Sardar Hari singh .the book brings about various aspects of the possible reasons for this delay and most importantly the involvement of dogra brothers gulab singh and his brother dhyan singh since barakzais paid tributaries to the Lahore darbar though them and dost khan was under heavy debt .

Whàt ever be the circumstances leading to his death he lived like a true son of sardar they say no enemy dare look him in the eye even the man who shot him did so from behind .
Once He destroyed an army of 20 thousand with just 7 thousand solders and even in this battle as soon as he entered the battle though enemy was 4 times that is almost 40 thousand the sikh army which was not more than 7 thousand the enemy deserted the battle field with their tails between their legs

The attack on Jamrud coincided with the rajkumar's wedding ceremonies. With the exception of Hari Singh Nalwa, the best of the troops, generals and officers were recalled for the wedding. The troops in Jamrud were mostly inexperienced ones which shows from the fact that they made the mistake of breaking rank during the battle which resulted in many of them being killed. The situation would have been worse had Hari Singh Nalwa and Mihan Singh not been leading the troops.

Personally I think taking NW frontier was a mistake. Pathans are a freedom loving people who will not accept being ruled by non Pashtuns. They are better off with Afghanistan. Maybe Punjab and Afghanistan(and the Baloch Sardars of Sindh) should have come to some kind of mutual understanding and form a strategic alliance against the British instead of being played by the British in their great game.

 

[Sam_Bajwa]

The attack on Jamrud coincided with the rajkumar's wedding ceremonies. With the exception of Hari Singh Nalwa, the best of the troops, generals and officers were recalled for the wedding. The troops in Jamrud were mostly inexperienced ones which shows from the fact that they made the mistake of breaking rank during the battle which resulted in many of them being killed. The situation would have been worse had Hari Singh Nalwa and Mihan Singh not been leading the troops.

Personally I think taking NW frontier was a mistake. Pathans are a freedom loving people who will not accept being ruled by non Pashtuns. They are better off with Afghanistan. Maybe Punjab and Afghanistan(and the Baloch Sardars of Sindh) should have come to some kind of mutual understanding and form a strategic alliance against the British instead of being played by the British in their great game.

You are insulting all the great warriors who sacrificed their lives just to ensure that no one invades india again and even if someone does he may know its consequences.

Regarding the alliance that was never possible a descendant of dost Mohammad when in exile was passing from gujranwala when he came to know that Nalwa Sardars family lives here he told the British officials to arrange a meeting you know what did the head of nalwa family told the officials " the descendants of Sardar hari singh cannot meet the descendant of dost Mohammed on a railways station the only place where the descendants of Sardar hari singh can meet descendants of dost Mohammed is on the battle field" .

 

[Samandri]

You are insulting all the great warriors who sacrificed their lives just to ensure that no one invades india again and even if someone does he may know its consequences.

Regarding the alliance that was never possible a descendant of dost Mohammad when in exile was passing from gujranwala when he came to know that Nalwa Sardars family lives here he told the British officials to arrange a meeting you know what did the head of nalwa family told the officials " the descendants of Sardar hari singh cannot meet the descendant of dost Mohammed on a railways station the only place where the descendants of Sardar hari singh can meet descendants of dost Mohammed is on the battle field" .

Perhaps that descendent of Hari singh did met Afghans on battlefield, while fighting for the cause of British. When i check the nature of units which were deployed against pashtuns by British, it seems British purposely used mostly sikh soldiers against pashtuns/afghans. While sikhs celebrate saraghari day, it was actually sacrifice for the cause of British masters.

 

[Sam_Bajwa]

Perhaps that descendent of Hari singh did met Afghans on battlefield, while fighting for the cause of British. When i check the nature of units which were deployed against pashtuns by British, it seems British purposely used mostly sikh soldiers against pashtuns/afghans. While sikhs celebrate saraghari day, it was actually sacrifice for the cause of British masters.

Those were brave men samandari you know sikhs are known for making last stands and when it's against Pathans its even more interesting .
I think Brits did that on purpose they knew how friendly sikhs and Pathans are
Do you know what kind of treatment was given to captured non muslim soldiers that is sikh and English soldiers ?

 

[Kabira]

You are insulting all the great warriors who sacrificed their lives just to ensure that no one invades india again and even if someone does he may know its consequences.

Regarding the alliance that was never possible a descendant of dost Mohammad when in exile was passing from gujranwala when he came to know that Nalwa Sardars family lives here he told the British officials to arrange a meeting you know what did the head of nalwa family told the officials " the descendants of Sardar hari singh cannot meet the descendant of dost Mohammed on a railways station the only place where the descendants of Sardar hari singh can meet descendants of dost Mohammed is on the battle field" .

I know sikhs now days portrays themselves as saviors of Indian hindus (i wonder why?) but when the time came in battle of panipat they didn't join Marathas.

 

[Samandri]

Those were brave men samandari you know sikhs are known for making last stands and when it's against Pathans its even more interesting .

That would be the reason in the eyes of British. According to Sir Winston Churchil,

"The Sikh is the guardian of the Marches. He was originally invented to combat the Pathan. His religion was designed to be diametrically opposed
to Mahommedanism. It was a shrewd act of policy.Fanaticism was met by fanaticism. Religious abhorrence was added to racial hatred. The
Pathan invaders were rolled back to the mountains,and the Sikhs established themselves at Lahore and Peshawar. The strong contrast, and much of
the animosity, remain to-day. "