Afghan–Sikh Wars: Difference between revisions
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===Battle of Shopian=== |
===Battle of Shopian=== |
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{{main|Battle of Shopian}}The battle took place in the [[Shopian district|Shopian]] region in the Kashmir region. This battle included the 1819 Kashmir expedition, which led to Kashmir being annexed to the [[Sikh Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chopra|first=Gulshan Lall|title=The Panjab as a Sovereign State, Lahore: Uttar Chand Kapur and Sons|publisher=|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=26}}</ref> |
{{main|Battle of Shopian}}The battle took place in the [[Shopian district|Shopian]] region in the Kashmir region. This battle included the 1819 Kashmir expedition, which led to Kashmir being annexed to the [[Sikh Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chopra|first=Gulshan Lall|title=The Panjab as a Sovereign State, Lahore: Uttar Chand Kapur and Sons|publisher=|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=26}}</ref> |
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When the Sikh army entered the city of Srinagar after the battle, Prince Kharak Singh guaranteed the personal safety of every citizen and ensured the city was not plundered. The peaceful capture of Srinagar was important as Srinagar, besides having a large [[Shawl]]-making industry, was also the center of trade between [[Punjab region|Panjab]], [[Tibet]], [[Skardu|Iskardo]], and [[Ladakh]].<ref name=Chopra26>{{harvp|Chopra|1928|page=26}}</ref> |
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After taking Srinagar, the Sikh army faced no major opposition in conquering [[Kashmir]]. However, when Ranjit Singh installed [[Moti Ram]], the son of Dewan Mokham Chand, as the new governor of Kashmir, he also sent a "large body of troops" with him to ensure tribute from strongholds within Kashmir that might attempt to resist Sikh rule.<ref name=Prinsep53/> The capture of Kashmir set the boundaries and borders of the Sikh Empire with Tibet. The conquest of Kashmir marked an "extensive addition" to the Sikh Empire and "significantly" increased the empire's revenue and landmass.<ref name=Chopra26/> |
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===Battle of Nowshera=== |
===Battle of Nowshera=== |
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Revision as of 16:10, 3 April 2021
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The Afghan–Sikh wars were a series of wars between the Islamic Durrani Empire (centred in present-day Afghanistan), and the Sikh Empire (located in the Punjab region). The conflict had its origins stemming from the days of the Dal Khalsa.
Background
The Sikh Confederacy had effectively achieved independence from the Mughal Empire in 1716, and expanded at its expense in the following decades, despite the Chhota Ghallughara. The Afsharid Persian emperor Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire (1738–40) dealt a heavy blow to the Mughals, but after Nader Shah's death in 1747, the Durrani Empire (roughly covering modern Afghanistan and Pakistan) declared its independence from Persia. Four years later, this new Afghan state came into conflict with the Sikh alliance.
First Phase
In 1748, Ahmad Shad Durrani invades, sacks and occupies Lahore.[4] Establishing a governor over Lahore, Ahmad marched his army east taking more territory.[4] The Sikhs would retake Lahore only to lose it to the Afghans by 12 April 1752.[4]
Ahmad raids India in 1757, and at Battle of Amritsar, his son Timur Durrani, is defeated by the Sikhs.[4] By February 1758, the Durrani governor of Lahore, General Jahan Khan, is defeated by the Sikhs.[4]
Second Phase
In 1766, Ahmad Shah Durrani, again invaded India, taking Lahore without a fight.[2] The Sikhs withdraw, resorting to guerrilla warfare against the Afghans.[2] Ahmad marched on to Amritsar, massacring the population and destroying the city,[2] however his campaign was short-lived.[2] Faced with unpaid troops and internal strife back home in Kandahar, Ahmad was forced to march back to Afghanistan.[2] Ahmad Shah died in 1772, and by 1799, Sikhs were back in possession of Lahore.[5]
Third Phase
Battle of Attock
In 1813, after demanding the return of the fort at Attock, the Durrani prime minister Wazir Fateh Khan besieged Attock.[6] A Punjabi relief force arrived and for three months the two armies faced each other, neither side moving.[6] As the heat from summer started to affect the armies, Dewan Mokham Chand marched his army to block the Afghans from getting water from the river.[6] Without water the Afghan troops began to suffer dehydration, so they launched attack after attack towards the river, but were unable to break through.[6] Chand, realizing the Afghans were weakened, charged his cavalry at the Afghans who broke and ran, losing two thousand men.[6]
Aftermath of Battle of Attock
Amritsar, Lahore, and other large cities across the Sikh Empire were illuminated for two months afterwards in rejoicing over the victory.[7] After his defeat at Attock, Fateh Khan fought off an attempt by Ali Shah, the ruler of Persia, and his son Ali Mirza to capture the Durrani province of Herat, which left their newly captured province of Kashmir open to attack.[8]
Siege of Multan
IIn early January the Sikh force began their campaign with the capture of Nawab Muzaffar Khan's forts at Muzaffargarh and Khangarh. In February, the Sikh force under Kharak Singh reached Multan and ordered Muzaffar to pay the large tribute he owed and to surrender the fort, but Muzaffar refused. The Sikh forces won an engagement near the city but were unable to capture Muzaffar before he retreated into the fort. The Sikh army asked for more artillery and Ranjit Singh sent them the Zamzama and other large artillery pieces, which commenced fire on the walls of the fort. In early June, Sadhu Singh and a small band of other Akalis attacked the fort walls and discovered a breach in the wall. As they ran in to battle the unaware garrison the larger Sikh army was alerted and entered the fort through the breach. Muzaffar and his sons attempted a sortie to defend the fort but were killed in the battle.
The siege of Multan ended significant Afghan influence in the Peshawar region and led to multiple Sikh attempts at capturing and the final capture of Peshawar.[9]
Battle of Shopian
The battle took place in the Shopian region in the Kashmir region. This battle included the 1819 Kashmir expedition, which led to Kashmir being annexed to the Sikh Empire.[10]
When the Sikh army entered the city of Srinagar after the battle, Prince Kharak Singh guaranteed the personal safety of every citizen and ensured the city was not plundered. The peaceful capture of Srinagar was important as Srinagar, besides having a large Shawl-making industry, was also the center of trade between Panjab, Tibet, Iskardo, and Ladakh.[11]
After taking Srinagar, the Sikh army faced no major opposition in conquering Kashmir. However, when Ranjit Singh installed Moti Ram, the son of Dewan Mokham Chand, as the new governor of Kashmir, he also sent a "large body of troops" with him to ensure tribute from strongholds within Kashmir that might attempt to resist Sikh rule.[12] The capture of Kashmir set the boundaries and borders of the Sikh Empire with Tibet. The conquest of Kashmir marked an "extensive addition" to the Sikh Empire and "significantly" increased the empire's revenue and landmass.[11]
Battle of Nowshera
The Battle of Nowshera wasn't fought by the Durranis, but by a Pashtun force with support of the Durranis. This was the 4th battle in the third Afghan–Sikh war.[13] This battle led to the Peshawar Valley annexed by the Sikh Empire.
Battle of Jamrud
The Battle of Jamrud was the fifth and foremost battle within the third Afghan–Sikh war. The Afghans had been losing their long held territories to Sikhs over the preceding years, and had seen their once mighty empire shrink with the loss of the Punjab region, Multan, Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The loss of Peshawar was the most personal as the inhabitants of the region were fellow Pashtuns and the city was the winter capital of Afghanistan, so the Afghans set to reclaim it.[14]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Mehta 2005, p. 303.
- ^ a b c d e f Dupree 1980, p. 339.
- ^ Zaidi, S. H. "The Intractable Kashmir Issue: Search for a Rational Solution." Pakistan Horizon 56, no. 2 (2003): 53-85. Accessed January 15, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41394023. pp. 82
- ^ a b c d e Lansford 2017, p. 20.
- ^ Glover 2008, p. 12.
- ^ a b c d e Singh 1999, p. 235.
- ^ M'Gregor 1846, p. 171
- ^ "The English in Afghanistan". The North American Review. 277–230 (2). Cedar Falls, Iowa: University of Northern Iowa: 54. 1929.
- ^ Sandhu, Autar Singh (1935). General Hari Singh Nalwa 1791-1837. p. 10.
- ^ Chopra, Gulshan Lall. The Panjab as a Sovereign State, Lahore: Uttar Chand Kapur and Sons. p. 26.
- ^ a b Chopra (1928), p. 26
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Prinsep53was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Singh, Ganda; Singh, Teja (1986). Maharaja Ranjit Singh : first death centenary memorial. Nirmal Publishers. OCLC 221247277.
- ^ Farwell, Byron (2001). The encyclopedia of nineteenth-century land warfare : an illustrated world view. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-04770-9. OCLC 42009346.
Sources
- Dupree, Louis (1980). Afghanistan. Princeton University Press.
- Glover, William J. (2008). Making Lahore Modern: Constructing and Imagining a Colonial City. University of Minnesota Press.
- Grewal, J.S. (1990). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. p. 91. ISBN 0-521-63764-3. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- Lansford, Tom (2017). Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598847604.
- Mehta, Jaswant Lal (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. New Dawn Press, Inc.
- Singh, Khushwant (1999). A History of the Sikhs. Vol. Vol. 1, 1469–1839. Oxford University Press.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - .