Military campaigns of Hari Singh Nalwa

The Military campaigns of Hari Singh Nalwa were a series of conquests and battles in which the Sikh Empire commander Hari Singh Nalwa fought from 1807 to 1837. His first battle was fought against the Durrani Empire. With his help, the Sikh Empire managed to expand over a large land area, spanning from Jamrud to Tibet. He was killed in the battle of Jamrud at Khyber Pass in 1837.

Background
In 1790, Maha Singh died which made Ranjit Singh the new chief of the Sukerchakia Misl. On Vaisakhi, 12 April 1801, Ranjit Singh officially became the raja of Punjab, creating a unified political state.

Hari Singh Nalwa was born in Gujranwala to Dharam Kaur and Gurdial Singh Uppal. His father died in 1798, which left his mother as his only parent. In 1801, at the age of 10, he took Amrit Sanskar and officially became a Khalsa. At 12 years of age, he learnt horse-riding.

In the year 1804, he was sent by his mom to resolve a property dispute at the court of Ranjit Singh. He explained to the raja how his father and grandfather had been fighting for Maha Singh and Charat Singh, the raja's dad and grandad. He was given a position as a personal attendant of the Raja in the court.

During a hunt in 1804, a tiger attacked him and also killed his horse. His fellow hunters attempted to protect him but he refused their offers and allegedly killed the tiger by himself using a dagger while fending off blows with a shield, thus earning the cognomen Baghmar (Tiger-killer). In 1806, he learnt the art of warfare and could how to use a bow, arrow and sword.

Battle of Kasur (1807)
In 1807, Kasur was in revolt against the Sikh Empire when Nizam-ud Din passed away. Therefore, Kasur was attacked by forces under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Jodh Singh Ramgarhia. Hari Singh Nalwa is said to have shown remarkable bravery and dexterity in the battle and as an result was granted a Jagir. Kasur was therefore annexed into the Sikh Empire.

Siege of Multan (1807)
Ranjit Singh attacked Multan 7 times. Hari Singh Nalwa fought in 5 of them. Ranjit Singh did not want to finish his enemies in one stroke as Ranjit did not want much blood and wanted to weaken his enemies into an position where they could be easily conquered. On their march to Multan, they conquered the territories of Dilalpur and Jhang. The Sikhs besieged the Multan Fort. Peace was made through the help of Fateh Singh Kaliawalia. The Maharaja lifted the siege with a lot of money.

Battle of Sialkot (1808)
Nalwa's next conquest was fighting against the rival Sardars of Sialkot. The Maharaja suggested Jiwan Singh, the chief of Sialkot to surrender. He denied and as a result, the fort he was in was sieged and the latter was defeat and also was taken into custody.

Battle of Jammu (1808)
The Sikhs invaded Jammu in 1808 right after Sialkot. After Hari Singh Nalwa conquered Sialkot, Ranjit Singh ordered him to take the surrounding areas of Jammu as well. He was aided by a Sikh named Hukam Singh Chimni and they successfully managed the conquer the city.

Siege of Multan (1810)
The next siege of Multan was in 1810. Ranjit Singh gave out an order to Muzaffar Khan to pay tribute to his but the latter refused. Because of this, the Sikhs besieged Multan once more. In this battle, Hari Singh Nalwa got seriously wounded while climbing the fort because someone threw a fire-pot at him. After a 2-month siege, the Khan finally surrendered.

Battle of Attock (1813)
The Maharaja was ready for defence at Attock because he suspected Wazir Fateh Khan and Dost Mohammad Khan would try their best to recapture Attock. At the head of a large force, Fateh Khan did siege Attock. The battle is also known as Battle of Haidru and Battle of Chuch. Hari Singh Nalwa, Hukam Singh Attariwala, Shyamu Singh, Fateh Singh Ahluwalia and Behmam Singh Malliawala actively participated in the battle. The Sikh army emerged as the victors. It was reported that the Afghans had lost 2,000 men.

Battle of Kashmir (1814)
Soon after achieving victory at Attock, the Sikhs went for Kashmir. Lack of provisions, delay in the arrival of reinforcements, bad weather and treachery of the allies forced the Sikhs to retreat with heavy losses.

Conquest of Mehmood Kot (1816)
After the Vaisakhi of 1816, Misr Diwan Chand, Ilahi Bakhsh, Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, Nihal Singh Attariwala and Hari Singh Nalwa marched towards Mehmood Kot. Two years later, when the Sikhs were on their way to annex Multan, they captured the forts of Khangarh and Muzzaffargarh.

Siege of Multan (1818)
By 1818, Muzaffar Khan's resources had been looted by Ranjit Singh in his previous expeditions of Multan. He again ordered the Sikhs to march towards Multan. As soon as the order was received, a force of 15,000 Sikhs clashed between a force of 40,000 Afghans. Another force of 10,000 Sikhs under Dhena Singh reinforced the Sikhs. Muzaffar Khan challenged the Sikhs with a sword valiantly but was shot down with five of his sons. Hari Singh Nalwa was "chiefly instrumental" in the capture of the citadel. The famous Zamzama was badly damaged in the siege. The Sikhs finally captured the city after six attempts.

Mitha Tiwana
Hari Singh Nalwa was left at the suburbs of Mitha Tiwana by Dewan Mokham Chand as an order from the Maharaja. He achieved significant success and was given the jagir of Mitha Tiwana.

Capture of Kashmir
In April 1819, the 30,000 troops of the Sikh army led by Kharak Singh marched towards Kashmir. Diwan Chand led the vanguard while Nalwa supported the leading troops by bringing up the rear. On the morning of 5 July 1819, the Sikh army fought against the Afghans and successfully captured Kashmir.

Battle of Pakhli (1819)
Following the capture of Kashmir, tribute was due from Pakhli, Damtaur and Darband. Hari Singh Nalwa along with his companions through Pakhli in order to collect tribute. The request for tribute resulted in fighting and the Sikhs got the tribute after a well fought battle.

Battle of Mangal (1821)
The Maharaja summoned Nalwa to pay his tax. He marched by Pakhli and Muzaffarabad with a force of 7,000 foot. When he was passing through Mangal in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, he found a large tribal force of 25,000 to 30,000 troops under Bostan Khan and Mohammad Khan Tarain. The Sikh Review Volume 23 gives a number of 70,000 troops, which is unlikely and probably exaggerated. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Nalwa with his Sikhs defeated the Afghans who lost 2,000 soldiers.

Battle of Mankera (1822)
Nawab Hafiz Ahmed Khan was a powerful man in the 1820s. He ruled 12 forts and also ruled over Mankera. Since the Afghan rule in Kabul was started to get weak, he declared Mankera to be independent. The Sikh army conquered over all 12 forts and all that was left now was Mankera. Therefore, Mankera was attacked by the Sikh army. The force was divided into three parts. One of the columns were led by Nalwa. Together they besieged Mankera and Nalwa's force was on the west of the fort. The Sikhs emerged as the victors and the Nawab was allowed to proceed towards Dera Ismail Khan.

Battle of Nowshera (1823)
The Afghan and Sikh army clashed on 14 March 1823 at Nowshera. Yar Muhammad, the brother of Azim Khan submitted to the Sikhs which Azim couldn't take in and collected an army of 20,000 combined Yusufzai, Afridi and Khattak forces. Shah Shuja Durrani also sent forces in order to regain the throne of Afghanistan. Hari Singh entered the Jehangira fort and established his thana there. Azim Khan had encamped 10 miles away from Nalwa's location, on the right of the Landai river facing Nowshera. A battle was expected to take place on either side of the river. Akali Phula Singh became Shaheed in this battle. The Sikhs again won another battle.

Battle of Nara (1824)
Some chiefs had collected at Sirikot with 15,000 men and dropped trees and rocks to block the path. Nalwa decided to stop this and with a force of 8,000 marched towards the chiefs, but were victorious despite heavy losses of 500 men.

Battle of Sirikot (1824)
After his defeat in Nara, Hari Singh was fighting a battle at Sirikot. Ranjit Singh was heading for an expedition towards Peshawar when he received a written petition from Sardar Hari Singh informing him that he was outnumbered 1 Sikh-10 Afghans. Ranjit Singh with a fresh army arrived at Sirikot when the Afghans withdrew.

Battle of Darband (1825)
In December 1824, Mir Painda Khan revolted against the Sikhs. In 1825, Hari Singh was at Darband. 10,000 Yusufzai tribesmen attacked him. After some time a much larger force reinforced the Afghans. Despite overwhelming odds, he dispersed the force.

Battle of Shaidu (1827)
Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi attacked Budh Singh Sandhanwalia at Shaidu. He had an overwhelming force of over 100,000 men while on the other side the Sikhs only had 8,000. Hari Singh was about to arrive near Saidu to help Budh Singh. However, the Sikhs already defeated the Afghans in a good battle. The Sikhs took all their guns, swivels and camp equipment.

Battle of Haidru (1828)
Sayyid Ahmad had a plan to capture Attock. However, his plan was leaked by Khadi Khan of Hund, which infuriated the Sayyid. Therefore, he attacked the Haidru village started massacring both Hindus and Muslims. Hari Singh Nalwa came for the rescue with 20,000 men and 75% of the Sayyids army was slain.

Battle of Phulra (1829)
After succeeding in killing Yar Muhammad, the Sayyid now went for the Sikhs from Hazara. The Sayyid combined forces with Mir Painda Khan and fought a battle at Phulra against the Sikhs. However, he was defeated by the force of Hari Singh Nalwa. Sayyid Ahmad Ali Shah and Mir Faiz Ali also fell martyrs in this battle.

Battle of Balakot (1831)
In May 1831, Kanwar Sher Singh accompanied by Pratab Singh Attariwala and Ratan Singh Garjakhia attacked the Sayyid at Balakot. Out of 10,000 Afghans, 9,000 perished while out of 12,000 Sikhs, 5,000 Sikhs perished. The Sayyid was martyred while fighting against the Sikh force. Hari Singh Nalwa was one of the Sikh commanders in the battle. Sikh soldiers dug up a grave for the Sayyid and threw his body into the Kunhar River. The body was never found.

Capture of Peshawar (1834)
The Maharaja of Punjab ordered Hari Singh Nalwa to march towards Peshawar. Prince Nau Nihal Singh was sent to Peshawar with 9,000 soldiers. After brief fighting against Sultan Mohammad Khan, Nalwa finally captured the city of Peshawar. He was also appointed the governor of Peshawar.

Standoff at the Khyber Pass (1835)
Hari Singh Nalwa was the governor of Peshawar when Dost Mohammed personally came at the head of a large force to challenge the Sikhs. Following his victory against Shah Shuja at Kandahar, in the first quarter of 1834, Dost Mohammed declared himself padshah (king), gave a call for jihad and set off from Kabul to wrest Peshawar from the Sikhs. Ranjit Singh directed his generals to amuse the Afghans with negotiations and to win over Sultan Mohammed Khan. He directed them that on no account, even if attacked, were they to enter into a general engagement until his arrival.

Early skirmishes began in December 1834, which saw Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Mohammad Khan, fight engagements with different Sikh outposts, in one such engagement, defeating Hari Singh Nalwa, leaving around 150 Sikhs dead and wounded, and forcing him to withdraw to Peshawar.

Ranjit Singh chose intrigue rather than facing the Afghans in battle and began sending negotiation efforts to Dost Mohammad Khan. However, the true intentions of this were to divide Dost Mohammad Khan's supporters with bribes, prominently, Sultan Mohammad Khan. Josiah Harlan and Faqir Aziz were sent to the camp of Dost Mohammad, who plotted intrigue in the Afghan camp, including making some of his supporters and brothers jealous of the powerful position Dost Mohammad Khan held. This led to Sultan Mohammad's withdrawal from the camp at night with over 10,000 men, as this force defected to the Sikh camp. This sent the Afghan camp into disarray.

The French division under Jean-François Allard, Paolo Avitabile, Claude Auguste Court and Jean-Baptiste Ventura commanded 20 to 22,000 men who marched very slowly and suitably towards the left flank of Dost Mohammad Khan's army. The main Sikh army led by Hari Singh Nalwa, Gulab Singh, Misr Sukh Raj, Tej Singh, Attar Singh Sandhanwalia, Khushal Singh, Dhian Singh, Jawala Singh, Lehna Singh Majithia and Maharaja Ranjit Singh numbered 60–80,000 and approached Dost Mohammad Khan's center and right side.

Dost Mohammad Khan rejected a truce with the Sikhs. He withdrew at night with his troops and Ghazis, believing that he was being surrounded and having faced a bad omen with the stirrup of a horse, the Afghans withdrew and took all their ammunition and guns with them.

Battle of Michni (1836)
Hari Singh Nalwa along with 100 horsemen were hunting in the Michni area when a Hindu complaint to him about his spouse being abducted by the Nawab Dela Khan of Michni. More Hindus came and complained to Hari Singh which led to him planning an attack on the Nawab. He attacked during the night and defeated an army of 5,000 Pathans. Hari Singh also returned the bride to her husband.

Jamrud Captured (1836)
While capturing Jamrud, Hari Singh Nalwa wanted no delay and made a sudden attack on the village. With the capture of the village, the Sikh Empire sterched to the foothills of Hindu Kush mountains.

Panjtar Defeated (1836)
Fateh Khan of Panjtar started creating disturbances. Hari Singh Nalwa with a force of 14–15,000 men with guns attacked Panjtar and defeated Fateh Khan. When news of the conquest arrived to the Maharaja, a display of fireworks was proposed.

Martyrdom at Jamrud
Nau Nihal Singh, grandson of the Maharaja was getting married in March 1837. Troops from all over Punjab were invited. Even Dost Mohammad Khan was invited to the celebration. Hari Singh Nalwa was also invited to Amritsar for the wedding but was ill and could not arrive at the wedding. Dost Mohammad Khan with his army marched towards Jamrud, hoping to wrest the fort. Mahan Singh Mirpuri was stuck with 600 men and limited supplies, while the Afghan army was far more superior and numbered 38,000 men in total. Hari Singh Nalwa was forced to go and rescue them. The arrival of him put the entire Afghan army in panic. Wazir Akbar Khan reached Jamrud and started to destroy the defence of Jamrud. While the battle Nalwa was heavily wounded. Before he died, he told Mahan Singh to not make the news public until the arrival of reinforcements. While the Afghans knew that Hari Singh was mortally wounded, they waited outside the fort. Just before Nalwa died, he hung his body outside the fort which discouraged the Afghans, making them retreat. There was nothing left except 11,000 Afghan corpses. The result of the battle is disputed. Sikhs claim victory because of the Afghans retreating. Afghans claim victory for slaying Hari Singh Nalwa.