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Battle of Jamrud
Part of the Afghan-Sikh wars
A portrait of the Jamrud Fort
Date 30 April 1837 Location Jamrud, Sikh Empire Modern day Khyber Agency34°00′12″N 71°22′43″E / 34.0034°N 71.3786°E / 34.0034; 71.3786 Result Disputed
Belligerents
Emirate of Kabul	Sikh Empire
Commanders and leaders
Akbar Khan Afzal Khan Mirza Sami Khan Josiah Harlan	Hari Singh Nalwa † Mahan Singh Mirpuri Mangal Singh Ramgarhia Tej Singh
Strength
7,000 cavalry 2,000 matchlockmen 20,000 Khybers 50 pieces artillery	800 Jamrud garrison 10,000 relief force/reinforcements

The Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Sikh Empire on 30 April 1837. It was the last effort made by Emir Dost Mohammad Khan to recapture the former Afghan winter capital of Peshawar. Afghan forces confronted the Sikh forces at Jamrud. The garrisoned army was able to hold off the Afghans till Sikh reinforcements arrived to relieve them.

Background

The Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Sikhs under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Afghans under Emir Dost Muhammad Khan. Following the consolidation of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh had begun a wave of invasions on Afghan-held territories. 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, Derajat, Hazara, Balakot, Attock, Peshawar, and Jamrud.

Prelude and battle

A cannonade was commenced upon the walls of fort, the defenses of the fort were destroyed in the course of two or three days. Afghans were taken by surprise when Hari Singh suddenly appeared with an army of about ten thousand men, twenty pieces of artillery, and a great quantity of ammunition and provisions and made an attack on them, Afghans were thrown into confusion and began to flee. This occurred on 30th, April 1837. The only detachment which stood firm in the field was that of Mohamed Afzal Khan, the Amir's eldest son who, keeping together his body of two thousand men, showed a bold front- Hari Singh , finding him inflexible, unexpectedly wheeled round, and, observing the Amir's sons and the Nawab occupying small eminences in the defiles of khyber, fell on their divisions. The Sikhs were able to drive the Afghans from their positions capturing 14 guns. The Sikhs thinking the victory gained, pursued the enemy, when their progress was checked by a body of horse led by Shamsudin khan who inflicted heavy casualties on them.

With this, the Afghans who were fleeing from battleground , returned and made a furious attack on Sikhs. Jabbar Khan aand Shuja-ud-duala khan also returned and a successful charge made by them led to the recovery of two of the captured guns. This forced the sikhs to retreat, in this crisis Hari singh received a mortal wound and was borno from the battle field. This accident spread consternation among Sikh troops, who retired to Jamrud fort, where they entrenched themselves. The Sikh leader expired on the same day.The Afghans recovered all eleven of the fourteen guns they had lost, and captured three more belonging to the Sikhs.

Result of the battle

The result of the battle is disputed amongst historians. Some contend the failure of the Afghans to take the fort and the city of Peshawar or town of Jamrud as a victory for the Sikhs. On the other hand, some state that the killing of Hari Singh Nalwa resulted in an Afghan victory. James Norris, Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M International University, states that the battle's outcome was inconclusive.

See also

• Battle of Attock
• Battle of Multan
• Battle of Shopian
• Battle of Nowshera
• Battle of Peshawar (1834)

References

1. ^ Maharaja Ranjit Singh: A short life sketch, Ganda Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh: First Death Centenary Memorial, (Nirmal Publishers, 1986), 43.
2. Jean Marie Lafont (2002). Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 43.
3. Tom Lansford (2017). Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. p. 21,22. ISBN 9781598847604. In 1837, Afghan ruler Dost Mohammed Khan gathered an army to push the Sikhs back from the Khyber pass. They laid siege to the Sikh fort at Jamrud. A Sikh army advanced to relieve the siege, and the two forces met at the Battle of Jamrud. The Sikhs defeated the Afghans. The battle marked the end of the Afghan-Sikh wars.
4. ^ Jean Marie Lafont (2002). Maharaja Ranjit Singh. p. 43. In spite of all their efforts, however, the Afghans could neither occupy the fort of Jamrud nor dislodge the Sikhs from their position and gain possession of Peshawar.
5. Nalwa, Vanit (2009), Hari Singh Nalwa, "champion of the Khalsaji" (1791-1837), Manohar, p. 177-317, ISBN 9788173047855
6. Several scholars consider the Sikhs to have been victorious: * Hasrat, Bikrama Jit (1977), Life and Times of Ranjit Singh: A Saga of Benevolent Despotism, V.V. Research Institute Book Agency, p. 137: "The doubtful Sikh victory at Jamrud in 1837 had made it clear to Ranjit Singh that policies of hatred and repression in the northwestern frontier so far pursued had failed in its objective." * Paddy, Docherty (31 July 2010), Khyber pass, Il Saggiatore, pp. 186–187, ISBN 978-88-6576-029-1 * Ingram, Edward (1993), "India and the North-West Frontier: The First Afghan War", in A. Hamish Ion; Elizabeth Jane Errington (eds.), Great Powers and Little Wars: The Limits of Power, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 44, ISBN 978-0-275-93965-6: "The second was Peshawar, which controlled the entry to the Khyber Pass and had been seized in 1834 by Ranjit Singh from Dost Mohammed, who tried in 1837 to get it back but lost his chance at the Battle of Jamrud."
7. Other scholars consider the Afghans to have been victorious: * Roberts, Jeffery J. (2003), The Origins of Conflict in Afghanistan, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 4, ISBN 978-0-275-97878-5: "In 1837 Dost's son, Akbar Khan, led an Afghan army to victory at Jamrud. Akbar, however, did not follow up his success with an advance to Peshawar, and the city remained in Sikh hands." * Clements, Frank; Adamec, Ludwig W. (2003), Conflict in Afghanistan: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, p. 74, ISBN 978-1-85109-402-8: "Dost Mohammed Khan defeated the Sikhs at the Battle of Jamrud in 1837."
8. John, Norris; Norris, J. A. (1967), The First Afghan War 1838-1842, Cambridge University Press, p. 109, ISBN 978-0-521-05838-4: "The resulting Battle of Jamrud on 30 April 1837 was a bloody Sikh-Afghan encounter where both sides suffered severe losses. The outcome was largely inconclusive but served to further inflame the continued cross-border feuding and induced the Afghans to seek assistance from the Russian-influenced Persians."

• Conflicts in 1837
• Battles involving Afghanistan
• Battles involving the Sikhs
• 1837 in Asia
• Ranjit Singh
• April 1837 events