Final Frontier

Battle of Jamrud (1837)

One of the most significant battles of the Indian sub-continent was fought in CE1837. On this occasion, General Nalwa led a skeleton force of the Sikh army, stationed to guard the Peshawar frontier, against the wrath of the entire Afghan army of Amir Dost Mohammad Khan reinforced by the Muslim tribes inhabiting the North West Frontier region of the Indian subcontinent. The larger part of the Sikh army was engaged in the celebrations related to the marriage of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh's grandson at Amritsar.

Hari Singh Nalwa’s latest acquisition at the mouth of the Khyber-Pass, Jamrud, was at the heart of the problem. At the commencement of hostilities Hari Singh Nalwa was stationed at Peshawar, while 600 Sikh soldiers were stationed in the small Jamrud fort. After numerous unsuccessful requests to the Lahore Court for reinforcements and when the situation at Jamrud turned precarious, the battle-hardened general led his forces to the aid of his men and to face the enemy.

Despite the paucity of manpower and firepower, the Sikhs scored an early success. While Hari Singh wished to render the defeat complete, a part of his troops commenced plundering the baggage of the fleeing Afghans. Suddenly, unexpected Afghan reinforcements appeared. In the resulting confusion, Hari Singh Nalwa was grievously wounded and died a few hours later. Hari Singh's injunction to his deputy to conceal the news of his death kept the Afghans at bay for almost twelve days. The Afghans knew Hari Singh Nalwa was wounded but they did not know he was dead. It was merely the fear of his name that prevented them from renewing hostilities. When the Lahore forces arrived, the Afghans fled to Kabul.

The Afghans gained none of their stated objectives – they could neither take the fort of Jamrud nor Peshawar. Hari Singh Nalwa’s valiant defence at Jamrud confirmed the boundary of the Sikh Kingdom at the mouth of the Khyber Pass. The territory eventually designated as the North West Frontier Province by the British resulted from Hari Singh Nalwa’s supreme sacrifice.

The Sikh rule in the trans-Indus region remains the sole instance of indigenous non-Muslim supremacy across a period spanning one thousand years.

(Source: Nalwa, V. 2009. Hari Singh Nalwa ― Champion of the Khalsaji, New Delhi: Manohar)