| Battle of Nowshera | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofAfghan-Sikh wars | |||||||||
 Fresco inJammu depicting Akali Phula Singh and his Akali-Nihang warriors giving a last stand to Afghan Ghazi warriors in the Battle of Nowshera | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Sikh EmpirePeshawar Sardars Shah Shuja Durrani Levies | Azim Khan Coalition | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Garbha Singh † General Balu Bahadur †[4] Kurram Singh †[5] | Azim KhanBarakzai Muhammad Ashraf Khan Sakhi Arsallah Khan Syed Akbar Shah Rahmat Khan Shaikh Muhammad Shoaib † Shaikh Rizwan † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 16,000Fauj-i-Khas andFauj-i-Ain regulars 3,000Sikh Akali Nihangs 4,000Ghorcharas total: 23,000 | 20,000–25,000YusufzaiAfridiKhattak tribal levies[6][7] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown, some estimates range 1,800 killed and 2,000 wounded[8][9] | 3,000–10,000[10][11][6] | ||||||||
TheBattle of Nowshera (Pashto:د نوښار جګړه;Punjabi:ਨੌਸ਼ਹਿਰ ਦੀ ਲੜਾਈ(Gurmukhi), نوشہرہ دی لڑائی(Shahmukhi)) was fought inNowshera in March 1823 collectively by theYusufzai Afghans, supported by the Peshawar sardars, alongsideAzim Khan Barakzai, the Afghan governor of Peshawar, where they would face the Sikh armies led by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.[12] Azim Khan was a half-brother ofDost Mohammad Khan, the future ruler of Kabul, and later Afghanistan. The battle was a victory for the Sikhs over Azim Khan's armies, a result which allowed the Sikhs to begin their occupation of thePeshawar Valley.[13]
Following their victory, the Sikhs destroyed the Afghan royal court and the fort ofBala Hissar, Peshawar.[14] However,Hari Singh Nalwa soon commenced the reconstruction of the fort.[15]
In 1818, Ranjit Singh made an aggressive push against the Durranis, defeating the KabulVizier and Muhammad Azem KhanBarakzai, he pushed as far asPeshawar. With this victory Ranjit Singh withdrew from the Peshawar Valley, leaving a small garrison in a newly constructed fort atKhairabad, modern day Nowshera. This was in turn followed by Ranjit Singh's capture ofKashmir in 1819 from Azem Khan's brother Jabbar Khan.
Angered by his defeats, Azem Khan recaptured Peshawar in 1822, he made a call forjihad against the Sikhs and hurried to Nowshera where Muhammad Zaman Khan successfully destroyed the bridge at Attock, effectively trapping the Sikh garrisons west of the Indus. However Ranjit Singh had already reinforced his forces in Nowshera including generalHari Singh Nalwa with backing from Pashtun tribes loyal toShah Shuja. These forces successfully repulsed attacks by Pashtunghazis and Durrani troops atJahangira and withdrew to Nowshera hoping to link up with MaharajaRanjit Singh.[13]
Ranjit Singh by this point had brought up his army to the east ofHund, on the opposite bank, a lashkar of thousands of fighters led by Syed Ahmad Shah of Buner had started forming. Despite the odds, Ranjit Singh's forces crossed the Indus under fierce attacks. The lashkar then withdrew to Pir Sabak hill where they concentrated their forces and hoped to gain support from the Durrani troops and their artillery under Azim Khan.[8]
Azem Khan for unknown reasons, did not cross theKabul River straight away to link up with the tribesmen. Ranjit Singh realising the situation concentrated his artillery and infantry on the lashkar and left a small detachment underGeneral Ventura to forestall any crossing by Azim Khan.[8] What proceeded was ferocious hand-to-hand fights between the Tribal lashkar and theSikh Khalsa Army. Finally after the fourth attack, led personally by Ranjit Singh and his personal bodyguards themselves the hill was carried. By the late evening, the lashkar realised that Azim Khan had withdrawn from the battle and abandoned his allies. This coupled with the withering attacks by the Sikh artillery, broke the lashkar's resolve and thinking of rallying again under theirPir Ahmad Shah they dispersed in disarray, the Sikh victory was complete.
Swiftly securing Nowshera, Ranjit Singh's forces captured Peshawar and reachedJamrud itself. Destroying the remains of Durrani power, they reduced Peshawar to ruins and secured theKhyber Pass so no Durrani reinforcements could threaten them again.[8]
TheKhattak andYousafzai tribesmen suffered enormous casualties due to the Sikh artillery and the seeming betrayal by the Muhammadzai Sardars led to a lack of trust in the Barakzai's word from then onwards.
Azim Khan's retreat has never been explained fully, some say he believed his brother had returned to recapture Peshawar at the behest of theSikhs, others attribute his retreat to cowardice or fear of being cut off by the Sikh attack. Azim Khan died shortly after the battle fromCholera.[16][8]
Ranjit Singh's victory was to mark the high point of his campaigns, his empire now stretched from the Khyber Pass to the west, Kashmir to the north andMultan to the south.[17][8][18][19]