| Battle of Shopian[nb 1] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofAfghan–Sikh Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Sikh Empire | Afghan Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Maharaja Ranjit Singh Misr Diwan Chand Hari Singh Nalwa Khushal Singh Jamadar Kharak Singh Akali Phoola Singh Sham Singh Attariwala Jawala Singh Hukam Singh Chimni | Jabbar Khan Raja Aghar Khan | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000[nb 3] | Unknown | ||||||
  Location within India | |||||||
TheBattle of Shopian took place on 3 July 1819 between an expeditionary force from theSikh Empire and Jabbar Khan, the governor of theKashmir Valley province of theDurrani Empire. It was the decisive battle during the Sikh expedition into Kashmir in 1819.
From 1814 to 1819, theSikh Empire was forced to send successive punitive expeditions against the hill states ofBhimber,Rajauri,Poonch,Nurpur, and others. By subduing rebellions in these states, the Sikh Empire was attempting to keep control of the routes through thePir Panjal Range and into Kashmir. However the Durrani Empire keptde facto control of the areas because the Pir Panjal Range blocked supplies and fresh troops to the Sikh armies.
After the death of Fateh Khan Wazir in 1818, governorAzim Khan left Kashmir forKabul to assume Wazir's office, leaving Jabbar Khan in charge of Kashmir.[2]Birbal Dhar, Azim Khan's revenue minister, betrayed his master and traveled toLahore, the capital of the Sikh Empire, askingRanjit Singh to annex Kashmir, saying the Afghan rule was very unpopular among the people of Kashmir.[3][4]
The Sikh expeditionary force established twoarmories for the expedition atGujrat andWazirabad.[5] On 20 April, Ranjit Singh ordered his men from Lahore to the hill states at the foot of the Pir Panjal range.[5] The expedition was split into three columns:Misr Diwan Chand commanded the advance force of about 12,000 with heavy artillery whereKharak Singh andHari Singh Nalwa marched behind him, andRanjit Singh commanded the rear guard,[5][6] protecting thesupply train.[7] The expeditionary force marched toBhimber and resupplied, capturing the fort of a localHakim without resistance.[5] On 1 May, both columns of the Sikh Army reachedRajouri and its ruler,Raja Aghar Khan, rebelled and forced a battle.Hari Singh Nalwa took command of a force and routed his army, which offered anunconditional surrender after losing most of its men and war supplies.[5] Aghar Khan's brother,Raja Rahimullah Khan, was appointed theRaja ofRajauri in return for assistance in navigating the 'Behram Pass' (Baramgala,33°36′18″N74°24′49″E / 33.605°N 74.4136°E /33.605; 74.4136, the lower end of thePir Panjal Pass).[8]
Once the Sikh forces reached the Behram Pass, the Durrani-appointedfaujdar charged with guarding it fled toSrinagar.[8] Mir Mohammad Khan, thekotwal ofPoonch, and Mohammad Ali, the kotwal ofShopian, attempted a defense at the Dhaki Deo and Maja passes but were defeated and surrendered to Misr Diwan Chand on 23 June 1819.[1] Kharak Singh now advanced to Surdee Thana,[1][nb 4] while Misr Diwan Chand split his force into three divisions and ordered them to cross the Pir Panjal Range through different passes.
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The army regrouped at Surai Ali[nb 5] on the road to Shopian. On 3 July 1819, the Sikh army attempted to march through Shopian toSrinagar but was stopped by a Durrani army headed by Jabbar Khan.[6] The Durrani force had heavilyentrenched itself in preparation for the Sikhartillery attack and brought heavy artillery,[11] which the Sikhs were unprepared for because they had brought only light guns.[12]
Once his artillery was in range, Misr Diwan Chand opened the battle with anartillery barrage and multiple infantry and cavalry charges. The Durrani army was able to hold back the Sikh attempts to storm their lines until the Sikhs began moving their guns forward. However, while Misr Diwan Chand was overseeing the movement of guns on the Sikh left flank, Jabbar Khan saw an opening and led the Durrani right flank which stormed Misr Diwan Chand'sartillery battery, captured two guns, and threw the Sikh left flank in "disarray".[13] However the Durrani force attacking the Sikh left flank was exposed from their left andAkali Phoola Singh, the commander of the Sikh right flank, rallied his troops and led his command in a charge across the battlefield to the artillery battery. After a close quarters fight which resulted in both sides resorting to using swords and daggers, the Durrani soldiers proved to be ineffective against the much superior martial skills of the Sikh soldiers and sections of the Durrani force began to retreat and Jabbar Khan was wounded while escaping the battlefield.[5] On 15 July 1819, the Sikh army made their way into Srinagar.[14]
Jabbar Khan and his army fled from the battlefield to Muzaffarbad but were turned away by the governor, then fleeing to Peshawar and finally to Kabul.[15][14] 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 largeShawl-making industry, was also the center of trade betweenPanjab,Tibet,Iskardo, andLadakh.[16]
After taking Srinagar, the Sikh army faced no major opposition in conqueringKashmir. However, when Ranjit Singh installedMoti 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.[15] 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.[16]
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