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Afghan-Sikh Wars (1802-1837)


Azad67
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http://historyofpashtuns.blogspot.com/2014/07/afghan-sikh-wars.html?m=1

(Hi i am a pashtun from pakistan, kindly review my above article, if there mistakes or its biased then do point out)

The fact that you have no credible bibliography, or sources, substantiates that the only bias (if any) is prevalent in your own work.

http://tisarpanth.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/from-frontier-to-frontier.html

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The battle of Jamrud in which Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa became Shaheed was not a loss for Sikhs. The Afghans wanted to capture jamrud which they failed. During the battle Hari Singh Nalwa died, but Jamrud remained in Sikh hands. Neither side can claim that battle as a victory or defeat. For the Sikhs it cannot be a victory (even though they retained Jamrud) because Hari Singh Nalwa died. But for the Afghans it cannot be a victory because they failed to capture Jamrud even if they killed Hari Singh.

Sikh Afghan wars went even beyond 1802. For almost a century Sikhs and Afghans/Pashtuns were locked in a bitter and violent struggle for control over west Punjab and later the trans Indus area. Countless people on both sides died. The Pashtuns were pushed beyond Indus and in 1947 Sikhs were pushed beyond Wagah(by Punjabi Muslims). Today neither the Sikhs nor the Pasthuns are the rulers of this bitterly contested land, as now the Punjabi Muslims have become rulers.

Before 1947 so many Sikh freedom fighters fought for independence but it was all for nothing because Gora masters were replaced by the rulers of Delhi. Likewise Pashtuns fought so many wars with the British but it was all in vain as they did not join Afghanistan in the end and only ended up being a part of Pakistan under the domination of Punjabi Muslims. After 1947 Sikhs got a raw deal from congress which resulted in the Sikh genocide of the 80s, and after 1947 the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan saw the soviet war, Taliban war, Nato war and now almost a million tribal Pasthuns have become IDPs within Pakistan itself(not a good way to spend the month of Ramadan) with the state governments of Pak Punjab and Sindh saying they don't want these IDPs entering their states.

And this isn't end of it, probably it will get even worse in the next few years before it gets better.

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The battle of Jamrud in which Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa became Shaheed was not a loss for Sikhs. The Afghans wanted to capture jamrud which they failed. During the battle Hari Singh Nalwa died, but Jamrud remained in Sikh hands. Neither side can claim that battle as a victory or defeat. For the Sikhs it cannot be a victory (even though they retained Jamrud) because Hari Singh Nalwa died. But for the Afghans it cannot be a victory because they failed to capture Jamrud even if they killed Hari Singh.

Sikh Afghan wars went even beyond 1802. For almost a century Sikhs and Afghans/Pashtuns were locked in a bitter and violent struggle for control over west Punjab and later the trans Indus area. Countless people on both sides died. The Pashtuns were pushed beyond Indus and in 1947 Sikhs were pushed beyond Wagah(by Punjabi Muslims). Today neither the Sikhs nor the Pasthuns are the rulers of this bitterly contested land, as now the Punjabi Muslims have become rulers.

Before 1947 so many Sikh freedom fighters fought for independence but it was all for nothing because Gora masters were replaced by the rulers of Delhi. Likewise Pashtuns fought so many wars with the British but it was all in vain as they did not join Afghanistan in the end and only ended up being a part of Pakistan under the domination of Punjabi Muslims. After 1947 Sikhs got a raw deal from congress which resulted in the Sikh genocide of the 80s, and after 1947 the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan saw the soviet war, Taliban war, Nato war and now almost a million tribal Pasthuns have become IDPs within Pakistan itself(not a good way to spend the month of Ramadan) with the state governments of Pak Punjab and Sindh saying they don't want these IDPs entering their states.

And this isn't end of it, probably it will get even worse in the next few years before it gets better.

The attempt to cast themselves as victors might be a way of connecting with what they deem as their last heritage. If you read Robert Gate's, Bush and Obama's Secretary of War's, autobiography he mentions Pashtun vanity as being a big impediment in subduing Islamic radicalism in Afghanistan.

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The attempt to cast themselves as victors might be a way of connecting with what they deem as their last heritage. If you read Robert Gate's, Bush and Obama's Secretary of War's, autobiography he mentions Pashtun vanity as being a big impediment in subduing Islamic radicalism in Afghanistan.

Americans don't know much, they are also to be blamed for the current crises. Vanity may be one thing, all brave people are naturally proud of their heritage. But it's not as simple as that, one needs to go further back in history to see the background of what happened. In the 80s, Americans, Saudis pumped untold amounts of money to be used by the Pakistani army/ISI who in turn created countless madrassas all over Pasthun territory which resulted in their youth getting radicalized. The ISI wanted to use these radicalized youth in Afghanistan and Kashmir as insurgents because they know Pasthuns are very brave people and natural born fighters whose only weakness is religion. But the plan failed big time and now they have to deal with their own monstrous creation in the form of TTP. A Pothohari ISI agent named Col Imam who used to train these radicalized Pasthuns to fight in Afghanistan was ironically captured and killed by the same people which was recorded on video.

Currently people are all talking about the Gaza war, but right now a war 10 times worse is happening in Waziristan which has resulted in a million people being turned into IDPs in their own country. If Pakistan had created schools and collages and technical institutes instead of Saudi funded Madrassas maybe these Pathans would also have been as modern, prosperous and educated as anyone else.

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We have our own arguements as to why jamrud was victory for us.

1- Hari singh nalwa objective was to capture jalalabad and go beyond. Afghans at that time were dealing with persian invasion (1836-38). Construction of jamrud fort that lies at the entrance of khyber, alarmed Afghans. Dost muhammad khan's objective to simply stop sikh invasion of khyber and protect jalalabad. They were too pre-occupied with persia to take on well fortified city like peshawer. Peshawer was not on menu.

2- After death of hari singh nalwa, sikhs didnt retain jamrud. They actually retreated from khyber on orders of ranjeet singh. Victory at jamrud not only ensured safety of jalalabad (and kabul) but khyber was also saved. Afghans achieved their objective i.e to repel immediate threat.

3- Sikhs failed in their encroachments on khyber and beyond

4- Immediately after battle of jamrud, dost muhammad khan focused on siege of herat by persians which lasted till 1838. Persians were defeated.

5- Why Afghans didnt make attempt on peshawer after defeating persians in 1838? Because in 1839 they were invaded by british, which lasted till 1842.

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I agree with @Jonny101 that despite our great sacrifices in our armed and political resistance against british empire , we failed at the end as we ended up in Pakistan rather than in Afghanistan.

Perhaps the fault lies in us that we didnt adopt ourselves to modren world where education, science and technology matters.

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We have our own arguements as to why jamrud was victory for us.

1- Hari singh nalwa objective was to capture jalalabad and go beyond. Afghans at that time were dealing with persian invasion (1836-38). Construction of jamrud fort that lies at the entrance of khyber, alarmed Afghans. Dost muhammad khan's objective to simply stop sikh invasion of khyber and protect jalalabad. They were too pre-occupied with persia to take on well fortified city like peshawer. Peshawer was not on menu.

2- After death of hari singh nalwa, sikhs didnt retain jamrud. They actually retreated from khyber on orders of ranjeet singh. Victory at jamrud not only ensured safety of jalalabad (and kabul) but khyber was also saved. Afghans achieved their objective i.e to repel immediate threat.

3- Sikhs failed in their encroachments on khyber and beyond

4- Immediately after battle of jamrud, dost muhammad khan focused on siege of herat by persians which lasted till 1838. Persians were defeated.

5- Why Afghans didnt make attempt on peshawer after defeating persians in 1838? Because in 1839 they were invaded by british, which lasted till 1842.

Interesting to see the Afghan argument. Sikhs also have their own. Some of the factors surrounding this battle are these:

1. 1837 was Prince Nau Nihal Singh's wedding. It was to be the the most extravagant wedding. Nobles, courtiers, Rajas from all over Punjab and even India were to attend or send their representatives. From the British side, the commander in chief himself was going to attend. Maharaja Ranjit SIngh wanted to impress all these guests with his wealth, power and army, especially the British Commander in Chief. He did this by recalling the best of his troops and commanders from all over the kingdom so they can be used in a parade. Only Hari Singh Nalwa was left in Peshawar province with inferior troops to defend the western front.

2. Dost Mohammad Khan got news of this and saw this as his chance to hit back. He collected best of his army under the command of his two sons and wazir. This army was then reinforced with thousands of guerrilla fighters and tribal Ghazis.

3. Hari Singh Nalwa who was aware of the preparation of the Afghans, sent letters after letters to Maharaja Ranjit Singh for reinforcements. But Maharajat Ranjit Singh took this lightly and wanted his troops to stay until the British guests were in Lahore for the wedding function.

4. The battle was a big loss for both sides. About 7000 soldiers died. On the Afghan side a son of Dost Mohammad Khan and several chiefs died, and on the Sikh side Hari Singh Nalwa died.

5. After Hari Singh Nalwa died, Maharaja Ranjit Singh wanted to retaliate against the Afghans by conquering Jalalabad and sending an army to raid Kabul. But the British had their own designs on Afghanistan by then and restrained him from proceeding beyond Jamrud because they wanted to send their own army to conquer and install Shah Shuja.

6. The Afghans considered their victory in killing Hari Singh Nalwa, while Jamrud and Shabqadar fort remained in Sikh hands.

While Pashtuns consider this battle as a great victory but Dost Mohammad Khan while talking to Captain Alexander Burns said:

"My sons and people may speak in exaggerated terms of our late success, but it is too evident that our power is not one-tenth of that of the Punjab"

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Interesting to see the Afghan argument. Sikhs also have their own. Some of the factors surrounding this battle are these:

1. 1837 was Prince Nau Nihal Singh's wedding. It was to be the the most extravagant wedding. Nobles, courtiers, Rajas from all over Punjab and even India were to attend or send their representatives. From the British side, the commander in chief himself was going to attend. Maharaja Ranjit SIngh wanted to impress all these guests with his wealth, power and army, especially the British Commander in Chief. He did this by recalling the best of his troops and commanders from all over the kingdom so they can be used in a parade. Only Hari Singh Nalwa was left in Peshawar province with inferior troops to defend the western front.

2. Dost Mohammad Khan got news of this and saw this as his chance to hit back. He collected best of his army under the command of his two sons and wazir. This army was then reinforced with thousands of guerrilla fighters and tribal Ghazis.

3. Hari Singh Nalwa who was aware of the preparation of the Afghans, sent letters after letters to Maharaja Ranjit Singh for reinforcements. But Maharajat Ranjit Singh took this lightly and wanted his troops to stay until the British guests were in Lahore for the wedding function.

4. The battle was a big loss for both sides. About 7000 soldiers died. On the Afghan side a son of Dost Mohammad Khan and several chiefs died, and on the Sikh side Hari Singh Nalwa died.

5. After Hari Singh Nalwa died, Maharaja Ranjit Singh wanted to retaliate against the Afghans by conquering Jalalabad and sending an army to raid Kabul. But the British had their own designs on Afghanistan by then and restrained him from proceeding beyond Jamrud because they wanted to send their own army to conquer and install Shah Shuja.

6. The Afghans considered their victory in killing Hari Singh Nalwa, while Jamrud and Shabqadar fort remained in Sikh hands.

While Pashtuns consider this battle as a great victory but Dost Mohammad Khan while talking to Captain Alexander Burns said:

"My sons and people may speak in exaggerated terms of our late success, but it is too evident that our power is not one-tenth of that of Punjab"

Do you have a source for that last quote?

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