Hari Singh Nalwa (29 April 1791 – 30 April 1837) was the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire. He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud. Hari Singh Nalwa was responsible for expanding the frontier of Sikh Empire to beyond the Indus River right up to the mouth of the Khyber Pass. At the time of his death, Jamrud constituted the western boundary of the Empire.
He served as governor of Kashmir, Peshawar and Hazara. He established a mint on behalf of the Sikh Empire to facilitate revenue collection in Kashmir and Peshawar.
Early life
Hari Singh was born in Gujranwala, in the Majha region of Punjab to Dharam Kaur and Gurdial Singh of the Uppal Khatri community. After his father died in 1798, he was raised by his mother. In 1801, at the age of ten, he took Amrit Sanchar and was initiated as a Khalsa. At the age of twelve, he began to manage his father's estate and took up horse riding.
In 1804, his mother sent him to the court of Ranjit Singh to resolve a property dispute. Ranjit Singh decided the arbitration in his favor because of his background and aptitude. Hari Singh had explained that his father and grandfather had served under Maha Singh and Charat Singh, the maharaja's ancestors, and demonstrated his skills as a horseman and musketeer. Ranjit Singh appointed him as a personal attendant at the court.
Hari Singh Nalwa had two wives, as was customary at the time: Raj Kaur from Rawalpindi and Desan Kaur. He had four sons and two daughters.
Military career
During a hunt in 1804, a tiger attacked him and also killed his horse. His fellow hunters attempted to protect him but he refused their offers and allegedly killed the tiger by himself using a dagger while fending off blows with a shield, thus earning the cognomen Baghmar (Tiger-killer). Whether he was by that time already serving in the military is unknown but he was commissioned as sardar, commanding 800 horses and footmen, in that year.
Battle of Kasur (1807)
Hari Singh's first significant participation in a Sikh conquest was at age 16 in 1807 during the battle of Kasur, which had long been a thorn in the side of Ranjit Singh's power because of its proximity to his capital city of Lahore. It was captured in the fourth attempt. This attack was led by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Jodh Singh Ramgarhia. During the campaign Nalwa showed remarkable bravery and dexterity. The Sardar was granted a jagir in recognition of his services.
Siege of Multan (1807) Ranjit Singh attacked Multan seven times. Hari Singh Nalwa fought in five of them. Ranjit Singh did not wish to finish his enemies in one stroke as he wanted to weaken his enemies into a position where they could be easily conquered. On their march to Multan, they conquered the territories of Dipalpur and Jhang. The Sikhs besieged the Multan Fort. Peace was made through the help of Fateh Singh Kaliawalia. The Maharaja lifted the siege after the payment of a large sum.
Battle of Sialkot (1807) Ranjit Singh nominated Hari Singh Nalwa to take Sialkot from its ruler Jiwan Singh. This was his first battle with an independent command. The two armies engaged for a couple of days, eventually seventeen year old Hari Singh won. Nalwa lead the army to victory and planted the Sikh flag on top of the fort.
Battle of Jammu (1808) The Sikhs invaded Jammu in 1808 as after Hari Singh Nalwa conquered Sialkot, Ranjit Singh had ordered him to take the surrounding areas of Jammu as well. He was aided by a Sikh named Hukam Singh Chimni and they successfully managed to conquer the city.
Siege of Multan (1810) Nalwa once more besieged Multan in 1810. Ranjit Singh had given out an order to Muzaffar Khan to pay tribute, but the latter refused. Because of this, the Sikhs besieged Multan once more. In this battle, Hari Singh Nalwa got seriously wounded while climbing the fort because of a fire-pot that was thrown at him. Muzaffar Khan unsuccessfully sought for support from the British but after two months of siege, Nawab Muzaffar Khan surrendered. Muzaffar Khan had to pay a tribute of 180,000 rupees and 20 horses to the Sikhs.
Battle of Attock (1813)
The fort of Attock was a major replenishment point for all armies crossing the Indus. In the early 19th century, Afghan appointees of the Kingdom of Kabul held this fort, as they did most of the territory along this frontier. This battle was fought and won by the Sikhs on the banks of the Indus under the leadership of Mohkam Chand, Maharaja Ranjit Singh's general, against Wazir Fatteh Khan and his brother Dost Mohammad Khan, on behalf of Shah Mahmud of Kabul. Besides Hari Singh Nalwa, Hukam Singh Attariwala, Shyamu Singh, Khalsa Fateh Singh Ahluwalia and Behmam Singh Malliawala actively participated in this battle. With the conquest of Attock, the adjoining regions of Hazara-i-Karlugh and Gandhgarh became tributary to the Sikhs. In 1815, Sherbaz Khan of Gandhgarh challenged Hari Singh Nalwa's authority and was defeated.
Campaign in Kashmir The Sikhs made an attempt to take Kashmir soon after the battle of Attock. The army was under the general command of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who camped at Rajauri. The troops were led towards Srinagar by Ram Dayal, grandson of Dewan Mokham Chand, while Jamadar Khushal Singh commanded the van, Hari Singh Nalwa and Nihal Singh Attariwala brought up the rear. Lack of provisions, delay in the arrival of reinforcements, bad weather and treachery of the allies lead to the Sikhs to retreat. The next few years were spent in subduing Muslim chiefs within the Kashmir territory, en route Srinagar Valley. In 1815–16, Hari Singh Nalwa attacked and destroyed the stronghold of the traitorous Rajauri chief.
Conquest of Mahmudkot (1816) In preparation of the conquest of the strongly fortified Mankera, Maharaja Ranjit Singh decided to approach it from its southern extremity. After the Baisakhi of 1816, Misr Diwan Chand, Ilahi Bakhsh, Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, Nihal Singh Attariwala and Hari Singh Nalwa accompanied by seven paltans and the topkhana went towards Mahmudkot. When news of its conquest arrived, it left the maharaja so elated at the success of Sikh arms that he celebrated this victory with the firing of cannons. Two years later, on their way to Multan, the Sikhs captured the forts of Khangarh and Muzzaffargarh.
Battle of Multan (1818)
By 1818, Muzaffar Khan's resources had been looted by Ranjit Singh in his previous expeditions of Multan. He again ordered the Sikhs to march towards Multan. As soon as the order was received, a force of 15,000 Sikhs clashed between a force of 40,000 Afghans. Another force of 10,000 Sikhs under Dhena Singh reinforced the Sikhs. Muzaffar Khan challenged the Sikhs with a sword valiantly but was shot down with five of his sons. Hari Singh Nalwa was "chiefly instrumental" in the capture of the citadel. The famous Zamzama cannon was badly damaged in the siege. The Sikhs finally captured the city after six attempts. In the siege 1,900 Sikhs were killed and 4,000 wounded. The Afghans had 12,000 men killed.
Peshawar becomes tributary (1818) When Shah Mahmud's son, Shah Kamran, killed their Wazir Fateh Khan Barakzai in August 1818 the Sikhs took advantage of the resulting confusion and their army formally forded the Indus and entered Peshawar, the summer capital of the Kingdom of Kabul (modern-day Afghanistan), for the first time. Thereafter, Hari Singh Nalwa was deputed towards Peshawar in order to keep the Sikh dabdaba kayam — maintain the pressure.
Mitha Tiwana Hari Singh Nalwa was left at the suburbs of Mitha Tiwana by Dewan Mokham Chand as an order from the Maharaja. He achieved significant success and was given the jagir of Mitha Tiwana.
Capture of Kashmir
In 1819 Maharaja Ranjit Singh was asked to annex Kashmir from the Durrani Empire as the Afghan rule was very unpopular among the people of Kashmir. Thus Ranjit Singh sent an expeditionary force. The Sikh expeditionary force established two armories for the expedition at Gujrat and Wazirabad. The expedition was split into three columns: Misr Diwan Chand commanded the advance force of about 12,000 with heavy artillery where Kharak Singh and Hari Singh Nalwa marched behind him, and Ranjit Singh commanded the rear guard, protecting the supply train. The expeditionary force marched to Bhimber and resupplied, capturing the fort of a local Hakim without resistance. On 1 May, both columns of the Sikh Army reached Rajouri and its ruler, Raja Agarullah Khan, rebelled and forced a battle. Hari Singh Nalwa took command of a force and routed his army, which offered an unconditional surrender after losing most of its men and war supplies. His brother, Raja Rahimullah Khan, was appointed the Raja of Rajauri in return for assistance in navigating the 'Behram Pass' (the lower end of the Pir Panjal Pass).
Once the Sikh forces reached the Behram Pass, the Durrani-appointed faujdar charged with guarding it, fled to Srinagar. Mir Mohammad Khan, the kotwal of Poonch, and Mohammad Ali, the kotwal of Shopian, attempted a defense at the Dhaki Deo and Maja passed, but were defeated and surrendered to the Sikhs on 23 June 1819.
On 5 July 1819, the Sikh army attempted to march through Shopian to Srinagar but was stopped by a Durrani army headed by Jabbar Khan. The Durrani force had heavily entrenched itself in preparation for the Sikh artillery attack and brought heavy artillery, which the Sikhs were unprepared for because they had brought only light guns.
Once his artillery was in range, Misr Diwan Chand opened the battle with an artillery 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, when 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's artillery battery, captured two guns, and threw the Sikh left flank in "disarray". However the Durrani force attacking the Sikh left flank was exposed from their left and Akali 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. On 15 July 1819, the Sikh army made their way into Srinagar.
Battle of Pakhli (1819) Following the capture of Kashmir, tribute was due from Pakhli, Damtaur and Darband. Hari Singh Nalwa along with his companions marched through Pakhli in order to collect tribute. The request for tribute resulted in fighting and the Sikhs got the tribute after a well fought battle.
Battle of Mangal (1821)
The Maharaja summoned Nalwa to pay his tax. He marched by Pakhli and Muzaffarabad with a force of 7,000 foot. When he was passing through Mangal in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, he found a large tribal force of 25,000 to 30,000 troops under Bostan Khan and Mohammad Khan Tarain. The Sikh Review Volume 23 gives a number of 70,000 troops, which is unlikely and probably exaggerated. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Nalwa with his Sikhs defeated the Afghans who lost 2,000 soldiers.
Battle of Mankera (1822)