The Battle of Multan was a battle between a Vizier of the Durrani Empire and the Sikh Empire that started in March 1818 and ended on 2 June 1818. [3]
The Battle of Multan was a battle between a Vizier of the Durrani Empire and the Sikh Empire that started in March 1818 and ended on 2 June 1818. [3]
After he was defeated at the Battle of Attock, the Durrani Vizier, Fateh Khan, fought off an attempt by Ali Shah, the ruler of Persia, to capture the Durrani province of Herat. [4] He was joined by his brother, Dost Mohammad Khan, and the rogue Sikh Sardar Jai Singh Attarwalia. Once they had captured the city, Fateh Khan attempted to remove the ruler, a relation of his superior, Mahmud Shah, and rule in his stead. In the attempt to take the city from its Durrani ruler, Dost Mohammad Khan's men robbed a princess of her jewels. [5] Kamran Durrani, Mahmud Shah's son, used this as a pretext to remove Fateh Khan from power, and had him horribly tortured and executed. [5]
While in power, however, Fateh Khan had installed twenty-one of his brothers in positions of power throughout the Durrani Empire. After his death the next eldest brother Mohd. Azim Khan, governor of Kashmir, led the Barakzais as they rebelled and divided up the provinces of the empire between themselves. During this turbulent period Kabul had many temporary rulers until Dost Mohammad Khan captured the city in 1826. [6]
The Sikh Empire had attacked Multan multiple times in the past, the largest attack being in 1810. However, on the previous occasions the Sikh forces would defeat the defending force and seize the city only to have the governor of Multan, Muzaffar Khan Sadozai, retreat into the Multan Fort. During previous sieges the Sikhs had settled for large single payments of tribute, while the attack in 1810 resulted in Multan paying a yearly tribute. Muzaffar Khan already ruled the Durrani province of Multan independently of the descendants of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the rulers of Kabul. With the relatives of the deceased Fateh Khan engulfed in a power struggle with Mahmud Shah, no Durrani force would be able to relieve him.
In early 1818, Ranjit Singh ordered the Sikh army to rendezvous on the south-west frontier of the Sikh Empire to make preparations for an expedition against Multan. [7] By January 1818, the Sikh Empire had established an extensive supply chain from the capital, Lahore, to Multan, with the use of boat transports to ferry supplies across the Jhelum, Chenab, and Ravi rivers. [1] Rani Raj Kaur herself oversaw the steady supply of grain, horses, and ammunition being sent to the at Kot Kamalia, a town equally distanced between Multan and Lahore. [1]
In early January the Sikh force began their campaign with the capture of Nawab Muzaffar Khan's forts at Muzaffargarh and Khangarh. In February, the Sikh force under Kharak Singh reached Multan and ordered Muzaffar to pay the large tribute he owed and to surrender the fort, but Muzaffar refused. The Sikh forces won an engagement near the city but were unable to capture Muzaffar before he retreated into the fort. The Sikh army asked for more artillery and Ranjit Singh sent them the Zamzama and other large artillery pieces, which commenced fire on the walls of the fort. In early June, Sadhu Singh and a small band of other Akalis attacked the fort walls and discovered a breach in the wall. As they ran in to battle the unaware garrison the larger Sikh army was alerted and entered the fort through the breach. Muzaffar and his sons attempted a sortie to defend the fort but were killed in the battle.
The state treasury, weapons and private wealth of the nawab were confiscated in the name of the Maharaja while of victorious Sikh troops entered the city & established their flag. [8]
The battle of Multan ended significant Afghan influence in the Peshawar region and led to multiple Sikh attempts at capturing and the final capture of Peshawar.
The Durrani Empire, also called the Sadozai Kingdom, and Afghan Empire, was founded and built by Ahmad Shah Durrani. At its maximum extent, the empire ruled over what are now the modern-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as some parts of northeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India.
Dost Mohammad Khan was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of the Durrani dynasty, he became Emir of Afghanistan from 1826 to 1839 and then from 1843 to 1863. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the 11th son of Sardar Payendah Khan who was killed in 1799 by Zaman Shah Durrani. Dost Mohammad's grandfather was Hajji Jamal Khan.
Multan is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the banks of the Chenab River, Multan is Pakistan's 7th largest city, and is the major cultural and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Zaman Shah Durrani, was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1793 until 1800. He was the grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani and the fifth son of Timur Shah Durrani. An ethnic Pashtun like the rest of his family and Durrani rulers, Shah Zaman became the third King of Afghanistan.
Mahmud Shah Durrani was born Prince and the ruler of the Durrani Empire (Afghanistan) between 1801 and 1803, and again between 1809 and 1818. An ethnic Sadduzai tribe section of the Popalzai sub clan of Durrani Abdali Pashtun, he was the son of Timur Shah Durrani and grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani.
Kasur is a city to south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The city serves as the headquarters of Kasur District, and is near the border with neighbouring India, and further bordered to Lahore, Nankana Sahab & Okara District of Punjab Province. Kasur was founded by Pashtun migrants in 1525, Kasur is now the 16th most populous city of Punjab & 24th most populous city of Pakistan with a population of 358,409 in 2017-18 It is also known for being the burial place of the 17th-century Sufi-poet Bulleh Shah.
Sardar Mohd. Azim Khan Barakzai was a Pashtun noble who served as Afghan governor of Kashmir (1812–1819). He was the second son of the Barakzai chief Payendah 'Sarfraz' Khan, while his elder brother Fatteh Khan was kingmaker and Vizier to Mahmud Shah Durrani. He was one of 21 brothers from eight mothers including his half-brother Dost Mohd. Khan who would later become Emir of Afghanistan.
Padshah Sultan Shuja Shah Abdali Durrani was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1803 to 1809. He then ruled from 1839 until his death in 1842. Son of emperor Timur Shah Durrani, Shuja Shah was of the Sadduzai line of the Abdali group of Ethnic Pashtuns. He became the fifth Emir of Afghanistan.
The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established a secular empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849 and was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous Sikh misls. At its peak in the 19th century, the Empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west to western Tibet in the east, and from Mithankot in the south to Kashmir in the north. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 3.5 million in 1831, it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the British.
Hari Singh Nalwa (Nalua) (1791–1837) was Commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Fauj, the army of the Sikh Empire. He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud. He is also the founder of Haripur city in Pakistan, which is named after him.
The Jamrud Fort is located beside Bab-e-Khyber at the entrance to the Khyber Pass from the Peshawar side in the Tribal districts of KPK, Pakistan.
Multan in Punjab province of Pakistan is one of the oldest cities in South Asia, though its exact age has yet to be determined. It has seen a lot of warfare because of its location on a major invasion route between South and Central Asia. It is famous for its Sufi shrines.
Shahzada Kamran Durrani was born in the Sadozai dynasty. He was the son of Mahmud Shah Durrani, son of Timur Shah Durrani the son of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of the Durrani Empire.
Maharaja Kharak Singh, was a Sikh ruler of the Punjab and the Sikh Empire. He succeeded his father Ranjit Singh in June 1839.
The Battle of Attock took place on 13 July 1813 between the Sikh Empire and the Durrani Empire. The battle was the first significant Sikh victory over the Durranis.
The Battle of Shopian took place on 3 July 1819 between an expeditionary force from the Sikh Empire and Jabbar Khan, the governor of the Durrani Empire province of Kashmir. It was the decisive battle in the 1819 Kashmir expedition
The Afghan–Sikh wars were a series of wars between the Islamic Durrani Empire, and the Sikh Empire. The conflict had its origins stemming from the days of the Dal Khalsa.
Timur Shah Durrani, was the second ruler of the Durrani Empire, from October 16, 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the second child and eldest son of Ahmad Shah Durrani.
Nawab Muzaffar Khan was Sadozai governor of Multan. He also founded the city of Muzaffargarh in 1794.