Battle of Nowshera
| Battle of Nowshera | |||||||||
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| Part of Afghan-Sikh wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Sikh Empire
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.svg){kind=small} Emirate of Afghanistan
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab Hari Singh Nalwa Akali Phula Singh † Desa Singh Majithia Kharak Singh Fateh Singh Ahluwalia Jean-Baptiste Ventura Jean-Francois Allard |
Azim Khan Barakzai (WIA) Syed Akbar Shah |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 16,000 Fauj-i-Khas (Gorkhas and Sikhs)& Fauj-i-Ain regulars 3,000 Sikh Akali Nihang Singh 4,000 Ghorcharas |
20,000-30,000 Afghan Tribesmen (due to Jihad call 10,000 Afghan cavalry |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 1800 killed and 2000 wounded | Estimated 5000 killed and 300 wounded | ||||||||
The Battle of Nowshera was fought in March 1823 between the forces of Pashtun tribesmen with support from Azim Khan Barakzai, Durrani governor against the Sikh Khalsa Army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The battle was a decisive victory for the Sikhs and led to their occupation of the Peshawar valley.
In 1818, Ranjit Singh made an aggressive push against the Durranis, defeating the Kabul Vizier and Muhammad Azem Khan Barakzai he pushed as far as Peshawar, which under the Durrani Governor (and Azem Khan's brother) Yar Muhammad Khan accepted his rule and paid tribute as a vassal. With this victory Ranjit Singh withdrew from the Peshawar valley leaving a small garrison in a newly constructed fort at Khairabad, modern day Nowshera. This was in turn followed by Ranjit Singh's capture of Kashmir in 1819 from Azem Khan's other brother Jabbar Khan.
Angered by his defeats, Azem Khan recaptured Peshawar in 1822, he made a call for jihad 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 general Hari Singh Nalwa with backing from Pashtun tribes loyal to Shah Shuja. These forces successfully repulsed attacks by Pashtun ghazis and Durrani troops at Jahangira and withdrew to Nowshera hoping to link up with Ranjit Singh.
Ranjit Singh by this point had brought up his army to the east of Hund, 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.
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Wikipedia