Oakmont History of the Sikhs

[lad]

Notice: This AAR would never have been had the nice people on this forum not reassured me that you can write a good AAR without ingame screenshots. I have no In-Game screenshots because I lost them all.
Nevertheless, please read on.
I have a fair amount of historical pictures.

Another thing: Most of my chapters are in SPOILER tags, so please make sure that you don't miss any


Introduction.

Spoiler

In this third volume of the Oakmont history of the Sikhs, our editors have specifically chosen the date of 1820 as its beginning.

The reason?

1820 marks the beginning of Sikh Dominance in the Indian Northwest, by defeating the Afghans under Dost Mohammed and thereby annexing Peshawar, Ranjit Singh heralded a new era for Sikhism.

 

[lad]

The Conquests of Ranjit The Great(1820-1840)

Map of Asia in 1821.


Overview.

Spoiler

After the signing of the temporary Peshawar treaty with Dost Mohhamed, the Sikhs now had absolutely no threat to their own independence, so they became a threat to others.

In the third and fourth decades of the 19th century, the Sikhs rapidly conquered both west and east from Baluchistan to Ladakh and led expeditions on the borders of China itself.
Led by brilliant generals like Zorawar Singh and Hari Singh Nalwa, spearheaded by their warrior monarch, and supported by a rapidly westernizing army, it looked like the Sikhs had no equals in the Northwest of India.

This was also the time of the Great game between Russia and Great Britain, a series of poor diplomatic events culminating in major skirmishes and wars between the two great powers. While other rulers of Central Asia fell prey to a foreign policy of aggression due to the Great game, the Sikhs were wily enough to benefit from it.

As Sir Alexander Burnes put it perfectly

"One rumour of a Russian traveller meeting with a Sikh beggar was enough to get the company officials in Calcutta off their asses and on to Lahore with mighty gifts and curiosities to try to Woo the Maharaja"

I:Conquest of Kashmir.

Spoiler

From 1814 to 1819, the Sikh Empire was forced to send successive punitive expeditions against the hill states of Poonch and Bhimber and others. By subduing rebellions in these states the Sikh Empire was attempting to keep control of the routes through the Pir Panjal Range and into Kashmir. However the Durrani Empire kept de facto control of the areas because the Pir Panjal Range blocked supplies and fresh troops to the Sikh armies.

By 1819, Azim Khan(The ruler of Kashmir, nominally of the Durrani Empire) had taken a force of troops to Kabul. Birbal Dhar, Azim Khan's revenue minister, traveled to Lahore, the capital of the Sikh Empire, and asked the Maharaja to annex Kashmir from the Durrani Empire. He informed Ranjit Singh that Azim Khan was no longer leading the Durrani forces in Kashmir, and supplied information on invasion routes into Kashmir.

However the invasion itself was delayed because of the ensuing war with Dost Mohammed. This allowed Azim Khan to return to Srinagar(The capital of Kashmir) and rally a force of 4000 Pashtuns in defence. A personal illness for Zorawar Singh further delayed the action until finally the Sikhs decided to make a quick and unexpected winter strike in November 1821.

General Zorawar Singh attacked with 8000 Sikhs and his army was further strengthened by several Pahari tribes in Kashmir fed up with Azim Khan's arrogance.

Vastly outnumbered, Azim Khan decided to retreat from Kashmir to Kabul via Chitral, but the Sikhs reached Chitral before him in a feat of speed unmatched in that frontier for decades.
At the battle of Chitral, the remnants of the Kashmiri army were slaughtered and Azim Khan was caught and forced to sign the treaty of Chitral.

Thereby, the Sikhs annexed Kashmir.

Above:The Sikhs took to the water to pray to god after the hectic action at Chitral Lake.

Chitral Lake in Summer.

II: The Conquest of Ladakh.

Spoiler

To the east of Kashmir are the snow-clad mountains of the upper Himalayas — the rivers of Zanskar, Suru and Drass rise from these snows, and flow across the plateau of Ladakh into the Indus River. Several petty principalities in this region were tributary to the Gyalpo (King) of Ladakh. In 1822 one of these, the Raja of Timbus, sought Zorawar’s help against the Gyalpo.

The magnificent Leh Palace, abode of the Gyalpo.

Zorawar Singh immediately rallied the mesage back to Lahore. Ranjit Singh was more than happy to use it as a Casus Belli and approved of Zorawar's plan to send an expedition of 1500 men to annex Ladakh.

With the support of the Hindu Rajas of Ladakh, the Sikhs already had a hge numerical advantage, and they also had 2 cannons.

The Gyalpo tried hard to resist the siege of his own palace in Leh for 3 days, but eventually gave in after the Sikhs blasted more than half of it with Cannons.
The Gyalpo was thus exiled to Khotan and his country went to the Sikhs.

The serenity of Ladakh, the Pangong Lake.

III: The war of the Takhya.

Spoiler

Takhya is coffin. The Afghans and all other central Asian peoples always say that the throne is either Takhta(Great seat) or Takhya(Coffin), which of this is applicable is dependent on the ability of the ruler to exert Authority.

But despite being much better than his internal competitors, Dost Mohammed found himself on the Takhya.

In February 1825, the Khan of Kunduz(The Durrani puppet directly above Kashmir in the map above), rebelled against his authority. Worse still, some of his Barzakai relatives also supported the revolt. While he started making preparations to march on the rebels, the Shah of Persia, his eyes fixed on the principality of Herat declared war.

The end result was that, Herat gained independence and so did Kunduz, this dealt a massive blow to the Empire. Furthermore, his supporters started whispering that since Dost Mohammed wasn't really a Durrani, he had no right to the title of Emir of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, back in the Punjab, Ranjit Singh coerced several great Hindustani Inams to read the Kuthba(Declaration of royalty) of Afghanistan in his name.

Ranjit Singh greeting Inams.

This meant, that now he was a lawfull contender to the Afghan throne.

In May of 1825, he threatened the Khan of Kunduz to submit himself to Sikh authorty or risk a war to end his 'Rouge State' .

The Khan had nowhere the military might of the Sikhs, but he was sure of two things.
1)The Sikhs would be unable to march from Kashmir to Kunduz with their huge pompous armies.
2)His Muslim brothers, though hating him, would come to his aid in the face of this aggression by an infidel.

To Further increase his chances, he decided to take the tough decision of swearing fealty to Dost Mohammed again.
He began the negotiations sometime between 27th May and 3rd June.

Back In Punjab, Ranjit Singh knew that attacking Kunduz via Kashmir with a large army through Inhospitable climate was indeed a bad idea.
For several days he pondered over idea after idea. His generals, advisors and diplomats all tried to help, but for once it looked like Ranjit Singh was failing.

Just as he was going to take the vain decision of leading the army himself and sacrificing hundreds of men through barren terrain, his top general Hari Singh Nalwa chipped in.

Nalwa's idea was revolutionary. He Claimed that the Khan of Kunduz only had about 2500 reliable men. Marching a huge army to Kundiz was unrealistic, so he offered to lead a very small punitive force of just 2000 elite lancers of the Khalsa without any artillery and infantry and ambush the Khan's camp.

Thus, by killing the Khan, the war would be over fast.

It was a risky feat to do. But he wasn't called Hari Singh Nalwa for nothing.
He had first been recruited in Ranjit's service when he had beaten 4 of the most powerful wrestlers of Punjab at once in 1808.

Ranjit Singh thought that since Nalwa was confident, they would pull it off.

Hari Singh Nalwa in 1824.

Hari Singh Nalwa(The man with the big beard standing behind) posing for a rare photo in much later years(1871)

 

[stnylan]

Very nice and some excellently chosen images.

Incidentally there is a typo early on. I think you mean to write "the Sikhs were wily enough to benefit" but you wrote willy, which means something a bit different.

 

[lad]

Very nice and some excellently chosen images.

Incidentally there is a typo early on. I think you mean to write "the Sikhs were wily enough to benefit" but you wrote willy, which means something a bit different.

Thanks so very much for commenting man.

Thanks for pointing out the typo.
I corrected it.
Thanks again for commenting.
Please keep commenting.

Your comments are like food to me.

 

[stnylan]

Your comments are like food to me.

You are most welcome. It is what I do.

 

[Arnulf Floyd]

Nice start. Good images

 

[stnylan]

As a suggestion, once you have made a post, rather than update it with new content, make another post. That makes it easier for people to follow.

 

[lad]

The Conquests of Ranjit The Great(1820-1840)(Part 2)

I: The war of the Takhya - Nalwa's assault.

Spoiler

It must have been a scene just like the picture below. The Khan of Kunduz, based on accounts, must have been drunk like a hog and probably his band, or 'Army' would have been in the whorehouses of his great fortress. Overconfident, arrogant and in a safe corner like their master.

A fantastic view of Kunduz.

How would they have reacted when they would have seen the huge clouds of smoke coming in the direction towards their fort.

Would the men have panicked?
Would the populace have become afraid and marched to the abode of their drunk Khan for protection?
Would the many traders and merchants who had reported about a major threat approaching towards Kunduz and had been rebuked by the Khan finally felt the taste of sweet revenge on their tongues?

These are just some of the question that the editor read about in 'Sir Birmingham's accounts of NW Indian warfare' .

Thus, the battle of Kunduz fort officially starts on that afternoon on 25th June 1825.

It is said that the Afghans were surprised to see Sikh cavalry rapidly approaching the fort. The Afghans rapidly closed the gates.
When he was reported of this, Hari Singh Nalwa laughed and remarked "Oh, how I used to enjoy climbing the big betel trees in childhood in Lahore, I suppose everyone of my comrades must have did the same, lets do it again, lets give them hell" .

But first he instructed his mounted musketeers to shoot down the few men operating the 6 cannons that the Khan possessed. But everytime they did so, a new batch of Afghans would come and start operating the cannons. This was proving to be quite tiresome and costly. The Sikhs lost 17 men in that initial drubbing. Finally, Nalwa instructed his men to divide in two halves, all cavalry of course.

One halve would ride towards the gate with ladders, the other would keep shooting the gunners and archers on the walls.

A born leader, Nalwa was among the first to pick up a big ladder and ride towards the gate, he was sure that his brave comrades would give him superb cover because they were the best warriors in the world.

They did not disappoint.

Finally, the first halve reached the gates. But here, Nalwa's trusted guard Mir Jawan(Yes, a Muslim Sikh, Ranjit's empire was highly secular for its time) pleaded him not to climb up himself.
To this Nalwa said "That would be cowardly" .

Mir Jawan's reply was fast "Sir, the Maharaja would get many Mir Jawans, but he would never get another Hari Singh Nalwa" .

But by that point of time, there was no need to even get off the horse, a band of brave Sikhs had gotten in and opened the gates from inside.........................at the cost of their lives.
After this, 'The most elite cavalrymen in the known world' rapidly charged inside the gates. The Afghans were no match for the Sikhs in deadly hand to hand street fighting.

However, the Khan had recovered from his alcoholic haze and personally led his own cavalry charge. They say that when cornered, even a dog is a tiger. An its true! So effective was the Khan's personal appearance on the Afghan morale that for a brief period of time they even managed to push the Sikhs back outside the gates of the fort.

But the Khan had miscalculated his own men's loyalty.

For when, in sheer excitement, he went a little more forward than necessary, his cowardly bodyguards abonded him and went back inside the citadel.
Now he stood alone on his horse, surrounded by dozens of Sikhs.
They say that for a brief moment, everyone stood still and silent.

Last moment of Khan-I-Kunduze.

Then, they say, the Khan finally realized his Gunha(Crime) to Allah. How he had not fulfilled his duties of statecraft. He lamanted. And then he found the only one way to rectify his mistakes and procure Jannat(Heaven).
Shouting Allah-Hu-Akbar, he charged towards the nearest Sikh and slew him, but then he was immediately beheaded by the spear of another.

The remaining survivors surrendered immediately.

There would be peace, for now. The battle of Kunduz was......................a victory !

II: The visit of Sir Alexander Burnes.(Part 1)

Spoiler

The rapid conquests of the Sikhs sent shockwaves throughout Calcutta. Here the British had vanquished Holkar and Tipu and now a new and aggressive warlord was crafting an empire at their very gates.

No, as is commonly thought, the British were not afraid of a Sikh attack on Hindustan, rather, they were more afraid of the Sikhs joining Russia against them.
Of course, in reality, this was a very baseless fright, the Russians were still thousands of miles north figuring out how to make contact with the Turkomans, but the Bazzars of Hindustan were not known as the providers of exaggerated news for nothing.

So, Governor General, the Earl of Amhearst, sent Sir Alexander Burnes, a new and young diplomat to Lahore to try to woo Ranjit Singh.

The earl of Amhearst- Governer general of Hindoostan(1823-1828)

Sir Alexander Burnes, undoubtedly one of the greatest British explorer/diplomat of all time.

Burnes was sent with some extravagant gifts !!!

A gold Swiss clock, a latest Baker rifle done in silver and plated with South African Diamonds, several portraits of the British royal family, Prasad(Holy offering) of 104 Hindu temples in silk bags, 100s of pounds of Chinese opium, 25 Arabian horses, 54 Jeweled swords and much much more.

He was also sent with an official letter of friendship with the stamp of Shah Shooja, the exiled Durrani pretender of Afghanistan who had been livivng in exile in British India since 1818.

Shah Shooja Durrani.

Burnes reached the borders of the Punjab on 1st August 1825. Immediatelly he must have felt his royal gifts pale in comparison to the sheer luxury that he was afforded to even before reaching Lahore.

Ranjit had arranged for a scarlet tent with jeweled furniture for his travel from the border to Lahore.

On reaching, he was to rest for half a day before the official meeting with the Maharaja.
He was kept in a huge palace !

(Here ends part one of the visit of Alexander Burnes, in the middle, we have to mention some civil matters that were taking place simultaneously)

III: Civil matters.

Spoiler

Shortly after the battle of Kunduz, Ranjit announced two new Aradars(Orders) regarding the army.

Like most Non-European empires, the Sikhs too wore any clothes in the army. Whether it be their royal robes, their regional dress or simply something that they liked.
But Ranjt announced that from then on, every Sikh soldiers, regardless of his rank, would wear similar orange or Khaki clothing.

He also announced the creation of a new troop of soldiers. Now the Sikhs had used Flintlock rifles since the last decade. But using them was one thing, and using them properly was another.
So, announced Ranjit, this new troops would be specifically trained to use the Flintlock with distinction.
They would be trained by a Frenchman Jean Francois Allard and an Italian mercenary Jean Baptiste Venture.

Jean Francois Allard. The man who rode with two great conquerors. Napolean I of France and Ranjit Singh of Punjab.

Jean-Baptiste Ventura when he first came to India.

The new troop was called, the 'Fauj-I-Khas'. The special army !

 

[stnylan]

Interesting developments re: Britain.

 

[Specialist290]

Just noticed the link to this in the other thread, and I have to say you're off to an excellent start I'll certainly be following this, and hoping that the Sikhs can continue charting an independent course amidst the turbulent currents of the Great Game.

 

[lad]

Just noticed the link to this in the other thread, and I have to say you're off to an excellent start I'll certainly be following this, and hoping that the Sikhs can continue charting an independent course amidst the turbulent currents of the Great Game.

Thanks so much for commenting. Glad you liked it.
Of course. The currents are often hard to wade through.
Please keep reading and commenting. Your comments are like nectar to me.

Interesting developments re: Britain.

Thanks so much for commenting.
Yeah GB is like a terrifying monster blob in vic2 regardless of the start date.

 

[ksingh1994]

This AAR is coming along nicely can't wait for more....it will be interesting how the Great Game affects this

 

[lad]

The Conquests of Ranjit The Great(1820-1840)(Part 3)

I: The visit of Sir Alexander Burnes.(Part 2)

Spoiler

The following extract has been written exclusively by referring to 'Before Bukhara' by Sir Alexander Burnes himself. The great Maharaja has been referred to by his first name because Burnes has did so in his book.

Ranjit's court according to Burnes was a huge bustle and hustle of literally everyone who mattered in the empire.
Officials, warriors, generals, advisers, poets...............................Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Pashtuns, even foreigners.

Being a great philanthropist and a general father figure, he donated generously to the poor and the learned. In fact, when Burnes arrived into court, the first thing that he was offered after saluting Ranjit was a poem about the fair tone of his skin and the redness of his imperial redcoat.

Then, Ranjit dismissed all but his closest advisers and foreign ministers and made Burnes sit by his side.

The first thing that Ranjit chose to speak took Burnes by surprise.
"I have heard my friend, that in your land, a man only marries one woman, is it true?" .

"Yes your majesty, it is true, we practice monogamy" replied Burnes politely.

"Hmm, but what's the fun in that, you know, woman, especially royal queens are better at making you happy when there is competition, it is the natural order" said Ranjit mockingly.

"Yes my lord, I would surely advise this to the big lords when I get back to London" sad Burnes.

"Yes, you should do that, you know, I am very much interested in knowing about your country, and the other whitish looking countries near you" said Ranjit.

"Yes your majesty, and I have brought along just the thing to fullfill your curiosity" said Burnes.

"What?"

"If you would give the order my lord, my servants are waiting outside with a world map as large as a carpet" said Burnes with great confidence.

"Ok, ask them to come inside" said Ranjit.

Burnes did the needfull and his servants brought in a huge world map, it was beautifully made and painted with hand, its borders had been embroided with silver cloth and the names of the various empires and kingdoms were written in beautiful calligraphy across the map.

The next one and a half hour was spent with Ranjit pointing to the various queer looking empires on that map and Burnes eagerly explaining their names and giving their overview to him.
Ranjit apparently had enough knowledge of China, Persia and the middle east, he knew a lot of the Ottoman empire and he knew the existence of the USA, France and Italy, but beyond that, he was very curious.
Ranjit asked things like,

"What is that huge country below Americah?"

"Its an unrecogonised rouge republic my lord, its called Mexico, they are civilized people, but I have never seen civilized people quite so uncivilized in their behavior, they wear these huge funny hats" said Burnes.

"What is that huge island in the sea near China?" asked Ranjit.

"Its called Japan, my personal knowledge of that land is limited to books my lord, I haven't had the opportunity of visiting it personally, rest assured, it is nothing compared to the great fields of Lahore or the cool mountains of Kashmir, those people are also so fractured, they do not even value the authority of their emperor !
That's how uncivilized savages they are !" exclaimed Ranjit.

"Hmm, oh, that huge green country up there, I know of it, the people there have funny names like Viktivech or Alexkovich, how are they?" asked Ranjit slyly.

Burnes was caught completely off guard. He should have known that there must have been a deeper reason behind Ranjit's curiosity.
Now he knew it, the Maharajah had given him and by default his masters, a silent strong threat.

"That my lord, is the so called 'Russian empire' " replied Burnes sheepishly.

After that, the meeting finally got to the formal stuff.
Burnes supplied a paper of the treaty and then he was dismissed.

It would take Ranjit Singh 3 whole days to go over the treaty.

Now after that, took place the official negotiations, those took an additional day. That was pretty quick by the political standards of the day.
The treaty would be known as the 'Treaty of Bahaduramahila' , a grand palace built by Banda Singh Bahadur, a great Sikh hero of yore.

The Bahadur Mahila palace in 1889.

In effect the treaty.

1)Allowed the Sikhs, no British interference in their diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, Sindh, Baloochistan, Persia and Tibet.(Refer note 1)
2)The British promised military training to the Fauj-I-Khas.
3)A military alliance was signed.
4)A fully diplomatically immune Sikh embassy was established in Calcutta.
5)Special low tariffs for Sikh merchants throughout Hindoostan and the various princely states.

in exchange

1)The Khalsa agreed to refer to a local British resident diplomat before having any meetings with diplomats of the Russians and the Khans of Bukhara and Kokand.
2)The Khalsa agreed to aid the East India company should there be mutiny among any of the Rajas of Rajpootana.
3)The Khalsa agreed to drop its claims on Ludhiana and Shimla which were considered integral parts of the British empire.
4)A fully diplomatically immune British embassy was established in Lahore.
5)British trade posts in the Punjab would be guarded with special dedicated troops.

Thus, out of fright and fear, the British had finally wooed Ranjit Singh.

II: Pacification and local relations.

Spoiler

Before, while and after Burnes was visiting, various events were taking place simultaneously.

In Kunduz, Hari Singh Nalwa had been having a hard time subduing the Pashtun tribesmen there. Taking the province with just a few men was one thing, you could achieve that with bravery, but ruling the same cold, hard and barren place with those men was another. That, bravery couldn't achieve.
Nalwa never lied, he had always said that he was no statesman, certainly not even closely comparable to the Maharajah.

So the Sikhs practiced what every other empire did in that period to quell dissent.

Good ol' Genocide.

About 18 villages which resisted Sikh authority were bombarded without mercy.
The Pashtuns were deliberately forced to move out of Kunduz, the Tajiks were instead given land and properties.

Sikh soldiers 'Taking care' of a village in Kunduz.

Finally however, Kunduz was no Kabul, there were too few people too resist, the Pashtun Inams finallyy sang the glories of the justness of the Sikhs on an auspicious day, the 7th of August 1825.

When reinforcements arrived from the Punjab, Nalwa awarded friendly tribes with money and riches from the Khan's treasuries and peace reigned supreme in the province.

The Sikhs generally held cordial relations with the various Baluchi principalities to their south.
In Sindh, the Amir Rustum Ali Khan Talpur of the dynasty of Talpur regarded the Sikh empire as a powerful force, but he did not consider them an immediate threat.
He was of the opinion that the Peshawar valley(Note2) would prevent the Sikhs from being a danger for Sindh. But for that same reason, he failed to establish good relations with Ranjit Singh.

Amir Rustum Ali Khan Talpur in Karachi.

Not that the Sikhs wanted to be friendly either. They always declined the Sindhi merchants a troop of bodyguards for their journey to Kashmir and Hindoostan(Going through the deserts of Rajasthan was unprofitable, hence this Northern route).

But all that changed. With the treaty of Bahadur Mahila signed, Ranjit presumed that he had a free hand in operating against the Talpurs. He increased tarrifs for Sindhi merchants through Punjab and declared that the Talpurs were cruel rulers who acted against the wishes of their own subjects(And that was partially correct).
Some speculators even feared war, which would have come, had another more important event had not transpired.

III: Notes.

Spoiler

Note 1: Basically I got multiple events that decreased my infamy and the legation quarter event.
Note2 : In real life, the Sikhs only controlled the city of Peshawar and the lands adjacent to it as a vassal, this continued until 1834. They did not control the Peshawar valley(The province basically) officially until after 1834, so in gameplay terms, I still don't own Peshawar technically.

 

[stnylan]

Well it sounds like a pretty good treaty for both sides

 

[Specialist290]

The Sikhs got a fantastic deal out of that treaty -- near complete autonomy (save for relations with Russia and its associates / vassals), in exchange for token military aid and protections for British traders. Of course, when dealing with those crafty English, it always pays to look for the "catch"... Nevertheless, not a bad foundation for what will hopefully prove to be a long and mutually beneficial relationship.

 

[lad]

The Sikhs got a fantastic deal out of that treaty -- near complete autonomy (save for relations with Russia and its associates / vassals), in exchange for token military aid and protections for British traders. Of course, when dealing with those crafty English, it always pays to look for the "catch"... Nevertheless, not a bad foundation for what will hopefully prove to be a long and mutually beneficial relationship.

Of course. There is bound to be a catch.........STRIKEEEE
Thanks for commenting.

Well it sounds like a pretty good treaty for both sides

Yup.
It sounds like one for sure.
Thanks for commenting .

 

[lad]

The Conquests of Ranjit The Great(1820-1840)(Part 3)

I: The final confrontation.

Spoiler

A huge field, big guns, thousands of armed men, many widows, countless orphans and general slaughter is the best possible description of the bloody Sikh-Afghan war of December 1825. Despite the fact, that there were only two battles fought, the destruction caused by them was more than a 100 smaller battles. This war would prove to be a decider for hegemony in the Northwest frontier of Hindoostan.

Map of the war. Use for future reference.

Now, it is important to note, that while Dost Mohammed himself wished for war, he had not ordered it on that December of of 1825. The war was in fact started by Muslim religious fanatic tribals led by Azim Khan, the ex-governor of Kashmir.
After being caught and forced to sign the treaty of Chitral lake, he returned back to Kabul, a defeated and disgraced general.

His peers and the general populace of that city ridiculed him as a loser who had surrendered meekly to the Sikhs like a mare does to a stud.

Azim Khan painted in 1831 by a merchant while living in Bokhara, he died a year later.

Thus, to avenge his humiliation and prove his worth to his Barakzai cousins, he gave a petition to Dost Mohammed to attack the Sikhs sometime in November or even before that. Dost Mohammed declined his offer knowing well that a war with the Sikhs was risky. Having already lost Herat and Kunduz, the empire of the Afghans was also low on tax income and Dost Mohammed's own political position was not confirmed.

However, unwavered by the Emir's rejection, Azim chose a different route, with the huge amount of money that he had raided from tax caravans, he paid many influential inams in the Peshawar valley to declare a holy war against the Sikhs.
With the same money, he raised an army of fanatic tribes and opportunistic mercenaries from faraway places like Persia, Bokhara and even Arabia.
His camp was flooded with numbers, poorly equipped, but huge in number, his army was weak, but nevertheless numerous.

Records put the initial size of his army at about 82000, though its possible that a more realistic number must have been 50000 troops. Most of them irregulars, but some ex-soldiers in the Emir's army.

On the 3rd of December, with his huge army, he suddenly surrounded the Peshawar valley. He knew well enough that a prolonged siege to take Peshawar was unadvantageous, so he instead attacked the various towns surrounding it and encircled the city. His armies overran the small garrisons in Jamrud, Akora, Kohat and Nowshera.

His victories enlarged and swelled his numbers, fanatics began to flood in and so much was the popular support for his operation that Dost Mohammed's courtiers compelled him to atleast silently aid Azim Khan.
Azim Khan now took on the title of Ghazi Azim Khan. Ghazi means Holy warrior.

The symbol of the 1825 Jihad.

On the Sikh side, it had already become clear from Azim's befriending of the Inams that he was upto mischief, but the Sikhs made a mistake of not realizing the magnitude of the same.
The time was also unfavourable, Nalwa was in Kunduz, Zorawar was in Ladakh serving as governor and preparing for a hypothetical expedition against Tibet and Kharak Singh, the heir to the throne was ill. So the Maharajah himself decided to defend the land and started making preparations.

But Azim Khan had momentum, by the 15th of December, he had captured most of the valley and at this point, his generals advised him to finally get around to conquering the city of Peshawar itself. However, he refused, his plan was to let Peshawar be and instead cross the Indus and attack Attock.

In theory he was right, his army of irregulars would not be able to stand up to a great siege and would have been dispersed quickly by Sikh reinforcements. In theory however, Peshawar had been starved out and its populace would have quickly surrendered had he tried.
His war however was completely dependent on the fact that the Emir would sooner or later show his support officially.

The Indus river, huge and everpresent.

Attock was a softer target than Peshawar, its walls had recently been razed by a small rebellion and it had a larger garrison, which was good for Azim Khan since that meant numerous softer targets.

A huge scene happened on the banks of the Indus however which destroyed the soul of Azim Khan. Some suicidal Sikhs got out of Attock and shot a cannonball at at Azim Khan's forces. They got Azim Khan !!!!
As a result, Azim's left leg had to be amputated and the whole operation had to be halted for one extra day. One extra day for the Maharajahs fast moving army to reach Attock.

Despite the interruption, Azim Khan finally attacked and captured Attock on the 20th of December. The Jihadis lost 8500 men and the Sikhs lost 7000.

But Azim Khan was already too late, Ranjit Singh's army arrived near Attock on the 26th of December. Azim Khan decided to give them battle at the relatively plain area of Khanpur where he reasoned that his fast moving cavalry of irregulars would be able to perform better than at a siege.
The official recognition from Dost Mohammed hadn't arrived yet !

The battle of Khanpur was climactic. On one side was an army of about 41000 Afghans, on the other, a relatively modern and well armed army of 25000 Sikhs led by an emperor who had never lost a battle before.

Azim Khan on the other hand, having lost his leg could not personally lead his forces thus decreasing their morale.

The Afghans attacked in a semi circular cavalry formation on dawn 28th December. Ranjit Singh having anticipated it had posted his line infantry on the frontlnes to counter the charge.
The Sikh Jezhalis broke the back of the formation immediately.

The real deal makers however were the faster and more proficient Flintlocks. The unexpected fire of these new types of rifles too the Afghans by surprise and their cavalry retreated back.

The Afghans now decided to attack with a mass of infantry and cavalry together. The Sikhs attacked with their superior cavalry and fired artillery balls on the approaching forces. This threw them into fright and the Afghans retreated again. Finally, by afternoon, when the Sikhs ceased their artillery firing, the Afghans attacked again and this led to the bloodiest phase of the whole war.

The two sides clashed in brutal hand to hand combat, personally led by Ranjit Singh.
The plains of Khanpur were strewn by blood. Some 29000 Afghans and 13000 Sikhs were slain in that brutality.

Finally, at night, Azim Khan retreated with his personal bodyguards leaving his friends to die.

The Aftermath was a virtual death sentence for Azim's career.

Ranjit Singh swiftly conquered the whole Peshawar valley by January 21st. Dost Mohammed, facing mutiny among the various tribes for not joining the Jihad, and plaqued by a loss of finances finally was forced to recognize Azim's behaviour, but he had no money to fight the Maharajah and he feared losing Kabul to the Sikhs in a protracted war.

So, on January the 30th, 1826, Dost Mohammed recognized Azim Khan's attack officially.........................................................................................................by unconditional surrender.
Thus, the whole province of Peshawar and its valley was ceded to the Sikhs.

Azim Khan was exiled to Bokhara, he died in 1832.

Note: At this point. The empire was as big as vanilla Victoria 2 + Kunduz.
See map in chapter 1 to imagine size of Kunduz.

 

[stnylan]

A very impressive victory.

 

[lad]

A very impressive victory.

Yup.
My infamy was still only about 18 at this point.
So double happiness .

I was allied to Britain.

Thank you so much for commenting.

 

[Specialist290]

Azim Khan and his followers have learned a hard lesson about the perils of impetuousness.