Sher Singh Attariwala
Commander of the Khalsa army in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, who fought the British to a standstill at Chillianwala before defeat at Gujrat.
Sher Singh Attariwala, son of Chattar Singh, was sent with a Sikh force to help the British besiege Multan in 1848. In September he went over to the rebels and became the commander of the Khalsa army in the Second Anglo-Sikh War.
He fought the British at Ramnagar in November 1848 and at Chillianwala on 13 January 1849, a bloody battle in the jungle near the Jhelum in which the British lost some 2,400 men and four colours, and in which Lord Gough nearly lost his command. Neither side could claim victory.
At Gujrat on 21 February 1849 the British artillery overwhelmed the Sikh army. Sher Singh surrendered at Rawalpindi on 14 March, his soldiers laying down their arms one by one. He was exiled and died in 1858.
