Battle of Chillianwala
One of the bloodiest battles the British fought in India. The losses led to calls in London for Gough's dismissal.
On 13 January 1849 Gough attacked Sher Singh Attariwala's army in its position among the scrub jungle near the village of Chillianwala, close to the Jhelum.
Gough attacked late in the afternoon, against advice, through the jungle. The Sikh artillery and infantry inflicted heavy losses; a British brigade was cut to pieces, a cavalry regiment panicked and rode over its own guns, and four regimental colours were lost. At nightfall the British held the field but had lost some 2,400 men.
The news shocked Britain; Gough was ordered to be replaced, though he fought one more battle before his successor arrived. Chillianwala is remembered in Britain as one of its worst days in India, and in the Punjab as a battle the Khalsa did not lose.
Guns captured from the Sikhs in the Second Anglo-Sikh War still stand on the lawns of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London.
The two Anglo-Sikh Wars
1845 – 1849- 1
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After Sobraon the Treaty of Lahore (March 1846) took the Jalandhar Doab and the hills, and Kashmir went to Gulab Singh. After Gujrat the Kingdom of Lahore was annexed, on 29 March 1849.
Same era
The British conquest: the Anglo-Sikh Wars
First battle of the First Anglo-Sikh War, fought at dusk among dust and scrub. The Sikh commanders, Lal Singh and Tej Singh, were later widely accused of betraying their own army.
So close that Hardinge prepared to burn his papers. Tej Singh withdrew when the exhausted British were at his mercy.
A British victory on the Sutlej near Ludhiana.
The Sikhs fought with their backs to the Sutlej, and the bridge of boats behind them broke. Sham Singh Attariwala died with his men.
A British cavalry charge on the Chenab ran into the Sikh guns and was repulsed.
The revolt at Multan that began the Second Anglo-Sikh War. A British shell blew up the fort's main magazine in December, and Mulraj surrendered in January 1849.
Overwhelming British artillery broke the Sikh army. On 29 March 1849 Punjab was annexed and the boy Maharaja Duleep Singh deposed.