Battle of Shopian (1814)

The Battle of Shopian was an engagement fought in 1814 during Ranjit Singh's expedition toward Kashmir. Ram Dayal's force, led by Jiwan Mal, attacked Shopian on 24th of June 1814 but was repulsed by its defender, Shakur Khan. A sudden snowstorm and the arrival of Mohammad Azim Khan's cavalry routed the Sikh force, [...] Jiwan Mal and Fateh Singh Chachi among others.

Background

Ranjit Singh launched a second campaign against Kashmir in April 1814, summoning his tributary chiefs to bring their contingents and join the main Durbar force. He reviewed the assembled army at Wazirabad before setting out, and the Sikh forces arrived at Rajauri on 11 June 1814. Ram Dayal pushed ahead with Jiwan Mal, Dal Singh, and their troops, capturing Bahramgalla, setting up a garrison post there, and securing control of the Pir Panjal hills. There he came face to face with the forces of Azim Khan, Kashmir's governor. A battle followed near Hirpora on 22nd of June in which the Kashmiri troops were defeated and pursued by the Sikhs as far as Shopian.

Battle

Two days later, on the 24th, Ram Dayal's men attacked Shopian, but the town held firm under the defense of Shakur Khan. The Sikh advance was led by Jiwan Mal, a courageous officer commanding Kharak Singh's troops, who pressed the attack vigorously despite being outnumbered. A sudden snowstorm caught the Sikhs unprepared and threw their ranks into disarray, when Azim Khan's cavalry arrived, the Sikh force collapsed entirely. Several of their commanders fell in the rout, including Jiwan Mal and Fateh Singh Chachi. after the sardars were slayed, the scattered Sikh troops struggled for days across snowbound hills and valleys, harried constantly by Afghan pursuers. Ram Dayal eventually fell back to a village near Srinagar, where the wounded gathered around his tent, while those still able to travel retreated toward the foothills of the Pir Panjal. Cut off from reinforcement and running short of supplies, the survivors waited anxiously for relief.

Aftermath

Meanwhile the main Sikh army under Ranjit Singh feared no better on its own route. Heavy rain delayed its departure from Rajauri, and when it finally marched on 26 June, the troops endured cold, wet conditions throughout. Ranjit Singh arrived at Poonch on the 28th to find it abandoned, the Raja had ordered his people to clear out ahead of the Sikh advance, leaving no plunder behind, burying or carrying off the grain stores, and harassing the invaders flanks as they came. Learning that Ram Dayal's column was in trouble beyond the Pir Panjal, Ranjit Singh sent reinforcements under Bhai Ram Singh, but they stalled at Bahramgalla instead of advancing. Azim Khan then attacked the weakened main Sikh army, and after two days of fighting, the Sikhs were defeated and forced to retreat toward Mandi, leaving Ram Dayal isolated.