Invasion of Ghatsila

The Invasion of Ghatsila (also referred to as the Dhalbhum Campaign) was a series of military operations conducted by the British East India Company between 1767 and 1777 to subdue the strategically vital, mineral-rich upland estate of Dhalbhum, centered around Ghatsila (in the southwestern borderlands of Bengal).

Following the acquisition of the Diwani of Bengal in 1765, the East India Company sought to assert direct revenue control over the forested frontier tracts. The reigning zamindar, Jagannath Dhal, resisted British annexation and mobilized local tribal militias and traditional paiks to wage a fierce guerrilla war. Company forces led by commanders such as Lieutenant Rooke and Colonel Ferguson repeatedly marched into the rugged terrain, storming local mud fortifications and forts along the Subarnarekha River. After years of protracted insurgency and economic disruption, the British temporarily deposed Jagannath Dhal before eventually reinstating him under a revised, subordinate revenue settlement.