Battle of Chillianwala
( 1/13/1849
- 1/13/1849
)
The Battle of Chillianwala was fought during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Punjab, now part of Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest... fought by the British East India Company. Although both armies held their positions at the end of the battle, the result was a Sikh victory and a strategic check to Britain which damaged British prestige in India. The Second Anglo-Sikh war broke out in Punjab, which had recently been occupied by the British East India Company, in April 1848 when the city of Multan rebelled under Dewan Mulraj. The East India Company's Commissioner for the Punjab, Sir Frederick Currie, sent several forces of locally raised troops to help quell the revolt. One of these forces consisted largely of Sikhs, formerly from the Khalsa, the army of the Sikh Empire, under Sher Singh Attariwalla. Some junior British Political Officers viewed this development with alarm as Sher Singh's father, Chattar Singh Attariwalla, was known to be plotting sedition in Hazara, north of the Punjab. On 14 September, General Sher Singh's army also rebelled. Other than opposition to the British, Mulraj and Sher Singh had no aims in common.
more