Battle of Gujrat - Outbreak and Course of The War

Outbreak and Course of The War

After the British victory in the First Anglo-Sikh War, the Punjab was indirectly governed by a British representative at the Durbar (court) in Lahore and Agents in several of the regions. The Sikh Army, the Khalsa, was kept in being and used to keep order in the Punjab and North West Frontier Region. The Khalsa regarded itself as betrayed rather than defeated in the first war, and several of its Sardars (Generals) plotted rebellion.

However, the first outbreak came at Multan on 18 April 1848, where rebellious troops murdered a British agent (Lieutenant Patrick Vans Agnew) and expelled a Sirdar imposed as ruler by the British Resident at Lahore. The former ruler, Dewan Mulraj, resumed his authority and prepared for a siege. Rather than use large forces from the British and Bengal Armies during the hot weather and monsoon seasons, the Governor General of Bengal, Lord Dalhousie, deployed part of the Khalsa and other irregular contingents against Mulraj. On 14 September, the troops from the Khalsa besieging Multan under Sardar Sher Singh Attariwalla also rebelled. They did not join Mulraj however, but moved north along the Chenab River into the main Sikh-populated area of the Punjab to gather recruits and obtain supplies.

Late in 1848, a large British and Bengal army took the field during the cold weather season under the Commander in Chief of the Bengal Army, General Sir Hugh Gough. Gough already had a reputation, whether deserved or not, for unimaginative head-on tactics. On 22 November at Ramnagar, his cavalry were repulsed attacking a Sikh bridgehead on the east bank of the Chenab. Then on 13 January 1849, he launched a hasty frontal attack against Sher Singh's army at Chillianwala near the Jhelum River and was driven back with heavy casualties. Several days' heavy rain followed, preventing either army from renewing the battle. After they had faced each other for three days, both withdrew.