Battle of Ghazni - Aftermath

Aftermath

General Keane was, for his service, elevated to the Peerage as Baron Keane of Ghazni. He left a small garrison in Ghazni and began to march his forces towards Kabul on July 30, 1839. When the Afghan ruler, Dost Muhammad, heard about the fall of Ghazni, he asked for terms of surrender but the British offer was exile in India, which was unacceptable to him. He fled Kabul towards Western Afghanistan and the Afghan army surrendered. The British installed their puppet, Shuja Shah Durrani, as the new ruler of Afghanistan.

The Indian Engineers won a slew of awards with Capt A.C. Peat of the Bombay Sappers winning a Brevet-majority and a C.B.. Thirteen N.C.O.s and sappers of the Bengal Sappers and six of the Bombay Sappers were awarded the newly instituted Indian Order of Merit, (Third Class), in effect becoming the first recipients of a formal gallantry award by soldiers of the native Indian Army under British rule. However, two officers, Lt H.M. Durand and Macleod, who had played critical roles in the assault were not recognised by the government of India. The Ghuznee Medal, a British campaign medal, was awarded to all ranks of the British Army who participated in the storming of the fortress.

Ghazni is still feted as a major feat of arms by both groups of Engineers, which still exist today. The Bombay Sappers celebrate Ghazni Day each year on 28 February while the Bengal Sappers incorporated the Tower of Ghazni in their War Memorial constructed at Roorkee in 1911 to 1913. A bust of Subedar Devi Singh, first recipient of the Indian Order of Merit was unveiled by Mr Virendra Kumar Singh, a fifth generation descendant of Subedar Devi Singh.