DwainKilgore21 at 23:33, 23 March 2026

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{{Short description|Battle of 1819 between a force of the Sikh Empire and Jabbar Khan}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Shopian<ref group="nb">The battle is also referred to as the Battle of Supin, Supine, Shupiyan, Supiya, and Soopyn.</ref>
| partof = [[Afghan–Sikh Wars]]
| image =
| caption =
| date = 3 July 1819{{#tag:ref|The date of the battle is disputed. It has also been given as 5 July 1819.<ref name=Prinsep52>{{harvp|Prinsep|1846|p=52}}</ref>|group=nb}}
| place = [[Shopian]], [[Kashmir Valley|Kashmir]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|33.72|N|74.83|E|}}
| map_type = India
| latitude =
| longitude =
| map_size = 300px
| map_caption =
| map_label =
| territory =
| result = {{ublist|Sikh victory}}
*Srinagar and Kashmir annexed into the Sikh Empire
| status =
| combatant1 = [[Sikh Empire]]
| combatant2 = [[Afghan Empire]]
| commander1 = [[Maharaja Ranjit Singh]] [[Misr Diwan Chand]] [[Hari Singh Nalwa]] [[Khushal Singh Jamadar]] [[Kharak Singh]] [[Akali Phoola Singh]] [[Sham Singh Attariwala]] [[Jawala Singh]] [[Hukam Singh Chimni]]
| commander2 = Jabbar Khan{{WIA}} [[Raja Aghar Khan]]
| strength1 = 30,000{{#tag:ref|The entire expedition had 30,000 troops, however most were not present on the battlefield. Kharak Singh's 8,000 troops were stationed in the area around Surdee Thana and Ranjit Singh's 10,000 troops were stationed at [[Bhimber]] and along the route to Surdee Thana. An unknown number of troops were also [[garrison]]ed throughout the forts captured in the [[Pir Panjal Range]] on the route from Surdee Thana to [[Shopian]]|group=nb}}
| strength2 = Unknown
| strength3 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| casualties3 =
| notes =
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Conflicts in Afghanistan (1900-1950)}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Afghan-Sikh Wars}}

The '''Battle of Shopian''' took place on 3 July 1819 between an expeditionary force from the [[Sikh Empire]] and Jabbar Khan, the governor of the [[Kashmir Valley]] province of the [[Durrani Empire]]. It was the decisive battle during the Sikh expedition into Kashmir in 1819.

== Background ==
[[File:Sikh map of Kashmir created shortly before their campaign in the region in 1819.jpg|thumb|Sikh map of Kashmir created shortly before their campaign in the region in 1819]]
From 1814 to 1819, the [[Sikh Empire]] was forced to send successive punitive expeditions against the hill states of [[Bhimber]], [[Rajauri]], [[Historical Poonch District|Poonch]], [[Nurpur State|Nurpur]], and others. By subduing rebellions in these states, the Sikh Empire was attempting to keep control of the routes through the [[Pir Panjal range|Pir Panjal Range]] and into Kashmir. However the Durrani Empire kept [[de facto]] control of the areas because the Pir Panjal Range blocked supplies and fresh troops to the Sikh armies.

After the death of Fateh Khan Wazir in 1818, governor [[Azim Khan]] left Kashmir for [[Kabul]] to assume Wazir's office, leaving Jabbar Khan in charge of Kashmir.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=128}} [[Birbal Dhar]], Azim Khan's revenue minister, betrayed his master and traveled to [[Lahore]], the capital of the Sikh Empire, asking [[Ranjit Singh]] to annex Kashmir, saying the Afghan rule was very unpopular among the people of Kashmir.<ref>{{harvp|Nalwa|2009|p=45}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The History of the Sikhs Volume 5|last=Gupta |first=Hari Ram |year=1991 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|isbn=9788121505154|pages=128}}</ref>

== 1819 Kashmir expedition ==
The Sikh expeditionary force established two [[Armory (military)|armories]] for the expedition at [[Gujrat city|Gujrat]] and [[Wazirabad]].<ref name=Johar>{{harvp|Johar|2000}}</ref> On 20 April, Ranjit Singh ordered his men from Lahore to the hill states at the foot of the Pir Panjal range.<ref name=Johar/> The expedition was split into three columns: [[Misr Diwan Chand]] commanded the advance force of about 12,000 with heavy artillery where [[Kharak Singh]] and [[Hari Singh Nalwa]] marched behind him, and [[Ranjit Singh]] commanded the rear guard,<ref name=Johar/>{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=129}} protecting the [[supply train]].<ref>{{harvp|Prinsep|1846|p=51}}</ref> The expeditionary force marched to [[Bhimber]] and resupplied, capturing the fort of a local [[Hakim (title)|Hakim]] without resistance.<ref name=Johar/> On 1 May, both columns of the Sikh Army reached [[Rajouri]] and its ruler,
[[Raja Aghar Khan]], rebelled and forced a battle. [[Hari Singh Nalwa]] took command of a force and routed his army, which offered an [[unconditional surrender]] after losing most of its men and war supplies.<ref name=Johar/> Aghar Khan's brother, [[Raja]] Rahimullah Khan, was appointed the [[Raja]] of [[Rajauri]] in return for assistance in navigating the 'Behram Pass' (Baramgala, {{coord|33.605|74.4136}}, the lower end of the [[Pir Panjal Pass]]).{{sfn|Johar|1985|pp=129–130}}

Once the Sikh forces reached the Behram Pass, the Durrani-appointed [[faujdar]] charged with guarding it fled to [[Srinagar]].{{sfn|Johar|1985|pp=129–130}} Mir Mohammad Khan, the [[kotwal]] of [[Historical Poonch District|Poonch]], and Mohammad Ali, the kotwal of [[Shopian]], attempted a defense at the Dhaki Deo and Maja passes but were defeated and surrendered to Misr Diwan Chand on 23 June 1819.<ref name=Prinsep52/> Kharak Singh now advanced to Surdee Thana,<ref name=Prinsep52/>{{#tag:ref|Surdee Thana is possibly modern-day [[Thanamandi]]. Travel guides from later eras note a route through the Pir Panjal Range from Rajauri to a town named "Thanna" and from "Thanna" to [[Shopian]]<ref>{{harvp|Drew|1875|page=156}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Murray|1883|page=203}}</ref>|group=nb}} while Misr Diwan Chand split his force into three divisions and ordered them to cross the Pir Panjal Range through different passes.

== Battle ==
[[File:Plate 22. Fort of Shupayan - Part 2. Recollections of India (FIRST EDITION) 5588 022 (cropped).jpg|thumb|The Fort of Shupayan, from where Ranjit Singh controlled the region, as sketched by [[Charles Hardinge, 2nd Viscount Hardinge|Charles Hardinge]]]]
The army regrouped at Surai Ali{{#tag:ref|Also referred to as Serai Illahi<ref name=SMC1718>{{Harvp|Sikh Missionary College|pp=17–18}}</ref> and Serai Ali<ref name=Johar/>|group=nb}} on the road to Shopian. On 3 July 1819, the Sikh army attempted to march through Shopian to [[Srinagar]] but was stopped by a Durrani army headed by Jabbar Khan.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=129}} The Durrani force had heavily [[Fortification|entrenched]] itself in preparation for the Sikh [[artillery]] attack and brought heavy artillery,<ref name=SMC1718/> which the Sikhs were unprepared for because they had brought only light guns.<ref>{{harvp|Chopra|1928|page=25}}</ref>

Once his artillery was in range, Misr Diwan Chand opened the battle with an [[Barrage (artillery)|artillery barrage]] and multiple infantry and cavalry charges. The Durrani army was able to hold back the Sikh attempts to storm their lines until the Sikhs began moving their guns forward. However, while Misr Diwan Chand was overseeing the movement of guns on the Sikh left flank, Jabbar Khan saw an opening and led the Durrani right flank which stormed Misr Diwan Chand's [[artillery battery]], captured two guns, and threw the Sikh left flank in "disarray".<ref>{{Harvp|Sikh Missionary College|p=19}}</ref> However the Durrani force attacking the Sikh left flank was exposed from their left and [[Akali Phoola Singh]], the commander of the Sikh right flank, rallied his troops and led his command in a charge across the battlefield to the artillery battery. After a close quarters fight which resulted in both sides resorting to using swords and daggers, the Durrani soldiers proved to be ineffective against the much superior martial skills of the Sikh soldiers and sections of the Durrani force began to retreat and Jabbar Khan was wounded while escaping the battlefield.<ref name=Johar/> On 15 July 1819, the Sikh army made their way into Srinagar.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=130}}

== Aftermath ==
Jabbar Khan and his army fled from the battlefield to Muzaffarbad but were turned away by the governor, then fleeing to Peshawar and finally to Kabul.<ref name=Prinsep53>{{harvp|Prinsep|1846|p=53}}</ref>{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=130}} When the Sikh army entered the city of Srinagar after the battle, Prince Kharak Singh guaranteed the personal safety of every citizen and ensured the city was not plundered. The peaceful capture of Srinagar was important as Srinagar, besides having a large [[Shawl]]-making industry, was also the center of trade between [[Punjab region|Panjab]], [[Tibet]], [[Skardu|Iskardo]], and [[Ladakh]].<ref name=Chopra26>{{harvp|Chopra|1928|page=26}}</ref>

After taking Srinagar, the Sikh army faced no major opposition in conquering [[Kashmir]]. However, when Ranjit Singh installed [[Moti Ram]], the son of Dewan Mokham Chand, as the new governor of Kashmir, he also sent a "large body of troops" with him to ensure tribute from strongholds within Kashmir that might attempt to resist Sikh rule.<ref name=Prinsep53/> The capture of Kashmir set the boundaries and borders of the Sikh Empire with Tibet. The conquest of Kashmir marked an "extensive addition" to the Sikh Empire and "significantly" increased the empire's revenue and landmass.<ref name=Chopra26/>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{citation |title=The Panjab as a Sovereign State |last=Chopra |first=Gulshan Lall |year=1928 |publisher=Uttar Chand Kapur and Sons |location=Lahore}}
* {{citation |last=Johar |first=Surinder Singh |title=The Secular Maharaja: A Biography of Maharaja Ranjit Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04MeAAAAMAAJ |year=1985 |publisher=Manas|isbn=9780836415438 }}
*{{citation |last=Johar |first= Surinder Singh |title=Annexation of Kashmir to the Sikh Kingdom |journal= The Sikh Review |publisher=The Sikh Cultural Center, Calcutta |date=December 2000}}
*{{citation |title=Hari Singh Nalwa - Champion of the Khalsaji |last=Nalwa |first=Vanit |year=2009 |publisher=Manohar Books |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7304-785-5 }}
*{{citation |ref=CITEREFSikh_Missionary_College|title=Akali Baba Phool Singh Ji |publisher=Sikh Missionary College |location=Jalandhar |url=http://www.rajkaregakhalsa.net/literature/General%20Sikhism/Akali%20Baba%20Phoola%20Singh.pdf }}
*{{citation |last1=Prinsep |first1=Henry Thoby |author-link1=Henry Thoby Prinsep |last2=Prinsep |first2=James |year=1846 |title=History of the Punjab: And of the Rise, Progress, and Present Condition of the Sect and Nation of the Sikhs (Volume II) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2yO3iqjEdOcC&q=History%20of%20the%20Punjab%20(Volume%202)%20Thoby%20Prinsep%2C%20James%20Prinsep&pg=RA1-PR3 |publisher=Wm. H. Allen and Co. |isbn=978-1-142-34278-4 |ref={{sfnref|Prinsep|1846}}}}
*{{citation |last=Murray|first=John |title=Handbook of the Punjab, western Rajputana, Kashmir, and upper Sindh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMMzAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA230 |year=1883 |publisher=J. Murray}}
*{{citation |last=Drew |first=Frederic |author-link=Frederick Drew |title=The Jummoo and Kashmir territories: A geographical account |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0GIOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA156 |access-date=31 May 2010 |year=1875 |publisher=E. Stanford}}

{{Sikh Empire}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shopian}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1819]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Sikh Empire]]
[[Category:1810s battles|Shopian]]
[[Category:Battles involving Afghanistan]]
[[Category:1819 in India]]
[[Category:Origins of the Kashmir conflict]]

Battle of Shopian - Revision history

DwainKilgore21 at 23:33, 23 March 2026