Sher Singh Attariwalla by Panjab Digital library

Raja Sher Singh Attariwala was a royal

military commander The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitud ...

and a member of the

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

during the period of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

in the mid-19th century in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

He commanded the Sikh

Khalsa army The Sikh Khalsa Army (), also known as Khalsaji or simply Sikh Army, was the military force of the Sikh Empire. With its roots in the Khalsa founded by Guru Gobind Singh, the army was later modernised on Franco-British principles by Maharaja Ran ...

in the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company that took place in 1848 and 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab and what subsequently ...

against the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. His father was General Chattar Singh Attariwalla. General Sher Singh and the army, under his command, gave a devastating blow to the British Army at Chillianwala. Under his command the Sikh Khalsa Army managed to successfully defend its position against a British army at the Battle of Chillianwala. Both armies retreated after the battle, with both sides claiming victory, although it became clear after the rains subsided that the Sikhs had defeated the Britis

It was one of the hardest fought battles in the British Army's history. The loss of British prestige at Chillianwala was one of the factors that contributed to the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

some nine years later. Within the British Army, such was the consternation over the events in the battle that, after the disastrous

Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to ...

, when Lord Lucan remarked ''"This is a most serious matter"'', General Airey replied, ''"It is nothing to Chillianwalah."'' With the establishment of British control, Sher Singh Attariwalla was forced into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

from Punjab. The British feared that such a powerful leader could reignite a full-scale war with them. Sher Singh died in exile, at

Benares Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tra ...

in 1858, away from his Punjabi homeland.

References

External links

Article on Battle of Chillianwallah - second Anglo-Sikh war
Sikh warriors Punjabi people 1858 deaths People of the Second Anglo-Sikh War Year of birth missing {{india-mil-bio-stub