Sultan Mahmud Khan (died 1859) was a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of 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 ...

, the army of Sarkar e Khalsa. His derah of artillery was designated as Topkhana Sultan Mahmud. He is regarded as one of the best commanding officers of

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

. He is best known for showcasing his bravery in

Battle of Multan The siege of Multan began in March 1818 and lasted until 2 June 1818 as part of the Afghan–Sikh Wars, and saw the Sikh Empire capture the city of Multan (in modern-day Pakistan) from the Durrani Empire. Background After he was defeated at ...

, Battle of Hairdu,

Battle of Shopian 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 K ...

and the Anglo-Sikh Wars:

Battle of Ramnagar The Battle of Ramnagar (sometimes referred to as the Battle of Rumnuggur) was fought on 22 November 1848 between British East India Company and Sikh Empire forces during the Second Anglo-Sikh War. The British were led by Sir Hugh Gough, while t ...

and Battle of Chillianwala, in which the Khalsa Fauj defeated the forces of

Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, (3 November 1779 – 2 March 1869) was an Irish officer of the British Army. After serving as a junior officer at the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope during the French Revolutionary Wars, Gough com ...

Early life

Mahmud Khan was born to Ghaus Khan, also known as Mian Ghausa, who served in the army of Sardar Maha Singh, chief of

Sukerchakia Misl The Sukerchakia Misl was one of 12 Sikh Misls in Punjab during the 18th century concentrated in Gujranwala and Hafizabad district in Western Punjab (in modern-Pakistan) and ruled from (1752–1801). Misl was founded by Chaudhary Charat Singh ...

. He was born to a

Punjabi Muslim Punjabi Muslims ( pa, ) are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. Primarily geographically native to the Punjab province of Pakistan today, many have ancestry in the entire Punjab region, ...

family of

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

decent. His mother was a Meo Muslim from

Mewat Mewat is a historical region of Haryana and Rajasthan states in northwestern India. The loose boundaries of Mewat generally include Hathin tehsil and Nuh district of Haryana, Alwar (Tijara, Kishangarh, Bas, Ramgarh, Laxmangarh, Kathumar tehsil ...

. His ancestral village was Bhelowal in

Amritsar district Amritsar district is one of the twenty three districts that make up the Indian state of Punjab. Located in the Majha region of Punjab, the city of Amritsar is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, it is the second most populous distr ...

Military career

Mahmud Khan's military career started when he was quite young. During the

Battle of Amritsar (1797) The Battle of Amritsar took place on 12 January 1797 between the Durranis and the Sikh Misls as part of the Afghan-Sikh wars which ended with Sikh victory and retreat of Zaman Shah Durrani. Background On 11 January 1797, Amritsar was raided b ...

Battle of Gujrat (1797) The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the East India Company, and a Sikh army in rebellion against the company's control of the Sikh Empire, represented by ...

and Battle of Amritsar (1798), he served under the then

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

; these battles foiled the attempts of

Zaman Shah Durrani Zaman Shah Durrani, or Zaman Shah Abdali ( Persian: ; 1767 – 1844), was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1793 until 1801. He was the grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani and the fifth son of Timur Shah Durrani. An ethnic Pashtun, Zaman Shah became the ...

to annex Punjab into his region. In 1799, Ranjit Singh and his mother-in-law,

Sada Kaur Rani Sada Kaur (Punjabi: ਸਦਾ ਕੌਰ; 1762 – 1832) was a Sikh leader. She served as the Chief of the Kanhaiya Misl from 1789 to 1821, following the death of her husband Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya, the heir to Jai Singh Kanhaiya, the lead ...

liberated

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

from the

Bhangi Misl The Bhangi Misl (Punjabi pronunciation: ə̃˨ŋɡiː mɪsəl was a large and most powerful Sikh Misl headquartered was in Amritsar. It was founded in the early 18th century by Sardar Chhajja Singh Dhillon,Sikh History (2004)"The Bhangi Misal ...

and was proclaimed the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

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

in 1801. After the death of his father, he was appointed as commander of the battalion that his father previously commanded. He showed exceptional bravery during the Battle of Multan (1818) whose command was assigned to Prince Kharak Singh and his mother,

Maharani Datar Kaur Maharani Datar Kaur (born Bibi Raj Kaur Nakai; (c. 1784– 20 June 1838) was the queen consort of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire and the mother of his successor, Maharaja Kharak Singh. She was the daughter of Sardar Ran ...

. Following year, he accompanied Kharak Singh in Kashmir campaigns and part took in

, after which Kashmir was annexed to the Sikh Empire. After the death of

, he served under his son,

Maharaja Kharak Singh Kharak Singh (22 February 1801 – 5 November 1840) was the second Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and his consort, Maharani Datar Kaur. He succeeded his father on 27 Jun ...

Later life

After the annexation of the Punjab into

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, Sultan Mahmud Khan retired. His jagirs were initially confiscated and he received a pension of Rs 600 which he received for the rest of his life. He died in 1859. His service jagirs were amounted to 6000 Rs. but he was only provided with Rs. 600. His son, Ahmad Ali was allotted a pension of Rs. 120.{{Cite book, last=Griffin, first=Lepel Henry, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0ABAAAAQAAJ&q=SULTAN+MAHMUD+KHAN+ranjit+singh&pg=PA468, title=The Panjab Chiefs: Historical and Biographical Notices of the Principal Families in the Territories Under the Panjab Government, date=1865, publisher=T.C. McCarthy, language=en

References

1859 deaths