Siege Of Multan (1848–1849)
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The siege of Multan began on 19 April 1848 and lasted until 22 January 1849, and saw fighting around
Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...
(in present-day
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
) between the British
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
and the
Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...
. It began with a rebellion against a ruler imposed by the East India Company, which precipitated the
Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...
, and ended when the last defenders of the city surrendered to British forces.


Background

Multan had been captured and incorporated into the Sikh Empire of
Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...
in 1818. In 1845, although the population was almost half
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, it was ruled by a
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
vassal,
Dewan Mulraj Mulraj Chopra (1814 – 11 August 1851) was a Sikh Empire-era administrator who served as the governor ( Diwan) of Multan from 1844 to 1849. He is known for being the leader of a Sikh rebellion against the British which led to the Second Anglo-S ...
. In that year, the
First Anglo-Sikh War The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 around the Firozpur district of Punjab. It resulted in the defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of Jammu ...
broke out, and was won by the British East India Company. There was an uneasy peace for three years, during which Mulraj attempted to maintain practical independence while being nominally subject to the East India Company. In 1848, Multan had a population of 80,000. It was the centre of trade for a wide region, and was renowned for its wealth. There were large stores of spices, silks and valuables. Early in 1848, the newly appointed Commissioner in the Punjab, Sir Frederick Currie, demanded that Mulraj pay duties and taxes previously paid to the central Durbar of the Sikh Empire and now in arrears. Mulraj attempted to forestall a complete annexation of Multan by abdicating in favour of his son. Currie nevertheless decided to impose a compliant Sikh ruler,
Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...
Khan Singh, who was to be accompanied by a British Political Agent, Patrick Vans Agnew.


The revolt in Multan

On 18 April, Vans Agnew and another officer, Lieutenant Anderson from the East India Company's
Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. It was established in 1668 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferr ...
, arrived outside Multan with a small escort of
Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...
s. The next day, Mulraj conducted Khan Singh and the two British officers to the citadel and handed over the keys, with no sign of hostility. As the two officers began to ride out of the citadel, a soldier from Mulraj's army attacked Vans Agnew. This may have been the sign for a concerted attack, as a mob surrounded and attacked them. Mulraj's troops either stood by, or joined the mob. Both officers were wounded, and they and Khan Singh retired to a
Mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
outside the city, where Anderson wrote a plea for help. A despatch rider carried it to Currie in
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
, while a second took a copy via a different route, across the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...
. During the night, most of Vans Agnew's escort left. Next morning, the mob pushed Khan Singh aside and hacked the two British officers to death. Mulraj had probably not been a party to the conspiracy among his own troops. He nevertheless regarded himself as committed to rebellion by their actions. He presented Vans Agnew's head to Khan Singh and told him to take it back to Currie.


The Battle of Kineyri

The British Political Agent in
Bannu Bannu (, ), also called Bani Gul or Bani (, ) is a city located on the Kurram River in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the capital of Bannu Division. Bannu's residents are primarily members of the Banuchi tribe and speak Banuch ...
, Lieutenant
Herbert Edwardes Major-General Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes DCL (12 November 1819 – 23 December 1868) was a British administrator, soldier, and statesman active in the Punjab region of British India. He is best known as the "Hero of Multan" for his pivot ...
, took the first steps to suppress Mulraj's revolt. He intercepted the second copy of Vans Agnew's letter to Currie, and immediately began to concentrate troops. He, and other junior British officers were to be frustrated by Currie in Lahore, who proposed to do nothing during the Hot Weather and
Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
seasons. This was partly for reasons of economy and lack of preparation, but he was supported by the
Governor General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...
,
Lord Dalhousie James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), known as the Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and colonial administrator in British India. He served as Governor-Ge ...
and the Commander-in-Chief of the
Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...
, Sir Hugh Gough, who did not wish to expose European troops to a campaign during the harsh weather. Meanwhile, Mulraj was reinforced by several other regiments of the
Khalsa The term ''Khalsa'' refers to both a community that follows Sikhism as its religion,Khalsa: Sikhism< ...
, the army of the Sikh empire, which rebelled or deserted. He also took other measures to strengthen his defences, digging up guns which had previously been buried and enlisting more troops. In early June, Edwardes began to lead an army against Multan. On 18 June, his leading troops (
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
irregulars) crossed the
Chenab River The Chenab River is a major river in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, the Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul region of Hima ...
on a ferry boat. They were engaged by Mulraj's artillery and forced to take cover for several hours. Mulraj's infantry and cavalry began to advance but Edwardes was reinforced by two regiments of the
Khalsa The term ''Khalsa'' refers to both a community that follows Sikhism as its religion,Khalsa: Sikhism< ...
under Colonel Van Cortlandt, an Anglo-Indian soldier of fortune. Van Cortlandt's artillery caused heavy losses among the Multani troops and Edwardes's Pashtuns counter-attacked. Mulraj's forces retreated to Multan, having suffered 500 casualties and lost six guns.


Sher Singh's defection

Once Currie learned of this victory, he at last ordered a comparatively small force from the East India Company's Bengal Army under General William Whish to begin the siege of Multan. As it was too small to encircle the city, Currie decided to reinforce them and Edwardes with a substantial detachment of the Khalsa under
Sher Singh Attariwalla Raja Sher Singh Attariwala, OBI was a military commander and a member of the Sikh nobility during the Sikh Empire in the mid-19th century in Punjab, and later served under the British during the Revolt of 1857. Life He commanded the Sikh ...
. The appointment of Sher Singh alarmed many junior Political Agents, as his father,
Chattar Singh Attariwalla Chattar Singh Attariwalla, also spelt Chatar Singh Aṭārīvālā, was Governor of Hazara province and a military commander in the army of the Sikh Empire during the reign of Maharaja Duleep Singh in the Punjab. He fought in the Second Anglo ...
, was apparently openly preparing to revolt in Hazara to the north of the Punjab. Despite warnings, Currie nevertheless ordered a detachment from Chattar Singh's army under his second in command, Jundial Singh, to reinforce Sher Singh. This allowed Jundial Singh and other officers to influence Sher Singh and spread disaffection among his regiments. At this stage the besiegers consisted of Whish's division (8,089 men, 32 siege guns, 12 horse artillery guns), Edwardes's irregulars (4,033 cavalry and 7,718 infantry), a contingent from the Muslim state of Bahawalpur (1,900 cavalry and 5,700 infantry) and Sher Singh's force (3,382 cavalry and 909 infantry). On 14 September, Sher Singh openly rebelled against the East India Company. This left the East India Company's forces too weak to maintain the siege, and they were forced to retreat. Most of Edwardes's troops and the Bahawalpur troops dispersed to their homes. Sher Singh and Mulraj nevertheless were not prepared to cooperate. At a meeting at a neutral mosque outside the city, it was agreed that
Sher Singh Sher Singh (4 December 1807 – 15 September 1843) was the fourth Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was elder of the twins of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and Maharani Mehtab Kaur. His reign began on 18 January 1840 followi ...
would move north into the mainly
Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
-populated areas of the Punjab.


The siege

Late in November, Whish was reinforced by a substantial force from the East India Company's Bombay Army. Some observers claimed that the
sepoy ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...
s of the Bombay contingent, being of generally lower
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
than those of the
Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...
, were more willing and skilled at comparatively menial tasks such as digging trenches. Whish's combined force amounted to 32,000, of which 15,000 were from the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
or European (mainly Irish) troops of the Bengal and Bombay armies. He also had 150 pieces of artillery, many of which were heavy guns or mortars. It was comparatively easy to supply this large force, as Multan lay near the Indus River, and steamships could bring supplies some way up the river and to within a short distance of the city. Inside the city, Mulraj commanded 12,000 troops, with 54 guns and 12 mortars. (Some sources state that 80 guns were mounted in the citadel, though some of these may have been obsolete or decorative pieces). On 27 December, Whish ordered four columns of troops to attack the suburbs. Mulraj's forces were driven back into the city, and Whish's force set up batteries 500 yards from the city walls. Under cover of their fire, breaching batteries were set up only 80 yards from the walls, and created two breaches in them while causing great damage in the city. On 30 December, the main magazine in the citadel exploded, killing 800 of the defenders. It was a mosque in which 180 tonnes of gunpowder were stored. A British mortar shell hit it. It is considered one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. Mulraj nevertheless maintained his fire and sent a defiant message to Whish, stating that he still had enough powder to last a year. He attempted to mount a sortie against the besiegers on 31 December but this was driven back. Whish ordered a general assault on 2 January 1849. The attackers successfully scaled the breaches, and the battle became a bloody house-to-house fight in the city, in which many defenders and civilians were killed indiscriminately. Whish ordered the civilians to be herded into the main square; he may have intended to spare them from further fighting but the action of corralling them was also accompanied by further casualties. With the fall of the city, only the already-scarred citadel remained, but it held out for another fortnight against heavy bombardment. On 18 January, Whish's sappers exploded three mines under its walls, causing heavy losses and destroying large sections of its walls. Mulraj offered to surrender if his life was spared, but Whish insisted on unconditional surrender, and on 22 January, Mulraj gave himself up, with 550 men.


Aftermath

Corporal John Ryder of the (European) Bombay Fusiliers later wrote of the city after the siege, The British gained vast quantities of loot. Mulraj's treasury was worth three million pounds, a huge sum for the time. There was also much looting in the town, by both British and Indian soldiers. With the fall of Multan, Whish's army was able to reinforce the main Bengal Army force under Sir Hugh Gough. Whish's heavy guns were decisive at the
Battle of Gujarat 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 ...
, which effectively broke Sher Singh's and Chattar Singh's armies and ended the war. Mulraj was placed on trial for the murders of Vans Agnew and Anderson. He was cleared of premeditated murder, but was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact, in that he had rewarded the murderers and openly used the deaths as pretext for rebellion. (Under British law at the time, an "accessory after the fact" of a crime was liable to the same punishment as the criminal.) Mulraj was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to exile for life. In August 1849, the Indus and Chenab rivers overflowed, and the heavily damaged citadel was washed away, eventually resembling an "island of mud" amidst the floods.


Order of battle


British regiments

* 3rd King's Own Light Dragoons * 9th Queen's Royal Light Dragoons (Lancers) * 14th the King's Light Dragoons * 6th Queen's Light Dragoons (Lancers) * 10th Foot * 24th Foot * 29th Foot * 32nd Foot *
60th Foot The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...
1st battalion * 61st Foot


British Indian Army regiments

* 1st Bengal Light Cavalry * 5th Bengal Light Cavalry * 6th Bengal Light Cavalry * 8th Bengal Light Cavalry * 3rd Bengal Irregular Cavalry * 9th Bengal Irregular Cavalry * 11th Bengal Irregular Cavalry * 14th Bengal Irregular Cavalry * 2nd European Light Infantry * 8th Bengal Native Infantry *
15th Bengal Native Infantry The 15th Ludhiana Sikhs was an infantry regiment in the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1846, when they were known as the Regiment of Ludhiana (or the Loodiana Regiment). During the Indian Mutiny they were relied upon to hol ...
* 20th Bengal Native Infantry * 25th Bengal Native Infantry * 30th Bengal Native Infantry * 31st Bengal Native Infantry * 36th Bengal Native Infantry * 45th Bengal Native Infantry * 46th Bengal Native Infantry * 51st Bengal Native Infantry * 52nd Bengal Native Infantry *
56th Bengal Native Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing in ...
* 69th Bengal Native Infantry * 70th Bengal Native Infantry * 72nd Bengal Native Infantry * 25th (Bombay) Mountain Battery


References


Sources

* Ian Hernon, ''Britain's forgotten wars'', Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2003, * Charles Allen, ''Soldier Sahibs'', Abacus, 2001, * "The Memoirs of Private Waterfield" ed Arthur Swinson (aka F M Bailey) & Donald Scott Cassell London 1968


External links


Orbat.com page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Multan, Siege of History of Multan Battles of the Anglo-Sikh wars Sieges involving the British East India Company Conflicts in 1849 1849 in India 19th-century sieges 1840s explosions Mosque bombings in Pakistan Ammunition depot bombings Attacks on buildings and structures in Punjab, Pakistan 19th-century attacks on mosques Industrial fires and explosions in Pakistan