First and foremost is that an interesting historical fact is that the battle of Chillianwala was fought perhaps in almost the same area where Porus with his elephants, chariots and archers had battled Alexander’s cavalry 2175 years earlier. In 326 BC, Alexander first bivouacked on the western banks of the Hydaspes river (present Jhelum) and after some months of reconnaissance, crossed the river some 20 miles upstream, via a mud island, and then swung southwards to surprise Porus, whose much larger but ponderous army, was ultimately defeated by the smaller, but more mobile, Macedonian army. The site of Alexander’s classic crossing is near where the Lower Jhelum Canal starts at Rasul Head Works, a part of the Mangla Dam Complex.Battle of Chillianwala was no ordinary battles in the annals of British Warfare ...it shook the British to see Wild People( as they called Sikhs then ) defeat them in battle but yet they won the fight . The monuments they, the British , have built at that sight are the monuments of treachery through which they assured themselves of having won the fight while loosing the battle .Monuments with statutes of Dogras the traitors-like Dhyan Singh , could have been built who ensured the British won despite loosing . Whenever the British prior to 1860s were to be aroused for patriotism their forces were reminded of The Battle of Chillianwala -such was the impact of the fight the Sikhs gave that day to the British . In addition to the material available on this battle in India, there is a very well researched volume titled Chillianwala by a Pakistani, Major Moin, with useful comments by a Brigadier and a foreword by Lt Gen Attiq Ur Rahman (a former Governor) of West Punjab. The author has stated that it took him 10 years to complete his work. A few observations of Major Moin in his introduction need to be quoted. He mentions that this is the only battle of the two Sikh wars, where Sikhs could fight under their honest and capable leader. During the first Sikh war, the Sikh army in field had suffered from constant palace intrigues and was betrayed by its own commanders. The Sikh artillery which played a vital role in this battle was commanded by General Elahi Buksh and also there were a number of Muslim officers and soldiers in the Sikh army.This of course forever changed course of Sikh History ,History of Punjab and eventually History of India.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 15:47:52 +0000
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