RANJIT SINGH KA TOPKHANA – Part 3
The Northwest Frontier The Three Swords of Meer Jaffir (Part 1 & Part 2) Gun Running to the Northwest Frontier A Tale of Subedar Major Mauladad (1822-1890) The Buddhist Road and The Storming of the Malakand Pass 1895 The Guides Saab Ka Risala 1846-1900 Safe Conduct – A tale about Syed Wazir Ali (Part 1 & Part 2) Under The Raj Revisiting the Great Arc of the Meridian Neither Freedom nor Salt The Lahore Cantonment of Mian Mir Vale Hunting in India and the Peshawar Vale Hunt Feeding the Armies of the Raj Eating Curries in London Signposts, Tablets & Way Markers of the Raj British Indian Army & State Forces Under Pelican Wings— Bahawalpur State Forces On the Departure of Gowhar-i-Taj’s Own Infantry Battalion to Burma. The Irregular Cavalry through the Lens of a Painting The Indian Mountain Artillery Soldiers of the Salt Range Subedar Major Mauladad The Anglo-Sikh Wars Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 1 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 2 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 3 The Anglo-Sikh Wars & The Battle of Chillianwala Finding Zamzama’s Twin The Death of Capt John Anderson, Bengal Artillery Roads, Railways & Bridges Bridging the Mighty Indus Crossing Rivers in Punjab On the Tracks of the Frontier Mail Pre Independence Personalities Who was Sahabzada Sir Abdus Samad Khan A Gnarled Oak with a Broken Heart Heritage Of Sahabzada Yaqub Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim – The Islamic Cultural Renaissance Philosopher 24 Marris Road, Aligarh – Dr Abdullah Butt Maj Gen Syed Shahid Hamid An Indian Lieutenant at the 1936 Berlin Olympics The Power of a Mother’s Prayers A Muslim Instructor at Staff College Entering the Hallowed Ranks of the Indian Political Service. Edit Template Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana – Part 3 September 2, 2025 Major General Syed Ali Hamid The third and last part of the series on the artillery of the Sikh Army covers it employment and performance during the two Anglo-Sikh Wars. Within five years of the death of the One-eyed Maharaja in 1839, the artillery had doubled to 381 guns organized into 32 batteries and 11,500 gunners. The majority of these ‘new’ additions were refurbished old guns from forts and mounted on carriages but it is still an impressive number. At one of his greatest victories at Austerlitz, Napoleon had 157 guns facing 318 guns of the Russians and Austrians, and at Waterloo where he came close to defeating Wellington he had 246 guns. Another 150 guns of varying capability and calibers were with the Jagirdari Fauj i.e. the irregulars in service of the chieftains. Though the number sounds imposing, to keep all these guns supplied with the right size cannon balls would have been a logisticians nightmare. Not just that but the number of draft animals required to pull the guns was an army by itself. A heavy gun required 80 to a 100 bullocks and 6 to 8 horses were required to pull a 6 or 8 pounder gun in a horse battery. Following the annexation of Sind in 1843, the arrows of the East India Company (EIC) pointed towards Punjab. It was a rich kingdom and the last remaining that had not succumbed. On the pretext that unstable conditions in the Punjab threatened the adjoining territories, the EIC prepared for war. Politically and militarily there was great disorder. All three successors of the Maharaja had been poisoned by the Sikh and Hindu Dogra factions vying for power and Ranjit Singh’s youngest wife, Jind Kaur had become vice regent for the fourth. Her brother was butchered by the army which had emerged as an independent power base and had been unpaid. To break the power of the army, she along with the prime minister Lal Singh and the Army Chief Tej Singh – both were secretly cooperating with the enemy – goaded it to a contest with the EIC. In spite of nearly all European officers having left service, the Sikhs and Indian officers did well in maintaining the regulation and competence of Khalsa army which was almost immediately tested during the Anglo-Sikh Wars and proved themselves as equivalent to British. Defying a treaty which had established the Sutlej as the boundary, 40,000 Sikhs with 40 guns crossed over. One army under Tej Singh advanced towards Ferozepur but made no effort to surround and attack the cantonment. Eighteen miles away, another under Lal Singh advanced on a British force that was resting at Mudki. The Sikh guns and infantry formed up in a dense jungle with the Ghorchurra (irregular cavalry) deployed on the flanks. Though better equipped than the British cavalry and highly skilled, they had never succumbed to the discipline imposed by Ranjit Singh on his infantry and artillery and proved to be the weakest link in most encounters. They were repulsed by a counter charge of the British cavalry that then struck the Sikh artillery and infantry but they stood firm even against a subsequent assault by the main British force. As darkness descended, the Sikh artillery which mainly consisted of heavy guns inflicted substantial casualties on the EIC troops with grapeshot. The Sikhs were driven from the field but the gunners managed to save more than half their guns. Lal Singh now established a well-entrenched position at Ferozshah with 47,000 troops and 88 guns of all calibers. The battle opened with a terrific artillery duel in which the Sikh artillery outperformed that of the enemy. Since the barrels of the Sikh guns were heavier and could fire a bigger charge, they out ranged the British. Being better trained, the gunners also had a 3:2 advantage in the rate of fire. The artillery concentrated on the British battalions and the 4th Division broke. By the evening all four divisions of the Army of the Sutlej that had been assembled for battle by the EIC, had penetrated the Sikh ramparts but with heavy casualties. Replying to a suggestion before the Battle of Gaugamela, to attack the Persian camp at night, Alexander declared “I
RANJIT SINGH KA TOPKHANA – Part 1
The Northwest Frontier The Three Swords of Meer Jaffir (Part 1 & Part 2) Gun Running to the Northwest Frontier A Tale of Subedar Major Mauladad (1822-1890) The Buddhist Road and The Storming of the Malakand Pass 1895 The Guides Saab Ka Risala 1846-1900 Safe Conduct – A tale about Syed Wazir Ali (Part 1 & Part 2) Under The Raj Revisiting the Great Arc of the Meridian Neither Freedom nor Salt The Lahore Cantonment of Mian Mir Vale Hunting in India and the Peshawar Vale Hunt Feeding the Armies of the Raj Eating Curries in London Signposts, Tablets & Way Markers of the Raj British Indian Army & State Forces Under Pelican Wings— Bahawalpur State Forces On the Departure of Gowhar-i-Taj’s Own Infantry Battalion to Burma. The Irregular Cavalry through the Lens of a Painting The Indian Mountain Artillery Soldiers of the Salt Range Subedar Major Mauladad The Anglo-Sikh Wars Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 1 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 2 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 3 The Anglo-Sikh Wars & The Battle of Chillianwala Finding Zamzama’s Twin The Death of Capt John Anderson, Bengal Artillery Roads, Railways & Bridges Bridging the Mighty Indus Crossing Rivers in Punjab On the Tracks of the Frontier Mail Pre Independence Personalities Who was Sahabzada Sir Abdus Samad Khan A Gnarled Oak with a Broken Heart Heritage Of Sahabzada Yaqub Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim – The Islamic Cultural Renaissance Philosopher 24 Marris Road, Aligarh – Dr Abdullah Butt Maj Gen Syed Shahid Hamid An Indian Lieutenant at the 1936 Berlin Olympics The Power of a Mother’s Prayers A Muslim Instructor at Staff College Entering the Hallowed Ranks of the Indian Political Service. Edit Template RANJIT SINGH’S TOPKHANA PART 1 September 2, 2025 Major General Syed Ali Hamid In 1801 the Lahore Fort witnessed the investiture of Ranjit Singh as Maharaja of an Empire that he established and ruled till his death in 1839. These 38 years witnessed the evolution of the Sikh army from a semi feudal and disorganized force to an efficient fighting machine that would have been able to hold its own against the best European armies. It not only drove the Afghans out of the Peshawar Valley, it was by far also the most potent force faced by the East India Company. Following the death of Ranjit Singh, the Khalsa Fauj that he had raised, organized and equipped, acquitted itself commendably in the two Anglo-Sikh Wars. Credit for the performance of the Khalsa Fauj to a great extent goes to its artillery. The gunners and their cannons were the legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who built it to an unprecedented level of efficiency with a genius which no other Indian ruler could match except probably Tipu Sultan who is recognized as the father of rocket artillery. Four years after his investiture, Ranjit Singh started modernizing his army by raising regular units which included deserters / renegades from the army of the East India Company. They were lured into his service by higher wages and better opportunities. Ranjeet Singh prescribed the most exacting standards of efficiency in march, maneuver, and marksmanship. He spent three to four hours of his day with the troops, and seldom did a day go by when he did not reward a gunner or a cavalier for good performance. Before Ranjit Singh, troops of the Khalsa were mainly irregular cavalry and guerrilla fighters. Under his watchful eye and encouragement, he organized the army into a balanced force with the infantry and artillery gaining in importance. In fact, by the time of his death, the infantry had become the preferred service in the army. The Sikh army and its artillery had been in action even before the Maharaja recruited European advisors / mercenaries in larger number. It had demonstrated its effectiveness and capability in battles with the Pathans and the Afghans on the Frontier. During the Sikh-Afghan Wars the Ranjit Singh’s army made effective use of artillery at the battle of Attock (1813) and Multan (1818), as well as at Shopian (1819) during the campaign to wrest Kashmir from the Durranis. In all three battles Ranjit Singh’s army was victorious. However, the Sikh army really came into its own after the entry of the European soldier / mercenaries from France, Spain, Hungry, Russia, Italy and Greece as well as India. The total number is uncertain and figures vary between 32 and 100 Western soldiers in his army. Ranjit Singh wasn’t the first Indian ruler to recruit European mercenaries. Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao had given command of part of his artillery to a Portuguese who had a number of European artillerymen under him, and Mahadaji Shinde (1730- 1794) the ruler of Gwalior had also recruited a French count to organize his artillery. By the way when rulers could not recruit Europeans, they sought the services of Muslims as they had more experience of this arm than other Indian nationalities. A number of Frenchmen and Italians who sought employment after the defeat of Napoleon were hired by Abbas Mirza the Qajar Crown prince who was an early modernizer of Persia’s army. However, present in the Persian Army were also English officers who were hostile to those who had fought under Napoleon. Their intrigues drove the others out and some travelled eastwards to the Punjab and sought employment with the Sikh Army. Amongst those who gained prominence were two Frenchmen, Jean-Baptiste Ventura who was employed in 1822 to train the infantry and Jean-Francois Allard who was hired the same year, trained the cavalry; and Claude Auguste Court was a French soldier and mercenary was hired in 1827 to organize and train the artillery. They were given the rank of Colonel, the highest rank in the Punjab Army at the time but all were subsequently promoted generals. Court organized the artillery and started training the gunners and in the process, raised the level of efficacy at par with European artillery. He was assisted by an American adventurer, Colonel Alexander Gardner
RANJIT SINGH KA TOPKHANA – Part 2
The Northwest Frontier The Three Swords of Meer Jaffir (Part 1 & Part 2) Gun Running to the Northwest Frontier A Tale of Subedar Major Mauladad (1822-1890) The Buddhist Road and The Storming of the Malakand Pass 1895 The Guides Saab Ka Risala 1846-1900 Safe Conduct – A tale about Syed Wazir Ali (Part 1 & Part 2) Under The Raj Revisiting the Great Arc of the Meridian Neither Freedom nor Salt The Lahore Cantonment of Mian Mir Vale Hunting in India and the Peshawar Vale Hunt Feeding the Armies of the Raj Eating Curries in London Signposts, Tablets & Way Markers of the Raj British Indian Army & State Forces Under Pelican Wings— Bahawalpur State Forces On the Departure of Gowhar-i-Taj’s Own Infantry Battalion to Burma. The Irregular Cavalry through the Lens of a Painting The Indian Mountain Artillery Soldiers of the Salt Range Subedar Major Mauladad The Anglo-Sikh Wars Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 1 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 2 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 3 The Anglo-Sikh Wars & The Battle of Chillianwala Finding Zamzama’s Twin The Death of Capt John Anderson, Bengal Artillery Roads, Railways & Bridges Bridging the Mighty Indus Crossing Rivers in Punjab On the Tracks of the Frontier Mail Pre Independence Personalities Who was Sahabzada Sir Abdus Samad Khan A Gnarled Oak with a Broken Heart Heritage Of Sahabzada Yaqub Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim – The Islamic Cultural Renaissance Philosopher 24 Marris Road, Aligarh – Dr Abdullah Butt Maj Gen Syed Shahid Hamid An Indian Lieutenant at the 1936 Berlin Olympics The Power of a Mother’s Prayers A Muslim Instructor at Staff College Entering the Hallowed Ranks of the Indian Political Service. Edit Template Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana – Part 2 September 2, 2025 Major General Syed Ali Hamid My first article on Ranjit Singh’s Topkhana focused on the development of guns for the Sikh artillery. This second article describes how the organization of the artillery evolved and expanded under the Maharaja. Under Ranjit Sing’s one watchful eye, the military arm of the Sikh Khalsa went through a metamorphosis. It was transformed from a force of irregular cavalry that had successfully conducted a guerilla campaign against the Marathas and the Afghans, into a ‘modern’ army capable of taking on the army of the East India Company. At the core of his army was his artillery a trend set by Napoleon and Victor Jacquemont a famous French botanist and geologist, who came to the court of Lahore, called Ranjit Singh a Bonaparte in miniature. Not only did both understand warfare, but they also appreciated the central role of artillery. It came naturally to Napoleon who was an artillery officer but to Ranjit Singh it was the product of a very inquisitive mind. “I have spent a couple of hours on several occasions conversing with Ranjit”, records Jacquemont. “His conversation is a nightmare. …….. He asked me a hundred thousand questions about India, the English, Europe, Bonaparte, this world in general and the next one, hell, paradise, God, the devil, and a thousand things besides”. By 1808, Ranjit Singh had collected around 40 guns from various sources and placed them under Mian Ghous Khan, the Darogha-i-Topkhana in three groups each commanded by a subordinate Darogha. The first was of light 5 and 6-pounders and the second was of heavier 12-pounders and above. Most were country-made except for a few pieces of European origin. The third group was of about 100 swivel guns (called Zamburak) on camels which operated on the flanks of the cavalry. Despite its small caliber (between 1 and 3 pounders), both Nader Shah and later Ahmed Shah Durrani in the Third Battle of Panipat had employed a Zamburak corps of over 3,000 camels to devastating effect. Expansion was slow because Ranjit wanted to give his chiefs time to appreciate the role of artillery and he himself was learning the art and science of employing this arm. In his book The Evolution of Artillery in India, Brigadier R.C. Butalia states that amongst the Moghuls, Marathas & Sikhs, it was only Ranjit Singh who regularly conducted a formal inspection of his troops including the firing of all types of guns. The first test of Ranjit Singh’s new army came against the troops of Durrani when a force under Dewan Mokham Chand seized Attock Fort in 1813. During the encounter which took place on the plains of Chuch, 8 km above Attock, Dewan deployed his predominantly cavalry force in three divisions with a lone battalion of infantry forming a square to protect the artillery which was commanded by none other but Mian Ghous Khan. One of the divisions was commanded by Hari Singh Nalwa who was only 21 years old and would become one of Ranjit Singh’s greatest commanders and administrators. He captured Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar, and Hazara, and the city of Haripur is named after him. An opening charge by the Afghans was repulsed by the artillery but a second charge threw one wing of the Sikhs in disarray. However, the Dewan led a countercharge with the support of the Zamburaks and routed the Afghans. Having proven the value of artillery in battle, over the next 10 years, Ranjit Singh expanded it along with the other arms. The first battery of horse artillery of 6 guns had been added in 1811 and in 1814 a second battery of 15 guns was raised. The artillery was now regrouped into horse-drawn, bullock batteries, elephant batteries, and Zamburak batteries. This expansion in artillery was possible due to the expertise that had emerged in the manufacture of guns and has been highlighted in a previous article. The batteries were named after their commanders and did not have a fixed number of guns. To ensure that the leading Sikh sardars did not also acquire artillery skills and pose a challenge to Ranjit Singh, over 60 percent of the gunners in his artillery were Muslim. Many of them were skilled gunners from Saharanpur with a Mughal legacy, Two
THE DEATH OF CAPT JOHN ANDERSON, BENGAL ARTILLERY
The Northwest Frontier The Three Swords of Meer Jaffir (Part 1 & Part 2) Gun Running to the Northwest Frontier A Tale of Subedar Major Mauladad (1822-1890) The Buddhist Road and The Storming of the Malakand Pass 1895 The Guides Saab Ka Risala 1846-1900 Safe Conduct – A tale about Syed Wazir Ali (Part 1 & Part 2) Under The Raj Revisiting the Great Arc of the Meridian Neither Freedom nor Salt The Lahore Cantonment of Mian Mir Vale Hunting in India and the Peshawar Vale Hunt Feeding the Armies of the Raj Eating Curries in London Signposts, Tablets & Way Markers of the Raj British Indian Army & State Forces Under Pelican Wings— Bahawalpur State Forces On the Departure of Gowhar-i-Taj’s Own Infantry Battalion to Burma. The Irregular Cavalry through the Lens of a Painting The Indian Mountain Artillery Soldiers of the Salt Range Subedar Major Mauladad The Anglo-Sikh Wars Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 1 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 2 Ranjit Singh Ka Topkhana Part 3 The Anglo-Sikh Wars & The Battle of Chillianwala Finding Zamzama’s Twin The Death of Capt John Anderson, Bengal Artillery Roads, Railways & Bridges Bridging the Mighty Indus Crossing Rivers in Punjab On the Tracks of the Frontier Mail Pre Independence Personalities Who was Sahabzada Sir Abdus Samad Khan A Gnarled Oak with a Broken Heart Heritage Of Sahabzada Yaqub Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim – The Islamic Cultural Renaissance Philosopher 24 Marris Road, Aligarh – Dr Abdullah Butt Maj Gen Syed Shahid Hamid An Indian Lieutenant at the 1936 Berlin Olympics The Power of a Mother’s Prayers A Muslim Instructor at Staff College Entering the Hallowed Ranks of the Indian Political Service. Edit Template THE DEATH OF CAPT JOHN ANDERSON, BENGAL ARTILLERY September 2, 2025 Major General Syed Ali Hamid It was not unusual in the army of the East India Company and its successor for two or more brothers serving around the same time. The most famous were the four Battye brothers who served in the Guides in the late 1800. Lieutenants Richard and Henry Creed, twin brother who were adjutants respectively of two battalions of the Bombay Artillery. One was killed while storming a fort near Sibbi. William and John, the two sons of Alexander and Christian Anderson of London, served in the Bengal Artillery during the hard fought campaigns before 1857. In 1838, when Lord Auckland, Governor General of India, decided on the fatal experiment of dethroning Amir Dost Muhammad and restoring Shah Shuja as sovereign of Kabul, part of the army was a contingent called, “Shah Shuja ‘s own troops”. According to the History of the Bengal Artillery by Francis Stubbs, Capt William Anderson who was the elder of the two was assigned to raise two troops of Native Horse Artillery at Delhi and Meerut for this contingent. However, another source states that William had transferred from the infantry to the cavalry and was 2iC of the 2nd (Gardener’s) Local horse until 1838 when he was promoted and raised the 2nd Irregular Cavalry, Shah Shuja’s Contingent, referred to as ‘Anderson’s Horse’. Whatever be fact, he distinguished himself in the advance from Kandahar to Kabul and during a Grand Durbar held by Shah Shuja after gaining the throne, William and others were awarded a new order of chivalry, that of Dur-i-Durani i.e. Pearl of the Durani Empire. Prior to the departure of main army back to India via Kandahar, the Ghilzais were giving trouble and Major General Nott sent for William to ask him if he could march the following morning. William replied that the artillery was always ready and left with a regiment of foot, 300 horsemen and four guns. Two days later, they encountered a force of 2,500 men near Tazi. The Ghilzais charged twice but were repulsed and routed by two detachments that fell upon them from the flanks as they retreated. John Anderson returned back to India with General Nott’s army but William remained with the garrison at Kabul where his family joined him during the summer of 1841. However, in a very ill-considered move from the strong citadel of the Bala Hissar to a cantonment outside Kabul, General Elphinstone’s troops were badly exposed and ultimately came under attack when the Afghans rose in revolt. Two great actions were fought on 10 and 13 November 1841 when the troops sallied out from the cantonment and in both, the guns of the Shah Shuja/s Artillery under William saved the day. In early 1842, Elphinstone was compelled to withdraw from Kabul with 4,500 military personnel and 12,000 family and local supporters. However, two days after the retreat started on 6 January 1842, William’s eldest daughter went missing and his wife and children, along with others, were given as hostages. Four days later, under orders from Elphinstone, Anderson gave himself to the protection of Muhammad Akbar Khan. They remained prisoners until their release eight months later. When preparations for the retreat were being discussed as early as December 1841, Lady Sale recalls in her journal entry of 24 December, that when the subject arose of giving married men and their families as hostages to the Afghans, Capt Anderson was quoted as saying he would rather put a pistol to his wife’s head and shoot her. However, becoming hostages saved their lives because the column was annihilated at Gandamak. It was regarded as the worst British military disaster until the fall of Singapore exactly a century later. Anderson was promoted major in 1853 and served as 2iC of the Jodhpur Legion which mutinied in 1857. He was made a Companion of the Bath, retired a lt col and died at Mount Abu, in Rajputana, on the 21st August 1858, aged 55 years. There is no evidence that his younger brother John Anderson accompanied the Army of Retribution when it retook Kabul, however, during the First Anglo-Sikh War of December 1845 to March 1846, he served in the 2nd Brigade of Horse Artillery in the savagely fought battle of