Battle of Sobraon

Who: The Khalsa army against the East India Company's army under Sir Hugh Gough. World History Encyclopedia puts the Company at about 20,000 men with 32 guns and the Sikh army at 20,000 or more infantry, 1,000 cavalry and about 70 guns. Tej Singh was the Sikh commander-in-chief (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism). Cunningham and Khushwant Singh say Tej Singh commanded the entrenchment at Sobraon, with Lal Singh upstream with his horse. World History Encyclopedia instead names Ranjodh Singh Majithia as the commander in charge at Sobraon. Three other sources (the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Khushwant Singh, the National Army Museum) place him earlier, leading the separate force sent towards Ludhiana, which was beaten at Aliwal on 28 January; none puts him at Sobraon. Sardar Sham Singh Attariwala is the Sikh leader remembered for his stand.

What: The Khalsa held a fortified camp on the bank of the Sutlej: two earth ramparts up to twelve feet high, a wide ditch, and a bridge of boats at its back. The fight opened at dawn with an artillery duel in which the Sikh gunners did well and British ammunition ran low. Gough then sent his infantry at the entrenchments. After about half an hour of close fighting the Company troops broke over the ramparts, and by midday the battle was won.

Sham Singh had sworn an oath on the Guru Granth Sahib before crossing the Sutlej that he would give his life rather than return in defeat. Dressed in white and mounted on a white horse, the grey-bearded Sardar rode from column to column urging his men to fight to the last, then charged the advancing enemy with fifty men and fell within minutes. His servants swam the river that evening to recover his body, and he was cremated outside his village on 12 February.

The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says Tej Singh fled across the river and sank part of the bridge of boats behind him, and that Lal Singh kept his artillery battalions out of the fight and withdrew to Lahore. British accounts say the bridge broke under the weight of retreating men, and the National Army Museum says the cause is still debated.

Where: Sobraon (Sabhraon) on the Sutlej.

Why it mattered: It was the last battle of the war. World History Encyclopedia gives Sikh dead at 8,000 to 10,000, and Company losses at 320 killed and 2,063 wounded. The British then reached Lahore, and the Treaty of Lahore followed on 9 March 1846. The battle left two lasting memories in Sikh history: the death of Sham Singh Attariwala, and the argument over whether the Khalsa was beaten in the field or betrayed by its own generals.