Battle of the Chenab (1764)

01Lahore slipping away

After Panipat in 1761 Ahmad Shah held the title to the Punjab, but his governors could not hold the ground. The misls had beaten his men at Gujranwala and Sialkot, sacked Kasur and were taking the revenue of the Doabs. In 1763 he left Jahan Khan Popalzai at Lahore, and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia defeated Zain Khan, the Afghan faujdar of Sirhind. Early in 1764 Ahmad Shah crossed the Indus to rescue his officers. The Sikh chiefs gathered their horsemen in three divisions and took post on the Chenab.

02The attack at the ford

Charat Singh Sukerchakia, Hari Singh Bhangi and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia let the Durrani army begin to cross and then charged. Men fought in the shallows and many on both sides were drowned. The Afghans could not form on the near bank and fell back. It was the kind of fight the misls liked best: sudden, fast and broken off before the enemy’s guns and heavy cavalry could be brought to bear. Ahmad Shah was not finished, and the Sikhs met him again at Qarawal.