Battle of Baddowal
Part of the First Anglo-Sikh War

Siege of the fort at Baduwal (Baddowal Fort) in Ludhiana. Lithograph after an original sketch by Prince Waldemar of Prussia and published in 'In Memory of the Travels of Prince Waldemar of Prussia to India 1844-1846' (Vol.II)
Date21 January 1846
Location
Dharmkot, Ludhiana
Result Sikh victory[1]
Belligerents
Sikh Empire East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Ranjodh Singh Majithia
Akali Hanuman Singh		 Harry Smith
Strength
15,000[2] 12,000[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown 598[2]

The Battle of Baddowal, known by locals as Angauli Jetu Jang (meaning "unsung war which was won"[3]), was an attack on 21 January 1846 by troops of the Sikh Empire on a contingent of the British East India Company near Ludhiana in the present-day state of Punjab, India.[4][5][6][7][8] The battle ended with a Sikh victory.[9][10]

The battle

After the Sikh army was defeated in the Battle of Mudki and the Battle of Ferozeshah, the British army, led by Sir Harry Smith, marched to relieve Ludhiana.[10] The rear of his Anglo-Indian column was attacked near Baddowal by Sikh troops under Ranjodh Singh.[4][7] The British army lost baggage and stores. However a week later they defeated the Sikhs at the Battle of Aliwal.[1]

Ranjodh Singh Majithia was the son of Desa Singh Majithia, one of the most able ministers under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjodh Singh commanded a large army of ten thousand infantry and cavalry with sixty guns. They crossed the Sutlej and were joined by Ajit Singh of Ladwa.[11] They marched towards Ludhiana and burnt a portion of the British cantonment. Harry Smith (afterwards Governor of Cape Colony), who was sent to relieve Ludhiana, marched eastwards from Ferozepur, keeping a few miles away from the Sutlej.

Ranjodh Singh Majithia attacked Smith’s column and when Smith tried to make a detour at Buddowal, attacked his rear with great vigour and captured his baggage train and stores on 21 January. Harry Smith states, "the enemy, with a dexterity and quickness not to be exceeded, formed a line of seven battalions directly across my rear, with guns in the intervals of battalions, for the purpose of attacking my column with his line. This was a very able and well-executed move, which rendered my position critical and demanded nerve and decision to evade the coming storm.”

Aftermath and atrocities

As retribution, the British burnt the Buddowal Fort including the Indian civilians inside it.[3] According to local lore, British troops tied women, elderly men, and children to a banyan tree located in the village square and set them ablaze whilst they were still alive.[3]

Legacy

The surviving structure of the Baddowal Fort was demolished though some of its bricks were later reused.[3] The banyan tree where local civilians were burnt alive in the aftermath was cut down in the mid-1980s though a new one has been planted in its memory.[3] A memorial was built at this place in 1997 to keep the legacy of this important event alive.[3] Local panchayats from Baddowal, Hassanpur, Bhanohar, and Pamal villages commemorate the anniversary of the battle annually and jointly.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Patwant Singh (2000). The Sikhs. p. 160. ISBN 9780375407284.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mohindra, Ruchika (17 February 2000). "Villagers to celebrate Baddowal battle". The Tribune. 'The story that has come down the generations is that the only weapons our forefathers used were axes and other sharp-edged agricultural implements. However, the fort fell to the British Army and they ordered that the village be razed to the ground". One of the aides of the British, the "kiledar" of Lalton, however, took pity and asked the British officers to give the villagers time to escape. While the British did give some time, it was not enough and many people who could not escape were burnt alive', says Giani Sajjan Singh, a former SGPC member and a resident of village Hassanpur.
  4. 1 2 Grewal, J.S. (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Vol. 2–3. Cambridge University Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780521637640.
  5. ↑ Grewal, Gurdial Singh (1991). "Battle of Baddowal". Freedom Struggle of India by Sikhs and Sikhs in India: The Facts World Must Know. Vol. 1. Sant Isher Singh Rarewala Education Trust. p. 97.
  6. ↑ Gupta, Hari Ram (1999). History of the Sikhs: The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls. History of the Sikhs. Vol. 4 (3rd ed.). Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. p. 107. There he collected as many men as he could and joined the Sikh army in the battle of Baddowal in January, 1846 .
  7. 1 2 Siddiqi, Aslam (1964). A Path for Pakistan. Pakistan Publishing House. p. 37. On 21 January 1846, Ranjaur Singh Majithia led the Sikh forces to battle at Baddowal.
  8. ↑ Sidhu, Amarpal Singh (2016). "Chronology". The Second Anglo-Sikh War. John Chapple (1st ed.). United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445650241.
  9. ↑ Seetal, Sohan Singh (1970). How Fell the Sikh Kingdom. Lyall Book Depot. p. 150. The English had been badly beaten in the battle of Baddowal.
  10. 1 2 Palat, Raghu; Palat, Pushpa (2019). The Case That Shook the Empire: One Man's Fight for the Truth about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9789389000290. In 1845, at the Battle of Mudki, Lal Singh deserted the Sikh army and ran away. The Khalsa army did not flee, however, and inflicted heavy casualties on the British. The Battle of Ferozepur took place a few days later, and it seemed certain that the Sikhs would win. But at a crucial time, Lal Singh came to the rescue of the British and, lacking leadership, the Sikhs lost the battle. Refusing to accept defeat, the Sikhs retaliated by marching onto Ludhiana and torching the British cantonment. In the battle that followed at Baddowal, Sir Henry Smith was defeated. However, additional reinforcements soon arrived for the British, and the last battle between the British and the Sikhs took place at Sobraon in February 1846. Though betrayed by their own and fighting against overwhelming odds, the Khalsa army led by Sham Singh Attari fought till the bloody end.
  11. ↑ "Bharati Journal of Comparative Literature". Bharati Journal of Comparative Literature. Subramania Bharati Chair, Guru Nanak Dev University. 2 (1): 12. 1987. An account of the battle of Baddowal is given, where Ajit Singh of Ladua gave a brief battle to a part of the army of the British in which Ajit Singh and his contingent of a few hundred villagers from: Gill , Dhandra , Raipur and ...
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