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Battle of Ladakh

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Battle of Ladakh (1842)
Part of Dogra–Tibetan war
Location
Ladakh
Result

Dogra Victory[1]

Territorial
changes		 Dogra dynasty regains control over all of Ladakh[2]
Belligerents

Sikh Empire

Qing dynasty

Commanders and leaders
Gulab Singh
Jawahar Singh
Wazir Lakhpat
Diwan Hari Chand		 Tibetan(Qing) General Ragasha  †[4]
Strength
Unknown Unknown, but larger.[4]
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Battle of Ladakh[citation needed] was one of the major engagements between the Dogra dynasty against the Tibetans under the Qing dynasty. The battle was fought on September 6, 1842, and ended as a Dogra victory.[5][6][7]

Background

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The Dogras had invaded Tibet in the Dogra–Tibetan war under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire, however lost their general, Zorawar Singh in a battle. Encouraged by the victory, the Tibetans would go on to invade Ladakh. The leader of the Dogra dynasty, Gulab Singh immediately sent relief forces and reinforcements, which included Sikh[7] and Dogra troops.[8][9][10]

Battle

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The Battle took place on September 6, 1842. The Tibetans invaded Ladakh under the command of General Ragasha. The Tibetans decided upon a night attack, however were found out and could not do any major damage, instead they were pushed back.[5][10] The Tibetans took shelter in a fortification, which was later attacked by the Dogras but had to withdraw. After four days, there was no clear victor. The Dogras decided to flood the Tibetan camp which was situated in a low level valley, after three days, the Tibetan camps were successfully flooded and had to be abandoned. When the Tibetans fled, the Dogras led several attacks and Wazir Mustaddi were sent to negotiate a truce, the Tibetan men came to the Dogra camped but were made prisoners.[5][11] Among the seized, Tibetan General Ragasha was killed as an act of vengeance for Zorawar Singh.[5] Another battle took place where the Dogras repulsed the Tibetans, many of the Tibetans being killed.[12][5]

"all old boundaries of Ladakh...repossessed by the Dogra Rajputs."

— Court of Lahore to British agent in Ludhiana, [2]

Aftermath

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Upon hearing of this struggle, Raja Gulab Singh had sent 4,000 reinforcements, however, upon hearing of the victory at Ladakh, they had halted their march. Raja Gulab Singh himself arrived in Leh shortly after, building a new fort in Leh, replacing the old one.[5] Gulab Singh also sent Vakils (agents) to negotiate peace treaties with the Tibetan chiefs.[5][13]

References

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  1. ^ Francke, August Hermann (1998). A History of Western Tibet: One of the Unknown Empires (illustrated, revised ed.). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 161. ISBN 9788120813946.
  2. ^ a b c "General Zorawar Singh".
  3. ^ Buddhist Western Himalaya: A politico-religious history. Indus. 2001. ISBN 978-81-7387-124-5.
  4. ^ a b "General Zorawar Singh".
  5. ^ a b c d e f g SUKHDEV SINGH CHARAK. GENERAL ZORAWAR SINGH.
  6. ^ Nath, Rajendra (2016-09-01). Strategic Ladakh: A Historical Narrative 1951-53 and a Military Perspective. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-85563-50-8.
  7. ^ a b Shakabpa, Tsepon Wangchuk Deden (2010). One Hundred Thousand Moons: An Advanced Political History of Tibet. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-17732-1.
  8. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20181123065805/http://pahar.in/mountains/Books%20and%20Articles/Indian%20Subcontinent/1961%20Gulab%20Singh%20and%20Creation%20of%20Dogra%20State%20of%20Jammu%20Kashmir%20and%20Ladakh%20by%20Huttenback%20from%20J%20Asian%20Studies%20v20%20s.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2024-04-24. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Francke, August Hermann (1995). A history of Western Tibet : one of the unknown empires. Public Resource. New Delhi : Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-1043-9.
  10. ^ a b Bhasin, Sanjeev Kumar (2006). Amazing Land Ladakh: Places, People, and Culture. Indus Publishing. ISBN 978-81-7387-186-3.
  11. ^ Gangdrug, Dhokham Chushi (2022-01-14). The Warriors of the Snowland - A History of Chushi Gangdrug - Volume One. Blue Rose Publishers.
  12. ^ Duggal, Kartar Singh (2001). Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last to lay arms. Internet Archive. New Delhi : Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-410-3.
  13. ^ Social Regulation: Case Studies from Tibetan History. BRILL. 2016-09-27. ISBN 978-90-04-33125-9.
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