The ancient city of Peshawar was occupied by the Khalsa army twice in early 19th Century, but each time its administration was handed over to the Pathan chieftains on the promise of payment of annual compensation, or tawan. The Pathans however broke the promise of payment every now and then. Ultimately, it was decided by Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa that the Khyber Pass be annexed into the Khalsa kingdom, to be ruled directly from Lahore Darbar.

In 1834, Peshawar was firmly brought into the commonwealth of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The King of Kabul was greatly upset with this arrangement. He addressed Afghans, after performing Namaz in the mosque, that he had decided to hand over all his five sons to the nation to utilize them as they considered fit. Since an appeal was made to the people, mothers took their sons to their King. Amir Dost Mohammed, who employed them to use them as he considered fit. It is said that his appeal for enlisting Afghani people to defend the lost territory, i.e. Peshawar, had immediate effect. Shortly, about 35 thousand Afghanis were enlisted in the army to expel ‘Kafirs’ from their homeland.

After 35 thousand Afghanis marched from Kabul to Jamrod which was a big eye-sore to them, they decided to attack Jamrod, and other small Forts built by Lahore Sarkar, with a view to stopping them from entering India. The biggest Fort was Jamrod which was attacked on April 28, 1837. Jehadis started from Landi Kotal and reached East of Khyber on this day. Immediately after reaching Jamrod, they found that S. Hari Singh was himself not present in the Fort. This news enhanced the chances of their victory. S. Mahan Singh Kiledar immediately erected the guns outside. Shelling started in full. In addition to guns, those outside the fort directed their guns towards enemy. Fighting was so fierce that many bodies were lying outside the fort, so much so that none could hear anything. Outside the Fort, dead-bodies were scattered, but they could not pay any attention to them. In hand to hand fight, Afghanis were no comparison to the Khalsa. Those injured could not be cared for any longer. They could not advance even a yard.

Now, the sun was setting and, in the dark, it was not possible to continue with the fight. Both sides started to take care of dead bodies in the night. In the fight, S. Ajit Singh Randhawa fought heroically, but he lost his life in a heroic skirmish.

It is said that Mohammed Afzal Khan, Tribal Commander proceeded further to enter the Fort, but he was asked not to proceed further as Sikhs would not allow him to return alive. They said that rather the Sikhs should be starved than to fight. It was dark and further fight was stopped. When the day passed, neither the Sikhs got any aid from outside, nor was there any hope of assistance.

It may be relevant to mention here that, in 1823, about 1,50,000 Afghans had turned up to challenge the Sikh army which was headed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh himself. He crossed the Indus River near Attock which was in flood, but the great Maharaja succeeded in his effort by fording the river with most of his cavalry.

Afghanis were completely struck with horror as to how he could cross the flooded river, but Akali Phoola Singh said, he had started after praying before God, he must proceed further and God will protect him. The slaughter of Afghans was so horrible that they could not imagine as to how they were fighting with an adversary so unmindful of his own safety. A Muslim faquir who witnessed the whole arena, said "Toba Toba, Khuda Khud Khalsa Shud (God himself was fighting in the garb of Khalsa, and who could fight with God?

Khalsa was fighting a Dharam yudh and nobody could face their wrath. The Pathans saw the Khalsa army unmindful of their personal safety and attacked their adversary furiously. The result was soon apparent. The huge army of 1,50,000 was defeated by no more 15,000 Khalsa - who had prayed to God before entering the battlefield.

The battle on April 29, 1837 at Jamrod was over, but the Afghan hordes could not enter the Fort, though a portion of the outer wall had fallen down. It was repaired by Khalsa on the night of April 29, 1837. Sardar Mahan Singh wrote a last letter to Hari Singh Nalwa:

"The hour of martyrdom has arrived for me as it is apparent that no help can reach us inspite of our facing the army for two days.Tonight is Chamkaur’s night for us. We all are unanimous that we will lay down our lives cheerfully, but the thought that Nishan Sahib will no longer be fluttering in the Fort is troubling us. Tomorrow the flag will be pulled down and trampled upon by Afghans! The gap of the broken wall has been filled up. The water of Kabul River was no longer flooding into the Fort as its direction had changed.

It is said that S. Mahan Singh’s appeal was so inspiring that everyone, in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib, got ready to lay down his life. The letter was immediately dispatched to Peshawar, and it was delivered to Hari Singh Nalwa at about 2 a.m. on April 30, 1837.

General Nalwa got ready to proceed to Jamrod and asked his ten-thousand strong army at Peshawar to immediately proceed to Jamrod (a distance of about 25 miles). Hari Singh Nalwa also sent the letter of Mahan Singh to Lahore. ‘He himself proceeded to Jamrod with gunnery and 10,000 troops, divided in to three parts. He himself commanded the core group.

The Pathans realized that their hour of doom had come. One side was headed by ‘Punj Hatha’ and the other was commanded by his Muslim friend, Nawab Arbab Hussain Khan Tehkal. The tribes realized that they were in a difficult predicament, and many ran away from the battle-field. ‘Punj Hatha’ pursued them upto a mountain cave. Hari Singh Nawla came to know this, and he immediately set forth to extend help to ‘Punj Hatha‘ Nidhan Singh.

It was during this period that a Pathan, concealing himself, behind a rock aimed at Sardar Nalwa twice. The bullets struck Nalwa, and he started bleeding profusely.

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The wounded General dismounted within the Fort and lay down on a charpai. As much blood had been lost, Sardar NaIwa realized that his hour of departure had come. As soon as he dismounted from his horse, he gathered all commanders inside the Fort and told them that the news of his death should not go out of the Fort till help arrived from Lahore. He died that night and was cremated with due honour, without arousing suspicion. The Fort Jamrod continued to remain in the custody of Khalsa till 1849 when Punjab was annexed by East India Company and they converted it to a Postal Chowki till 1947, when the Subcontinent was partitioned.

Partition deprived the Sikhs of perennial irrigated lands, and were allotted barren land in East Punjab. Sr. Tarlok Singh, I.C.S. was responsible for land allotments. In the very first year after the land had been allotted, Punjab became self-sufficient, and in the next decade, Punjab brought about Green Revolution to become surplus state, helping fair prices shops throughout the country. The Sikhs’ contribution as soldiers and farmers was thus unparalleled.

The victory at Jamrod was the greatest achievement of Hari Singh Nalwa, recalling Anangpal’s defeat at invader’s hands 800 years earlier. For most invaders came from Persia and Afghanistan, via Khyber Pass. This route was not only plugged effectively, but also part of their country was conquered. Even after a century of Nalwa’s death, Pathan mothers used to caution their erring sons, saying ‘Khamosh Bash, Hariya may Ayad".

Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa was a great national hero, who not only punished the invaders but also conquered the Frontier. The map of Punjab during Ranjit Singh’s rule, defeating and sealing of border and North Western Frontier, may have been different but for the heroism of the great General:

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