Tempo:
Consolidation of the Punjab
235
Wazir Fateh Khan roused the tribes in the neighbourhood and called for a holy war to expel the 'infidels' from the frontier. For three months the Afghans and the Punjabis faced each other without any serious action. The winter warmed to spring and the short spring changed to the intense heat of summer. Dewan Mohkam Chand manoeuvred his forces and placed them between the Afghans and the river Attock. He cut off the enemy's supply of drinking water and forced him to take the offensive. The battle, which was fought on the Mansar plain north-east of the fort, took the form ofAfghan sallies to break through to the river and Punjabi efforts to keep them away. The Afghans had to fight in the sweltering heat of summer without a drop to slake their thirst. When Mohkam Chand detected Afghan pressure weakening, he ordered his cavalry to charge. The Afghans broke ranks and fled, leaving over two thousand of their comrades dead on the field and all their heavy guns and equipment to the victors. 13 It was the first victory the Punjabis had ever won over the Afghans and the Pathans. That it should have been on lhe field of Attock was of even greater significance. Attock had been wrested from Raja Jaipal in AD 1002 by Mahmud Ghazni and since then had remained in foreign hands. Its recapturt" meant the liberation of northern India from the Pathan ruJd Afghan menace. When the news of the victory was received in Lahore, the city went wild with joy. People came out in the streets to sing and dance and shout themselves hoarse. The Maharajah rode out of the palace to join his subjects in their celebrations, and scattered the usual largesse upon the cheering crowds. Whlle the army was engaged with the Pathans and the Maharajah's attention was completely occupied with the problems of the frontier, a dastardly plot to overthrow the Durbar was set afoot by Shah Shuja. A newsletter of 23 June 1813 narrates the incident: 'Pir Batish, in charge of the Police Station, came 13 A different version of the same baule is given by Sir Olaf C',aroe, Tht Pathans, p. 289.
235
Wazir Fateh Khan roused the tribes in the neighbourhood and called for a holy war to expel the 'infidels' from the frontier. For three months the Afghans and the Punjabis faced each other without any serious action. The winter warmed to spring and the short spring changed to the intense heat of summer. Dewan Mohkam Chand manoeuvred his forces and placed them between the Afghans and the river Attock. He cut off the enemy's supply of drinking water and forced him to take the offensive. The battle, which was fought on the Mansar plain north-east of the fort, took the form ofAfghan sallies to break through to the river and Punjabi efforts to keep them away. The Afghans had to fight in the sweltering heat of summer without a drop to slake their thirst. When Mohkam Chand detected Afghan pressure weakening, he ordered his cavalry to charge. The Afghans broke ranks and fled, leaving over two thousand of their comrades dead on the field and all their heavy guns and equipment to the victors. 13 It was the first victory the Punjabis had ever won over the Afghans and the Pathans. That it should have been on lhe field of Attock was of even greater significance. Attock had been wrested from Raja Jaipal in AD 1002 by Mahmud Ghazni and since then had remained in foreign hands. Its recapturt" meant the liberation of northern India from the Pathan ruJd Afghan menace. When the news of the victory was received in Lahore, the city went wild with joy. People came out in the streets to sing and dance and shout themselves hoarse. The Maharajah rode out of the palace to join his subjects in their celebrations, and scattered the usual largesse upon the cheering crowds. Whlle the army was engaged with the Pathans and the Maharajah's attention was completely occupied with the problems of the frontier, a dastardly plot to overthrow the Durbar was set afoot by Shah Shuja. A newsletter of 23 June 1813 narrates the incident: 'Pir Batish, in charge of the Police Station, came 13 A different version of the same baule is given by Sir Olaf C',aroe, Tht Pathans, p. 289.
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