Battle of Gujrat

Significance

The Battle of Gujrat was the decisive engagement of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, ending organized Sikh resistance against East India Company control. With 24,000 Company troops under Hugh Gough facing 20,000 Sikh forces under Sher Singh, the battle inflicted approximately 4,000 Sikh casualties and broke the army's capacity to continue the campaign. The Sikh capitulation that followed within days had immediate and far-reaching consequences: the Punjab was annexed to East India Company territories, and the child Maharaja Duleep Singh — already held in British custody at Lahore — was formally deposed. Gujrat thus ended Sikh sovereignty in the Punjab, completing the British absorption of the last major independent regional power in the Indian subcontinent.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)