Sher Singh Attariwalla

Sher Singh Attariwalla was a Sikh general who became a principal commander in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. He led the Khalsa forces at Ramnagar and Chillianwala before defeat at Gujrat ended organised resistance to British annexation.

Sher Singh initially served with forces aligned to the British authorities, but changed sides after the treatment of his father, Chattar Singh, and became the leading field commander of the Sikh resistance. At Chillianwala in January 1849 his army withstood repeated British attacks in one of the hardest-fought engagements of the war. Defeat at Gujrat the following month ended organised resistance; Sher Singh surrendered and was subsequently exiled from Punjab, spending much of his later life at Benares.

In Amarpal Singh’s The Second Anglo-Sikh War, the siege of Multan is placed within the broader spread of resistance led by Sher Singh and Chattar Singh Attariwalla, and within the political calculations of Frederick Currie, the Lawrence brothers and Governor-General Dalhousie. Singh then follows Hugh Gough's northern campaign through Ramnagar, Sadullapur and the costly Battle of Chillianwala, before the fall of Multan released heavy artillery for the decisive victory at Gujrat.