30 April 1837[EoS][Gupta][Web]
Battle of Jamrud and the martyrdom of Hari Singh Nalwa
An Afghan army attacked the Sikh fort of Jamrud at the mouth of the Khyber in April 1837. Hari Singh Nalwa, the Maharaja's leading frontier general, rode to its relief, was mortally wounded in the fighting and passed away that evening.
Hari Ram Gupta writes that Afghan forces had been pressing the fort, and that Nalwa left Peshawar for it on 29 April with about 10,000 men and 20 guns. At dawn he opened with heavy gunfire, then feigned a withdrawal to draw the Afghans down to the plain. They began to give way, but many of his men turned to plunder, and fresh Afghan troops from Ali Masjid drove them back.
Nalwa rode forward to rally them and was wounded. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism lists four gunshot wounds, two sabre cuts and then a further shot in the side, while Gupta mentions two balls. He reached the fort and passed away the same evening. Both sources say he asked that the news be withheld, and Gupta adds that Mihan Singh kept it hidden, cremating him privately alongside his own brother.
The result is disputed, and Wikipedia's summary records it as such. Gupta describes a Sikh cavalry pursuit into the pass that was thrown back, heavy losses of about 7,000 on the two sides together, and an Afghan withdrawal to Jalalabad when General Allard arrived with reinforcements. Peshawar remained in Sikh hands.[EoS][Gupta][Web]