1. Introduction

Sardar Hari Singh is regarded as one of the greatest of Sikh generals. During 1881, European newspapers wrote articles comparing him to the great European Generals such as Napoleon, Field-Marshal von Hindenburg, the Duke of Wellington, as well as Asian Generals such as Haluka Khan and Genghis Khan. The British concluded that Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa was the greatest of them all. With a limited force of men and materials, he freed not only Kashmir and Multan, but also Peshawar state and made them part of the empire of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. Peshawar had been under Afghan control for more than eight centuries after Afghans murdered Raja Jaipal in a battle fought in 998 A.D. Sardar Nalwa was a courageous, devoted and farsighted general. He impressed the Governor General of India with his statesmanship when he met him at Simla in 1831 as an emissary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. When the question of a successor to Maharaja Ranjeet Singh was discussed among the top Sikhs, Nalwa opposed the opinion of the majority. He suggested that not Kharak Singh, but the Panj Pyaras should succeed Ranjeet Singh. Had his suggestion been listened to, the history of India would have been different today.