The Dogra–Tibetan war, also called the Sino–Sikh war, was fought from May 1841 to August 1842 between the Dogra-led Kingdom of Jammu, a tributary jagir of the Sikh Empire, and Tibet, a protectorate of Qing China. The Dogra ruler Gulab Singh's commander was the general Zorawar Singh Kahluria, who, after the conquest of Ladakh, attempted to extend its boundaries to control the trade routes into Ladakh. Zorawar Singh's campaign, suffering from the effects of inclement weather, suffered a defeat at Taklakot (Purang) and Singh was killed. The Tibetans then advanced on Ladakh. Gulab Singh sent reinforcements under the command of his nephew Jawahir Singh. A subsequent battle near Chushul in 1842 led to a Tibetan defeat. A treaty was signed in 1842 maintaining the status quo ante bellum.
Background
Ladakh trade
In the 19th century, Ladakh was the hub of trade routes that branched out into Turkestan and Tibet. Its trade with Tibet was governed by the 1684 Treaty of Tingmosgang, by which Ladakh had the exclusive right to receive the pashmina wool produced in Tibet. The famous Kashmir shawl industry received its pashm wool supplies from Ladakh.
Political environment
In the early 1800s, the Kashmir Valley and the adjoining Jammu region were part of the Sikh Empire. But in 1818, Maharaja Ranjit Singh appointed Gulab Singh as a jagirdar at Jammu; in the next decades he slowly annexed the neighbouring polities and the Dogras of Jammu became virtually autonomous under him. Gulab Singh was positioning himself to take control of Kashmir and all the surrounding areas after the passing of Sikh monarch Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839.
In March 1831, Victor Jacquemon, a French botanist and geologist, paid a visit to Lahore during the reign of Ranjit Singh and met with the ruler. During a discussion between the Frenchman and the Sikh ruler, the latter inquired about Tibet and wanted to know details about the region. Jacquemon responded that Tibet was a land of "high altitude, cold weather, barren land" and was a "poor country". After hearing this description, Ranjit Singh is said to have replied that he "will not bother to conquer a poor country."
In 1834, after Zorawar Singh's success against Ladakh, Ranjit Singh forbade him from taking further action to avoid any conflicts with the Chinese.
According to Sohan Lal Suri's Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, Zorawar Singh, a Dogra general of the Sikh Empire, expressed interest in expanding into western Tibet for territorial gains during a meeting with Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the village of Jandiala Sher Khan in March 1836. However, Ranjit Singh did not grant permission for the proposed Tibetan military expedition. Ranjit Singh remarked that the Chinese emperor possessed an army of 1.2 million soldiers, so a war against them would not favour him.
According to Giani Gian Singh's Raj Khalsa, after the triumph of Zorawar Singh over the Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh, Zorawar Singh was rewarded with a siropa (robe of honour) and other gifts. Zorawar Singh then petitioned Ranjit Singh again for a campaign against the Tibetans for the purpose of annexing it into the Sikh Empire but the idea was again turned down as the time was not "opportune" as per Ranjit Singh. According to Inderjeet Singh, the Sikh monarch may have declined the proposition to invade Tibet because the terrain was difficult and the region was poor in natural resources.
After the Chinese did not respond to the Sikh hostilities against Ladakh, Nau Nihal Singh permitted Zorawar Singh to capture Iskardu from the Maqpon dynasty of Baltistan. Eventually, a later Sikh ruler, Sher Singh, agreed to Zorawar Singh's proposed campaign against Tibet.
The British East India Company was the predominant power in the Indian subcontinent at the time. It treated the Sikh Empire as a valuable ally against the Afghans, but it also had designs for its own pashmina trade with Tibet. Zorawar Singh's conquest of Ladakh broke the Kashmiri–Ladakhi monopoly on Tibet trade, and the Tibetan pashmina wool started finding its way into British territory. To regain the monopoly, Gulab Singh and Zorawar Singh turned their eyes towards Tibet.
From the early 18th century, Tibet had been under the protectorate of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. A Qing Amban (imperial resident) was stationed in Lhasa to report on the affairs of Tibet. Nevertheless, Qing China was fighting the First Opium War (1839–1842) with the British Empire when the Dogra invasion of Tibet took place.
Dogra invasion of Tibet
Zorawar Singh led a 4,000 men-strong force consisting of Ladakhis, Baltis and Kishtwaris with a Dogra core. The Tibetan estimate was 6,000 men. The Dogra forces had matchlocks and guns, while the Tibetans were mostly armed with bows, swords and spears.
Zorawar Singh divided his forces into three divisions, sending one via the Rupshu and Hanle, one along the Indus Valley towards Tashigang (Zhaxigang) and another along the Pangong Tso towards Rudok (Rutog). The first two contingents plundered the Buddhist monasteries at Hanle and Tashigang. The third division, commanded by Zorawar Singh, captured Rudok and then moved south, joining the other branches to attack Gartok.
The Tibetan border officials had, by then, sent an alert to Lhasa. The Tibetan government dispatched a force under the command of cabinet minister Pellhün. Meanwhile, Zorawar Singh had captured Gartok as well as Taklakot (Burang) near Nepal border. The Tibetan general at Taklakot was unable to hold the town and retreated to the Mayum La, the border between Western and Central Tibet.
Zorawar Singh invoked the historical claims of Ladakh to Western Tibet up to the Mayum Pass (originally called Ngari), which were exercised prior to the 1648 Treaty of Tingmosgang. All the captured forts were garrisoned, while the main force was encamped at Tirthapuri near Minsar, to the west of Lake Manasarovar. Administration was set up to rule the occupied territories. Minsar (also called Missar or Menshi), a Ladakhi enclave in Western Tibet, was used to store supplies.
The Chinese Amban at Lhasa reported to the emperor on 2 September 1841:
It has been learned that south of Ladakh there is a very large aboriginal tribe named Ren-chi-shen [Ranjit Singh]. Subordinate to this tribe are two smaller tribes-- Sa-re-shen [Sher Singh] and Ko-lang-shen [Gulab Singh], who together are known as the Shen-pa ["Singh people", possibly referring Sikhs and Dogra Rajputs together]. After the death of the Ladakhi ruler [Tshe-pal Nam-gyal], a certain Ladakhi chieftain had secret connections with the Shen-pa, who then occupied Ladakh. Now this Ladakhi chieftain is once again in league with the Shen-pa aborigines who have invaded Tibetan territory, occupied two of our military posts at Gartok and Rudok, and claimed the territory west of the Mayum that had formerly belonged to Ladakh. Actually they intended to occupy more territory than this.
British and Nepalese reactions
The Dogra conquest of Ladakh had been previously advantageous to the British. The disturbances in Ladakh caused the Tibetan shawl wool to be diverted to the princely state of Bushahr, a British dependency. But, now with the Dogra conquest of the Western Tibet, this trade was disrupted. The advance of Zorawar Singh's troops gave rise to vociferous complaints from the British to the Lahore durbar of the Sikh Empire. It was also reported that Zorawar Singh was exacting taxes from Bhotias under British protection in the Byans Valley. The British demanded that this should be immediately stopped and the villagers already assessed should be compensated.
Added to those concerns was the possibility of intercourse between the Dogras and the Nepalese, which might have encircled British territory in Kumaon and Garhwal. But such a relationship did not materialise. The Nepalese were sympathetic to the Ladakhis and also had ongoing relationships with the Tibetans. Even though they sent a mission to Zorawar Singh after his conquest of Taklakot, nothing further came out of it. Winter sojourn to the Dogras was refused.
Nevertheless, the British were apprehensive. The Governor General brought heavy pressure on the Sikhs to recall Zorawar Singh from Tibet, and set 10 December 1841 as the deadline.
Winter debacle
Fisher et al. state that, with the winter approaching, the Dogras were not inimical to withdrawing in strength if they could make a deal with the Tibetans. But they appear to have made too high demands for the Tibetans to accept. Sukhdev Singh Charak states that the Lahore Durbar responded to the British demands and ordered Zorawar Singh to return to Ladakh. In response, Zorawar Singh withdrew officers and troops from "advance posts" and from the British border, and promised to carry out the rest of the withdrawal after the snows cleared. Charak opines that these military movements, made to appease the British, weakened Zorawar Singh's position.
Tibetan reinforcements arrived in November in considerable numbers. Alexander Cunningham estimated 10,000 troops. The Mayum Pass was covered with snow, but the troops bypassed it via Matsang. After severe fighting, Taklakot was retaken on 9 November 1841. Detachments were sent forward to cut Dogra communication lines. Reconnaissance missions sent by Zorawar Singh were annihilated.
Eventually, Zorawar Singh decided to risk everything in an all-out campaign to recapture Taklakot. Fighting raged indecisively for three weeks. In an attempt to cut the supply lines of the Tibetan forces at Taklakot, Zorawar Singh's forces marched on a side route from Minsar, along the upper course of the Karnali River, and encamped at Kardung (Kardam). The Tibetans calculated that they intended to intercept the supply line at a place called Do-yo, slightly to the north of Taklakot. According to the Tibetan report from the battlefield:
During this period, there was a great snowstorm and snow accumulated to the depth of several feet. A well-disguised ambush was carefully laid, in which a road was left open through the middle of our lines up which the enemy could advance. The invaders marched on Do-yo from 7 A.M. to 9 A.M. on the second day, 11th month [14 December 1841]. These forces included the troops stationed at their new fort at Chi-t'ang in addition to the force led by the Wazir [Zorawar Singh], the Shen-pa commander. They advanced in three units with flags flying and drums beating. General Pi-hsi led his troops to resist their advance. The invaders fell into the ambush that had been prepared and their rearguard was cut off and could not maneuver. They were attacked by our forces from all sides.
Zorawar Singh was wounded in the battle, but he continued to fight with a sword. He was beheaded by Tibetan soldiers. Three hundred of the Dogra troops were killed in combat and about seven hundred were captured, the descendants of these soldiers lived in Tibet for many generations, most of them converting to Islam, and the rest fled to Ladakh. The Tibetans pursued them up to Dumra (Nubra Valley, possibly Durbuk), a day's journey from Leh, where they encamped. For many years there was a popular Tibetan story that Zorawar Singh was killed by a golden bullet, as they did not believe he could be killed by regular ones.
Tibetan invasion of Ladakh
The Sino-Tibetan force then mopped up the other garrisons of the Dogras and advanced on Ladakh, now determined to conquer it and add it to the Imperial Chinese dominions. However the force under Mehta Basti Ram withstood a siege for several weeks at Chi-T’ang before escaping with 240 men across the Himalayas to the British post of Almora. Within Ladakh the Sino-Tibetan army laid siege to Leh, when reinforcements under Diwan Hari Chand and Wazir Ratnu arrived from Jammu and repulsed them. The Tibetan fortifications at Drangtse were flooded when the Dogras dammed up the river. On open ground, the Chinese and Tibetans were chased to Chushul. The climactic Battle of Chushul (August 1842) was won by the Dogras, who killed the Tibetan army's general to avenge the death of Zorawar Singh.