# Raja Muhammad Sarwar

Captain Raja Muhammad Sarwar (Urdu: راجہ محمد سرور; 10 November 1910 – 27 July 1948) NH, BS, better known as Muhammad Sarwar Bhatti, was a Pakistani military officer who was cited as the first recipient of Pakistan's highest military award, Nishan-e-Haider, for his gallantry and actions of valor during the First Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–48.

## Biography

Raja Muhammad Sarwar was born to a Punjabi Muslim Bhatti family in a small village, Singhori, that was located in the vicinity of the Gujar Khan Tehsil, Rawalpindi District, Punjab, British India in British Indian Empire on 10 November 1910. He was a military brat whose father, Raja Muhammad Hayat Khan, was an enlist in the British Indian Army, retiring at the rank of Havildar.
He was educated in government-run schools in Rawalpindi District and secured his matriculation from a local school in Faisalabad in 1928. After graduation, he followed his father, Havildar Muhammad Hyatt, path and enlisted in the British Indian Army in 1929 as a Sepoy, where he was posted with the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Baloch Regiment (2/10th Baloch Regiment) of the Baloch Regiment (present 7th Battalion The Baloch Regiment (Steadfast Battalion)). From 1929 until 1939, he worked hard towards reacting the one of the highest enlisted ranks and was eventually promoted to Naib Subedar and posted in supply and ammunition with the Pakistan Army Service Corps in 1939.
In 1939, Sarwar was invited to attend the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and completed his military training before gaining a commission in the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment (2/1st Punjab Regiment) of the British Indian Army in 1943. In 1944, 2nd-Lt. Sarwar briefly served in Burma with distinction during military operations there that earned him the Burma Star from the British administrations in Delhi in India.
In 1944, 2nd-Lt. Sarwar was posted to an administrative position in the Punjab Regiment — he was promoted to Lieutenant in 1945–46. In the British Indian Army personnel accounts, Sarwar was known to be "a serious man with no nonsense and deeply religious who would practice his religion, Islam, devotedly and offered five prayers everyday ... "

### Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-1948

In 1946–47, Lt. Sarwar was promoted to army captain and decided to attend the signal course before he was recommissioned in the Pakistan Army Corps of Signals in 1947, and directed towards attending the Military College of Signals. After hearing the news of the First Kashmir War between India and Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir, Sarwar immediately wanted to volunteer. He refrained due to his officers wanting him to complete his studies in military signals, which he completed after a year. In 1948, Captain Sarwar took command of the 2nd Battalion of the Punjab Regiment of the Pakistan Army and was deployed on the frontline.
A march towards Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir was commenced under Sarwar, and he led an attack on the organized Indian Army's troops, forcing them to retreat from Gilgit-Baltistan to Ladakh on 26 July 1948. Sarwar's company followed the Indian Army's troops to the Uri region where his unit faced off the strongly fortified enemy position located in that sector. His company was only 50 yards away from the fortified enemy position as the Indian Army's soldiers begin mortar shelling his positions, and received instructions on leading the attack on the left side of the bunker where the shelling was taking place.$^{:88}$ Moving towards the new position, his passage was blocked due to barbed wire and he decided to advance to cut the wire, taking six men with him.$^{:88}$ During the firefight, Sarwar used a bolt cutter to cut the wire, and took a bullet from machine gun fire.$^{:89}$
On 27 July 1948, Captain Sarwar was killed while clearing the passage. He was 38 years old at the time.$^{:188}$

### Family background and personal life

Muhammad Sarwar's father, Raja Muhammad Hayat Khan, had served in the British Indian Army and was decorated with the British war medal for his services in World War I. Muhammad Hayat retired as a Havildar Sergeant and died on 23 November 1932. Muhammad Sarwar had three brothers and one sister. Muhammad Sarwar married in an arranged marriage in 1936 and had a son and a daughter.

## Nishan-e-Haider

The body of Sarwar is buried at the Hill of Tilpatra which is near the Uri in Indian Kashmir where he was buried on 27 July 1948. It was on 23 March 1956 when the Government of Pakistan recognized his services as the Parliament of Pakistan authorized to posthumously award the Nishan-E-Haider (Eng. lit. Emblem of the Lion) for his meritorious services, which was awarded to him by the President of Pakistan. The Presidential Nishan-e-Haider citation on his grave is written in Urdu; and it reads with translation as:

### Citation

Battle of Pandu at Tripatra hill in Uri:
   CAPT RAJA MUHAMMAD SARWAR
   Battle of Tilpatra in Uri: When Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared Jihad in Kashmir and ordered Pakistan Army to participate in it. Captain Sarwar were participating in a course in GHQ's School of Signals. His unit 2 Punjab Regiment entered Kashmir to face the enemy. As soon as the course ended he persisted to take permission to participate in Jihad of Kashmir, with his unit which was granted. He was appointed as the signals officer. He offered to fight the enemy at Tilpatra hill. On 27 July 1948, he took his men with him and attacked the enemy. The enemy opened fire with machine guns, artillery and mortars. He kept on advancing. His machine gunner got killed. He took hold of his gun and attacked. When a second gunner arrived he handed over the machine gun to him. He, along with some soldiers, advanced from another side and destroyed a machine gun of the enemy and advanced There was barbed wire, which he cut himself and let the soldiers pass through it and led the assault on the enemy. During this time, a burst from the automatic machine gun of the enemy injured him. His actions in the battle of Tipatra led him to be posthumously presented with the Nishan-e-Haider.
In 1967, the Government of Pakistan established a marble tomb in his memory to offer remembrance of his military career highlights and martyrdom to Pakistani society. Additional funding was secured in 1990 by Imtiaz Warraich, the MP to expand the facility in Sarwars' memory.

## In memory

In 1968, a paintings exhibition was inaugurated in Lahore, Pakistan depicting Pakistani war heroes including the first sketched portrait of Muhammad Sarwar.
In 1991, he was the subject of a biographical war telefilm, "Captain Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed" produced and directed by Qasim Jilali of the Pakistan Television Corporation. In addition, the federal government established a community college, the Sarwar Shaheed College, in his honour near his birthplace in the Gujar Khan.

### Gallery

* Inscription about the life of Muhammad Sarwar on his tomb.
* The memorial to Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed (Nishah e Haider) at his tomb.

## Awards and decorations

| Nishan-e-Haider (Emblem of the Lion) 1947-48 War Posthumously | Nishan-e-Haider (Emblem of the Lion) 1947-48 War Posthumously | Pakistan Tamgha (Pakistan Medal) 1947 | Pakistan Tamgha (Pakistan Medal) 1947 |
| 1939-1945 Star | Burma Star | War Medal 1939-1945 | India Service Medal 1939–1945 |

### Foreign decorations

Foreign Awards :
| UK | 1939-1945 Star |
| UK | Burma Star |
| UK | War Medal 1939-1945 |
| UK | India Service Medal 1939–1945 |