Battle of Nowshera The Battle of Nowshera was fought in March 1823 between the forces of Pashtun tribesmen with support from Muhammad Azem Khan Barakzai , Durrani governor against the Army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh . The battle was a decisive victory for the Sikhs and led to their occupation of the Peshawar valley . Background . In 1818 , Ranjit Singh made an aggressive push against the Durranis , defeating the Kabul Vizier and Muhammad Azem Khan Barakzai he pushed as far as Peshawar , which under the Durrani Governor ( and Azem Khan ' s brother ) Yar Muhammad Khan accepted his rule and paid tribute as a vassal . With this victory Ranjit Singh withdrew from the Peshawar valley leaving a small garrison in a newly constructed fort at Khairabad , modern day Nowshera . This was in turn followed by Ranjit Singh ' s capture of Kashmir in 1819 from Azem Khan ' s other brother Jabbar Khan . Angered by his defeats , Azem Khan recaptured Peshawar in 1822 , he made a call for jihad against the Sikhs and hurried to Nowshera where Muhammad Zaman Khan successfully destroyed the bridge at Attock , effectively trapping the Sikh garrisons west of the Indus . However Ranjit Singh had already reinforced his forces in Nowshera including general Hari Singh Nalwa with backing from Pashtun tribes loyal to Shah Shuja . These forces successfully repulsed attacks by Pashtun ghazis and Durrani troops at Jahangira and withdrew to Nowshera hoping to link up with Ranjit Singh . Battle . Ranjit Singh by this point had brought up his army to the east of Hund , on the opposite bank , a lashkar of thousands of fighters led by Syed Ahmad Shah of Buner had started forming . Despite the odds , Ranjit Singh ' s forces crossed the Indus under fierce attacks . The lashkar then withdrew to Pir Sabak hill where they concentrated their forces and hoped to gain support from the Durrani troops and their artillery under Azem Khan . Azem Khan for unknown reasons , did not cross the Kabul River straight away to link up with the tribesmen . Ranjit Singh realising the situation concentrated his artillery and infantry on the lashkar and left a small detachment under General Ventura to forestall any crossing by Azem Khan . What proceeded was ferocious hand - to - hand fights between the Tribal lashkar and the Sikh Khalsa . Finally after the fourth attack , led personally by Ranjit Singh and his personal bodyguard themselves the hill was carried . By the late evening the lashkar realised that Azem Khan had withdrawn from the battle and abandoned his allies . This coupled with the withering attacks by the Sikh artillery , broke the lashkar ' s resolve and thought willing to rally again under their Pir Ahmad Shah they dispersed in disarray , the Sikh victory was complete . Aftermath . Swiftly securing Nowshera , Ranjit Singh ' s forces captured Peshawar and reached Jamrud itself . Destroying the remains of Durrani power , they reduced Peshawar to ruins and secured the Khyber Pass so no Durrani reinforcements could threaten them again . The tribesman of Khattaks and Yousafzai s suffered enormous casualties due to the Sikh artillery and the seeming betrayal by the Muhammadzai Sardars led to a lack of trust in the Durranis ' word from then onwards . Azem Khan ' s retreat has never been explained fully , some say he believed his brother had returned to recapture Peshawar at the behest of the Sikhs , others attribute his retreat to cowardice or fear of being cut off by the ferocious Sikh attack . He did not recover from the shock of the defeat and died shortly after the battle . Ranjit Singh ' s victory was to mark the highpoint of his campaigns , his empire now stretched from the Khyber Pass to the west , to the north Kashmir and to the south Multan . With this victory he planned to eventually push further west and take the Afghan capital of Kabul itself .