Though most colonial gaming is done at the "skirmish level, " sometimes large organzied armies clashed. The battles in the 1840s along India's Northwest Frontier were one of these occasions. Volley and Bayonet is a good way to represent battles with quick, uncomplicated rules that can be played at a variety of scales. -RG

The wars between the Sikh state in the Punjab marked the end of any serious outside challenge to British supremacy in India (barring the 1857-58 Mutiny). Though the North West frontier remained a flashpoint, the activities of the Pathans and other Afghan tribes never came as close to replacing the British as the dominant military power in India as did the Sikhs in 1845-46. The British (in the guise of the Honorable East India Company) were bent on securing control of their posessions in India, and gradually encroached on the Sikh state of Punjab. Maharajah Ranjit Singh -- ruler of the Sikh state -- was a nominal supporter of the British in India, and worked with the British to keep tension between the two at a minimum. Ranjit Singh confined his expansion to subduing the Afghans on Punjab's western frontier.

Following Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, a struggle for power erupted that saw a sucession of weak rulers. Their favorite pastime seemed to be replacing each other by increasingly nefarious means. The leaders of the Sikh army -- the Khalsa -- were poised to move into the leadership vacumn created by the political leaders. The recent British disaster of the 1st Afghan war, had seriously eroded the Sikh's fear of the Company's army, while the annexation of Sind by Charles Napier had increased Sikh fears of British annexation. A plan emerged for the Sikh Army to cross the Sutlej river and force the British to guarentee Sikh sovereignty. Exactly how the Sikh Army was supposed to accomplish this was left unsaid, and few objectives were set for the campaign.

Some historians viewed this a a deliberate attempt by the politicians to weaken the Khalsa at the hands of the British. Whatever the motivation, December 1845 saw a large Sikh army cross into British India and then stop, apparently awaiting the British.

More Sikh War: NW Frontier Conflict 1845

Introduction
British Army
Sikh Army: The Khalsa
Period Volley Bayonet Rules