history of jammu and kashmir rifles

a communication to this effect from Zorawar Singh, the authorities at Lhasa despatched their officerin-charge
frontier, General Pi-hsi to Western Tibet to make arrangements for meeting the situation that
might arise as a result of the Dogra 'pilgrimage'. The reaction of the Lhasa Government and Pi-hsi,
however, appears to have been rather slow. By the time the Tibetan General crossed over the Mayum
Pass to make an on the spot study, he found that the Dogras had already made a dangerously deep
thrust into Tibet. The best Pi-hsi could do was to try and defend what little portion of Western Tibet still
remained unoccupied by the Dogras. Accordingly after sending a report of his findings to Lhasa, he
hastened to Taklakot to arrange the defence of that area in conjunction with the Gonpo of Gartok, who
had retreated to this place after his defeat at Dogpacha. Before Zorawar Singh's arrival at Taklakot,
Pi-hsi was able to mobilize about 1000 troops with the help of which he planned to hold out till the
arrival of reinforcements, for which he had forwarded a request to Lhasa. He was however, unable to
withstand the Dogra onslaught for that long and vacating Taklakot under pressure, he withdrew east
of the Mayum Pass, Taklakot was then occupied by a Dogra force under Mehta Basti Ram by the
middle of September 1841, and with this all Tibet, West of the Mayum Pass was now in Dogra hands.
In fact some 550 sq miles of Tibetan territory had been conquered by the Dogras in an operation
lasting not more than three and a half months.
Pi-hsi's report to his -Government, depicting the gravity of the situation, had reached Lhasa around
15 August. Consequently a large force under Kahlon Surkhang had been despatched to the aid of Pihsi
from Lhasa on 29 August. As Pi-hsi now waited impatiently for these reinforcements to be able to
launch his offensive, Zorawar Singh got busy consolidating his gains. He constructed fortresses in the
Dogra fashion at all the important places on his line of communication with Ladakh, such as Gartok,
Rudok, Tirathpuri, Churit, Chumurti, and Taklakot and stationed Dogra garrisons in them. He also took
steps for the pacification of the subjugated people by associating them in the governance of their land.
The British learnt of the Dogra invasion of Tibet sometime in the middle of July 1841 and they
immediately contacted the Lahore Durbar for confirmation and details. Maharaja Sher Singh and his
Prime Minister, however, remained evasive in their replies in a bid to gain time for Zorawar Singh to
complete his task. Information regarding Zorawar Singh's activities trickled out of Tibet nevertheless
and the British, whom the Dogra Wazir had rubbed on the wrong side by instituting measures for
regulating the shawl-wool trade through Ladakh instead of British Indian territory, were obliged to
initiate proceedings with the Lahore Durbar for the withdrawal of the Jammu Army from Tibet. On the
insistence of the British, Maharaja Sher Singh is known to have issued the necessary orders but by
then winter had set in and with all the passes closed, communication with Zorawar Singh had become
difficult if not impossible. Consequently the Maharaja's orders probably never reached him and,
oblivious of what was going on between the Maharaja and the British, he worked on unhindered
towards securing his position in the occupied territory before the Tibetan offensive which, he
appreciated, could not be launched earlier than the spring of 1842
Even as these arrangements were being made, Zorawar Singh himself moved back to Tirathpuri
where he intended to spend the winter months before the Tibetan offensive. While at Tirathpuri he
took time off for a holy bath in the Manasarovar Lake and- offered a golden idol .at the Kailash temple
in fulfilment of his long cherished desire.
Kahlon Surkhang arrived at the head of his multitudinous force, East of Mayum Pass on 2 October.
By this time the Pass had closed due to a heavy snowfall and the Tibetan Army found itself stranded
East of it. Every thing seemed to be going Zorawar's way and knowing the strong position that he was
in, he offered to vacate the occupied territory on terms so humiliating to the Tibetans that they rejected
them offhand. But as things turned out Zorawar Singh had for once miscalculated and had not taken
into consideration the Matsang Pass to the South of Mayum which was quite negotiable even during
winter. The security of the Mayum Pass under which he was dictating terms was, therefore, false. This
he was to soon realize when descending from the Matsang Pass a strong Tibetan force surprised the
Dogras at Taklakot early in November and invested the place. The Tibetans then sent across more
detachments to surround the various other Dogra posts and picquets. A small Dogra Garrison of
about 100 men under the command of Awtara at Karadam was overpowered and put to the sword.
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