1837
Battle of Jamrud
The setting
Jamrud, at the eastern mouth of the Khyber Pass
The fort at Jamrud, built by the Sikhs to cork the Khyber, with a small garrison and no relief within reach.
Reveal the outcome
Recorded sideEmirate of Kabul
Recorded resultwithdrew; the fort was not taken and the army returned to Kabul
Inconclusive, and claimed by both. The Afghan army failed to take Jamrud or force the pass and withdrew; the Sikhs kept the position and lost the commander who had made the frontier theirs.
How the atlas explains it
Neither side got what it came for, which is why the atlas takes no position. Jamrud held because a very small garrison in a fort denied a very large army the one road it needed, long enough for relief to matter. The Afghan force could not invest and storm quickly enough, and could not stay. Hari Singh Nalwa's death is why the battle is remembered as a Sikh disaster despite the ground being held.
What followed
⚠ THE OUTCOME IS CONTESTED IN THE PRESENT AND THIS ENTRY DOES NOT RESOLVE IT. Afghan accounts treat Jamrud as a victory because Nalwa died and the Sikh advance stopped; Sikh accounts treat it as a victory because the fort held and Kabul withdrew. Both are describing the same day. It is the lane's type case for a battle whose result depends on whether you count ground or people.