General Zorawar Singh

The achievements of the great warrior Zorawar Singh are spectacular in the military history of India.

Zorawar Singh

His exploits compared with Lalitidatiya Muktpeeth, the great ruler of Kashmir who led several military expeditions to Ladakh and Tibet.

Zorawar Singh was not only a great warrior, an able ruler, and brave and courageous, but also a religious person with a loyal and faithful attitude towards his master.

It was due to his bravery that Ladakh became a part of the State Maharaja Gulab Singh and is now an integral part of India.

This great Army General defeated and annexed the difficult an inaccessible regions of Ladakh, Baltistan, and Skurd with the State of Jammu and led expeditions towards Tibet.

Zorawar Singh and his 5000 soldiers marched for 6 days from Jammu to Leh after crossing several glaciers and reached at a height of 19.000 feet.

Out of the total region of Ladakh annexed by the army of great General Zorawar Singh, about 36,000 sq. Km area has been occupied by China after the Indo- China War of 1962. Another 6000 sq Km. is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.  

Life History

Zorawar  Singh was born in April 1786,. His father Harjay Singh Thakur was a Chandrashi Rajput at village Hasra Amauza Hyanthol, in Nadaun tehsil of District Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh. His father was a courtier in Kehlour State.

Zorawar Singh left the home and went to Haridwar after a land dispute in the family. After serving the armies of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh of Punjab and Maharaja Sansar Chand of Kangra, he went to Jummu.

At Jummu, Zorawar Singh met Maharaj Gulab Singh and the latter took him into the services. On 10^th December 1841, Zorawar Singh clashed with the Tibetan army at a place called Yuu. Zorawar Sing had 2,000 soldiers, while the Tibetan army of Lahsa consisted of 10,000 militias.

Death of Zorawar Singh

On 12^th December 1840, Zorawar Singh received a bullet injury, but he continued fighting with his sword. Then suddenly a spear pierced his back. He was surrounded by the enemies and was ultimately martyred.

On being impressed by the bravery of Zorawar Singh, the Tibetans built his memorial called the “Chortan of Zorawar Singh” at Yuu. Still, the remains of this memorial could be seen there.

But he succeeded in annexing the regions of Ladakh to the state of Jammu.