Remembering the Battle of Dubbo

Remembering the Battle of Dubbo – March 24, 1843

At first glance, the Battle of Dubbo seems to be a lost cause. However, if one looks closely, Sher-i-Sindh Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur and his valiant Baloch soldiers set the groundwork for a new struggle. The Battle of Miani fought on February 17th, 1843, was a defeat. However, Mir Sher Muhammad initiated the heroic and endless new battle of peace-loving Sindhis for the liberation of their home and the restoration of their rights at Dubbo.

At the ending of the Battles of Miani and Dubbo, if the British camp had seen the agonizing screams of dying Captain Richardson and Dimitrios, the Baloch camp of Mir Jan Muhammad Talpur, Mir Ghulam Shah Talpur, Mir Ismail Talpur, and their hundreds of devoted troops such as Hosh Muhammad Sheedi also gasped their last breaths. Before they fell into their motherland’s laps, each of them raised his bloodsoaked lips and pledged:

Sindh my mother, my beloved Jeejal!
I’ve drunk this martyrdom on your command
I’m going to other’s worlds, but I’ll be back
After altering the course of ages and hoisting the banner of justice to the skies
I’ll return when the circumstances warrant it
Sindh my mother, my beloved Jeejal!
When the veils of darkness fell, and cruelties reigned supreme
When nights triumph over days, when falsehoods triumph over facts, I’ll return and offer my head once again
Sindh my mother, my beloved Jeejal!
For your cause, I’ll counter curbs and cruelties
I’ll return from there, chanting slogans of sacrifice
I’ll return, defend, and confront my martyrdom again and again, and I’ll fade for virtuousness.
I’ll rise again if crucified, but today I’m journeying to other’s worlds, only to return from there!

March 24, 1843, dusk was not your typical twilight. The western sky was ablaze with conflagrations. The sun, as it sank beyond the horizons, had already begun to shed red tears. And underneath those blood-red skies, the heroic sons of the soil watered their nation with their blood! The ambiance was as gloomy and still as death! Every day, the sun sets, yet it has never been as dark and dreadful as it was on that fateful day. The nightfall arrived, and with it the divine call for martyrs’ souls to go on their journey into eternal!

The heavens and angels gaped astoundingly at Dubbo’s arena! The afternoon’s conflict between Life and Death was resolved by twilight. Sindh fell into a deep sleep and solitude, as silent as Makli’s! Mir Jan Muhammad Talpur’s assertions were correct. He chanted, ‘Mar waysun par Sindh na ddaysun‘. They died, but Sindh was not ‘given’ to them. Napier obtained it only after they were slain.

Since that dreadful day, Sindh has been pleading with Sher-i-Sindh and Shuhada-i-Sindh to keep their promise and to resurrect like the Phoenix in the hearts of every Sindhi. We must imbue their energy in our souls to resurrect Sindh from its placid slumber! Let us commemorate the 24th of March each year as Sindh’s National Day.

Editor’s note: Portions of the preceding content were adapted from Amar Jalil’s Sindhi article (especially the poetry). All credit should be given to him, and any omissions, commissions, translations, or other errors should be attributed to the editor.