Kampu-i-mu'alla[edit]

The Kampu-i-mu'alla, the State Troops of the Royal Camp, was the trained division of the Sikh Khalsa Army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In 1822, after Ranjit Singh gave employment to the European mercenaries, the Fauj-i-Ain divided into the Kampu-i-mu'alla and the Fauj-i-Khas. Till, 1836, the larger unit, the Kampu-i-mu'alla, was led only by Hindu or Sikh generals, while the smaller unit, the Fauj-i-Khas, was commanded by the Europeans. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the commander-in-chief of the Fauj-i-Ain and the State Troops were stationed in Lahore.

Background[edit]

The Sukerchakia forces inherited by Ranjit Singh from his father and grandfather comprised of irregular cavalry, well-suited to meet the contingencies presented in the north west frontier of the Indian subcontinent in the eighteenth century. The meteoric rise of the Company impressed upon the Sikh leader the importance of learning the enemy's art of warfare, and Ranjit Singh commenced training a section of his army in the art of European (British) warfare in the first decade of the nineteenth century. The Kampu-i-mu'alla was built to protect the eastern frontier of the Sikh Empire bordering with territories under the protection of the East India Company.

Formation[edit]

Initially, Ranjit Singh's standing army comprised principally irregular cavalry with a small section of trained cavalry and infantry. The formal divisions in the Sikh Khalsa Army emerged after 1823, the year the Sikh army faced the challenge of the Durrani Empire in the Battle of Nowshera fought in the trans-Indus region. Ranjit Singh's first-hand experience along this frontier made it clear that a single force would not be able to meet the challenges posed along the two frontiers of his empire.

Size[edit]

The earliest trained cavalry in the Sikh Khalsa Army were deserters from the Company's army. By 1808, a section of mounted troops in the Royal Camp went through a cavalry drill. Between 1819 and 1838, the strength of the trained cavalry in the Kampu-i-mu'alla saw a five-fold rise, from 837 to 4,090.The first mention of infantry in the Sikh Khalsa Army is in 1803. In three decades beginning 1811, the enrolment of foot soldiers saw a ten-fold rise, while the strength of the artillery increased fourfold. ^[1]

Commanders[edit]

Dewan Mokham Chand till 1814

Lala Ram Dayal, grandson of Dewan Mokham Chand, till 1820

Misr Diwan Chand till 1825

Misr Sukh Dayal, brother of Misr Diwan Chand, till 1824

Tej Singh, 1834 to 1836

In 1836, Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave the joint command of the Kampu-i-mu'alla to Tej Singh and Ventura

^ Nalwa, Vanit (2022). Ranjit Singh—Monarch Mystique (1780-1839). New Delhi: Hari Singh Nalwa Foundation Trust. p. 55. ISBN 978-81-910526-1-9.

[1] Nalwa, Vanit (2022). Ranjit Singh—Monarch Mystique (1780-1839). New Delhi: Hari Singh Nalwa Foundation Trust. p. 55. ISBN 978-81-910526-1-9.

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