Sindh Rulers with Coins

The rule was passed to Mir Mohammad Naseer Khan in 1841 as mentioned above. In the same year Sir Charles Napier was sent to Sindh to achieve the ultimate goal of annexation of Sindh to the British Empire. Differences between the Talpurs began to crop up anew and the old grievances came to fore. There were differences between the sons of Mir Nur Mohammad. Mir Sobhdar Khan in Hyderabad and Mir Ali Murad in Khairpur failed to realize that the English would eventually not be their friends either. The British presented new terms for a treaty and Mir Naser Khan was an unwilling signatory as there were many unjust demands. The British wanted Karachi, Thatta and Bakhaar permanently. They wanted the Mint to be closed and no taxation for their traders. They wanted to replace Mir Rustam with his brother Mir Ali Murad and kept making unjust demands on him. Eastwick says that at one point Mir Rustam was so fed up with their demands that he said he couldn't accept them. After all, he was a Baluch. "A Glance at Sindh Before Napier " by Eastwick presents the true picture of those times. Napier forced Mir Rustam to go to Hyderabad. Mirsahib was old and ailing at that time. The Talpurs and other Baluchs were infuriated at this. To make the matters worse, Napier started his incursion towards Hyderabad to provoke the Baluchs. He confiscated Mir Rustam's possessions on flimsy pretexts in December 1842. Napier continued his provocations by words and deeds. The Baluchs knew for certain that Napier would use the logic of the wolf that is bent upon devouring the sheep and not relent even if all his demands were met. They decided to meet force with force. On the 05th of February Major Outram's post near Kotri was attacked but he embarked on the steamer and escaped. Napier had camped near Miani and the Baluchs assembled there to fight it out. On 17 February the opposing forces met. The Baluchs surpassed all in valor and bravery. Mir Jan Mohammad Talpur charged into the English camp and attacked Outram who narrowly escaped his chance by jumping off his horse. Mir Jan Mohammad's grave is in Miani. One Baluch, bayoneted by a British soldier and unable to reach the opponent with his sword, pushed the bayonet and the rifle through his own body and killed the opponent. The British say their casualties were 62 killed and 194 wounded. The casualties on the Baluch side are estimated to be six times higher. The Baluchs were defeated and had to retreat. Valor alone has never been and can never on its own be the determining factor in the outcome of any battle. Discipline and planning played a much more important role and on February 17th 1843, won the day for the British. Had the outcome of the Battle at Miani been different it would have changed the history of the sub-continent. It could have been different if only the Talpurs had realized that the British would never abide by the agreements they were making. The next day Mir Naseer Khan surrendered to Charles Napier. He and others were then arrested and sent in exile to Calcutta and other places in India. The houses were looted even the ladies were not spared. Finally, the English had gotten Sindh. Mir Sher Mohammad of Mirpur Khas tried to rally his forces. He fought against the English at Dabbo near Hyderabad on March 24 , 1843 but his forces too were defeated and no change could be brought to the state of things. The British had wormed their way into Sindh through deceit and intrigues but conquered it through force of arms and that was the only recourse for them in sustaining their illegal rule here. Thus British extinguishes the state on 12 Feb 1843 and makes Sindh as a part of Bombay Presidency, British India. A comment here is irresistible: Sir Charles James Napier, was a British general and Commander-in-Chief of India, who conquered Sindh in 1843, sent to London on the completion of his mission what is perhaps the most succinct dispatch in the annals of military history, and one which also provides an extremely rare multi-lingual triple pun: he scrawled the single word "Peccavi", which is Latin for "I have sinned".