NARAINGARH, a small town on the Chandigarh-Barwala-Nahan road, has a fortress that not many know about. Now occupied by the Haryana police, this fortress was once occupied by hill soldiers who belonged to the state of Sirmaur (Nahan). The fortress was attacked by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab, who was their chief enemy. The Maharaja, who ruled from his capital in Lahore, had brought under his banner not only the Sikh misls but also the ruling chiefs of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Faridkot and the rulers of Jammu-Kashmir, Kangra hills, Chamba and Mandi. His sway was undisputed over Multan, Ladakh and parts of Afghanistan.

Khushwant Singh writes in his book A History of the Sikhs:"On his return from Multan, the Maharaja received second invitation to visit Patiala. On his way back from Patiala, Ranjit Singh ordered an assault on Naraingarh, where the Raja of Sirmaur, who had refused to acknowledge the durbar, was at that time. Naraingarh was taken after a heavy loss of life and among those killed was Fateh Singh Kalianwala who was a Sandhu Jat Chieftain and had joined Ranjit Singh very early, and was with him in the capture of Lahore. He served his master in many campaigns, with great zeal and fell fighting at Naraingarh on October 25, 1807."

The ruler of Sirmaur (Nahan) at that time was Raja Karam Prakash, youngest and third son of Raj Kirat who during his reign had extended the boundaries of his kingdom up to Nogli-ka-Khala near Rampur, Shimla, Nikral-ka-Gad in Garhwal and Kiratpur, near Pinjore. Karam Prakash’s elder brother Jagat Prakash, during his reign, had defeated the famous Rohilla chief Ghulam Qadir who had blinded Mughal ruler Shah Alam in the battle of Kiarda Doon near Paonta Sahib. To commemorate the victory, the temple of Katasan Devi was erected at Baraban, 11 miles from Nahan. Jagat Prakash died issueless. Karam Prakash’s second brother Dharama Prakash, too, died issueless, fighting against Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra.

This fort was once occupied by soldiers belonging to the state of Sirmaur

Thus the burden of looking after the state fell on Karam Prakash, who along with the throne inherited a kingdom plagued with court intrigues. Besides, there was the danger of getting attacked by the Nepalese army under Amar Singh Thappa, who after capturing Kumaon and Garhwal was camping in Dehra Dun.

When Maharaja Ranjit Singh advanced towards Nahan, the two armies met at Naraingarh, 17 miles from Nahan. The Sirmaur forces were led by Garrison Commander Kanwar Kishan Singh, a cousin of the Raja of Sirmaur. Ranjit Singh’s army attacked the fort in full strength. It was like a hurricane, bent upon mowing down whatever came in its way... yet, little did the great generals and the great army know that a handful of Paharis (hill men) holed up in a small fort would be able to withstand the ‘storming assault’. In his book History of Punjab, Sayad Mohammad Latif states:"As Ranjit Singh marched towards Nahan, he extracted tribute from Rani Dia Kaur, widow of Sardar Gurbaksh Singh of Ambala, Bhai Lal Singh of Kaithal, Gurdit Singh and Karam Singh of Shahbad, Bhagwan Singh of Buria, Jodh Singh of Kalsia and all the Sikh sardars of Sirhind. He then marched to reduce Naraingarh, a strong fort between Ambala and the hills, held by Kanwar Kishan Singh.

"An attempt to carry it by storm having failed, the fort was closely invested. The besieged held out heroically for nearly three weeks and repeatedly repulsed the enemy in their attempts to capture the fort, inflicting heavy losses upon them on each occasion. The fort was ultimately stormed and taken by the Maharaja’s troops led on by Fateh Singh Kalianwala, Ranjit Singh’s famous general. This was the last fight in which he ever engaged, he being killed in the assault. In this engagement two other chiefs of the Maharaja were killed, Sardar Mohan Singh and Dewa Singh Bhandari, while all together the Maharaja lost four hundred." Naraingarh thus fell in the hands of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who handed it over to his confidant Fateh Singh Ahluwalia.

With so many killed and wounded in the battle, Maharaja Ranjit Singh did not advance further into Sirmaur. This task was accomplished by the Nepalese army, which came to the aid of Sirmaur but later conquered its territory. Besides Sirmaur, Nepalese ruler Amar Singh Thappa also conquered Nalagarh, Bilaspur, Mandi, Chamba and Kangra, which he governed on the behalf of the ruler of Nepal from 1809 to 1814. He established his headquarters at Arki in Solan district. He was finally defeated in a battle fought at the Malaun fort near Bilaspur, with the combined armies of all the hill rulers (except that of the Raja of Kehloor, Bilaspur) and the army of the East India Company. This ultimately paved the way for British rule over the entire Himalayan hill state.