Trans-Himalayan campaigns of Gen Zorawar Singh Col J P Singh Gen Zorawar Singh was born on 15 April 1786 at Kahlur, in neighboring Himachal. Later as General of Jammu Raja Gulab Singh, he launched Trans-Himalayan campaigns starting on 15 April 1834 with an army of 5000 and within 8 years conquered Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Western Tibet. His Martyrdom on 12 December 1841 ended a saga of remarkable valour of a legendary military commander who took Indian boundaries up to Central Asian Republics. But Prof. R R Sharma’s article “Amazing Vision of Jammu : Janus Faced” in Daily Excelsior on 28 – 11- 2020, wherein he has belittled Gen Zorawar Singh and cast aspersions on those military historians who have called him ‘Napoleon of the East’, left me nonplussed. That prompts me to highlight his Trans-Himalayas conquests to undo the damage done by Prof Sharma. Prof Sharma says, “Gen Zorawar Singh won the battles against smaller forces. When confronted with a large force he succumbed whereas Napoleon conquered entire Europe but got defeated at the hands of Russians because of severe winter. Hence Gen Zorawar Singh stands too small to be compared with Napoleon”. Whereas contrary is the case. In December 1841 Gen Zorawar Singh fought in minus 40 t0 50 Degree temperature. Russian and Moscow’s terrain and climate is certainly not as bad as Himalayan. Coming to the comparison, Napoleon attacked Russia in September 1812 with 6,85,000 massive army out of which 4 Lakh were French whereas Zorawar Singh marched into Tibet with 5,000 soldiers. In the face of Great French Army, Russians followed a strategy of fighting withdrawal inflicting heavy casualties on attacking forces to the tune of bloodiest 72,000 casualties a single day. After the final attack on Moscow, in late November, barely a lakh survived. French Army had 3,80,000 dead and rest captured/missing. After this defeat Napoleon returned to Paris to save his throne. Russian campaign ended on 14 December 1812 which ended French hegemony over Europe and led to Napoleon’s exile and final Waterloo. Napoleon’s ‘great army’ was defeated by lesser Russian army despite better logistic support (army marches on its stomach) and under comparatively better climatic conditions. Gen Zorawar Singh unexpectedly faced a composite Chinese and Tibetan force during worst climatic conditions and lost. Hence achievements wise comparison of two great military leaders is reasonable. Historians have the luxury of misrepresenting facts but ultimately judgment lies with intellectuals. Admiringly Prof Suresh Chander has brought the truth out by his article in Daily Excelsior on 2nd December 2020 proving that Jammu’s vision is not ‘Janus Faced’ but Prof Sharma’s one face sees Jammu with planted eyes and the other with own.