By this time Lord Dalhousie had resolved to meet openly the Sikh national challenge. He declared on the 10th October, 1848: “Un- warned by precedent, uninfluenced by example, the Sikh nation had called for war, and on my word, sirs, they shall have it with a vengeance.” Lord Gough crossed the Ravi with a British army on the 16th November and had an indecisive engagement with Sher Singh at Ramnagar on the Chenab. The Sikhs then entrenched themselves in a stronger position at Chilianwala, where a terrible battle was fought on the 13th January, 1849. The Sikhs “of all arms” fought desperately, and contested the field bravely. The British at last won a “Pyrrhic” victory at a high cost. Of their soldiers 602 were killed and 1,651 were wounded, and the colours of three regiments and four of their regiments were captured.
The Sikhs lost some brave soldiers and twelve guns. Better success, however, attended English arms at Multan, the citadel of which was stormed on the 22nd January, 1849. Mulraj, after being tried by a military court, was transported for life beyond the seas, where he soon expired. The news of British losses at Chilianwala gave rise to bitter criticisms against Lord Gough, both in India and England, and the Court of Directors appointed Sir Charles Napier to supersede him. But before the latter reached India, Lord Gough had been able to inflict a crushing defeat on the Sikhs and their Afghan allies, on the 21st February, 1849, at Gujarat, a town near the Chenab, where they had shifted themselves from their strong entrenched position at Chilianwala, owing to lack of supplies. In the battle of Gujrat, which ” was essentially an artillery action and is known as the battle of the guns “, the Sikh soldiers fought as before with resolute courage but were defeated through lack of efficient leadership. “No troops could have fought better, ” remarks Malleson, “than the Sikhs fought, no army could have been worse led.” The Sikhs suffered immense losses and their defeat was complete, leaving no chance of further resistance. The British loss was comparatively small. Only 69 were killed and 670 wounded; and their victory was decisive. The battle of Gujarat, observed the Governor-General, “must ever be regarded as one of the most memorable in the annals of British warfare in India; memorable alike from the greatness of the occasion, and from the brilliant and decisive issue of the encounter “. On the 12th March, Sher Singh, Chatter Singh and all the Sikh chiefs and soldiers laid down their arms, and the Afghans were chased by Sir Walter Gilbert to the Khyber Pass and Kabul.
It was no longer possible for the Sikhs to preserve their independence. On the 30th March, 1849, Lord Dalhousie, on his own responsibility, annexed the Punjab by a proclamation, against the wishes of Sir Henry Lawrence and Lord Ellenborough and also of the Cabinet. He declared: “However contrary it may be to our past views and to our present views, annexation of the Punjab is the most advantageous policy for us to pursue. I firmly believe we shall not succeed in establishing a friendly Sikh power.” There is no doubt that the Governor-General’s bold policy secured a valuable advantage to the British Empire in India by pushing its frontiers to “the natural limits of India, the base of the mountains of Afghanistan.” The unfortunate young Dalip Singh had to suffer for the sins of others, and had to rest content with a pension of five lacs of rupees a year. Sent to England with his mother, Rani Jhindan, he ultimately embraced Christianity and lived for a time as an English landowner in Norfolk. He subsequently came back to the Punjab and returned to his old faith but not to his old position. Rani Jhindan died in
The success of arms in establishing British political supremacy in the Punjab was supplemented by the administrative measures of a band of able British officers like Sir Henry Lawrence, his brother John Lawrence, Herbert Edwardes, John Nicholson, Richard Temple, and many others, who, under the supervision of the Governor-General, introduced reforms in various branches of administration, such as the army, the police, justice, land revenue, industry, agriculture, etc. The Governor-General at first constituted a Board of three consisting of Sir Henry Lawrence, as its President, his brother, John Lawrence, and Charles G. Mansel, who had to make room for Robert Montgomery in 1851. But in 1853 the Board was abolished, Sir Henry Lawrence was sent to Rajputana as agent to the Governor-General, and John Lawrence was made the first Chief Commissioner of the Punjab. The Sikhs henceforth became loyal to the British Empire and served its cause faithfully during the Second Anglo-Burmese War and the Revolt of 1857-1859.
Afghanistan and the Company
The Durrani Menace and British North- West Frontier Policy
From 1757, or more definitely from the year 1765–when, after the English victory at Buxar (22nd October, 1764), the defence of Oudh, situated on the north-west frontier of Bihar, became a matter of vital necessity and fixed policy to the English in Bengal–till the close of the eighteenth century, the dread of Durrani invasion constantly haunted the minds of British statesmen in India. The Company’s Government in Calcutta apprehended an Afghan dash upon Oudh and then upon Bengal. As a matter of fact, a collision between the Afghans, aiming at political supremacy in Hindustan on the wreck of the Mughul Empire, and the English, trying for the same object, lay almost in the logic of history, as was the case with the Maratha-Afghan clash of 1761. It was fortunate for the English that Ahmad Shah Abdali, after his victory at Panipat, was prevented from pushing further east owing to troubles at home. There was an ebb-tide in the fortunes of the Durranis after the death of Ahmad Shah Abdali in June, 1773, and his weak and indolent son and successor, Timur Shah (1773-1793), could not pursue the vigorous policy of his predecessor.
But Timur’s fifth son and successor, Zaman Shah, who ascended the throne of Kabul in May, 1793, was an able and ambitious ruler. After having suppressed the forces of disorder at home, he advanced to Lahore in 1798 and cherished the dream of invading the interior of Hindustan like Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. Though the project of Zaman Shah was treated “very lightly” by some of his contemporaries, and most of the modern writers have pointed out the impossibility of its then being carried into effect in view of the changed political circumstances, the Company’s Government in Bengal could not consider “the idea of an invasion from Kabul as a mere visionary danger “. Zaman Shah received invitations from Tipu Sultan, Wazir ‘Ali, then trying to organise a conspiracy against the Company, and Nasir-ul-mulk, the discontented Nawab of Bengal. In fact, the prospect of Zaman Shah’s invasion of Hindustan “kept the British Indian Empire in a chronic state of unrest” during the administrations of Sir John Shore and Lord Wellesley. Dundas, President of the Board of Control, being confirmed “in the belief of his (Zaman Shah’s) hostile designs”, instructed Lord Wellesley “to keep a very watchful eye upon the motions of that Prince, whose talents, military force–and pecuniary resources, afford to him the means of being a formidable opponent “. The Governor-General maintained a large British force in Oudh, under Sir J. Craig, to protect that kingdom against the apprehended Afghan invasion, and claimed to have averted it by sending two missions in 1799 to Persia, whose relations with Afghanistan were then strained. The first mission was that of Mehdi ‘Ali Khan, a naturalized Persian then acting as the Company’s Resident at Bushire, and the next that of Captain John Malcolm. Persian friendship was also necessary for the English to counteract the Asiatic designs of France; and the missions of Wellesley proved successful from both points of view. The Persian pressure compelled Zaman Shah to return from Lahore to Peshawar, to the immense relief of the English. This is clear from Lord Wellesley’s letter to the Secret Committee in London, dated the 28th September, 1801. Harassed by revolts at home, due chiefly to the strife between the Sadozais (members of the royal family) and the Barakzais under Payendah Khan and his eldest son, Fateh Khan, Zaman Shah was ultimately overthrown and blinded and fled to Bukhara, then to Herat and finally to India, where at Ludhiana he survived for many years under pathetic conditions as a pensioner of the British Government, which had once been so much perturbed by the threat of his invasion.
