States in Ji'he Punjab and Thei
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BEI:fG THi HISTORY OF THE P.ltl.NCIPA.T~ STATES IN JI'HE PUNJAB AND THEI~ roLITIQAlf RELATIONS 'waH TH~ BRITISH GOVERln,Il!.NT. BY LEl'EL H. GRIFFIN 0 .. '1'BlII I"UllIAB J >'UT1l01l O... Tn ~ 'fa r'lltE. s", "Tu lW.W 011 :u.~ :ro CUlEJ'8B.IP-S:' .&. ........ t-1870. CONTENTS·- The RlBtOry of the PaiwlIJ." State, 1 II .. Bh...1our ChlCfslpl'. 271 hot Phulk1lloll fu.tmhes, 800 J1unJ State, 809 " .. Nabha. State, ..J .iI7 " n " K'1.p\lrtha.lla Stu.te, 493 " " Farlllkot State, 1>99 n " Mand!. State, (l2IJ rREFACE. The tttle of tho ploa.,ut work IDay perhap~ be open to ol)JectlOD as too comp;ehenslve, seemg that there are IDany Clnefa III the terntou"s' admllllstewd by the PUl1Jab Government, beallng the tltltl of Raja, whose hlStOll<lS have net .been here mc1uded. But my object hl1s not be,en to re(.'Qld tIle lnograIlhles of rClgntng famlhes so much wl,h gIVe a connected aeCQuut of the politICal relations of f}e Bntlf,h Government With the Independent States of the PUIlJab flOrn the commen<>ement of the pl aseut century. ,\Vith Ka..huur and Bahawalpur, now Its g(e.tteqt r0udptorie~ ,~ North Indm, the Government had nothmg whatever ~ do until the firHt Sikh war The hlhtory ('f the former provl!lCe is full of mterest and will 'IChly repay the most l'atl<lut alld ),tuonous euqlllly, but It was not tIll the defeats on the &tleJ had shaken to Its fall the COL rupt uwnarcLy of Lahofe that Kashmir was known to EnglL~J1 Statesmo!l as more tlla!l the nallle of a dl,,~nt valley wluch rOllll\IlCe and poelry lhld dchghted to pamt "Ith thClr Illo"t lllilhant cuI our" BlLha\\ alpuT \\ 'IS 0\ en lOb'! known than Kabhnllr, tIll the ClulllMign of 1848 brought it.; Chl('( as an ally to the sido of the D41tI~h, and, even alter the anne'l.atlOn of the Punjab, Its mternal 'POI'ltlCS WOle the subJect of no mtOlference 01' +'he part of the Government. untll a"~'~hy and civil waf threat-med to redu~e the country to Its inlgillal de~ert, when the Paramount POWtJf \\as compolle!l to wterl'o':!e 1Il the lIlterests of the people whom tYll1.hny lw.d dnven IUto rebellion alld Clime Al110ng the bilL> (10m \\Illdl tho SatleJ and the Ravi flow are Clu~f~ l\ lio bt·ar tll<~ .name of PIAJa. mostly of .hltlput deb<)\llt aud ,,,h()~e poJlglet'S sttetch back ~m unbrokell 8Ilc'tl""~JOn fur Sll\ t'ral thousand years But th:::.l ' LlIIt.Qfj liM l.tttl6 more th!1l1 all antIqUtUut.U mter&t. At the tIme when the Gurklms attempteu tne conquest of the Punjab hIlls, these petty Chlef~ appear for It lD{)ment m the lIght of hIstOry, but, the wa,e of JUvaslOn havlllg been beaten back, they agam dlsapPclI.reand lltre no more seen. Dyna..;ty after dynasty has luleq In Hmdostan and has passed away Two creeds, stlOng'to conquer and 10Tlllgn to the land, l,lave been predommant flom tlJe Bay of Bengal to the Passes of the Khalbar But befote Muham mad, God-mtoXll-ated, shattereu the Idols of Arabia, be fore the founder of th~ Chllstlan Cuth gathered hlB few disciples by the L~lre: of Galllee,.the httlo R,lJput prmc1- pahtles were eXIstIng In their qUIet valleys; and when the day arrives that the name of England shall be no longer a . power in Hmdostan, but only til. vague memo.y, one., ie~f oGher long and wondrous story, the RaJPllts WIll stIll be ruhng their anCIent valleys and tracmg b.wk theIr ance!ltry to the Sun WIth the powerful SIkh ChIefs of the CIS and Tran~· SatleJ the ca.~e IS very drlferent. Their rule IS not' b,ll'red by antiqUity Whatever the ortglll of the race to, whlCh thJY belong, the Sikh elnefa are, neverthele$s, Autochthones, Ealih-born~ and then aucest01s, but a few generatIons ago were themselves tinvmg the plough over the very .lanul/ whluft- th~ to-doy rure a.~ Independent Chiefs But ilhelf lustory is a most Important part of the general lustory of India: ThLu fierce tlnthusia>!1Dr In the days vhen Sn.:lllsm was a hvmg faith, euabled them to conquer .he funjab and defy the' ennuty of the Muhammadan I!;Jllplre. It was theIr faIth wiuch made thl'lIll strong, as lj, was the absence of all relIgIOUS enthusia.brn 11\ the Muhammadans of I nwa wlllLh Pf(H ed theIr weakness and llltllUateJy theIr ruin They had Indeed changed from ~he days" hen the noblest clllvaJry of tne West wcnt dov.n bel'"re theu"'levelled lances and the "aI-cry of God and the J>"lophct. iii With the Butlllh Guvornmont the rel.1tIOns of the CIS BatleJ StatpR have been lUo<,e or less lntlmate from the tUlle of the conquest of Dehh by Lord Lake.tn 1803, and It IS tho hll>tory ,)f these relatIOns and the pohcy whwh the BntIRh p;overnmedt has adopted towards Its fCUJatOllell ",w",h It IS h .. re chHllly Malred to record. Tlus rl1ltory has heen written In conslderlLble dewl and without fa"OrVe, except wlth reference to events of ro('cnt dlLte re)il1.rdmg whlOh obVIOUS politloal and personal reasons forbid the expressiOn o( 0PllliOll or deta.il In relation. As far as I am aware no rhapter of Indian History has cvet' beel! WrItten 50 unreservedly or With 110 much detau Wj the present volume, and Oil thiS account I would desu e '0 rcll a.tte·lLioD to a cOllc)llsion wluch may f.·urly be'drawll from its pages The tl1ne may porhlLps hlLve pnR<ied, though of this r am by no IUOlLns cert.lID, when educJ.wd Englishmen, rogardlllg With SOIliO degTee of pride the con'1llest ILnd p<l"8e~.ll)n of IndilL, yet behoved that the country was won by mtngue, Vlolonce an,l naud That each new provlll(,o added t,) BrItish IndIa slgllliied UtlW cnme~. and th.1t the ('ollllutlrors were ollly succefiSful because 'they ~ ere untlcrupulous. If thIS belief has beon genilrlLIIy abandonetl Ly ed\l\'J.t.ed men, It IS still the b.,hct of the vast Ill ..jorlty "ho hJ\YO neither the means uor the mdmatlOu to lllfulL"\ thelllStlly"s of the'truth It Id encouraged a.nd stlluuIat.ed Itt the pro,ent d.1Y by \\ nters III England, SOllle of thenl rutln (\1' ablhty, "ho either .find It plobtabl~ to IIbl\se their ('ountlY or who are so unfol tUUlLt.e as to be ablu to hnd noth1l18' but natIOnal shame and mcapat'Jty. "1\ h .. re oth<ll"S would find ruollUllltlntd of natIOnal tlfiergy and glorj A blillldt'llt anqv. er to hosille cntl"i~nlS Oil the GOVtlTJI~ Ult'llt of IndIa IS foulld III lite polttllal hl"tOlY or the CI,;- iv SatIej States for the last sIxty-five yeaN T1108e States torm but a sma.lI poltlon of" India, but they are and always have been l'Ollbldered a most Important portion, In tht.'ll" contloI many prlllClples of 'th~ lughest moment were involved and it lllay fJ.lrl,y be 8.'!sUTlied that the POlllY whICh the Government 'adoptud toward'! them was the same pohey whJCh it maintamed toward, the rest of Imlta It Ifl neIther reasonable nor hon&'t to aFlSume that an J.dnlllllstratlOn "hleh WM just and generous In one provUlce "as tyranmcal and rapacioull m another 'rhe Goverllment of Indla h,'B had on~ policy and Que alone,' whether the PtmJab, 01 Oude, or Bengal was ('oncerned, and, If ItS pohey hah been unsClupulous, traccs of its ",ant ofpllndple WIll most assuredly be found m Its rela~ons wlt.h the Cls-SJ.tlc,J St, .. tes On thIS pomt let the f .. eta whICh'! have r<:cOlcled hear theIr own wltuess lIy per sonal opimoll IS valuelehq lIke tha.~ of any other mdlVluuaI It ma.y be prejudiced by assoClatlOll, by tladltJon, by In tel est , but facts are umnfllumced by preJndlce The con. cluSlon to wluch I am convm(,ed tJlat any honest mmd WIll arllve after leadlllg tlus hIstory, ill wruch the sl1lgl& endeavoul cas bf'en to record the trutb, IS that the policy of the BTltllJl GOITf)l nrnent, $0 far as the SIkh States are concerned, has bee)! umfolmly liberal, enhghtened and Just : t}lI1t lD no smgle lDstance has It abused Its strength to oppreq~ Its wenker neIghbours, but that, on the contrary, It has takeLi leb~ than Its undoubted'right and has deCIded dIsputed que'>tlOllS WJth a geneloslty and dlsJQterestedness which Will be looked for m yam In the adm1lllstratJon of any otfler country Absolute power IS a dangerous and too often a fatal glf~ which few have E!Ver been able to use Wisely; but the tune will a~ .. uredly come when the Just and generous polICY of EnglcuhllU the Ea~t Will be acknowledged by tae world as hel highest title to respect and honor. v It wall but 0. shol t tuue ago that enquiries wer~ insti tuted In India as to the opilllOn entertaIned by the people of the Blltlsh r ~ernment, and on thIS subJect many edllCu,ted nu,tlve gentleplen aud hIgh EnglISh offiCials recorded their views The enquuy was chiefly remalkable . as provIng the excellence of the mtentlOu of a Government whKh Invited such open dISCUSSIOU, and as Il1ustratmg the curIO LIS ~ndency of Ellgh~hmeu to clltlCise unfavOlably whatever belongs to their own race or country But serIOusly to compare the Blltlsh admnubtratlOn WIth tho~e which preceded It, or With the maJority of those \\h1Oh e)n~t Side by side With It to-'day m India, 18 an Insult to the lIltdhgence There have been, It 18 truE>, Muhammadan and Hmdu Pnf,ces who have ruled With strength and jURtICe, lind whose names are still held In honor But these have been very few Native rule In India, In former days, slgmhed oppreSdlon of the most terrible kmd, msecunty of life and prol'el ty ; luxury and debauchery In the PrmLe, mlliery and want In the people, and although much has berD wlltten regttrdmg the preferen('e of tlIe people for the rule of their hereditary Chiefs, the slUlple fact remams that '\\ henever an rpporturnty has been afforded, them, tlIe peoria have accepted BrltI~h rule With tlIe most unfeigned StLtlbflll tlOn The PU)IJab proper, durmg the bme of MaharaJIl RnnJlt Smgh, was ccrtruuly a favourayle spOCUllen ofa Native State Yet tlIe tevenue system of RanJlt Rmgh was buhn orgalllzed systeIn of pillage and thE) country \'las farmed to contractors, who were bound to pay a certaJ'l BUill rut,o tlIe State treasury and were peruutted to collect.