TRIAL OF RAJA LAL SINGH * r PUNJAB GOVERNMENT RECORD OFFICE PUBLICATIONS. MONOGRAPH No. 16. TRIAL OF RAJA LAL SINGH (THE LAHORE MINISTER) Edited zuith notes and introduction BY R. R. SETHI, M.A. (Eco. & Hist.), F. R. Hist. S., F. R. G. S. LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT PUNJAB 1971 Reproduced By Director, Languages Department Punjab, Through Deputy Controller, Printing & Stationery Department Punjab, First Published 1932 Reprinted 1971 Printed at Punjab National Press, Delhi. Price Ri. 2-45. TRIAL OF RAJA LAL SINGH z 525 < - * Publisher's Note It may look unprogressive to bring out another reprint of a book which was first published as far back as the later years of the nineteenth century. It is possible that lot of further research might have taken place in this subject during the succeeding years, yet these works maintain their own reference value. The idea behind the present venture is to make available these rare works to most libraries and readers. The British and other Western scholars rendered great service to this land and their works still have great bearing on the Language, Culture and History of the Punjab* The Languages Department has planned to bring out reprints of the most valuable works, including the present one, for the benefit of most readers, scholars and research worker^. LAL SINGH Director Patiala Languages Department 1971 Punjab. FOREWORD. THIS is the third of a group of the Monographs which closely resemble one another in that they are records of what are practi­ cally State Trials. The offence for winch Lai Singh was tried and condemned was one of the many sequels of the first Sikh War. There seems no doubt of the guilt of the accused, indeed the defence was a very weak one. Apart from the details of the trial it is an interesting record as it introduces so many individual who had played and were to play an important part on the stag of the Punjab. H. L. 0. GAKRETT, Keeper of the Records oj the Government of the Punjab. Lahore, 31st October 1932. CONTENTS. Introduction • • • • Table of dates - • • * List of witnesses • • The Trial Mr. Frederick Currie's Opening Speech • • EVIDENCE FOR THE PROSECUTION. (3rd December 1846.) Shaikh Imam-ud-Din Lala Rattan Chand of the long beard Lala Puran Chand Diwan Hakim Rai EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENCE. (4ih December 1846.) Diwan Dina Nath Prosecution witnesses' reply The "Remarks and Decision of the Court of Inquiry.. The Report to the Government p 11 APPENDICES. Pa<je. (I) Treaty between the British Government and the State of Lahore, concluded at Lahore, on March 9, 1846 (1st Treaty with Lahore of 1846) .. •. .. l Supplementary articles to first treaty with Lahore of 1846 (Articles of Agreement concluded between the British Government and the Lahore Darbar on March 11, 1846) .. .. .. .. iv (II) Treaty between the British Government and Maharaja Gulab Singh, concluded at Amritsar, on March 16, 1846 .. .. .. .. .. vi (HI) Copy of the Final Receipt for the purchase of Kashmir signed by the Board of Administration .. .. viii (IV) Copy of the translation of a letter, dated the 22nd Sep­ tember 1846, from Lieutenant Edwardes to Sheikh Imam-ud-Din .. .. .. .. ix (V) Copy of the translation of a parwana, dated the 15th October 1846, from Lieut. Edwardes to Sheikh Imam- ud-Din .. .. .. .. x (VI) Copy of the translation of a letter, dated Camp Hoshiar- pur, the 23rd November 1846, from the Governor- General of India to Maharaja Dalip Singh .. xi (VII) Copy of the translation of a letter, dated Lahore, the 9th December 1846, from F. Currie to Maharaja Dalip Singh .. .. .. .. xii (VIII) Copy of the translation of a letter, dated the 30th Maghar, 1903 (corresponding with the 14th December 1846), from Maharaja Dalip Singh to F. Currie .. xiv (IX) Copy of the translation of a letter, dated the 14th Decem­ ber 1846, from F. Currie to Maharaja Dalip Singh .. xviii (X) Note of the Conference with the Chiefs and Sardars of the Lahore State at a meeting held in Darbar at Lahore on the 15th December 1846 .. .. xix (XI) The Treaty of Bhyrowal or the Second Treaty with Lahore of 1846 (Articles of Agreement concluded between the British Government and the Lahore Darbar on December 16, 1846) Glossary ^ • » mm XX11 • • • • • « - XXV ILLUSTRATION. Raja Lai Singb ., .. .. .. _ Frontis­ piece. Note on ^J^^-r^L?u irft«f' he,*°\ armlets, etc., are of French manufacture, and were brought to IndiL a in 1838 by General Allard. The Cairo* had the arms of the French Monarchy surmounted by a Gallic Cock on it* front. INTRODUCTION. PART I. REVOLT IN KASHMIR. BY the terms of the Treaty, which in March, 1816, closed the First Sikh War, amongst other things,* the Sikhs ceded to i.lie British all the hilly country between the rivers Beas and Indus, " including the provinces of Kashmir and Hazara "f ; and, " in consideration of the services rendered by Raja Gulab Singh of Jamrnu to the Lahore State towards procuring the restoration of the relations of amity between the Lahore and British Governments," the British agreed to recognise 41 the independent sovereignty of Raja Gulab Singh in such territories and districts in the hills as may be made over to the said Raja Gulab Singh, by separate agreement between him­ self and the British Government, with the dependencies thereof, which may have been in the Raja's possession since the time of the late Maharaja Kharak Singh." Further, the British Govern­ ment, " in consideration of the good conduct of Raja Gulab Singh," agreed " to recognise his independence in such terri­ tories, and to admit him to the privileges of a separate treaty with the British Government." A week later, on March 16, 1846, was signed the aforesaid Treaty*, with Gulab Singh, by which the British Government " transferred and made over, for ever, in independent possession, to Maharaja Gulab Singh and the heirs male of his body, all the hilly and mountainous country, with its dependencies, situated to the eastward of the river Indus and westward of the river Ravi, including Chamba and excluding Lahoul, being part of the territories ceded to the British Government by the Lahore State." In consideration of this transfer Gulab Singh was to pay the British Government seventy-five lacs of rupees (nanakshah i) ,— fifty lacs to be paid on ratification of the Treaty and twenty-five * For full text of the Treaty, see Appendix I. t The Lahore Government being unable to pay the one-and-a-half crores of rupees as an indemnity for the expenses of war, or to give security satisfactory to the British Government for its eventual payment, the Maharaja ceded to the Honourable Company, as an equivalent for one crore, his possessions in the hilly countries between the Beas and the Indus, including the provinces of Kashmir and Hazara, engaging to pay the remaining fifty lacs on or before the ratification of the ireaty—Appendix I. 18ee Appendix II. B 2 RAJA LAL SINGH. Octobel 1, 1846*; and, in token of the sup- imacy of the British Government, was " to present annually to the British Government one horse, twelve perfect shawl-goats of approved breed x male and six female), and three pairs of Kashmir shawls." He further engaged " to join with the whole of his military forces the British it oops when employed within the hills, or in the territories adjoining his possessions " ; and on their part the British Government engaged " to give its aid to Maharaja Gulab Singh in protecting his territories from external enemies." Thus it was that Gulab Singh, the great-grandfather of the present Maharaja, became the ruler of Kashmir. But he did not acquire actual possession of his new province without much difficulty. One can easily imagine the jealousy which would be felt by a poiver at giving over, " in sackcloth and ashes," a rich tract of its territory to one who, only lately, was a subject of its own—a powerful subject, all but independent, but still a subject, acknow­ ledging, perhaps, a more perfect allegiance than he actually paid. Hence began intrigues, and month after month passed by without Gulab Singh getting possession of Kashmir. We shall examine concisely what this was due to. Kashmir had been annexed to the Sikh dominions in 1819, and was thenceforward administered by Governors from Lahore who were frequently changed.f In 1846, the Governor, in charge of Kashmir affairs, was one Shaikh Imam-ud-Din, who is described as under by a contemporary writer:— " The Shaikh is, perhaps, the best mannered and best dressed man in the Punjab. He is rather under than above the middle height ; but his figure is exquisite, ' as far as it goes,' and is usually set off with the most unrivalled fit which the unrivalled tailors of Kashmir could achieve for the Governor of the Province. His smile and bow are those of a perfect Courtier, whose taste is too good to be obsequious ; his great natural intelligence and an unusually good education have endowed him with considerable conversational powers ; and his Persian idiom would do no dis- •The first instalment and about Rs. 1,50,000 of the second were paid by April 14. 1847. The last instalment was paid to the Lahore Treasury on March 14, 1860. The final receipt for the purchase of Kashmir signed by the Board of Administration is dated March 29, 1850.— Bee Appendix III. tTheae wero (1) Diwan Moti Ram, 1810 ; (2) Surdar Hari Singh, 1820; (3) Diwan Moti Ram. 1822 ; (4) Diwan Chuni 1^1. 1826 ; (5) Diwan Kirpa Ram, 1827 ; (6) Bhamma Singh Ardali. 1831 ; (7) Prince Sher Singh, 1832 ; (8) Colonel Mian Singh.