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Henry Lawrence As Resident at Lahore 47 I ffif 6 A/ O /?/A (J */ ftiS* -r"'-' ^-/? **" x' (^ / * V 6 - / * **J /» N Ai # K/'i't/ / f// * z^/ -T"A Is • y t I. /I ; \ V_ ©i *•• o: ! « o T?wJ7>£ ^ */&£/£ 77' The Second of the Series of the Punjab Government Record Office publications after 15th Aug, , 1947 r^ \s XX*-n s-.u1 <*»tiS8. Inst* .!- 'V.IL S3?^^ THE PUNJAB GOVERNMENT RECORD OFFICE PUBLICATIONS. I Series. I THE LAHORE DARBA^. (1823—1840 By k Dr. R. R. Sethi, M. A., Ph. D. II THE PUNJAB UNDER THE LAWRENCES (1846—1858) By Dr. N. M. Khilnani, Ph. D, 1 ! CONTENTS. I FOREWORD i I PREFACE ii I I THE PUNJAB ON THE EVE OF 1846 1 I II THE TREATY OF LAHORE 13 I ill FROM THE TREATY OF LAHORE TO THE I TREATY OF BHYROWAL 24 I IV HENRY LAWRENCE AS RESIDENT AT LAHORE 47 I V THE REFORMS OF THE LAWRENCES 64 I VI FROM THE OUTBREAK OF THE MULTAN I REBELLION TO THE SECOND SlKH WAR 81 J VII THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION (1849—53) . 102 I III JOHN LAWRENCE AS CHIEF COMMISSIONER I OF THE PUNJAB 126 I IX THE PUNJAB AND THE GREAT REVOLT 136 I BIBILIOGRAPHY 151 I * ABBREVIATIONS F. C. — Foreign Consultations. F. D. — Foreign Department. I. R. D. — Imperial Record Department. P. G. R. — The Punjab Record Office. P. & R. I. — Post-Graduate & Research Institute. Poona P. U. H. S. — The Punjab University Historical Society. S. C. — Secret Consultations. FO REWO RD The introduction of a young author to his readers is always a matter of pleasure, particularly for one who has, been of some real assistance to him in the compilation of his work. Mr. Khilnani's story of the Lawrence brothers i. e. of their pioneering and abiding interest in the affairs of the Punjab of about a century ago is well narrated in this thesis. The earlier pages unfold the_Jeaves of British polio.' pursued so vigorously by Lord Dalhous:e under the guise of ''a It rustic motives"' resulting at tirst in the Treaty of Guardianship^hd then in the Annexation of the Pirn jab. The later pages wade through fhe tangled tale rifthe rapid'disintegration of the Sikh power and its re­ placement by that of the British, That such brave and warlike children of the soil as the Sikhs should be thorou­ ghly vanquished in so short a time by a much lesser num­ ber of foreigners is a curious historical phenomenon which gains further interest from the fact that within four years of the sanguinary battle of Chillianwala they rallied round their conquerors with singular zeal for shielding their empire. All this is perhaps best explained by the wise and sympathetic handling of the Sikh community-!>v the Lawrence brothers benevolent and sagacious adminis­ trators in Indo-British annals. A detailed account of this phase of "British effortinlhe plains of the Punjab and its rewards at the time of the Great Revolt is well written in this book. G. L. CHOPRA. Keeper of the Records of the Government of the Punjab, SIMLA. s. • • (I) PREFACE THE death of Ranjit Singh proved disastrous for the Sikh State. The disruptive forces gained momentum and progressively hastened the dissolution of the Sikh Kingdom. The English, always eager to profit by internal dissensions in n .hbouring terri­ tory, set in motion unscrupulous diplomacy and finally annexed J he land or the five rivers in 1849. In the pi nt work an attempt II been made to narrate this story. The topics dealt in this thesis have been rather inadequately I sented in the published works. The conqi t of the Punjab, the consolidation of Brilish power there .and the part played by the ;'• hs in Ihe Great Revolt of 1S57 haw i.een favourite themes witlT the Bri ish writers; but their accounts are one-sided and devoid of any at tempts to present to the world " the other side of i medal." The gresent work unravels comprehensively and clearly the tan d web of British diplomacy, the so-called for- ] I _of Hardi nd la threadbare the British designs to/ pxn I i he heal of Guardianship and usurp the fi tile plains of \ the Punjab"! Phis is, however, one aspect of Ihe story. The other us an analysis of the internal forces responsible for the eclipse of Ihe Sikh kingdom. It is only when a body-politic is infirm internally, That the foreigner' mining and diplomacy can woflci The weak, venal and selfish ' rsliip orThe Sikhs was to a great extent responsible for the dismembermehl of the sovereign stale of the Punjab. » The author was fortunate in getting access to the private correspondence of Lord Hardinge and of Lord Dalhousie with Sir Fredrick Cunie, (he Set ry to Government of India. These letters give a new orientation to the T iiy of Bhyrowal and othen entspi ipitating the second Sikh_Wa~r. Besides the Punjab GJnvernmem :hives at Delhi 1 been fully < lored. Many significant and (nti ting details are brought to light to view one of the most eventful periods of the Punjab history in its propel perspective. In his endeavour to present a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the political developments, the writer has tapped all possible sources—the mam t, and nearly all the published works, monographs, magazines and periodicals. Highly | coloured accounts of the British writers and extreme nationalist J viewpoints hav eeTTsmnTnised alike.-It was only after thirts months' intensive study J)f the material and careful weighing of the evidence that the author took pejilrrh 1 to present an accu­ rate picture of the Punjab and its pi lc ng this momentous Gi) period. To satisfy his curiosity he also interviewed incess Bamba Dalip Singh, the grand daughter of Maharaja Ranjit Singhjbut could gainjiothing_aulhentic from her. He paid visits to Multan and Moga and held several meetings"and conversa­ tions with "some descendants oJLthg Kardars, which helped further 'to confirm the conclusions arrived aT7 A word may be said about the general treatment followed in this work. No formal estimate of the Lawrences is given in the end. Instead, criticism of men and events is made as they figure in the chapters. However, when Henry Lawrence leaves the ^Punjab for Rajputana in 1853, an estimate of his character and achievements is attempted in Chapter VII. Similarly an appraisal of John Lawrence as civil admiTiisTiator is made in Chapter VIII. I take this opportunity of expressing my deep gratitude to Doctor G. L. Chopra, the Keeper of the Records of the East Punjab Government, for his painstaking endeavours in editing this work and for offering most valuable suggestions throughout the course of my work at his office. To Doctor Adrian Duarte, my University Teacher, also goes the credit Tar~rendeiin< able guidance and |encouragement in the preparation of this my first research-work. I am also thankllUJpJ^gjitor^S^NJSen, Director of National Archives for the facilities, he provided me when I studied in the Archives. I remember with gratitude and affection, my energetic colleague, ^ Miss Kala Thairani (Research scholar gfjtombav University) who took great pains in comparing the typescript with the original draft and in checking footnotes and bibliography. She also helped me - m gathering exhaustive not From the secondary published works. / I offer my cordial thanks to Miss. Mrbhadra Kapoor, who sent me» I some valuable books at Karachi from the riots-affected Lahore. \ Her sympathetic understanding and keen interest in my endeavour' were very encouraging. Lastly, my hearty thanks are due to Mr. Jagmohan Mahajan (Research Scholar, Punjab University) for pending me valuable manuscripts documents and for making my f stay in Lahore, a pleasant one. SIMLA, i 0-5-1949 N. M. KHILNANI r * II * CHAPTER I l'KELIMINAR Y The Punjab on the eve of 1846 ETYMOLOGICALLY the Punjab or lana of the Five l'i\ , is the country enclosed and watered by the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutluj1 but in the course of its history the province lias Under­ gone important territorial changes. Its boundaries of ' 7 do not cover the same aVea. it covered 3 century i. The modern North- Avestern Frontier Province and Kashmir were integral parts of ih«- Punjab Kingdom. On the other hand, the districts to the Eas of the Sutluj did not form part of it. The boundaries then touched fjje snow-clad Himalayas on the north and the (inserts of Sind on the south, and the Sutluj and not the Jamuna marked ii eastern limits while the historic Khyber guarded its western front iers. The virtual collapse of central authority at Delhi after the invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmedshah Abdali, throw the Pun into a st^tc__ojl_Liriparallclcd commotion. The fertile plains of th Punjab became the happy hunting ground for invadoi s from rn ra­ west, whose_soIc_jum was to ravage the proyjneo. Politically th Punjab was a ramshackle of petty sett's iaH<rri ! \ i mtual jealous and unable to exist as a solid unit on the map India. Q lz. noTrrtcaTTy^i( was drained of iis resources and socially, it \\ utterly flisorsaJiised. Such a sotting was favourable to the re-em^rg. of the followers of Gobind who were apparently ! la- Aurangzeb. The closing years of the 18th century sav substantial portions of the Punjab parcelled oul among twelve Sikh Misl ^ But the Sikhs'were a tumultuous and loos innected theocn of semi-inde£endent__clari£. who though they might combine for (i f^nrp of aggression, or a "ii. object, were otherwise illy engaged m internecine strife.
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