Tempo:
— HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
114 180S-5.
Early English esti-
mates of the Sikhs. Col.
Francklin.
CHAP. V
English had then a slight knowledge of a new and and an estimate, two generations old, may provoke a smile from the protectors of Lahore. 'The Sikhs', says Col. Francklin, 'are in their persons their aspect is ferocious, and their eyes pierctall. ing; they resemble the Arabs of the Euphrates, but they speak the language of the Afghans; their distant people,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The traveller Forster.
Sikhs opposed to
Lord Lake at
Delhi.
1803.
The Sikhs of Sirhind
tender their allegiance to the English.
The chie£s
.
.
collected army amounts to 250,000 men, a terrific force, yet from want of union not much to be dreaded.' ^ The judicious and observing Forster put some confidence in similar statements of their vast array, but he estimated more surely than any other early writer the real character of the Sikhs, and the remark of 1783, that an able chief would probably attain to absolute power on the ruins of the rude commonwealth, and become the terror of his neighbours, has been amply borne out by the carrer of Ranjit Singh.^
The battle of Delhi ^ was fought on the 11th Septemeber, 1803, and five thousand Sikhs swelled an army which the speedy capture of Aligarh had taken by surprise.* The Marathas were overthrown, and the Sikhs dispersed; but the latter soon afterwards tendered their allegiance to the British commander. Among the more important chiefs whose alliance or whose occasional services were accepted were Bhai Lai Singh of Kaithal, who had witnessed the success of Lord Lake, Bhag Singh, the patriarchal chief of Jind, and, after a time, Bhanga Singh, the savage master of ThaThe chief who made the overtures was Dulcha Singh Rudaur on the Jumna, who afterwards entered Sindhia'is service. Cf. Francklin, Shah Alam, p. 78 note. 1 Francklin, Shah Alam, pp. 75, 77, 78. 2 Forster's Travels, ii. 340. -See also p. 324, where he says the Sikhs had raised in the Punjab a solid structure of religion. The remark of the historian Robertson may also be quoted as apposite, and with the greater reason as prominence has lately been given to it in the House of Commons on the occasion of thanking the army for its services during the Sikh campaign ii.
26, 27.
of
of 1848-9. He says that the enterprising commercial spirit of the English, and the martial ardour of the Sikhs, who possess the energy natural to men in the earlier stages of society, can hardly fail to lead sooner or later to open hostility. {Disquisition Concerning Ancient India, note iv, sect. 1, written in
1789-90.)
[For an interesting discussion as to the exact site of this which was the occupation of Delhi by the English and the placing of the Emperor Shah Alam under their protection, the reader is referred to an article by Sir Edward Maclagan, in the Journal of the Punjab Historical Society, vol. 3
battle, the result of
iii.
^Ed.] 4
p. 34.
Major Smith, Account of Regular Corps in Indian States,
114 180S-5.
Early English esti-
mates of the Sikhs. Col.
Francklin.
CHAP. V
English had then a slight knowledge of a new and and an estimate, two generations old, may provoke a smile from the protectors of Lahore. 'The Sikhs', says Col. Francklin, 'are in their persons their aspect is ferocious, and their eyes pierctall. ing; they resemble the Arabs of the Euphrates, but they speak the language of the Afghans; their distant people,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The traveller Forster.
Sikhs opposed to
Lord Lake at
Delhi.
1803.
The Sikhs of Sirhind
tender their allegiance to the English.
The chie£s
.
.
collected army amounts to 250,000 men, a terrific force, yet from want of union not much to be dreaded.' ^ The judicious and observing Forster put some confidence in similar statements of their vast array, but he estimated more surely than any other early writer the real character of the Sikhs, and the remark of 1783, that an able chief would probably attain to absolute power on the ruins of the rude commonwealth, and become the terror of his neighbours, has been amply borne out by the carrer of Ranjit Singh.^
The battle of Delhi ^ was fought on the 11th Septemeber, 1803, and five thousand Sikhs swelled an army which the speedy capture of Aligarh had taken by surprise.* The Marathas were overthrown, and the Sikhs dispersed; but the latter soon afterwards tendered their allegiance to the British commander. Among the more important chiefs whose alliance or whose occasional services were accepted were Bhai Lai Singh of Kaithal, who had witnessed the success of Lord Lake, Bhag Singh, the patriarchal chief of Jind, and, after a time, Bhanga Singh, the savage master of ThaThe chief who made the overtures was Dulcha Singh Rudaur on the Jumna, who afterwards entered Sindhia'is service. Cf. Francklin, Shah Alam, p. 78 note. 1 Francklin, Shah Alam, pp. 75, 77, 78. 2 Forster's Travels, ii. 340. -See also p. 324, where he says the Sikhs had raised in the Punjab a solid structure of religion. The remark of the historian Robertson may also be quoted as apposite, and with the greater reason as prominence has lately been given to it in the House of Commons on the occasion of thanking the army for its services during the Sikh campaign ii.
26, 27.
of
of 1848-9. He says that the enterprising commercial spirit of the English, and the martial ardour of the Sikhs, who possess the energy natural to men in the earlier stages of society, can hardly fail to lead sooner or later to open hostility. {Disquisition Concerning Ancient India, note iv, sect. 1, written in
1789-90.)
[For an interesting discussion as to the exact site of this which was the occupation of Delhi by the English and the placing of the Emperor Shah Alam under their protection, the reader is referred to an article by Sir Edward Maclagan, in the Journal of the Punjab Historical Society, vol. 3
battle, the result of
iii.
^Ed.] 4
p. 34.
Major Smith, Account of Regular Corps in Indian States,
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