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CHAP vn
MARRIAGE OF NAU NIHAL SINGH
193
Ranjit Singh had invited the Governor-General of iss?^ India, the Governor of Agra (Sir Charles Metcalfe) ^he marahd the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces to r.age of be present at the nuptials of his grandson, which he Nau Nihai smgh, i83? designed to celebrate with much splendour. The prince chief, Sham the Sikh was wedded to a daughter of Singh Atariwala, in the beginning of March 1837, but of the English authorities Sir Henry Fane alone was sir Henry able to attend. That able commander was ever a care- Fane at Lahore, ful observer of military means and of soldierly quahwould force which the estimate of ties; he formed an be required for the complete subjugation of the Punjab, but at the same time he laid it down as a principle, that the Sutlej and the wastes of Rajputana and Sind were the best boundaries which the English could have in the east.^ The prospect of a war with the Sikhs was then remote, and hostile designs could not with honour ,
taken by the British ambassador in Paris, as well as by the authorities in Calcutta, with whom General Allard was in per(Government to Capt. Wade, 16th Jan. sonal communication. and 3rd April 1837.) Of the two views, that of the English is the less honourable, with reference to their duty towards Ranjit Singh, who m-ight have justly resented any attempt on the part of a servant to put himself beyond the power of his master, and any interference in that servant's behalf on the part of the British
Government. In the letter to Ranjit Singh, Louis Philippe, is styled, in French, 'Empereur' (Capt. Wade to Government, 15th Sept. 1837); a title which, at the time, may have pleased the vanity of the French, although it could not have informed the understandings of the Sikhs, as, agreeably to Persian and Indian practice, king or queen is always translated 'Padshah* equally with emperor. Sir Claude Wade seems to think that the real design of the French was to open a regular intercourse with Ranjit Singh, and to obtain a political influence in the Punjab. The Maharaja, however, after consulting the British Agent, decided on not taking any notice of the overtures. (Sir Claude Wade, Narrative, p. 38, note.) [A piece of diplomacy on the Dart of the French Government, tj-pical of the chicanery of Louis Philippe and his advisers. The monarch who could perpetrate the sordid scandal of the Spanish marriage was eoually capable of an underhand intrigue with Ranjit Singh.
—Ed.] 1 These views of Sir Henry Fane's may not be on record, but they were well known to those "about his Excellency. His estimate was, as I remember to have heard from Capt. Wade, 67,000 men, and he thought there might be a two years' active warfare. This visit to Lahore was perhaps mainly useful in Garden, the indefatigable quarterLieut.-Col. enabling m.aster-general of the Bengal Army, to compile a detailed map of that part of the country, and which formed the groundwork of all the maps used when hostilities did at last break out with the Sikhs.
V
MARRIAGE OF NAU NIHAL SINGH
193
Ranjit Singh had invited the Governor-General of iss?^ India, the Governor of Agra (Sir Charles Metcalfe) ^he marahd the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces to r.age of be present at the nuptials of his grandson, which he Nau Nihai smgh, i83? designed to celebrate with much splendour. The prince chief, Sham the Sikh was wedded to a daughter of Singh Atariwala, in the beginning of March 1837, but of the English authorities Sir Henry Fane alone was sir Henry able to attend. That able commander was ever a care- Fane at Lahore, ful observer of military means and of soldierly quahwould force which the estimate of ties; he formed an be required for the complete subjugation of the Punjab, but at the same time he laid it down as a principle, that the Sutlej and the wastes of Rajputana and Sind were the best boundaries which the English could have in the east.^ The prospect of a war with the Sikhs was then remote, and hostile designs could not with honour ,
taken by the British ambassador in Paris, as well as by the authorities in Calcutta, with whom General Allard was in per(Government to Capt. Wade, 16th Jan. sonal communication. and 3rd April 1837.) Of the two views, that of the English is the less honourable, with reference to their duty towards Ranjit Singh, who m-ight have justly resented any attempt on the part of a servant to put himself beyond the power of his master, and any interference in that servant's behalf on the part of the British
Government. In the letter to Ranjit Singh, Louis Philippe, is styled, in French, 'Empereur' (Capt. Wade to Government, 15th Sept. 1837); a title which, at the time, may have pleased the vanity of the French, although it could not have informed the understandings of the Sikhs, as, agreeably to Persian and Indian practice, king or queen is always translated 'Padshah* equally with emperor. Sir Claude Wade seems to think that the real design of the French was to open a regular intercourse with Ranjit Singh, and to obtain a political influence in the Punjab. The Maharaja, however, after consulting the British Agent, decided on not taking any notice of the overtures. (Sir Claude Wade, Narrative, p. 38, note.) [A piece of diplomacy on the Dart of the French Government, tj-pical of the chicanery of Louis Philippe and his advisers. The monarch who could perpetrate the sordid scandal of the Spanish marriage was eoually capable of an underhand intrigue with Ranjit Singh.
—Ed.] 1 These views of Sir Henry Fane's may not be on record, but they were well known to those "about his Excellency. His estimate was, as I remember to have heard from Capt. Wade, 67,000 men, and he thought there might be a two years' active warfare. This visit to Lahore was perhaps mainly useful in Garden, the indefatigable quarterLieut.-Col. enabling m.aster-general of the Bengal Army, to compile a detailed map of that part of the country, and which formed the groundwork of all the maps used when hostilities did at last break out with the Sikhs.
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