Tempo:
CHAP. VIII
THE SIKH ARMY
215
Punjab in April 1841, when the mutinous spirit of the i84i^ Sikh army was spreading from the capital to the provinces. A body of mixed or Muhammadan troops had been directed by the Lahore Government to accompany the royal families as an escort of protection, but Major Broadfoot became suspicious of the good faith of this detachment, and on the banks of the Ravi he prepared to resist, with his newly recruited regiment, an attack on the part of those who had been sent to conduct him in safety. On his way to the Indus he was even more suspicious of other bodies of troops which he met or passed; he believed them to be intent on plundering his camp, and he considered that he only avoided collisions by dexterous negotiations and by timely demonstrations of force. On crossing the river at Attock, his persuasion of the hostile designs of the battalions in that neighbourhood and towards Peshawar was so strong, that he put his camp in a complete state of defence, broke up the bridge of boats, and called upon the Afghan population to rise and aid him against the troops of their government. But it does not appear that his apprehensions had even a plausible foundation, until at this time he seized certain deputies from a mutinous regiment when on their way back from a conference with their commander, and who appear to have come within the limits of the British pickets. This proceeding alarmed both General Avitabile, the governor of Peshawar, and the British agent at that place; and a brigade, already warned, was hurried from Jalalabad to overawe the Sikh forces
encamped near the Indus. But the Shah's families and numerous followers had passed on unmolested before the auxiliary troops had cleared the Khaibar Pass, and the whole proceeding merely served to their
and excite the distrust of the Sikhs generally, The sikhs and to give Sher Singh an opportunity of pointing out further to his tumultuous soldiers that the Punjab was sur- imitated *^^ rounded by English armies, both ready and willing to e^-T^IJ^ "^ *^ make war upon them.^ Before the middle of 1841 the more violent pro- The ceedings of the Lahore troops had ceased, but the changed relation of the army to the state had become wholly relation of altered; it was no longer the willing instrument of an ^'"'^ Lahore arbitrary and genial government, but it looked upon th^^sta^e itself, and was regarded by others, as the representa- its miiitive body of the Sikh people, as the 'Khalsa' itself tary orgaassembled by tribes or centuries to take its part in "Jzat'on
irritate
1
1841.
Cf.
Mr. Clerk to Government, 25th May and 10th June
THE SIKH ARMY
215
Punjab in April 1841, when the mutinous spirit of the i84i^ Sikh army was spreading from the capital to the provinces. A body of mixed or Muhammadan troops had been directed by the Lahore Government to accompany the royal families as an escort of protection, but Major Broadfoot became suspicious of the good faith of this detachment, and on the banks of the Ravi he prepared to resist, with his newly recruited regiment, an attack on the part of those who had been sent to conduct him in safety. On his way to the Indus he was even more suspicious of other bodies of troops which he met or passed; he believed them to be intent on plundering his camp, and he considered that he only avoided collisions by dexterous negotiations and by timely demonstrations of force. On crossing the river at Attock, his persuasion of the hostile designs of the battalions in that neighbourhood and towards Peshawar was so strong, that he put his camp in a complete state of defence, broke up the bridge of boats, and called upon the Afghan population to rise and aid him against the troops of their government. But it does not appear that his apprehensions had even a plausible foundation, until at this time he seized certain deputies from a mutinous regiment when on their way back from a conference with their commander, and who appear to have come within the limits of the British pickets. This proceeding alarmed both General Avitabile, the governor of Peshawar, and the British agent at that place; and a brigade, already warned, was hurried from Jalalabad to overawe the Sikh forces
encamped near the Indus. But the Shah's families and numerous followers had passed on unmolested before the auxiliary troops had cleared the Khaibar Pass, and the whole proceeding merely served to their
and excite the distrust of the Sikhs generally, The sikhs and to give Sher Singh an opportunity of pointing out further to his tumultuous soldiers that the Punjab was sur- imitated *^^ rounded by English armies, both ready and willing to e^-T^IJ^ "^ *^ make war upon them.^ Before the middle of 1841 the more violent pro- The ceedings of the Lahore troops had ceased, but the changed relation of the army to the state had become wholly relation of altered; it was no longer the willing instrument of an ^'"'^ Lahore arbitrary and genial government, but it looked upon th^^sta^e itself, and was regarded by others, as the representa- its miiitive body of the Sikh people, as the 'Khalsa' itself tary orgaassembled by tribes or centuries to take its part in "Jzat'on
irritate
1
1841.
Cf.
Mr. Clerk to Government, 25th May and 10th June
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