Tempo:
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
224
chap, viii
The necessity of at least relieving the garrison oi
1841
An army of Jalalabad was paramount, and in the spring of 1842 a retribution well-equipped British force arrived at Peshawar; but assembled the active co-operation of the Sikhs was still desirable, 1842. and it was sought for under the terms of an obsolete article of the tripartite treaty with Shah Shuja, which gave Lahore a subsidy of two lakhs of rupees in ex change for the services of 5,000 men.i Sher Singh was willing to assist beyond this limited degree; he greatly facilitated the purchase of grain and the hire of carri age cattle in the Punjab, and his auxiliaries could be made to outnumber the troops of his allies; but he felt uneasy about the proceedings of the Sindhianwalachiefs, one of whom had gone to Calcutta to urge his own claims, or those of Mai Chand Kaur, and all of whom retained influence in the Sikh ranks. He was assured that the refugees should not be allowed to disturb his reign, and there thus seemed to be no obstacle in the way of his full co-operation.- But the genuine Sikhs were held by the English to be both mutinous in disposition and inferior in warlike spirit; the soldiers Gulab of Jammu v/ere preferred, and Gulab Singh was re Singh sent quired to proceed to Peshawar to repress the insuborto codinate 'Khalsa', and to give General Pollock the operate. assurance of efficient aid.^ The Raja was at the time completing the reduction of some insurgent tribes between Kashmir and Attock, and his heart was in Tibet, where he had himself lost an army and a kingdom. He went, but he knew the temper of his own hill levies he was naturally unwilling to- run any :
during the campaign in the ways their experience taught them be the most likely to lead to success. ^ See Government to Mr. Clerk, 3rd May and 23rd July 1842. The English agents, however, rather tauntingly and imploringly reminded the Sikh authorities that they were bound to have such a force I'eady by agreement as well as by friendship, than formally revived the demand for its production to
under the stipulations of the treaty. - Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 2nd Jan. and 31st March 1842, and Government to Mr. Clerk, 17th Jan. and 12th May 1842. With regard to assistance I'endered by the Sikhs during the Afghan War in furnishing escorts, grain, and carriage for the British troops, Mr. Clerk's letters of the 15th Jan., 18th May, and 14th June 1842 may be quoted. In the last it is stated that 17,381 camels had been procured through Sikh agency between 1839 and 1842. Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 15th Jan., 10th Feb., and 6th May, 1842. Government at first seemed indifferent whether Gulab Singh went or not; and, indeed, Mr. Clerk himself rather suggested than required the Raja's employment; but suggesbe the circumstances, tions or wishes could not, under '^
misconstrued.
224
chap, viii
The necessity of at least relieving the garrison oi
1841
An army of Jalalabad was paramount, and in the spring of 1842 a retribution well-equipped British force arrived at Peshawar; but assembled the active co-operation of the Sikhs was still desirable, 1842. and it was sought for under the terms of an obsolete article of the tripartite treaty with Shah Shuja, which gave Lahore a subsidy of two lakhs of rupees in ex change for the services of 5,000 men.i Sher Singh was willing to assist beyond this limited degree; he greatly facilitated the purchase of grain and the hire of carri age cattle in the Punjab, and his auxiliaries could be made to outnumber the troops of his allies; but he felt uneasy about the proceedings of the Sindhianwalachiefs, one of whom had gone to Calcutta to urge his own claims, or those of Mai Chand Kaur, and all of whom retained influence in the Sikh ranks. He was assured that the refugees should not be allowed to disturb his reign, and there thus seemed to be no obstacle in the way of his full co-operation.- But the genuine Sikhs were held by the English to be both mutinous in disposition and inferior in warlike spirit; the soldiers Gulab of Jammu v/ere preferred, and Gulab Singh was re Singh sent quired to proceed to Peshawar to repress the insuborto codinate 'Khalsa', and to give General Pollock the operate. assurance of efficient aid.^ The Raja was at the time completing the reduction of some insurgent tribes between Kashmir and Attock, and his heart was in Tibet, where he had himself lost an army and a kingdom. He went, but he knew the temper of his own hill levies he was naturally unwilling to- run any :
during the campaign in the ways their experience taught them be the most likely to lead to success. ^ See Government to Mr. Clerk, 3rd May and 23rd July 1842. The English agents, however, rather tauntingly and imploringly reminded the Sikh authorities that they were bound to have such a force I'eady by agreement as well as by friendship, than formally revived the demand for its production to
under the stipulations of the treaty. - Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 2nd Jan. and 31st March 1842, and Government to Mr. Clerk, 17th Jan. and 12th May 1842. With regard to assistance I'endered by the Sikhs during the Afghan War in furnishing escorts, grain, and carriage for the British troops, Mr. Clerk's letters of the 15th Jan., 18th May, and 14th June 1842 may be quoted. In the last it is stated that 17,381 camels had been procured through Sikh agency between 1839 and 1842. Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 15th Jan., 10th Feb., and 6th May, 1842. Government at first seemed indifferent whether Gulab Singh went or not; and, indeed, Mr. Clerk himself rather suggested than required the Raja's employment; but suggesbe the circumstances, tions or wishes could not, under '^
misconstrued.
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