Tempo:
270
Punjab Monarchy and Imperialism
throne and eject the Barakzais with whom the English were negotiating commercial treaties. The Durbar received emissaries from the court of Herat and conveyed to the British that the Russians were anxious to treat with the Punjabis. Emissaries from Nepal were received with marked favour at Lahore, and there was an exchange of courtesies with the Maratha chiefs and the Nizam of Hyderabad. 1 The British government entered into discussions on the Durbar's claims over territory across the Sutlej. These were examined and conceded in the case of towns which were strategicaJly unimportant: Anandpur, Chamkaur, Kirat_pur, and Machiwara; but the most important, Ferozepur, was rejected.2 Ferozepur was only forty miles from Lahore and close to the most important ford over the Sutlej. This step was taken on the advice of the British army commanders, who felt that Ludhiana was too far from Lahore to be an effective base of operations against the Punjab. British troops were moved to Ferozepur and the town was fortified. The Maharajah sensed the approaching danger. 'Pas ageya' (they have come closer), he remarked. The Durbar countered the move by garrisoning Kasur, which faced Ferozepur on the other side of the river.
The Conquest of Ladakh While the British were menacing them in the east and blocking them in the south, the Punjabis burst out in a direction which the English could scarcely believe possible: northwards over Kashmir's Himalayan ranges into Ladakh. General Zorawar Singh, who was posted at Kishtwar, exploited a domestic quarrel 1 The Nizam sem Ranjit Singh a bejewelled canopy which he presented to the Golden Temple, where it is to this day. 2 The excuse to do so was provided by the death in September 1835 of the widow, Lachman Kaur, who had been in possession of the town. The Ludhiana Agent, who had in the past held the Maharajah to be Lachman Kaur's overlord, now announced that her estates lapsed to the English and not to the Durbar.
Punjab Monarchy and Imperialism
throne and eject the Barakzais with whom the English were negotiating commercial treaties. The Durbar received emissaries from the court of Herat and conveyed to the British that the Russians were anxious to treat with the Punjabis. Emissaries from Nepal were received with marked favour at Lahore, and there was an exchange of courtesies with the Maratha chiefs and the Nizam of Hyderabad. 1 The British government entered into discussions on the Durbar's claims over territory across the Sutlej. These were examined and conceded in the case of towns which were strategicaJly unimportant: Anandpur, Chamkaur, Kirat_pur, and Machiwara; but the most important, Ferozepur, was rejected.2 Ferozepur was only forty miles from Lahore and close to the most important ford over the Sutlej. This step was taken on the advice of the British army commanders, who felt that Ludhiana was too far from Lahore to be an effective base of operations against the Punjab. British troops were moved to Ferozepur and the town was fortified. The Maharajah sensed the approaching danger. 'Pas ageya' (they have come closer), he remarked. The Durbar countered the move by garrisoning Kasur, which faced Ferozepur on the other side of the river.
The Conquest of Ladakh While the British were menacing them in the east and blocking them in the south, the Punjabis burst out in a direction which the English could scarcely believe possible: northwards over Kashmir's Himalayan ranges into Ladakh. General Zorawar Singh, who was posted at Kishtwar, exploited a domestic quarrel 1 The Nizam sem Ranjit Singh a bejewelled canopy which he presented to the Golden Temple, where it is to this day. 2 The excuse to do so was provided by the death in September 1835 of the widow, Lachman Kaur, who had been in possession of the town. The Ludhiana Agent, who had in the past held the Maharajah to be Lachman Kaur's overlord, now announced that her estates lapsed to the English and not to the Durbar.
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