Tempo:
CHAP. IX
WAR WITH THE ENGLISH
249
To this general persuasion of the Sikhs, in common iS'^s-s. with other Indian nations, that the English were and The English are ever ready to extend their power, is to be added advancethe particular bearing of the British Government to- bodies of wards the Punjab itself. In 1809, when the apprehen- ^°°J^^ J°; sions of a French invasion of the East had subsided, sutiej con-
when the resolution of making the Jumna a boundary trary to was still approved, and when the policy of forming their policy the province of Sirhind into a neutral or separating °^ ^^°^tract between two dissimilar powers had been wisely adopted, the English Viceroy had said that rather than irritate Ranjit Singh, the detachment of troops which
had been advanced to Ludhiana might be withdrawn It was not indeed thought advisable to carry out the proposition; but up to the period of the Afghan war of 1838, the garrison of Ludhiana formed, the only body of armed men near the Sikh frontier, excepting the provincial regiment raised ar Sabathu for the police of the hills after the Gurkha war. The advanced post on the Sutiej was of little military or political use; but it served as the most conspicuous symbol of the compact with the Sikhs; and they, as the inferior power, were always disposed to lean upon old engagements as those which warranted the least degree to Karnal.i
of intimacy or dictation. In 1835 the petty chiefship of Ferozepore, seventy miles lower down the Sutiej than Ludhiana, was occupied by the English as an escheat due to their protection of all Sikh lordships save that of Lahore. The advantages of the place in a military point of view had been perseveringly extolled, and its proximity to the capital of the Punjab made Ranjit Singh, in his prophetic fear, claim it as a dependency of his own.- In 1838 the Maharaja's apprehensions that the insignificant town would become a cantonment were fully realized; for twelve thousand men assembled at Ferozepore to march to Khorasan; and as it was learnt, before the date fixed for the departure of the army, that the Persians had raised the siege of Herat, it was determined that a small division should be left behind, until the success of the projected invasion rendered its presence no longer necessary.'' But the succeeding warfare in Afghanistan and Sind gave the 1
Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 30th Jan.
1809.
See chap. vii. This was the understanding at the time, but no document appears to have been drawn up to that effect. It was indeed expected that Shah Shuja would be seated on his throne, and the British ai'my withdrawn, all within a twelvemonth.' -
•^
WAR WITH THE ENGLISH
249
To this general persuasion of the Sikhs, in common iS'^s-s. with other Indian nations, that the English were and The English are ever ready to extend their power, is to be added advancethe particular bearing of the British Government to- bodies of wards the Punjab itself. In 1809, when the apprehen- ^°°J^^ J°; sions of a French invasion of the East had subsided, sutiej con-
when the resolution of making the Jumna a boundary trary to was still approved, and when the policy of forming their policy the province of Sirhind into a neutral or separating °^ ^^°^tract between two dissimilar powers had been wisely adopted, the English Viceroy had said that rather than irritate Ranjit Singh, the detachment of troops which
had been advanced to Ludhiana might be withdrawn It was not indeed thought advisable to carry out the proposition; but up to the period of the Afghan war of 1838, the garrison of Ludhiana formed, the only body of armed men near the Sikh frontier, excepting the provincial regiment raised ar Sabathu for the police of the hills after the Gurkha war. The advanced post on the Sutiej was of little military or political use; but it served as the most conspicuous symbol of the compact with the Sikhs; and they, as the inferior power, were always disposed to lean upon old engagements as those which warranted the least degree to Karnal.i
of intimacy or dictation. In 1835 the petty chiefship of Ferozepore, seventy miles lower down the Sutiej than Ludhiana, was occupied by the English as an escheat due to their protection of all Sikh lordships save that of Lahore. The advantages of the place in a military point of view had been perseveringly extolled, and its proximity to the capital of the Punjab made Ranjit Singh, in his prophetic fear, claim it as a dependency of his own.- In 1838 the Maharaja's apprehensions that the insignificant town would become a cantonment were fully realized; for twelve thousand men assembled at Ferozepore to march to Khorasan; and as it was learnt, before the date fixed for the departure of the army, that the Persians had raised the siege of Herat, it was determined that a small division should be left behind, until the success of the projected invasion rendered its presence no longer necessary.'' But the succeeding warfare in Afghanistan and Sind gave the 1
Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 30th Jan.
1809.
See chap. vii. This was the understanding at the time, but no document appears to have been drawn up to that effect. It was indeed expected that Shah Shuja would be seated on his throne, and the British ai'my withdrawn, all within a twelvemonth.' -
•^
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