Tempo:
I
CHAP. IX of force,
in
WAR WITH THE ENGLISH
253
the affairs of the priest-Uke
Sodhis of 1845-6.
Anandpur-Makhowal, a fief to which some years before it had been declared to be expedient to waive all claim, especially as Ranjit Singh could best deal with the privileged proprietors.^ Again, a troop of horse had crossed the Sutlej near Ferozepore, to proceed to Kot Kapura, a Lahore town, to relieve or strengthen the mounted police ordinarily stationed there; but the party had crossed without the previous sanction of the British Agent having been obtained, agreeably to an understanding between the two governments, based on an article of the treaty of 1809, but which modified arrangement was scarcely applicable to so small a body of men proceeding for such a purpose. Major Broadfoot nevertheless required the horsemen to recross; and as he considered them dialtory in their obedience, he followed them with his escort, and overtook them as they were about to ford the river. A shot was fired by the English party, and tHe extreme desire of the Sikh commandant to avoid doing anything which might be held to compromise his government, alone prevented a collision.- Further, the bridge-boats which had been -prepared at Bombay were dispatched towards Ferozepore in the autumn of 1845, and Major Broadfoot almost avowed that hostilities had broken out when he manifested an apprehension of danger to these armed vessels, bj'' ordering strong guards of soldiers to escort
them safely to their destination, and when he
to exercise their crews in the formation of bridges after their arrival at Ferozepore."^
began
1 With regard to Anandpur, see chap. vii. About the particular dispute noticed in the text, Major Broadfoot's letter to Government of the 13th Sept. 1845 may be referred to. It labours in a halting way to justify his proceedings and his assumption of jurisdiction under ordinary circumstances.
is
-Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 27th March 1845. It understood that the Government disapproved of these
proceedings. The Calcutta Review for June 1849 (p. 547) states that the Governor-General did not, as represented, disapprove, but, on the contrary, entirely approved, of Major Broadfoot's proceedings in this matter. The Reviewer writes like one possessed of official knowledge, but I am nevertheless unwilling to believe that the Governor-General could have been pleased with the violent and unbecoming act of his agent, although his lordship may have desired to see the irregular conduct of the Sikhs firmly checked. 3 detachment of troops under a European officer was required to be sent with each batch of boats, owing to the state of the Punjab. Nevertheless, small iron steamers were allowed to navigate the Sutlej at the time without guards, and one lay
A
CHAP. IX of force,
in
WAR WITH THE ENGLISH
253
the affairs of the priest-Uke
Sodhis of 1845-6.
Anandpur-Makhowal, a fief to which some years before it had been declared to be expedient to waive all claim, especially as Ranjit Singh could best deal with the privileged proprietors.^ Again, a troop of horse had crossed the Sutlej near Ferozepore, to proceed to Kot Kapura, a Lahore town, to relieve or strengthen the mounted police ordinarily stationed there; but the party had crossed without the previous sanction of the British Agent having been obtained, agreeably to an understanding between the two governments, based on an article of the treaty of 1809, but which modified arrangement was scarcely applicable to so small a body of men proceeding for such a purpose. Major Broadfoot nevertheless required the horsemen to recross; and as he considered them dialtory in their obedience, he followed them with his escort, and overtook them as they were about to ford the river. A shot was fired by the English party, and tHe extreme desire of the Sikh commandant to avoid doing anything which might be held to compromise his government, alone prevented a collision.- Further, the bridge-boats which had been -prepared at Bombay were dispatched towards Ferozepore in the autumn of 1845, and Major Broadfoot almost avowed that hostilities had broken out when he manifested an apprehension of danger to these armed vessels, bj'' ordering strong guards of soldiers to escort
them safely to their destination, and when he
to exercise their crews in the formation of bridges after their arrival at Ferozepore."^
began
1 With regard to Anandpur, see chap. vii. About the particular dispute noticed in the text, Major Broadfoot's letter to Government of the 13th Sept. 1845 may be referred to. It labours in a halting way to justify his proceedings and his assumption of jurisdiction under ordinary circumstances.
is
-Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 27th March 1845. It understood that the Government disapproved of these
proceedings. The Calcutta Review for June 1849 (p. 547) states that the Governor-General did not, as represented, disapprove, but, on the contrary, entirely approved, of Major Broadfoot's proceedings in this matter. The Reviewer writes like one possessed of official knowledge, but I am nevertheless unwilling to believe that the Governor-General could have been pleased with the violent and unbecoming act of his agent, although his lordship may have desired to see the irregular conduct of the Sikhs firmly checked. 3 detachment of troops under a European officer was required to be sent with each batch of boats, owing to the state of the Punjab. Nevertheless, small iron steamers were allowed to navigate the Sutlej at the time without guards, and one lay
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