Tempo:
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
258 1845-6.
CHAP. IX
cided with the belief of the impulsive soldierj^; and
when the men were tauntingly asked whether tl^ej' would quietly look on while the limits of the Khalsa dominion were being reduced, and the plains of Lahore
The Sikhs cross the Sutlej,
11th Dec. 1845.
occupied by the remote strangers of Europe, they answered that they would defend with their lives all belonging to the commonwealth of Gobind, and that they would march and give battle to the invaders on their own ground.^ At the time in question, or early in November, two Sikh villages near Ludhiana were placed under sequestration, on the plea that criminals concealed in them had not been surrendered.The measure was an unusual one, even when the Sikhs and the English were equally at their ease with regard to one another; and the circumstance, added to the rapid approach of the Governor-General to the frontier, removed any doubts which may have lingered in the minds of the Panchayats. The men would assemble in groups and talk of the great battle they must soon wage, and they would meet round the tomb of Ranjit Singh and vow fidelity to the Khalsa.'^ Thus wrought upon, war with the English was virtually declared on the 17th November; a few days afterwards the troops began to move in detachments from Lahore; they commenced crossing the Sutlej between Hariki and Kasur on the 11th December, and on the 14th of that month a portion of the army took up a position within a few miles of Ferozepore.^ The initiative was thus taken by the Sikhs, who by an overt act broke a solemn treaty, and invaded the territories of their allies. It is further certain that the English people had all along been sincerely desirous of living at peace with the Punjab, and to a casual observer the aggression of the Sikhs may thus appear as unaccountable as it was fatal; yet further inquiry will show that the policy pursued by the English themselves for several years was not in reality well calculated to ensure a continuance of pacific relations, and that they cannot therefore be held wholly blameless 1 The ordinary private correspondence of the period contained many statements of the kind given in the text. 2 Major Broadfoot's o//iciGl correspondence seems to have ceased after the 21st Nov. 1845; and there is no report on this affair among his recorded letters. 3 The Lahore news-letters of the 24th Nov. 1845, prepared
for Government. Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 2nd (Parliamentary Papers, and 31st Dec. 1845, with enclosures. 1846.) •*
258 1845-6.
CHAP. IX
cided with the belief of the impulsive soldierj^; and
when the men were tauntingly asked whether tl^ej' would quietly look on while the limits of the Khalsa dominion were being reduced, and the plains of Lahore
The Sikhs cross the Sutlej,
11th Dec. 1845.
occupied by the remote strangers of Europe, they answered that they would defend with their lives all belonging to the commonwealth of Gobind, and that they would march and give battle to the invaders on their own ground.^ At the time in question, or early in November, two Sikh villages near Ludhiana were placed under sequestration, on the plea that criminals concealed in them had not been surrendered.The measure was an unusual one, even when the Sikhs and the English were equally at their ease with regard to one another; and the circumstance, added to the rapid approach of the Governor-General to the frontier, removed any doubts which may have lingered in the minds of the Panchayats. The men would assemble in groups and talk of the great battle they must soon wage, and they would meet round the tomb of Ranjit Singh and vow fidelity to the Khalsa.'^ Thus wrought upon, war with the English was virtually declared on the 17th November; a few days afterwards the troops began to move in detachments from Lahore; they commenced crossing the Sutlej between Hariki and Kasur on the 11th December, and on the 14th of that month a portion of the army took up a position within a few miles of Ferozepore.^ The initiative was thus taken by the Sikhs, who by an overt act broke a solemn treaty, and invaded the territories of their allies. It is further certain that the English people had all along been sincerely desirous of living at peace with the Punjab, and to a casual observer the aggression of the Sikhs may thus appear as unaccountable as it was fatal; yet further inquiry will show that the policy pursued by the English themselves for several years was not in reality well calculated to ensure a continuance of pacific relations, and that they cannot therefore be held wholly blameless 1 The ordinary private correspondence of the period contained many statements of the kind given in the text. 2 Major Broadfoot's o//iciGl correspondence seems to have ceased after the 21st Nov. 1845; and there is no report on this affair among his recorded letters. 3 The Lahore news-letters of the 24th Nov. 1845, prepared
for Government. Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 2nd (Parliamentary Papers, and 31st Dec. 1845, with enclosures. 1846.) •*
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