Anglo-Sikh wars

Topic: Europeans in India and the Rise of Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Anglo-Sikh wars were two wars between the English East India Company and the Sikh kingdom of Punjab: the First (1845–1846) and the Second (1848–1849). They were fought after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839. The Second War ended when Lord Dalhousie annexed Punjab in 1849.

They matter because Punjab was the last big independent Indian kingdom. Once it fell, the Company controlled almost the whole of the subcontinent up to its north-western frontier.

Explanation

Background and causes

Ranjit Singh built a strong Sikh kingdom with its capital at Lahore. He had a modern army, called the Khalsa army, trained partly by European officers.
Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with the Company:
The river Sutlej became the boundary between the two.
Ranjit Singh stayed north and west of the Sutlej. The Company did not interfere there.
After Ranjit Singh died in 1839, the kingdom became unstable.
Several rulers came and went quickly (Kharak Singh, Nau Nihal Singh, Sher Singh). Some were killed in court plots.
In the end the child Duleep Singh became Maharaja, with his mother Rani Jindan as regent (a person who rules for a child king).
The Khalsa army became the real power in Lahore. Court nobles both feared it and tried to use it.
Divide and rule at work. Rival nobles fought over power at court, so the Company had plenty of chances to step in. This was its usual method: use court factions and succession disputes.
The British moved closer. They built up troops near the Sutlej, and the Sikh leaders saw this as a threat.

First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–1846)

Governor-General: Lord Hardinge.
December 1845: the Sikh army crossed the Sutlej. The British declared war.
Main battles, in order: Mudki → Ferozeshah (December 1845) → Aliwal → Sobraon (early 1846). Sobraon was the decisive British victory.
Treachery at the top. According to most textbook accounts, the Sikh commanders Lal Singh and Tej Singh were secretly in touch with the British and let their own army down. The soldiers fought hard, but their leaders failed them. This is the same pattern as Mir Jafar at Plassey.
Treaty of Lahore (March 1846):
The Sikhs gave up the Jalandhar Doab (the land between the Beas and the Sutlej).
They had to pay a large war indemnity (a fine paid by the losing side).
The Sikh army was cut down in size.
Duleep Singh stayed Maharaja, but a British Resident was posted at Lahore.
Kashmir was handed to Gulab Singh of Jammu for a cash payment. He became Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir under British protection (Treaty of Amritsar, 1846).
Treaty of Bhairowal (December 1846):
A council of Sikh nobles would govern under the control of the British Resident.
British troops were stationed at Lahore, and the Lahore state paid for them.
Rani Jindan lost her place as regent.
In effect, Punjab now lived under a subsidiary alliance in all but name, with a Resident, British troops paid for by the state, and no real independence [1].

Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849)

Governor-General: Lord Dalhousie.
The spark: Multan, 1848.
Mulraj, the governor of Multan, revolted. Two British officers were killed there.
Sikh leaders such as Sher Singh Attariwala joined the revolt, and it spread across Punjab.
Main battles, in order: Ramnagar → Chillianwala (January 1849) → Gujrat (February 1849).
Chillianwala was very costly for the British, and many historians call it indecisive.
At Gujrat, British artillery destroyed the Sikh army. It is often called the "battle of the guns".
Annexation (March 1849):
Dalhousie annexed Punjab to British India.
Duleep Singh was given a pension and later sent to England.
The Koh-i-noor diamond passed to the British.
Punjab was first run by a Board of Administration that included the Lawrence brothers.

Results

The Company now ruled up to the north-west frontier, close to Afghanistan.
The last strong Indian army was broken up. Many Sikh soldiers were later taken into the British Indian army.
Punjab stayed loyal in 1857. Punjab was newly conquered and had its old grudges against the Bengal army, so it largely did not join the Rebellion. Punjabi troops even helped the British retake Delhi.
Dalhousie's empire-building. Punjab was one part of his larger expansion, which also included the lapse annexations of Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854) [2].

Time, place and evidence

Period: 1845–1849, after Ranjit Singh's death (1839). This falls in the age of Company expansion before 1857.
Region: Punjab, the Sikh kingdom with its capital at Lahore. The Sutlej was the border.
Battle sites:
First War: Mudki, Ferozeshah, Aliwal, Sobraon, all near the Sutlej.
Second War: Multan, Ramnagar, Chillianwala and Gujrat, all in western Punjab (now in Pakistan).
Key people:
Sikh side: Maharaja Duleep Singh, Rani Jindan, Lal Singh, Tej Singh, Mulraj, Sher Singh Attariwala.
Others: Gulab Singh of Jammu.
British side: Lord Hardinge (First War), Lord Dalhousie (Second War), Henry Lawrence (Resident at Lahore).
How we know:
The treaty texts: Lahore (1846), Amritsar (1846) and Bhairowal (1846).
Company official records and the Governors-General's dispatches.
The British annexation proclamation of 1849.

Don't confuse with

Doctrine of Lapse: Punjab was annexed by conquest after a war. It was not taken by lapse. Satara (1848) and Jhansi (1853) were lapse cases, where a ruler died without a recognised heir [2].
Treaty of Amritsar (1809) vs Treaty of Amritsar (1846): the 1809 treaty was between Ranjit Singh and the Company and made the Sutlej the border. The 1846 treaty gave Kashmir to Gulab Singh.
Lord Hardinge vs Lord Dalhousie: Hardinge was Governor-General in the First War, which ended without annexation. Dalhousie was Governor-General in the Second War and annexed Punjab in 1849.
Battle of Gujrat (1849) vs Gujarat: Gujrat is a town in Punjab (now in Pakistan) where the last Sikh battle was fought. It has nothing to do with the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Prelims Hooks

First Anglo-Sikh War: 1845–46, under Lord Hardinge. It ended with the Treaty of Lahore (1846).
Second Anglo-Sikh War: 1848–49, under Lord Dalhousie. It ended with the annexation of Punjab (1849).
Correct order of battles: Mudki → Ferozeshah → Aliwal → Sobraon (First War). Ramnagar → Chillianwala → Gujrat (Second War).
The Second War began with the revolt of Mulraj at Multan (1848).
Kashmir was given to Gulab Singh after the First War, through the Treaty of Amritsar (1846).
Trap: Punjab was not annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. Dalhousie annexed it by conquest. The last Sikh ruler was the boy Duleep Singh.

Mains Points

Weak leadership after a strong founder. Ranjit Singh left no stable system of succession. Court quarrels and the treachery of commanders like Lal Singh and Tej Singh broke the Khalsa from inside. Use this to show the Company's usual method: divide and rule, entering succession disputes, then a protected state (Bhairowal) under a Resident [1], and finally full annexation.
Completing the empire. With Punjab gone, no large independent Indian power was left. Dalhousie's years combined conquest (Punjab) with lapse annexations such as Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi [2]. Together they show the aggressive expansion that worried Indian rulers before 1857 [2][3].
Effect on 1857. Punjab was newly annexed and its Sikh soldiers resented the Bengal army that had helped defeat them, so the region largely stayed out of the Rebellion and even sent troops to help the British. This is a useful point in answers on the regional limits of 1857.

Related concepts

Instruments of conquest: divide and rule, Plassey, subsidiary alliance, Doctrine of Lapse

Sources

1India — The ascent to paramountcybritannica.com · tier 3
2Doctrine of lapse — British Raj, Annexation, Subsidiary Alliancebritannica.com · tier 3
3The Doctrine of Lapse: The Case of Jhansiindianculture.gov.in · tier 1