Anglo-Sikh Wars

Background

Ranjit Singh's death in 1839 left no comparable successor. A decade of court intrigue followed, in which several rulers were assassinated and real power passed between factions and the army, whose panchayats had become a political force. On the other side of the Sutlej, Company forces were concentrated in growing numbers.

The first war

Fighting began in December 1845 when Sikh forces crossed the Sutlej. Four major engagements followed — Mudki, Ferozeshah, Aliwal and Sobraon — and the Company won all of them, but at a cost that startled its commanders; Ferozeshah in particular was nearly lost, and British accounts of Sikh artillery and infantry are respectful throughout.

The outcome was compromised by treachery within the Sikh command: the wazir Lal Singh and the commander Tej Singh were in communication with the British, and their conduct at critical moments is generally accepted to have cost the Sikh army battles it might otherwise have won. The Treaty of Lahore in 1846 imposed an indemnity, ceded Kashmir, which was sold to Gulab Singh, and installed a British resident.

The second war

Discontent with the settlement produced a rising at Multan in 1848 that spread. The principal battles were Ramnagar, Chillianwala — where British losses were severe enough to cause a political crisis in London — and finally Gujrat in February 1849, which broke the Sikh army.

Annexation

The Punjab was annexed in March 1849. The child Maharaja Duleep Singh was deposed and eventually sent to Britain; the Koh-i-Noor was surrendered to the Crown. The province was placed under a board of administration and became, within a decade, one of the most important recruiting grounds for the Indian Army — Sikh regiments serving the same power that had annexed the Punjab, in numbers out of all proportion to the population, through both world wars.