Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
The Second Anglo-Sikh War
ANGLO-SIKH WAR II, 1848-49, which resulted in the abrogation of the Sikh
kingdom of the Punjab, was virtually a campaign by the victors of the first
Anglo-Sikh war (1945-46) and since then the de facto rulers of the State finally
to overcome the resistance of some of the sardars who chafed at the defeat in
the earlier war which, they believed, had been lost owing to the treachery on
the part of the commanders at the top and not to any lack of fighting strength
of the Sikh army. It marked also the fulfillment of the imperialist ambition of
the new governor-general, Lord Dalhousie (184856), to carry forward the British
flag up to the natural boundary of India on the northwest. According to the
peace settlement of March 1846, at the end of Anglo-Sikh war I, the British
force in Lahore was to be withdrawn at the end of the year, but a severer treaty
was imposed on the Sikhs before the expiry of that date.
Sir Henry Hardinge, the then governor-general, had his Agent, Frederick
Currie, persuade the Lahore Darbar to request the British for the continuance of
the troops in Lahore. According to the treaty, which was consequently signed at
Bharoval on 16 December 1846, Henry Lawrence was appointed Resident with "full
authority to direct and control all matters in every department of the State."
The Council of Regency, consisting of the nominees of the Resident and headed by
Tej Singh, was appointed. The power to make changes in its personnel vested in
the resident. Under another clause the British could maintain as many troops in
the Punjab as they thought necessary for the preservation of peace and order.
This treaty was to remain in operation until the minor Maharaja Duleep Singh
attained the age of 16. By a proclamation issued in July 1847, the
governor-general further enhanced the powers of the Resident. On 23 October
1847, Sir Henry Hardinge wrote to Henry Lawrence: "In all our measures taken
during the minority we must bear in mind that by the treaty of Lahore, March
1846, the Punjab never was intended to be an independent State. By the clause I
added the chief of the State could neither make war or peace, or exchange or
sell an acre of territory or admit a European officer, or refuse us a
thoroughfare through his territories, or, in fact, perform any act without our
permission. In fact the native Prince is in fetters, and under our protection
and must do our bidding."
In the words of British historian John Clark Marshman, "an officer of the
Company's artillery became, in fact, the successor to Ranjit Singh." The Sikhs
resented this gradual liquidation of their authority in the Punjab. The new
government at Lahore became totally unpopular. The abolition of tigers in the
Jalandhar Doab and changes introduced in the system of land revenue and its
collection angered the landed classes. Maharani Jind Kaur, who was described by
Lord Dalhousie as the only woman it the Punjab with manly understanding and in
whom the British Resident foresaw a rallying point for the well-wishers of the
Sikh dynasty, was kept under close surveillance. Henry Lawrence laid down that
she could not receive in audience more than five or six sardars in a month and
that she remains in purdah like the ladies of the royal families of Nepal,
Jodhpur and Jaipur.
In January 1848, Henry Lawrence took leave of absence and traveled back home
with Lord Hardinge, who had completed his term in India. The former was replaced
by Frederick Currie and the latter by the Earl of Dalhousie. The new regime
confronted a rebellion in the Sikh province of Multan, which it utilized as an
excuse for the annexation of the Punjab. The British Resident at Lahore
increased the levy payable by the Multan governor, Diwan Mul Raj , who, finding
himself unable to comply, resigned his office. Frederick Currie appointed
General Kahn Singh Man in his place and sent him to Multan along with two
British officers P.A. Vans Agnew and William Anderson, to take charge from Mul
Raj The party arrived at Multan on 18 April 1848, and the Diwan vacated the Fort
and made over the keys to the representatives of the Lahore Darbar But his
soldiers rebelled and the British officers were set upon in their camp and
killed This was the beginning of the Multan outbreak.
Some soldiers of the Lahore escort deserted their officers and joined Mul
Raj's army. Currie received the news at Lahore on 21 April, but delayed action
Lord Dalhousie allowed the Multan rebellion to spread for five months. The
interval was utilized by the British further to provoke Sikh opinion. The
Resident did his best to fan the flames of rebellion. Maharani Jind Kaur, then
under detention in the Fort of Sheikupura, was exiled from the Punjab She was
taken to Firozpur and thence to Banaras, in the British dominions. Her annual
allowance, which according to the treaty of Bharoval had been fixed at one and a
half lakh of rupees, was reduced to twelve thousand. Her jewellery worth fifty
thousand of rupees was forfeited; so was her cash amounting to a lakh and a
half. The humiliating treatment of the Maharani caused deep resentment among the
people of the Punjab Even the Muslim ruler of Afghanistan, Amir Dost Muhammad,
protested to the British, saying that such treatment is objectionable to all
creeds."
