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SIKH WARS

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 88 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIKH See also:WARS , two See also:Indian See also:campaigns fought between the Sikhs and the See also:British, which resulted in the See also:conquest and See also:annexation of the See also:Punjab (see PUNJAB). First Sikh See also:War (1845-46).-The first Sikh War was brought about by the insubordination of the Sikh See also:army, which after the See also:death of Ranjit Singh became uncontrollable and on the 11th of See also:December 1845 crossed the See also:Sutlej, and virtually declared war upon the British. The British authorities had foreseen the outbreak, and had massed sufficient troops at Ferozepore, See also:Ludhiana and See also:Umballa to protect the frontier, but not to offer provocation. So See also:complete were the preparations for advance that on the 12th, the See also:day after the Sikhs crossed the Sutlej, See also:Sir See also:Hugh See also:Gough, the See also:commander-in-See also:chief, marched 16 m. with the Umballa force to Rajpura; on the 13th the See also:governor-See also:general, Sir See also:Henry See also:Hardinge, declared war, and by the 18th the whole army had marched 15o m. to See also:Moodkee, in See also:order to protect Ferozepore from the Sikh attack. Wearied with their See also:long See also:march, the British troops were enjoying a See also:rest, when the See also:news came in that the Sikhs were advancing to See also:battle at four o'See also:clock in the afternoon. The British had some ro,000 men, and the Sikhs are estimated by some authorities as See also:low as ro,o0o See also:infantry with 2000 See also:cavalry and 22 guns. The battle opened with an See also:artillery See also:duel, in which the British guns, though inferior in See also:weight, soon silenced the enemy, the 3rd See also:Light Dragoons delivered a brilliant See also:charge, and the infantry drove the enemy from position after position with See also:great slaughter and the loss of seventeen guns. The victory was complete, but the fall of See also:night prevented it from being followed up, and caused some of the native regiments to See also:fire into each other in the confusion. After the battle of Moodkee Sir Henry Hardinge volunteered to serve as second in command under Sir Hugh Gough, a step which caused some confusion in the ensuing battle. At 4 A.M. on the 21st of December the British advanced shaose. - shah from Moodkee to attack the Sikh entrenched See also:camp under the command of Lal Singh at See also:Ferozeshah, orders having been sent to Sir See also:John Littler, in command at Ferozepore, to join the See also:main British force. At 1r A.M. the British were in front of the Sikh position, but Sir John Littler, though on his way, had not yet arrived.

Sir Hugh Gough wished to attack while there was plenty of daylight; but Sir Henry Hardinge re-asserted his See also:

civil authority as governor-general, and forbade the attack until the junction with Littler was effected. The army then marched on to meet Littler and the battle did not begin until between 3.30 and 4 P.M. The engagement opened with an artillery duel, in which the British again failed to gain the mastery over the Sikhs. The infantry, therefore, advanced to the attack; but the Sikh muskets were as See also:good as the British, and fighting behind entrenchments they were a most formidable foe. Sir John Littler's attack was repulsed, the 62nd See also:regiment losing heavily in See also:officers and men, while the sepoys failed to support the See also:European regiments. But the Moodkee force, undaunted, stormed and captured the entrenchment, though the different brigades and regiments lost position and became mixed up together in the darkness. The army then passed the night on the Sikh position, while the Sikhs prowled See also:round keeping up an incessant fire. In the See also:morning the British found that they had captured seventy-three pieces of See also:cannon and were masters of the whole See also:field; but at that moment a fresh Sikh army, under Tej Singh, came up to the assistance of the scattered forces of Lal Singh. The British were exhausted with their sleepless night, the native troops were shaken, and a determined attack by this fresh army might have won the day; but Tej Singh, after a See also:half-hearted attack, which was repulsed, marched away, whether from cowardice, incapacity or See also:treason, and See also:left the British masters of the position. After the battle of Ferozeshah the Sikhs retired behind the Sutlej, but See also:early in See also:January they again raided across the See also:river near Ludhiana, and Sir Harry See also:Smith was detached See also:Aliwal. to protect that See also:city. On the 21st of January he was approaching Ludhiana when he found the Sikhs under Runjoor Singh in an entrenched position flanking his See also:line of march at Budhowal. Sir Harry Smith passed on without fighting a general See also:action, but suffered considerable loss in men and baggage.

After receiving reinforcements Sir Harry again advanced from Ludhiana and attacked the Sikhs at Aliwal on the 28th of January. An attack upon the Sikh left near the See also:

village of Aliwal gave Sir Harry the See also:key of the position, and a brilliant charge by the 16th Lancers, which See also:broke a Sikh square, completed their demoralization. The Sikhs fled in confusion, losing sixty-seven guns, and by this battle were expelled from the See also:south See also:side of the Sutlej. Ever since Ferozeshah Sir Hugh Gough had been waiting to receive reinforcements, and on the 7th of See also:February his See also:siege See also:train arrived, while on the following day Sir Harry sohraon. Smith's force returned to camp. On the loth of February Sir Hugh attacked the Sikhs, who occupied a strong entrenched position in a See also:bend of the Sutlej. After two See also:hours' cannonading, the infantry attack commenced at 9 A.M. The advance of the first See also:brigade was not immediately successful, but the second brigade following on carried the entrenchments. The cavalry then charged down the Sikh lines from right to left and completed the victory. The Sikhs, with the river behind them, suffered terrible carnage, and are computed to have lost mo,000 men and 67 guns. The British losses throughout the See also:campaign were considerably heavier than was usual in Indian warfare; but this was partly due to the fact that the Sikhs were the best natural fighters in See also:India, and partly to the lack of See also:energy of the See also:Hindostani sepoys. After the battle of See also:Sobraon the British advanced to See also:Lahore, where the treaty of Lahore was signed on the 11th of March.

Second Sikh War (1848-7849).—For two years after the battle of Sobraon the Punjab remained a British See also:

protectorate, with Sir Henry See also:Lawrence as See also:resident; but the Sikhs were unconvinced of their military inferiority, the Rani Jindan and her ministers were constantly intriguing to recover their See also:power, and a further trial of strength was inevitable. The outbreak came at See also:Multan, where on the 20th of See also:April 1848 the troops of the See also:Dewan Mulraj broke out and attacked two British officers, Mr Vans See also:Agnew and See also:Lieutenant See also:Anderson, eventually murdering them. On See also:hearing of the incident, Lieut. See also:Herbert See also:Edwardes, who was Sir Henry Lawrence's assistant in the Derajat, advanced upon Multan with a force of levies See also:drawn from the See also:Pathan tribes of the frontier; but he was not strong enough to do more than keep the enemy in check until Multan was invested by a Bombay See also:column under General Whish. In the meantime Edwardes wished for an immediate British advance upon Multan; but See also:Lord Gough, as he had now become, decided on a See also:cold See also:season campaign, on the ground that, if the Sikh See also:government at Lahore joined in the rising, the British would require all their available strength to suppress it. Multan was invested on the 18th of See also:August by General Whish in See also:conjunction with the Sikh general Shere Singh; but during the course of the siege Shere Singh deserted and joined the rebels, thus turning the rising into a See also:national war. The siege of Multan was temporarily abandoned, but was resumed in See also:November, when Lord Gough's main advance had begun, and Mulraj surrendered on the 22nd of January. In the meantime Lord Gough had collected his army and stores, and on the 9th of November crossed the Sutlej. On the 22nd of November there was a cavalry skirmish at Ramnagar, in which General See also:Cureton and See also:Colonel See also:Havelock were killed. For a See also:month after this Lord Gough remained C611llan- inactive, waiting to be reinforced by General Whish from Multan; but at last he decided to advance without General Whish, and fought the battle of See also:Chillianwalla on the 13th of January 1849. Lord Gough had intended to encamp for the night; but the Sikh guns opening fire revealed the fact that their army had advanced out of its intrenchments, and Lord Gough decided to seize the opportunity and attack at once. An See also:hour's artillery duel showed that the Sikhs had the See also:advantage both in position and guns, and the infantry advance commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon.

The battle resulted in great loss to the European regiments, the 24th losing all its officers in a few minutes, while the See also:

total loss in killed and wounded amounted to 2338; but when darkness See also:fell the British were in See also:possession of the whole of the Sikh line. Lord Gough subsequently retired to the village of Chillianwalla, and the Sikhs returned and carried off their guns. After the battle Lord Gough received an See also:ovation from his troops, but his losses were thought excessive by the public in See also:England and the See also:directors of the See also:East India See also:Company, and Sir See also:Charles See also:Napier was appointed to supersede him. Before, however, the latter had See also:time to reach India, the crowning victory of See also:Gujrat had been fought and won. After the fall of Multan General Whish marched to join Lord Gough, and the junction of the two armies was effected on the Gujrat . 18th of February. In the meantime the Sikhs had withdrawn from their strong intrenchments at Russool, owing to want of provisions, and marched to Gujrat, which Lord Gough considered a favourable position for attacking them. By a See also:series of See also:short See also:marches he prepared the way for his " last and best battle." In this engagement, for the first time in either of the Sikh wars, the British had the superiority in artillery, in addition to a picked force of 24,000 men. The battle began on the morning of the 21st of February with two and a half hours' artillery fire, which was overwhelmingly in favour of the British. At 11.30 A.M. Lord Gough ordered a general advance covered by the artillery; and an hour and a half later the British were in possession of the See also:town of Gujrat, of the Sikh camp, and of the enemy's artillery and baggage, and the cavalry were in full pursuit on both flanks. In this battle the British only lost 96 killed and 700 wounded, while the Sikh loss was enormous, inaddition to 67 guns.

This decisive victory ended the war. On the 12th of March the Sikh leaders surrendered at discretion, and the Punjab was annexed to British India. See Sir Charles Gough and A. D. Innes, The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars (1897) ; and R. S. Rait. See also:

Life and Campaigns of See also:Viscount Gough (1903).

End of Article: SIKH WARS

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