On the 24th the pursuers resumed their march, but by that time the Sikhs had crossed the river, and the British did not succeed in getting sight of them until reaching Noorangabad. During this march, Major Lawrence joined the camp of Sir Walter Gilbert; Chuttur Singh, whose prisoner he was, permitting him on parole to proceed to the camp of the commander-in-chief with proposals from Shere Singh. Akram Khan, with part of the Affghan auxiliaries to the Khalsa army, retreated upon Attock.
On the 27th and 28th, Sir Walter Gilbert brought his forces over the Jhelum, compelling Shere Singh, with the relics of his army, to retire with precipitation. Gilbert was obliged to leave a portion of his forces behind in consequence of the high waters in the river, but by the 5th of March these followed. Before these detachments effected their passage, the armies of pursuers and pursued were nearly equal in number; but the Sikh chief wisely concluded that if he could not, with nearly four times the number of the British, prevent the latter from storming his strong position near the Chenab, he was not likely to hinder them, when their numbers were superior, from crossing the Jhelum. Gilbert was speedily reinforced, and at the head of an army of about twenty thousand men, with nearly fifty pieces of cannon, he so menaced the Sikh general, that the latter intimated his intention to lay down his arms.
On the 8th of March terms of submission were personally discussed, Shere Singh having come over to General Gilbert’s camp. The English general demanded an unconditional surrender; and as the rajah hesitated, the English advanced to Hoormuk. Chuttur Singh and Shere, with several great sirdars, came over to the British camp, followed by the guns taken at Chillianwallah. The surrender of the whole army was arranged to take place the next day. It was not, however, until the 14th that all the Sikhs had laid down their standards and their arms, which they did with the greatest reluctance, their countenances and tones being expressive of the deepest anguish. The conduct of the British was most generous. Each Sikh soldier received a rupee to enable him to reach his home; the cavalry were allowed to retain their horses—a boon which was highly appreciated, many of them expressing, and really feeling, the deepest gratitude. The artillery surrendered amounted to forty-one guns, and a number of tumbrils and carriages: the artillery horses were retained by the English. During the short campaign the enemy had lost one hundred and fifty-eight pieces of cannon, many of them of larger calibre than any in the English army. The detention of General Gilbert in negotiating and securing the surrender of the Sikhs, was favourable to the escape of the Affghans. Chuttur Singh had given up to them the fort of Attock, which they precipitately abandoned, their main force marching rapidly for the Indus. Gilbert endeavoured to intercept them, but was only in time to witness their success in making good their passage, and the destruction of the bridge of boats by which pursuit would have otherwise been made. The Affghans were reduced to less than half the force with which they joined Chuttur Singh, but they drew up on the bank of the river, and offered an artillery fire, to which the British replied in a manner that soon cleared the bank of the Indus of every trace of the enemy. Detachments were sent to take possession of Attock, and also of Hyderabad, on the right bank of the river. The British did not succeed in crossing the Indus until the 20th, when the Affghans had very far distanced their pursuers. They continued their march unmolested, either by Sir Walter Gilbert’s or any other force, entered the Khyber Pass, and proceeded to. Cabul. The sensation produced in that city by the total destruction of the Sikh army was very great. The Affghan fugitives, after the manner of orientals, gave the most absurd exaggerations as to the prowess of the British soldiers, especially of the officers, many of both being described as fiends, who proved their infernal nature by deeds of superhuman daring and strength. An alliance with “Shatan” was of course a mode of accounting for defeat which saved the honour of the fugitives, and satisfied the denizens of Cabul, as well as the wild clans en route thither, that a retreat was wisdom. The government of Cabul became uneasy for the consequences, and Dost Mohammed Khan took measures to placate the British government, whose policy was not to pursue the war into Affghanistan. The government of Calcutta annexed the Punjaub to British India, and thus terminated the Sikh war. The governor-general issued, on the 29th of March, the following proclamation:—
“For many years, in the time of Maharajah Runjeet Singh, peace and friendship prevailed between the British nation and the Sikhs. When Runjeet Singh was dead, and his wisdom no longer guided the counsels of the state, the sirdars and the Khalsa army, without provocation and without cause, suddenly invaded the British territories. Their army was again and again defeated. They were driven, with slaughter and in shame, from the country they had invaded, and at the gates of Lahore the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh tendered to the governor-general the submission of himself and his chiefs, and solicited the clemency of the British government. The governor-general extended his clemency to the state of Lahore; he generously spared the kingdom which he had acquired a just right to subvert; and the maharajah having been replaced on the throne, treaties of friendship were formed between the states.
“The British have faithfully kept their word, and have scrupulously observed every obligation which the treaties imposed upon them. But the Sikh people and their chiefs have, on their part, grossly and faithlessly violated the promises by which they were bound. Of their annual tribute, no portion whatever has at any time been paid, and large sums advanced by the government of India have never been repaid. The control of the British government, to which they voluntarily submitted themselves, has been resisted by arms. Peace has been cast aside. British officers have been murdered when acting for the state; others engaged in the like employment have been treacherously thrown into prison. Finally, the army of the state, and the whole Sikh people, joined by many of the sirdars of the Punjaub who signed the treaties, and led by a member of the regency itself, have risen in arms against us, and have waged a fierce and bloody war for the proclaimed purpose of destroying the British and their power.
“The government of India formerly declared that it desired no further conquest, and it proved by its acts the sincerity of its professions. The government of India has no desire for conquest now—but it is bound, in its duty, to provide fully for its own security, and to guard the interests of those committed to its charge. To that end, and as the only sure mode of protecting the state from the perpetual recurrence of unprovoked and wasting wars, the governor-general is compelled to resolve upon the entire subjection of a people whom their own government has long been unable to control, and whom (as events have now shown) no punishment can deter from violence, no acts of friendship can conciliate to peace. Wherefore, the governor-general of India has declared, and hereby proclaims, that the kingdom of the Punjaub is at an end; and that all the territories of Maharajah Dhuleep Singh are now and henceforth a portion of the British empire in India.
“His Highness the Maharajah shall be treated with consideration and with honour. The few chiefs who have not engaged in hostilities against the British shall retain their property and their rank. The British government will leave to all the people, whether Mussulman, Hindoo, or Sikh, the free exercise of their own religions; but it will not permit any man to interfere with others in the observance of such forms as their respective religions may either enjoin or permit. The jagheers, and all the property of sirdars and others who have been in arms against the British, shall be confiscated to the state. The defences of every fortified place in the Punjaub, which is not occupied by British troops, shall be totally destroyed, and effectual measures shall be taken to deprive the people of the means of renewing either tumult or war.
“The governor-general calls upon all the inhabitants of the Punjaub, sirdars and people, to submit themselves peaceably to the authority of the British government, which has hereby been proclaimed. Over those who shall live as obedient and peaceful subjects of the state, the British government will rule with mildness and beneficence; but if resistance to constituted authority shall again be attempted—if violence and turbulence be renewed, the governor-general warns the people of the Punjaub that the time for leniency with them has passed away, and that their offence will be punished with prompt and most rigorous severity.”
As soon as matters were placed on a footing of order as to the government of Lahore, Moolraj was brought to trial before a special military commission, consisting of four British and two native officers, and a colonel of the Sikh army. The charges against him were:—“1. Having aided the murderers of Mr. Van Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson; 2. Having been an accessory to that crime before the fact; 3. Having been an accessory after the fact.”
The object of pressing the one charge of murder in a three-fold form was to prevent the captive obtaining a verdict of not guilty, if only the first form expressed the charge. He was allowed the service of an advocate; Captain Hamilton performed that office in a very able and ingenious manner. After a trial which lasted fifteen days, he was found guilty on all the charges, and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted by the governor-general into imprisonment for life at Singapore. This was not accepted by the captive as a favour, who demanded rather to die like a soldier than live a captive. He had borne up with the noblest manhood, and received with a slight smile and composed countenance, but without any bravado, the announcement that he must die; but the commutation of his sentence caused the most passionate lamentations. He desired to be shot at Mooltan, or, if he must he a captive, there to spend his captivity; but to be a prisoner, and expatriated, was intolerable, and he craved to die. The orders of the governor-general were not, however, affected by the patriotic desires of the murderer—for such Moolraj was. His heroic conduct in honourable war won the admiration of the British officers, civil and military, but they could not forget that he murdered in cold blood their brethren. Intelligence of these events caused much joy in England, for the disturbed state of the continent, the distressed and agitated state of Ireland, and in part of England, caused apprehensions that a foreign war might possibly break out, and this at such a time would render conflict with the Sikhs a perilous matter to the empire, as they were the only remaining power dangerous to British interests in India. There were, however, many unfavourable reports raised of the mode in which the negotiations were conducted which closed the war under Lord Hardinge, as well as that which had just terminated. These created dissatisfaction in England, and led to inquiries in parliament; the questions which excited most attention in the country referred to the appropriation of the celebrated Koh-i-noor diamond, and the new regulations about batta, which caused discontent in the Sepoy army.