India Under British Rule from the Foundation of the East India Company

by James Talboys Wheeler

Goojerat, 21st February.

The battle of Goojerat was fought on the 21st of February, 1849. It was known as "the battle of the guns," for there was no premature advance of infantry or cavalry, as at Chillianwalla. For two hours and a-half the Sikh army was pounded with British shot and shell, and then, and not till then, a charge of bayonets and a rush of cavalry completed the destruction of the army of the Khalsa. The victory at Goojerat saved the reputation of Lord Gough. Sir Charles Napier had been sent out to supersede him as commander-in-chief, on account of the losses at Chillianwalla; but before Napier could reach India the war was over, and Chillianwalla was condoned, although it could not be forgotten. The Punjab was once more prostrate at the feet of the British, and the Afghans were driven out of Peshawar.

Annexation of the Punjab, 1849.

The mixed government of Sikhs and British had failed in the Punjab, under Sir Henry Lawrence and Sir Frederic Currie, as it had failed in Bengal nearly a century before under Clive and his successors. Lord Dalhousie decided, and to all appearance rightly, that annexation was the only chance of salvation for the Punjab. So the weak and helpless relics of the family of Runjeet Singh were pensioned off by the conquerors, and his kingdom was incorporated with the British empire, and formed into a province under British rule.

British rule in the Punjab.

§8. The administration of the Punjab was, in the first instance, placed under a Board of three members. But the Board did not work smoothly, and Lord Dalhousie objected to Boards, and preferred fixing responsibilities on individuals. Accordingly Mr. John Lawrence, a younger brother of Sir Henry Lawrence, was appointed sole ruler of the Punjab under the title of chief commissioner. It will be seen hereafter that John Lawrence was destined to leave his mark in history; to become Governor-General of India, and finally to take his seat in the House of Lords. The Punjab was delivered from the grinding exactions of Sikh officials, and brought under the just and impartial rule of British officers. Within the space of less than a decade, the kingdom of Runjeet Singh, which had been distracted by wars and disorders worse than those of England under the Heptarchy, was brought under the civilised and European administration of the nineteenth century.

Non-Regulation.

The Punjab was parcelled out into divisions and districts, like the Bengal and North-West Provinces. It was not, however, brought under the "Regulations," which had the force of laws in Bengal, Madras, Bombay, and the North-West Provinces. For some years it was known as a non-Regulation province; in other words, British administration in the Punjab was carried on according to the spirit of the Regulations, and on the same lines as the administration of the North-West Provinces, but a large margin of latitude and discretion was allowed to the chief commissioner, and he was empowered to issue his own instructions and orders, which might sometimes be out of harmony with the Regulations.

Patriarchal government.

The result was that a so-called patriarchal rule prevailed in the Punjab, which was admirably adapted to the transition state of the "land of five rivers." British officers laboured to govern the country, and to administer justice amongst a mixed population of Sikhs, Mohammedans, and Hindus, according to local circumstances and usages, rather than according to the strict letter of the law which had prevailed for generations in Regulation provinces.