[Page 194.]
PROCLAMATION OF PEACE.
Foreign Department, Camp, Lahore, Feb. 22nd, 1846.
The British Army has this day occupied the gateway of the citadel of Lahore the Badshahee Mosque, and the Hazuree Bagh. The remaining part of the citadel is the residence of his highness, the Maharajah, and also that of the families of the late Maharajah Runjeet Singh, for so many years the faithful ally of the British Government. In consideration of these circumstances, no troops will be posted within the precincts of the palace-gate.
The army of the Sutlej has now brought its operations in the field to a close, by the dispersion of the Sikh army, and the military occupation of Lahore, preceded by a series of the most triumphant successes ever recorded in the military history of India. The British Government, trusting to the faith of treaties, and to long subsisting friendship between the two states, had limited military preparations to the defence of its own frontier.
Compelled suddenly to assume the offensive, by the unprovoked invasion of its territories, the British army, under the command of its distinguished leader, has, in sixty days, defeated the Sikh forces in four general actions; has captured 220 pieces of field artillery; and is now at the capital, dictating to the Lahore Durbar the terms of a treaty, the conditions of which will tend to secure the British provinces from the repetition of a similar outrage. The Governor-General being determined, however, to mark with reprobation the perfidious character of the war, has required and will exact, that every remaining piece of Sikh artillery which has been pointed against the British army during the campaign shall be surrendered. The Sikh army, whose insubordinate conduct is one of the chief causes of the anarchy and misrule which have brought the Sikh state to the brink of destruction, is about to be disbanded.
The soldiers of the army of the Sutlej have not only proved their superior prowess in battle, but have, on every occasion, with subordination and patience, endured the fatigues and privations inseparable from a state of active operations in the field. The native troops of this army have also proved that a faithful attachment to their colours, and to the Company's service, is an honourable feature in the character of the British sepoy. The Governor-General has repeatedly expressed, on his own part and on that of the Government of India, admiration and gratitude for the important services which the army has rendered. The Governor-General is now pleased to resolve, as a testimony of the approbation of the Government of India of the bravery, discipline, and soldier-like bearing of the army of the Sutlej, that all the generals, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, shall receive a gratuity of twelve months' batta.
Every regiment which, in obedience to its orders, may have remained in posts and forts between Loodianna and Ferozepore, and was not present in action—as in the case of the troops ordered to remain at Moodkee to protect the wounded, and those left in the forts of Ferozepore and Loodianna—shall receive the gratuity of twelve months' batta. Obedience to orders is the first duty of a soldier; and the Governor-General, in affirming the principle, can never admit that absence caused by the performance of indispensable duties, on which the success of the operations in the field greatly depended, ought to disqualify any soldier placed in these circumstances, from participating in the gratuity given for the general good conduct of the army in the field. All regiments and individuals ordered to the frontier, and forming part of the army of the Sutlej, which may have reached Loodianna or Bussean before the date of this order, will be included as entitled to the gratuity.