Punjab

In 1809 Ranjit secured Kangra which the Nepalese were be sieging, and in 1813 the fort of Attock on the other side of the Punjab ; in that year he obtained from Shah Shuja, then a refu gee in Lahore, the celebrated Koh-i-Nur diamond carried off by Nadir Shah from Delhi. In 1818 he captured Multan; Kashmir and the southern part of the country between the Indus and the hills were annexed in the following year. He added the Peshawar valley four years later, but placed an Afghan governor in charge. These trans-Indus and other outlying tracts were left very much to themselves and received a military visit only when revenue was wanted. Peshawar was never really ruled till Avitabile went there in later years. While Ranjit was raising his powerful army, French and other foreign officers drilled his troops and improved his artillery. He relied on them for military and some times administrative services, but he drew round him able Indian ministers of whom the brothers Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh of Jammu were the most influential. He always remained friendly with the British and before his death gave tacit approval to the scheme for placing Shah Shuja on the throne of Kabul.

Wars Against British, 1845-49.

Ranjit's death in 1839 was followed by six years of anarchy, princes and ministers being murdered in quick succession, while all real power passed to the army of 120,000 trained troops who, unpaid and discontented, demanded to be led into British territory. They crossed the Sutlej in Dec. 1845. The battles of Mudki, Firozshah and Aliwal were followed by the rout of the Sikh army at Sobraon, Feb. 0, 1846; the British advanced to Lahore and a treaty was made on March 9 with the chiefs and ministers who were to hold the government on behalf of the young maharaja, Dalip Singh (b. 1837, d. 1893). The Jullunder Doab, Kangra and the maharaja's possessions on the left bank of the Sutlej were ceded to the British. In addition a payment of ii,500,0o0 was agreed upon. Gulab Singh, raja of Jammu, for his services to the Lahore state in restoring friendly relations was granted independent sovereignty in such lands as might be made over to him. The Sikh govern ment ceded, as equivalent for two-thirds of the stipulated amount, the hill country between the Beas and the Indus, including Kashmir and Hazara. Gulab Singh received Kashmir, March 1846, in return for a sum of money. At the durbar's request a British force was left at Lahore to protect the maharaja and preserve peace. A British resident was appointed to guide the council of regency, and assistants were stationed in different places. Peace was soon broken. The governor of Multan, Diwan Mulraj, resigned. Two British officers, sent to take charge of the fort, were murdered, April 19, 1848, and their escort went over to the diwan. One of the assistants to the resident, Lt. Herbert

Edwards, then in the Derajat, west of the Indus, collected a force and attacked the Multan army with signal success, but had not sufficient troops to take the city. Sikh and British forces again took the field and Multan fell.

Annexation to British India.

The severe battle of Chil lianwalla, Jan. left the Sikhs as persistent as ever, and the war ended only after the defeat of Gujrat, Feb. The Punjab was annexed on April 2, 1849.

To govern the new province, including the Jullunder Doab, previously annexed, and the cis-Sutlej states, an administration board was appointed, consisting of three members, replaced in 1853 by a chief commissioner aided by a judicial commissioner and a financial commissioner. British troops, European and Indian, were stationed in the chief cities, including Peshawar, and other places. For the rest of the trans-Indus territory a special body of Indian troops, called the Punjab frontier force, was raised. During the Mutiny of 1857 Sir John Lawrence as chief commissioner sent important aid to the force besieging Delhi and dealt with disturbances in the Punjab itself. In 1858 the Delhi territory, as it was called, west of the Jumna, was transferred to the Punjab, and on Jan. 1, 1859 the chief com missioner became lieutenant-governor. In 1901 the districts be yond the Indus were made into a separate province called the North-West Frontier Province and in Oct. 1912 Delhi, the new capital, with the country round it became a separate district under a chief commissioner.

The races of the Punjab are full of vigour and virility in both war and religion. They show this sometimes by striking loyalty and sometimes by an inclination to turbulence. Thus the Pun jab is the birthplace or stronghold of religious bodies like the Sikhs, the Arya Samaj, the Ahmadiyyas and others. During the Great War, 1914-8, it made a splendid response to the call of the Empire, yet there were sporadic internal troubles in 1915, grave disorders in 1919 and excitement among the Sikhs from 1922 to 1924 in connection with the Akalis. However the feeling of toleration and mutual assistance increased and in 1928 the Simon Commission received a general, though quiet, welcome. In 1920 the province was raised in rank and the Lieutenant governor was given the title of Governor. . (T. G. BA.) BIBLIoGRAPHY.—See the annual Administration Report and, for the industrial development of the country, A. C. Badenoch, Punjab Industries (1917). See also Sir J. Dowie, The Punjab, North-western Frontier Province and Kashmir (1916), and M. S. Leigh, Punjab and the War (1922).