SECOND SIKH WAR—PUNJAB CAMPAIGN 1848-49 For two years after the battle of Sobraon the Punjab remained a British protectorate, with Sir Henry Lawrence as resident ; but the Sikhs were unconvinced of their military inferiority, the Rani Jindan and her ministers were constantly intriguing to recover their power, and a further trial of strength was inevitable. The outbreak came at Multan, where on April 20, 1848, the troops of the Dewan Mulraj broke out and attacked two British officers, Mr. Vans Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson, eventually murdering them. On hearing of the incident, Lieut. Herbert Edwardes, who was Lawrence's assistant in the Derajat, advanced upon Multan with a force of levies drawn from the Pathan tribes of the fron tier; but he was not strong enough to do more than keep the enemy in check until Multan was invested by a Bombay column under General Whish. In the meantime Edwardes wished for an immediate British advance upon Multan; but Lord Gough, as he had now become, decided on a cold season campaign, on the ground that, if the Sikh government at Lahore joined in the rising, the British would require all their available strength to suppress it. Multan was invested on Aug. 18 by Whish in con junction with the Sikh general Shere Singh; but during the course of the siege Shere Singh deserted and joined the rebels, thus turn ing the rising into a national war. The siege of Multan was tern porarily abandoned, but was resumed in November, when Gough's main advance had begun, and Mulraj surrendered on Jan. 22. in the meantime Gough had collected his army and stores, and on Nov. 9. crossed the Sutlej.
Chillianwalla.—On Nov. 22 there was a cavalry skirmish at Ramnagar, in which General Cureton and Colonel Havelock were killed. For a month after this Gough remained inactive, waiting to be reinforced by Whish from Multan ; but at last he decided to advance without Whish, and fought the battle Of Chillianwalla on Jan. 13, 1849. 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 Gough decided to seize the opportunity and attack at once. An hour's artillery duel showed that the Sikhs had the 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 regi
ments, the 24th losing all its officers in a few minutes, while the total loss in killed and wounded amounted to 2,338; but when darkness fell the British were in possession of the whole of the Sikh line. Gough subsequently retired to the village of Chillian walla, and the Sikhs returned and carried off their guns. After the battle Gough received an ovation from his troops, but his losses were thought excessive by the public in England and the directors of the East India Company, and Sir Charles Napier was appointed to supersede him. Before, however, the latter had time to reach India, the crowning victory of Gujrat had been fought and won.
Gujrat.—Af ter the fall of Multan Whish marched to join Gough, and the junction of the two armies was effected on Feb. 18. In the meantime the Sikhs had withdrawn from their strong intrenchments at Russool, owing to want of provisions, and marched to Gujrat, which Gough considered a favourable posi tion for attacking them. By a series of short marches he pre pared 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 Feb. 21 with two and a half hours' artillery fire, which was overwhelmingly in favour of the British. At 11.30 A.M. Gough ordered a general advance covered by the artillery ; and an hour and a half later the British were in possession of the 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, in addition to 67 guns. This decisive victory ended the war. On March 12, 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) ; R. S. Rait, Life and Campaigns of Viscount Gough (1903).