The Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)

nevermore · March 20, 2017, 06:53:00 AM

The Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)

The Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49) took place between the British and the Sikh Empire. The war resulted into decisive victory of the British. The British took control over Punjab and later made it the North West Frontier Province.

Even after the completion of the First Anglo-Sikh War, the Sikhs were simmering with discontent. The humiliating terms of the treaty of Lahore was matter of great anguish for the Sikh people. The deliberate elimination of Rani Jindan from the Regency Council dissatisfied the Sikhs. A few days later, her forcible removal from Lahore added to their discontent. Moreover, the reforms of Sir Henry Lawrence the British Resident of Lahore also annoyed the Sikhs.

The Second Anglo-Sikh War became imminent. The English were even then confused against whom they were to fight. In fact, neither the Lahore Durbar, nor Dalip Singh did oppose the English. The hostility came from Mulraj and Sher Singh. The reason behind Mulraj's revolt against the Lahore Durbar was that he was instructed to submit the accounts of Multan's income and expenditure during the last ten years to the Lahore Durbar. But Mulraj refused to submit the accounts as he was appointed the Governor of Multan only four years back. Moreover, being pressed by the English, the Lahore Durbar increased the revenue demand of Multan from Rs. 12 lakhs to Rs. 18 lakhs. So Mulraj had every reason to be unhappy with the activities of the Lahore Durbar. At this stage, Sher Singh realised that the English planned to annex the entire Punjab, using the revolt of Mulraj as a pretext. So he appealed to the Sikh leaders to drive the English away from the Punjab as revenge against the humiliation suffered by Rani Jindan and to support Mulraj.

how to use print screen

image upload no limit