1835-1840 THE AFGHAN WAR 949 lishment in the Punjab-the land of the five rivers-of the Sikhs, a warlike people with a special religion, neither Mahomedan nor Hindoo. The Sikhs were strongly organised for military purposes under a capable ruler, Runjeet Singh, who had entered in 1806 into a treaty with the British which to the end of his life he faithfully observed. Under him the Sikhs covered the British territory from an attack through Afghanistan, much in the same way that in the time of Warren Hastings the Nawab of Oude had covered it against the attacks of the Mahrattas (see p. 802). 20. Russia and Afghanistan. 1835-1838. In 1835, when England and Russia were striving for the mastery at Constantinople (see p. 921), the two countries were necessarily thrown into opposition in Asia. In 1837 the Shah of Persia, who was under Russian influence, laid siege to Herat, on the eastern border of his own country. As Herat was on the road to India, Lord Auckland, the governor-general, took alarm, and, even before the siege was actually begun, sent an agent, Alexander Burnes, to Cabul to win over Dost Mahommed, the ruler of Afghanistan, to enter into an alliance with England against Persia, the ally of Russia. Burnes, knowing that soft words would not suffice to gain the heart of Dost Mahommed, offered him British aid in his own quarrels. Auckland, however, refused to carry out the engagement made by Burnes, on which Dost Mahommed, taking offence, allied himself with Russia. In 1838, Auckland sent an expedition to dethrone Dost Mahommed, and to replace him by Shah Soojah, an Afghan prince who had been living in exile in India. Before the expedition started the siege of Herat had been raised by the Persians, and there was, therefore, no longer any real excuse for an attack on the fierce and warlike Afghans. 21. The Invasion of Afghanistan. 1839-1842. Nevertheless the British army entered Afghanistan in 1839, and, reaching Cabul in safety, placed Shah Soojah on the throne. In 1840, Dost Mahommed knowing that he could not carry on a successful resistance in the field, surrendered himself as a prisoner. So peaceful was the outlook that Sir William Macnaghten, who had charge of the political arrangements at Cabul, fancied that all danger was at an end. Suddenly, however, an insurrection broke out, and some of the British officers, amongst whom was Burnes, were murdered. Though the British were taken by surprise, they had still soldiers enough to attack the Afghans with every prospect of success, but General Elphinstone, who was in command, refused to run the risk. On this the Afghans became still more daring, and, as food was growing short in the British cantonments, Macnaghten and Elphinstone offered to surrender the forts of Cabul to the enemy on condition of being supplied with provisions. Akbar Khan, a son of Dost Mahommed, invited Macnaghten to a conference and shot him dead with his own hand. The British officers then entered on a treaty with the murderer, who engaged to protect their army, if it would immediately return to India. 22. The Retreat from Cabul. 1842. The retreat began on January 6, 1842. Snow and ice lay thickly on the passes over the lofty mountain ranges, which had to be climbed before the plains of India were reached. Akbar Khan did what he could to protect the retreating regiments, but he could not restrain his followers. Crowds of Afghans stationed themselves on the rocks which rose above the track, and shot down the fugitives. With the retreating soldiers were English ladies, some of them with children to care for. To save them from certain death they were surrendered to Akbar Khan, who promised to treat them kindly, and who, to his credit, kept his word. After five days' march, out of 14,500 men who left Cabul, no more than 4,000 remained alive. butchery was renewed. On the morning of the sixty-five were left, and this scanty remnant of a mighty host struggled on to reach Jellalabad in which there was a British garrison. Of these, sixty-four were slain on the way; after which the Afghans, believing that all their enemies had perished, returned in triumph. One Englishman, however, Dr. Brydon, who had lagged behind because both he and the pony on which he rode were too exhausted to keep up with the march, escaped their notice. Fainting and scarcely able to speak, he at last stumbled into Jellalabad, and told the tale of the great disaster. Each day the eighth day only 23. Pollock's March to Cabul. 1842.-Jellalabad held out against all the Afghans who could be brought against it. Then General Pollock was sent to retrieve the honour of the British arms. He occupied Cabul, but he had to replace Dost Mahommed on the throne, and to content himself with recovering the British captives. 24. Conquest of Sindh. 1842.-Lord Ellenborough, who had succeeded Auckland as governor-general, coveted Sindh, because he wished to control the lower course of the Indus. He brought accusations of treachery against the Ameers who ruled it, some of which appear to have been based on forged letters. He then sent against the Ameers Sir Charles Napier, who, fighting against tremendous odds, defeated them at Meanee. Sindh was annexed, 1845-1849 THE SIKH WARS 951 and its inhabitants, being far better governed than before, rapidly became prosperous and contented. 25. The First Sikh War. 1845 1846. Runjeet Singh (see p. 949), the lion of the Punjab,' as he was called, died in 1839. His succession was disputed, and the Government really fell into the hands of the Sikh army, which raised to power one competitor after another amidst scenes of bloodshed. The governor-general, Sif Henry Hardinge, himself a soldier, had succeeded Ellenborough in 1843. He was anxious to keep the peace, but the mutinous Sikh army was under no restraint, and on December 11, 1845, it crossed the Sutlej and poured into British territory. Never had a British army in India met antagonists so formidable. Yet in two fierce battles, at Ferozeshah and Moodkee, the invaders were repulsed by Sir Hugh Gough, the commander-in-chief. The Sikhs, however, were not disheartened. In January 1846, they were again defeated by Sir Harry Smith at Aliwal, and finally on February 8, their entrenched camp at Sobraon, on the Sutlej, though defended by more powerful artillery than could be brought against them, was stormed by Gough. After these defeats, the Sikhs submitted, yielding the territory between the Sutlej and the Beas. 26. The Second Sikh War. 1848-1849.-In 1848 there was a second Sikh war. On January 13, 1849, Gough—now Lord Gough -met with a check at Chillianwalla, and Sir Charles Napier was sent out to succeed him as commander-in-chief. Before Napier arrived, Gough gained a decisive victory at Gujerat. On this the whole of the Punjab was annexed. Chiefly under the firm and kindly management of two brothers, Henry and John Lawrence, the Punjab was reduced to order and contentment, and the very Sikh soldiers who had been the most dangerous antagonists of the British Government were converted into its most unwavering supporters. 27. Lord Dalhousie's Administration. 1848-1856.-When the second Sikh war was being fought, Lord Dalhousie was the governor-general, and he continued to rule India for eight years, from 1848 to 1856. He was impressed with the advantages which would accrue to the native population by being brought under British rule, and he annexed one territory after another. In his time the Punjab, Sattara, Nagpoor, Lower Burmah, and finally Oude, were brought directly under British authority either by conquest or by the dethronement of the native princes. Lord Dalhousie's intentions were undoubtedly good, but he irritated an influential class of natives by his entire disregard of their feelings and prejudices. Especially was this the case when, as happened at Sattara, territory was seized, on the ground that the native ruler, being childless, was without an heir. The Hindoos, like the old Romans, regard an adopted son and a real son as standing on exactly the same footing, and as in the case of the old Romans, this idea was based on the religious belief that the father needed a son to perform certain sacrifices for his benefit after death. When, therefore, Lord Dalhousie refused to acknowledge the adopted son of the Rajah of Sattara as his successor, he was guilty, in Hindoo opinion, of an unjust and irreligious act. Moreover, Lord Dalhousie alienated, especially in Oude and the North-West Provinces, an influential class of native gentlemen because the officials supported by him took every opportunity of depriving them of certain rights which they claimed over the land, and which they had long exercised. Though this was done with the benevolent intention of sweeping away all middle-men standing between the officers of the Government and the cultivators, whom they wished to shield from wrong, the result was none the less deplorable. 28. The Sepoy Army. 1856-1857.—In 1856, Lord Canning, a son of the Prime Minister George Canning, became governorgeneral. By that time some of the dispossessed princes and most of the offended native gentlemen had formed a conspiracy against the British Government, which they held to have been unjust towards them and which in some cases had really been so. The conspirators aimed at securing the support of the Bengal Sepoy army, which had also been alarmed by certain acts in which the Government had not shown itself sufficiently careful of their feelings and prejudices. Most of the Sepoys were Hindoos, and all Hindoos are divided into castes, and believe that the man who loses his caste is not only disgraced in the present life but suffers misery after death. This loss of caste is not the penalty for moral faults, but for purely bodily actions, such as eating out of the same vessel as one of a lower caste. Caste, too, is lost by eating any part of the sacred animal the cow, and, as a new rifle had been lately served out, the conspirators easily frightened the mass of the Sepoys into the belief that the cartridges for this rifle were greased with cow's fat. When, therefore, they bit the new cartridges, as soldiers then had to do, before loading, their lips would touch the cow's grease and they would at once lose caste. It was said that the object of the Government was to render the men miserable by 1857 MUTINY OF THE SEPOY ARMY 953 depriving them of the shelter of their own religion in order to drive them to the adoption of Christianity in despair. 29. The Outbreak of the Mutiny. 1857.-In the spring of 1857 there were attempts to mutiny near Calcutta, but the actual outbreak occurred at Meerut near Delhi. There the native regiments first massacred their English officers and such other Englishmen as they met with, and then marched to Delhi, where they proclaimed the descendant of the Great Mogul (see p. 801), who was living there as a British pensioner, Emperor of India. Canning did what he could by sending for British troops from other parts of India, and also for a considerable force which happened to be at sea on its way to take part in a war which had broken out with China. His position was, however, exceedingly precarious till further reinforcements could be brought from England. His best helper was Sir John Lawrence, who had governed the recently annexed Punjab with such ability and justice that the Sikh warriors, so lately the fierce enemies of the British, were ready to fight in their behalf. As the Sikhs did not profess the Hindoo religion, there was, in their case, no difficulty about caste. With their aid Lawrence disarmed the Sepoys in the Punjab, and sent all the troops he could spare to besiege Delhi. Delhi, however, was a strong place and, as the besiegers were few, months elapsed before it could be taken. 30. Cawnpore. 1857. The mutiny spread to Lucknow, the capital of Oude, where the few Englishmen in the place were driven into the Residency with Sir Henry Lawrence, Sir John's brother, at their head, to hold out, if they could, till help arrived. At Cawnpore, not far off, were about five hundred British women and children, and less than five hundred British men were besieged by one Nana Sahib, who hated the English on account of wrongs which he conceived himself to have suffered at their hands. After they had endured terrible hardships, Nana Sahib offered to allow the garrison to depart in safety. The offer was accepted and the weary defenders made their way to the boats waiting for them on the river, where they were shot down from the bank. Some of the women and children were kept alive for a few days, but in the end all were massacred, and their bodies flung into a well. Only four of the defenders of Cawnpore escaped to tell the miserable tale. 31. The Recovery of Delhi and the Relief of Lucknow. 1857. The mutiny, widely spread as it was, was confined to the Bengal Presidency. In Lucknow, though Sir Henry Lawrence had been slain, the garrison held out in the Residency. At last Havelock, 3Q III. |