Sikh Wars

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Sikh wars (1845-6 and 1848-9), in which the British East India Company (EIC) destroyed the independent Sikh state of Lahore and annexed the Punjab (Panjab) to British India. The Sikhs were by origin (c. ad 1500) a puritanical Hindu sect which flourished among the Jat population in northern India and developed distinctive attributes. Members of the Sikh community, known as the Khalsa, were recognized by the five Ks: uncut hair (kes), a comb (kangha), knee length breeches (kach), a steel bracelet (kara), and a sabre (kirpan) (see also religion and war). Under Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) several of the various Sikh communities were united and formed the basis of the Lahore state which also embraced Hindus and Muslims. The expansion of the state towards British India was checked in 1809 on the river Sutlej but the state was extended to include Kashmir (1819) and Peshawar (1834). Britain was content to leave the Lahore state as a valuable buffer on her North-West frontier, insulating British India from the Muslim peoples of central Asia, but the Punjab fell into increasing disorder after the death of Ranjit Singh and there was evidence of mutinous conduct in the Sikh regiments which were run by their own councils (panchayats). Fears became reality in December 1845 when Sikh forces crossed the Sutlej and invaded EIC-protected territory.

The Sikh army was the most formidable military opponent Britain encountered in India. Trained by French and other European mercenaries, it included c.50, 000 disciplined infantry, 10, 000 disciplined artillerymen, and 6, 000 regular cavalry as well as irregular formations. Because of previous fears of provoking just such an attack, EIC forces were comparatively unprepared, but Sir Hugh Gough marched rapidly to the relief of the garrisons on the Sutlej and encountered an advanced Sikh force at Mudki on 18 December, where he fought a bloody, confused, and indecisive battle. The advanced party retired on Firuzshah where they joined the main Sikh force. There a second battle took place on 21 December. As at Mudki, Gough attacked when there was insufficient daylight and when fighting was broken off he feared defeat on the morrow, when Sikh reinforcements were expected. Instead the Sikh army abandoned the field and the reinforcements did likewise when they learned of this. Gough was left in possession of the field and 73 captured guns. His casualties were severe—2, 415 out of 16, 000 engaged—and were especially heavy among his British regiments, which had borne the brunt of the superior Sikh artillery. Consequently he elected to wait for reinforcements, especially of heavy guns. In the meantime Sir Harry Smith carried out a series of skilful manoeuvres to protect British garrisons along the Sutlej, collect scattered forces, and defeat the Sikhs at Aliwal (28 Jan 1846). On 10 February Gough attacked the Sikhs in their last remaining position east of the Sutlej at Sobraon where in another hard battle he gained a complete victory taking 67 guns and inflicting c.10, 000 casualties while suffering 2, 300 casualties among his own forces. The Sikhs then sued for peace. Gov-Gen Hardinge decided not to annex the Punjab but stripped it of some territories, disbanded part of the army, and set up an EIC-controlled regency in Lahore.

The settlement was inherently unstable and in 1848 friction culminated in an uprising at Multan in August 1848. At first the EIC was inclined to regard the uprising as a matter for the Punjab government but it was drawn into operations against Multan and into a formal siege which lasted from October into January 1849. The Army of the Punjab was formed under Gough who crossed the Sutlej on 9 November but proceeded cautiously, waiting for reinforcements. There followed a period of manoeuvre, punctuated by an indecisive cavalry engagement at Ramnuggur, before Gough encountered the main Sikh force at Chillianwala (13 Jan 1849). The Sikhs had some 30, 000 men and 62 guns against the 12, 000 Gough managed to put into the field. A struggle in jungly terrain ensued in which Gough suffered 2, 331 casualties and once more the excellent Sikh artillery pounded the British infantry. Both sides pulled back and when battle was rejoined at Gujerat near the river Chenab, Gough's newly arrived artillery silenced the Sikh guns and a complete victory was obtained. The Sikhs surrendered at Rawalpindi on 14 March and the Punjab was formally annexed.

Although the Sikh forces during the second war were much weaker than during the first, they had fought with their customary tenacity and the British victory was not cheaply obtained. Sikhs subsequently became and remain important elements in the Indian army. Recruiting had begun in 1846 and after 1849 Sikh regiments were raised for the Punjab Irregular Force (later the Punjab Frontier Force) and the numbers were considerably increased during and after the Indian Mutiny. Sikhs were particularly targeted for recruitment during WW I, their numbers rising from 35, 000 at the beginning of 1915 to over 100, 000 by the end of the war, amounting to about a fifth of the army. This made it all the more poignant that the post-war Amritsar massacre was perpetrated against an unarmed Sikh demonstration.

In 1947 partition divided their homeland and those finding themselves in Pakistan suffered terrible losses making their way to India. Subsequently they became among the most prosperous of independent India's populations and are still disproportionately represented in the military: although only 2 per cent of the population they provide 10 per cent of the soldiers and many senior officers. But there remained a strong sentiment among the more traditional (and economically backward) Sikhs for an independent state (Khalistan—‘Land of the Pure’) and from the early 1980s a typical ultra-nationalist movement emerged and began to employ terrorist tactics against the Hindu population. PM Indira Gandhi did her best to temporize and even nominated a Sikh to be president, but armed insurgents seized the Golden Temple in 1984 and defied her authority. She sent in the army and the temple was stormed with heavy loss. In October Indira was assassinated in her garden by two of her Sikh bodyguards and Hindu mobs, incited by leading members of her party, massacred Sikhs in Delhi in the worst religious riots since partition.Cook, Hugh, The Sikh Wars (London, 1975).Featherstone, Donald, At Them with the Bayonet (London, 1968).Singh, Kushwant, A History of the Sikhs, 2 vols. (Princeton, 1963-6).Yapp M. E., Strategies of British India (Oxford, 1980).

The wars of 1845-6 and 1848-9 originated over the Sutlej river area of north-west India between the Sikh sect in Punjab and the British. General Sir Hugh Gough defeated the numerically superior Sikh army at Mudki (18 December 1845), Ferozeshah (21 December), and Sobraon (10 February 1846). The Sikhs renounced their claims to the territory. However in 1848 they rebelled. After an initial set-back at Ramnagar on 22 November, Gough defeated the Sikhs at Jallianwalla (14 January 1849) but sustained heavy casualties. Reinforced, he finally broke Sikh resistance on 22 February 1849 at Gujrat.