The First Anglo-Sikh War broke out due to escalating tensions between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in the Punjab region of India in the mid-nineteenth century. Political machinations were at the heart of the conflict, with Sikh rulers fearing the growing power of their own army, while several prominent Sikh generals actively collaborated with the East India Company. The British faced a disciplined opponent, trained along European lines, which fielded armies numbering in the tens of thousands. The war featured a number of closely contested battles, with both sides taking heavy losses. This fully illustrated study of the First Anglo-Sikh War tells the story of one of the major colonial wars of the nineteenth century, as the East India Company attempted to wrest control of the Punjab region from a Sikh Empire riven by infighting.
During the eighteenth and early years of the nineteenth century, the red tide of British expansion had covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent, stretching to the borders of the Punjab. There the great Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh had developed his military forces to thwart any British advance into his kingdom north of the River Sutlej. Yet on the death of Ranjit Singh, unworthy successors and disparate forces fought over his legacy while the British East India Company seized on the opportunity and prepared for battle. In the winter of 1845, the First Anglo-Sikh War broke out.Amarpal S. Sidhu writes a warts and all tale of a conflict characterized by treachery, tragedy and incredible bravery on both sides. In an innovative approach to history writing, the narrative of the campaign is accompanied by battlefield guides that draw on eyewitness accounts and invite the reader to take a tour of the battlefields, either physically or virtually.
George Bruce's remarkable book uncovers the history of the two Anglo-Sikh Wars that erupted in India in the 1840s. Perfect for fans of William Dalrymple, Lawrence James and Richard Holmes. By the end of the nineteenth century India was described as the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, but how did such a small island come to dominate one of the richest lands in the world? Without doubt the toughest opponents to British control was led by the Sikhs. Ranjit Singh, the brilliant "Lion of Punjab", who ruled the Sikh Empire had revolutionised his army by employing French officers from Napoleon's Grand Army to train his artillery and infantry on the European model. He had ruled well and created a cultural and artistic renaissance in his lands, yet his death led to infighting amongst his successors and within a few years tension with the neighbouring British-protected territory broke out into open warfare. George Bruce explores how the military might of the East India Company clashed with the powerful forces of the Sikh Empire in six hard-fought battles. Using a wide array of contemporary source materials he demonstrates how close the British forces were to being decimated and how they were only saved by treason within the Sikh ranks. The Times described Bruce's books as "well researched, with a keen eye for historical detail." Six Battles for India: The Anglo-Sikh Wars, 1845-6 and 1848-9 is a brilliant account of one of the conflicts that led to the formation of the British Empire. It is part of the series Conflicts of Empire, which also includes Retreat from Kabul and The Burma Wars: 1824-1886.
In 1839 forces of the British East India Company crossed the Indus to invade Afghanistan on the pretext of reinstating a former king Shah Soojah to his rightful throne. The reality was that this was another step in Britain's Great Game – Afghanistan would create a buffer to any potential Russian expansion towards India. This history traces the initial, campaign which would see the British easily occupy Kabul and the rebellion that two years later would see the British army humbled. Forced to negotiate a surrender the British fled Kabul en masse in the harsh Afghan winter. Decimated by Afghan guerilla attacks and by the harsh cold and a lack of food and supplies just one European – Dr Brydon would make it to the safety of Jalalabad five days later. This book goes on to trace the retribution attack on Kabul the following year, which destroyed the symbolic Mogul Bazaar before rapidly withdrawing and leaving Afghanistan in peace for nearly a generation.
The First Anglo-Sikh War broke out due to escalating tensions between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in the Punjab region of India in the mid-nineteenth century. Political machinations were at the heart of the conflict, with Sikh rulers fearing the growing power of their own army, while several prominent Sikh generals actively collaborated with the East India Company. The British faced a disciplined opponent, trained along European lines, which fielded armies numbering in the tens of thousands. The war featured a number of closely contested battles, with both sides taking heavy losses. This fully illustrated study of the First Anglo-Sikh War tells the story of one of the major colonial wars of the nineteenth century, as the East India Company attempted to wrest control of the Punjab region from a Sikh Empire riven by infighting.
The beginning of the 19th century saw the rise of a remarkable Sikh leader in the Punjab province of north-west India. Unifying the feudal rulers under his authority, the conquering Maharaja Ranjit Singh pursued campaigns of expansion for nearly 40 years, creating for the purpose a new regular army on the Western model. His death in 1839 found the frontiers of Sikh and British power in confrontation; in the 1840s the inevitable trial of strength brought British crown and East India Company troops into battle against the most formidable Indian army they ever faced. Its story is told here in fascinating detail, illustrated with rare early paintings and with colourful reconstructions of Punjabi regular soldiers and feudal warriors.
This study is based primarily on secondary sources in English language and takes issue with Sikh historians to offer novel perspectives on the nature and function of Sikh misls. It covers the period beginning in the fall of 1709 when Banda Bahadur and his small band of Khalsa warriors stormed into Punjab and the Baisakhi day in 1801 when Ranjit Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab. During this period Punjab was buffeted by political turbulence and confusion. Mogul empire was losing its majesty and luster and embroiled with an endless spiral of wars of succession that weakened the imperial grip over Punjab. The Moguls confronted a two-front war on two geographically separate fronts. In the north, primarily in Punjab, the repeated forays of Afghan invader Abdali so emasculated Mogul hold over Punjab that the Mogul emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur ceded Lahore and Multan to Abdali. In the south the Marathas read the winds of change then blowing through imperial Mogul indicating an empire on the wane and in 1757 captured Delhi and vast swathes of countryside up to Saharanpur. With overpowering presence in the imperial city the Marathas now turned their eye on Punjab to drive the Afghan invader and occupier from the country. The Afghans and Marathas faced one another at Panipat. They fought three battles and in the final clash in January 1761 the Maratha army suffered a catastrophic defeat, ending Maratha hegemony over Punjab. Although Abdali managed to crush the Marathas once and for all, his ambition of hegemony over Punjab was quashed by his nemesis, the Sikh misls. And in this crucible of turbulence the Sikhs were to forge their destiny. Following the death of Banda Bahadur some of his followers for whom marauding had become a way of life formed their own jathas (gangs) and lived off plunder. On Baisakhi 1748 these bands or jathas were finally merged into one army, the Dal Khalsa divided into eleven misls with own name, leader and flag, under the supreme command of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The twelfth misl was the Phulkian misl but it was not an integral part of the Dal Khalsa. Pillaging skills that the jathas honed over the years were employed to pounce on Abdali's booty-laden caravan, hit and grab as much of loot and make a getaway to their strongholds and bulwarks in the hills and jungles; redoubts built for the purpose of better securing their persons and property against Afghan and Mogul search parties. The misls pillaged villages, merchants and traders. In time they changed their tactics. Instead of terrorizing the villages and towns they offered them protection (rakhi) against interlopers and in return exact some form of tithe. As a misl amassed large treasure, it also attracted greater following. The stronger misls would flex their muscles and intimidate the weaker ones. Territorial influence intensified rivalry and political maneuverings prompting some misldars to invite their counterparts to launch an attack on a chieftain with whom they had a bone to pick with. They double-crossed each other and often aligned themselves with the enemy (Moguls or Afghans), without compunction. As the authority of prominent and wealthy misldars diminished on their passing or old age, Ranjit Singh, chief of Sukerchakia misl, was able to amalgamate or annex them under his flag and proclaimed Maharaja.
