Treaty of Lahore

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The Treaty of Lahore of 9 March 1846, was a peace treaty marking the end of the
First Anglo-Sikh War. The Treaty was concluded, for the British, by the Governor-
General Sir Henry Hardinge and two officers of the East India Company and, for the
Sikhs, by the seven-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh Bahadur and seven members of the
Lahore Durbar acting on his behalf.

The terms of the Treaty were punitive. Sikh territory was reduced to a fraction of
its former size, losing Jammu, Kashmir, Hazara, the territory to the south of the
river Sutlej and the forts and territory in the Jalandhar Doab between the rivers
Sutlej and Beas.[1] In addition, controls were placed on the size of the Lahore
army and thirty-six field guns were confiscated.[2] The control of the rivers
Sutlej and Beas and part of the Indus passed to the British, with the proviso that
this was not to interfere with the passage of passenger boats owned by the Lahore
Government.[3] Also, provision was made for the separate sale of all the hilly
regions between River Beas and Indus, including Kashmir, by the East India Company
at a later date to Gulab Singh, the Raja of Jammu.[4]

Contents [hide]
1 The Anglo-Sikh treaties of 1846
1.1 Background
1.2 Peace treaty
1.3 The Treaty of Amritsar
1.4 The Treaty of Bhyroval
2 Text of the 1846 Treaty of Lahore
3 Text of the 1849 Last Treaty of Lahore
4 See also
5 References
The Anglo-Sikh treaties of 1846[edit]
Background[edit]
See also First Anglo-Sikh War
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Sukerchakia had made Lahore the capital of the Sikh Empire of
the Punjab, which he built up between 1799 and his death in 1839. After his death,
factions and assassinations destroyed the unity of the State, causing alarm to the
British because it weakened the buffer against the perceived threat of invasion
from the north. Provocative acts by both the British and the Sikhs escalated
tension and, on 13 December 1845, Hardinge issued a proclamation declaring war on
the Sikhs.[5]

During the First Anglo-Sikh War, the British came close to defeat at the Battle of
Ferozeshah, but were eventually victorious. After the defeat of the Sikhs at the
Battle of Sobraon, the British marched unopposed into Lahore on 20 February 1846.
[6]

Peace treaty[edit]
The peace treaty was negotiated and drafted by Frederick Currie, assisted on
military matters by Brevet-Major Henry Lawrence, acting under powers vested in them
by Hardinge. Currie's diplomatic skills so impressed Hardinge that the British
authorities rewarded him with a baronetcy in January 1847.

On 11 March 1846, two days after signature of the Treaty, a supplement, comprising
eight Articles of Agreement, was signed by the same parties.[7] It provided that a
British force would remain in Lahore until no longer than the end of the year for
the purpose of protecting the person of the Maharajah and the inhabitants of the
City of Lahore, during the reorganization of the Sikh Army. This supplementary
agreement was at the request of the Lahore Durbar. The Lahore army would vacate the
City, convenient quarters would be provided for the British troops and the Lahore
Government would pay the extra expenses.[8]
The Agreement also provided that the British would respect the bona fide rights of
jagirdars in the Lahore territories and would assist the Lahore Government in
recovering the arrears of revenue justly due to the Lahore Government from the
kardars[9] and managers in the territories ceded by the provisions of Articles 3
and 4 of the Treaty.[10]

The Treaty of Amritsar[edit]

The British demanded payment of 15 million rupees[11] (one and a half crore) as
reparations for the cost of the war. As the Lahore Government was unable to pay the
whole of this sum immediately, it ceded some of the territories mentioned above,
including Hazara and Kashmir, as equivalent to 10 million rupees (one crore). The
Maharaja was also required to pay 6 million rupees (60 lakhs) immediately.[12]

The British then sold Kashmir to the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, for 7.5 million
rupees (75 lakhs). The treaty of sale was concluded on 16 March 1846, in the Treaty
of Amritsar and signed by Gulab Singh, Hardinge, Currie and Lawrence.[13] Gulab
Singh thus became the founder and first Maharaja of the princely state of Kashmir
and Jammu.

The Treaty of Bhyroval[edit]

The supplementary Articles of Agreement had specified that the British troops would
remain in Lahore until no later than the end of 1846. When the time approached for
the British to leave, the Durbar requested that the troops should remain until the
Maharaja attained the age of 16. The British consented to this and new articles of
agreement were drawn up, forming the Treaty of Bhyroval.[14] This was signed on 26
December 1846, by Currie, Lawrence and 13 members of the Durbar and later ratified
by Hardinge and the young Maharaja.

A key condition of the British agreement was that a Resident British officer, with
an efficient establishment of assistants, was to be appointed by the Governor-
General to remain at Lahore, with full authority to direct and control all matters
in every Department of the State.[15] The Regent, Maharani Jindan Kaur, mother of
the Maharaja, was awarded an annual pension of 150,000 rupees and replaced by a
Council of Regency composed of leading Chiefs and Sirdars acting under the control
and guidance of the British Resident.[16] This effectively gave the British control
of the Government.

Text of the 1846 Treaty of Lahore[edit]

Treaty between the British Government and the State of Lahore, 1846.[7][17]

Whereas the treaty of amity and concord, which was concluded between the British
government and the late Maharajah Runjeet Sing, the ruler of Lahore, in 1809, was
broken by the unprovoked aggression, on the British Provinces, of the Sikh army, in
December last; and whereas, on that occasion, by the proclamation, dated 13th
December, the territories then in the occupation of the Maharajah of Lahore, on the
left or British bank of the river Sutlej, were confiscated and annexed to the
British Provinces; and since that time hostile operations have been prosecuted by
the two Governments; the one against the other, which have resulted in the
occupation of Lahore by the British troops; and whereas it has been determined
that, upon certain conditions, peace shall be re-established between the two
Governments, the following treaty of peace between the Honourable East India
Company and Maharajah Dhuleep Sing Bahadoor, and his children, heirs and
successors, has been concluded on the part of the Honourable Company by Frederick
Currie, Esquire, and Brevet-Major Henry Montgomery Lawrence, by virtue of full
powers to that effect vested in them by the Right Hon'ble Sir Henry Hardinge,
G.C.B., one of her Britannic Majesty's Most Hon'ble Privy Council, Governor-
General, appointed by the Honourable Company to direct and control all their
affairs in the East Indies, and on the part of His Highness Maharajah Dhuleep Sing
by Bhaee Ram Sing, Rajah Lal Sing, Sirdar Tej Sing, Sirdar Chuttur Sing
Attareewalla, Sirdar Runjore Sing Majeethia, Dewan Deena Nath and Fakeer
Nooroodden, vested with full powers and authority on the part of His Highness.

I. There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the British Government on
the one part and Maharajah Dhuleep Sing, his heirs and successors on the other.

II. The Maharajah of Lahore renounces for himself, his heirs and successors, all
claim to, or connection with, the territories lying to the south of the River
Sutlej, and engages never to have any concern with those territories or the
inhabitants thereof.

III. The Maharajah cedes to the Hon'ble Company, in perpetual sovereignty, all his
forts, territories and rights in the Doab or country, hill and plain, situated
between the Rivers Beas and Sutlej.

IV. The British Government having demanded from the Lahore State, as
indemnification for the expenses of the war, in addition to the cession of
territory described in Article 3, payment of one and half crore of Rupees, and the
Lahore Government being unable to pay the whole of this sum at this time, or to
give security satisfactory to the British Government for its eventual payment, the
Maharajah cedes to the Honourable Company, in perpetual sovereignty, as equivalent
for one crore of Rupees, all his forts, territories, rights and interests in the
hill countries, which are situated between the Rivers Beas and Indus, including the
Provinces of Cashmere and Hazarah.

V. The Maharajah will pay to the British Government the sum of 60 lakhs of Rupees
on or before the ratification of this Treaty.

VI. The Maharajah engages to disband the mutinous troops of the Lahore Army, taking
from them their arms and His Highness agrees to reorganize the Regular or Aeen
Regiments of Infantry upon the system, and according to the Regulations as to pay
and allowances, observed in the time of the late Maharajah Runjeet Sing. The
Maharajah further engages to pay up all arrears to the soldiers that are
discharged, under the provisions of this Article.

VII. The Regular Army of the Lahore State shall henceforth be limited to 25
Battalions of Infantry, consisting of 800 bayonets each with twelve thousand
Cavalry - this number at no time to be exceeded without the concurrence of the
British Government. Should it be necessary at any time - for any special cause -
that this force should be increased, the cause shall be fully explained to the
British Government, and when the special necessity shall have passed, the regular
troops shall be again reduced to the standard specified in the former Clause of
this Article.

VIII. The Maharajah will surrender to the British Government all the guns - thirty-
six in number - which have been pointed against the British troops and which,
having been placed on the right Bank of the River Sutlej, were not captured at the
battle of Subraon.

IX. The control of the Rivers Beas and Sutlej, with the continuations of the latter
river, commonly called the Gharrah and the Punjnud, to the confluence of the Indus
at Mithunkote and the control of the Indus from Mithunkote to the borders of
Beloochistan, shall, in respect to tolls and ferries, rest with the British
Government. The provisions of this Article shall not interfere with the passage of
boats belonging to the Lahore Government on the said rivers, for the purpose of
traffic or the conveyance of passengers up and down their course. Regarding the
ferries between the two countries respectively, at the several ghats of the said
rivers, it is agreed that the British Government, after defraying all the expenses
of management and establishments, shall account to the Lahore Government for one-
half the net profits of the ferry collections. The provisions of this Article have
no reference to the ferries on that part of the Ri