Return to Empire: Punjab Under the Sikhs and British in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

This book examines the Punjab’s return to empire in the mid-nineteenth century: its transition from Sikh monarchical rule to British colonial rule. Following brief analyses of the ecology and social structure of the region and the dynamics of Ranjit Singh’s Sikh kingdom, the study explores the changing fortunes of a key social group–the Punjabi chieftain class–through five successive periods: from the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 to the first Anglo-Sikh war in 1845-46; the period of transition from indirect to direct British rule between 1846 and 1849; the period of post-annexation consolidation of British authority under the Lawrence brothers; the Great Rebellion of 1857; and the post-1857 period which saw the British redefining their political priorities. It is argued that, by the early 1870s, the long-term foundations of the colonial state in the Punjab had been achieved through a mutual adjustment of the interest of the British and the chieftain class.