Second Anglo-Sikh War

01Chillianwala

Diwan Mulraj of Multan rose in April 1848 after two British officers were killed there, and in the autumn Sher Singh Attariwala took the Khalsa regiments over to the revolt. On 13 January 1849 Gough attacked Sher Singh’s position at Chillianwala, near the Jhelum, late in the afternoon through thick jungle. The Sikh gunners and infantry mauled his brigades; the Company lost about 2,400 killed and wounded and several colours, and a British cavalry brigade broke. Both sides claimed the field. In London the news brought Gough’s recall, though it came too late to matter.

02Gujrat and annexation

Multan fell in January 1849. On 21 February, at Gujrat, Gough used his artillery first and at length, and the Khalsa line gave way under the bombardment and a general advance. The Sikh sardars laid down their arms at Rawalpindi in March. On 29 March 1849 Dalhousie proclaimed the Punjab annexed. Maharaja Duleep Singh, eleven years old, was removed from his throne and later taken to England, and the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the Lahore treasury was sent to Queen Victoria.

Dynasty · 1799–1849 CEThe Sikh Empire (Sarkar-i-Khalsa)Ranjit Singh took Lahore in 1799 and was proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab in 1801. He united the Sikh misls into one state, pushed the Afghans back beyond the Khyber, and built the last great Indian army to face the British; ten years after his death the empire was annexed in 1849.Read →