Treaty of Lahore

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 and seven members of Hazara, the territory to the south of the river Sutlej and the forts and territory in the JalandharDoab 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 Provision 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]

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]

The peace 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.

في 11  مارس 1846، بعد يومين من توقيع المعاهدة، وقّعت الأطراف نفسها ملحقًا يتضمن ثمانية بنود. ^{[ 7 ]} نصّ الملحق على بقاء قوة بريطانية في لاهور حتى نهاية العام كحد أقصى "لغرض حماية شخص المهراجا وسكان مدينة لاهور، خلال إعادة تنظيم الجيش السيخي". جاء هذا الاتفاق التكميلي بناءً على طلب بلاط لاهور. وبموجب هذا الملحق، سيُخلي جيش لاهور المدينة، وسيتم توفير مساكن مناسبة للقوات البريطانية، وستتكفل حكومة لاهور بتغطية النفقات الإضافية. ^{[ 8 ]}

كما نص الاتفاق على أن البريطانيين سيحترمون الحقوق المشروعة لملاك الأراضي في أراضي لاهور، وسيساعدون حكومة لاهور في استرداد متأخرات الإيرادات المستحقة لها من ملاك الأراضي ^{[ 9 ]} والمديرين في الأراضي المتنازل عنها بموجب أحكام المادتين 3 و4 من المعاهدة. ^{[ 10 ]}

طالب البريطانيون بدفع 15 مليون روبية ^{[ 11 ]} (ما يعادل مليون ونصف كرور) كتعويض عن تكاليف الحرب. ولأن حكومة لاهور لم تكن قادرة على دفع المبلغ كاملاً فوراً، فقد تنازلت عن بعض الأراضي المذكورة آنفاً، بما فيها هزارة وكشمير، مقابل ما يعادل 10 ملايين روبية (ما يعادل مليون كرور). كما طُلب من المهراجا دفع 6 ملايين روبية (ما يعادل 60 لاك) فوراً. ^{[ 12 ]}

ثم باع البريطانيون كشمير إلى راجا جامو، غولاب سينغ ، مقابل 7.5 مليون روبية (75 لاخ). وقد أُبرمت معاهدة البيع في 16  مارس 1846، بموجب معاهدة أمريتسار ، ووقعها غولاب سينغ وهاردينج وكوري ولورانس. ^{[ 13 ]} وبذلك أصبح غولاب سينغ مؤسس وأول مهراجا لإمارة كشمير وجامو .

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 Bhairowal.^[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 on the left bank of River Beas.. Actual location is Verowal district Tarn Taran in modern Panjab. (Location is confirmed in Sir HENRY HARDINGE's private correspondence and in testimony by an old Sikh person to Karam Singh historian in 1905 who was there during this treaty in Sikh Army. Details collected by Gurdev Singh Nagoke ) 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.

• Treaty of Amritsar (1809)