1 And marries an
2 Egyptian wife,
3 His subsequent _
4 treacherous behaviour,
5 574 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
6 visitor at Court and gained the esteem of statesmen and citizens, He
7 married an Egyptian Christian lady, by whom he had issue. Thus for many
8 years he continued to pass his life in peace and luxury, when a sudden
9 change became perceptible in his temper. Having expressed a desire to visit
10 his home, the Panjab, he obtained the permission of the Government to make
11 a journey to India. Immediately afterwards, he not only took the Puhal of
12 the Guru and re-embraced his old religion, but opened a suspicious correspon-
13 dence with certain old Panjdb sardars. The Government disapproved of
14 this action on the part of one to whom it had shown the utmost considera-
15 tion and favour, and who had been brought up on English bread, and ordered
16 him to return to England, but he contrived to make his way to Russia
17 and France, the Governments of which countries showed themselves quite
18 indifferent to his fate. His Christian wife died in England of sorrow. His
19 turbulent mother, the notorious Chand Kour (or Jindén), whose ambition
20 * and intrigues had mainly conduced to the rapid fall of the Empire of Ranjit,
21 Death of Rant Ji in-
22 dan in London, 1863.
23 The policy of Lord
24 Dalhousie towards the
25 Panjab,
26 Board of Adminis-
27 tration established at
28 Lahore, March, 1849.
29 Colonel Henry
30 Lawrence first member
31 of the Board,
32 His colleagues
33 Messis., John Lawrence
34 and Mansel.
35 The functions of the
36 Board,
37 A general muster of
38 the Sikh soldiers and
39 military retainers, _
40 Pensions and
41 gratuities allowed to
42 them.
43 Sikh soldiery
44 disbanded.
45 having become nearly blind, broken in heart and subdued in spirit, had pre-
46 viously died in England, in 1863, and found her last resting-place in a London
47 suburb. ~
48 But the most important, by far, of the victories achieved by the British in
49 the Panjab were victories of peace and civilization. The active mind of
50 Lord Dalhousie mapped out a scheme of administration for the newly-
51 annexed country which combined the advantages of both a civil and a military
52 government. ‘I'’o ensure substantial justice, the protection of the law was
53 extended to the people without its tedious formalities and intricate niceties,
54 and if the system inaugurated was lax, compared with the strict procedure
55 of the regulation provinces, it was thoroughly adapted to the condition of a
56 people inured to war, recently deprived of power and accustomed to be ruled
57 by a despotic, unconstitutional government. A Board of Administration
58 was established at Ldhore, with power to communicate directly with the
59 Governor-General. The first seat at the Board was given to that soldier states-
60 man, well known for the benevolence of his heart and the justice of his schemes,
61 who had lately directed the affairs of the Léhore State in the name of the
62 Maharajé. ‘This was Colonel, afterwards Sir Henry, Lawrence, who, with
63 high intellectual powers, combined indomitable personal energy. His col-
64 leagues on the Board were his brother, Mr. John, afterwards Lord, Lawrence,
65 an officer of the Company’s Civil Service, and Mr, Charles Grenville Mansel,
66 also a Covenanted Civilian. The former had greatly distinguished himself
67 in matters of revenue settlement under Mr. Thomason and his predecessors in
68 the North-Western Provinces, and as Manager of the Jalandar Dodb in the
69 Panjdéb, and the latter had earned a high reputation as one of the ablest
70 financiers in India. The functions of the Board were divided into Political,
71 Revenue and Judicial, and the members had each special charge of one of
72 these departments, though all worked jointly when any question of more
73 than ordinary importance arose.
74 Under the able guidance of these officers the great work of the pacifica-
75 tion of the Panjab by ameliorative measures was begun. ‘To render the tur-
76 bulent elements of the population harmless, the British army was wisely
77 retained in the country. A general muster of the Sikh soldiery and the
78 military retainers of the late Darbér was held at Lahore, when all were paid
79 up and disbanded, the most promising of them being subsequently taken
80 into British service, while the infirm and superannuated obtained pensions
81 and gratuities. The ease and quiet with which large bodies of brave men, -
82 once so turbulent and formidable as to overawe their government and wield
83 : the destinj t ire, lai et, he
84 Sri Satguru Jag sicgh fi aban ae sa shett STR pad Slandaned the ts