A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej

Cunningham, Joseph Davey · 1849 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1PREFACE.

2One who possesses no claims to systematic scholar-

3ship, and who nevertheless asks the public to approve

4of his labors in a field of some difficulty, is bound

5to show to his readers that he has at least had fair

6means of obtaining accurate information and of coming

7to just conclusions.

8Towards the end of the year 1837, the Author re-

9ceived, through the unsolicited favour of Lord Auck-

10land, the appointment of assistant to Colonel Wade, the

11political agent at Loodiana, and the officer in charge

12of the British relations with the Punjab and the

13chiefs of Afghanistan. He was at the same time re-

14quired as an engineer officer, to render Feerozpoor a

15defensible post, that little place having been declared

16a feudal escheat, and its position being regarded as

17one of military importance. His plans for effecting

18the object in view met the approval of Sir Henry

19Fane, the Commander-in -Chief ; but it was not eventu-

20ally thought proper to do more than cover the town

21with a slight parapet, and the scheme for reseating

22Shah Shooja on his throne seemed at the time to

23make the English and Sikh Governments so wholly

24one, that the matter dropped, and Feerozpoor was

25allowed to become a cantonment with scarcely the

26A 3