1 The Last Years of Ranjit Singh. 127
2 against possible invasion, or to win over Afghanistan
3 to a British alliance, and thus to convert that country
4 into a buffer state. An obvious objection to the first
5 course was the ephemeral nature of the Lahore
6 barrier. Ranjit Singh was broken down in health.
7 He had already had more than one paralytic stroke,
8 and his death, which might be expected at any
9 moment, would in all human probability result in
10 the collapse of the Sikh power. On this account,
11 and believing as he did that the Indian garrison was
12 utterly inadequate for the protection of the country
13 against external attack, Lord William Bentinck
14 wisely advocated the " buffer-state " policy. Had his
15 successor, Lord Auckland, displayed equal wisdom in
16 carrying that policy into effect, the dismal tragedy
17 of the winter of 1841-42, perhaps even the Sikh
18 wars, would never have taken place. There is no
19 country where a reverse costs more than in India.
20 But for the rout of Monson's brigade in 1804, there
21 would have been no third Mahratta war ; but for the
22 disastrous retreat from Kabul, it is more than likely
23 that the Sikhs would never have had the temerity to
24 cross the Sutlej.
25 In 1837 Burnes was sent on what was described as
26 a commercial mission to Afghanistan, the real object
27 of which was — as Dost Muhammad knew quite as
28 well as Burnes — to counteract Russian influence at
29 Kabul, and to convince the Amir that his surest
30 defence against Persian arms and Muscovite diplomacy
31 lay in united action and friendship with the Indian
32 Government. Burnes received a hearty welcome from
33 Dost Muhammad, who professed himself ready and