1 Under British Protection. 189
2 posed of leading chiefs and sirdars, acting under the
3 British Resident, who should have full authority to
4 direct and control the duties of every department ;
5 that a British force should remain at Lahore for
6 the protection of the Maharaja and the preservation
7 of the peace of the country ; that the Governor-
8 General should be at liberty to post British troops
9 in any fortress whose occupation he might con-
10 sider necessary ; that the Lahore state should pay
11 to the British Government twenty-two lakhs of
12 rupees for the maintenance of this force, and, to
13 meet the expenses incurred by the British
14 Government, the sum of one and a half lakhs
15 of rupees should be set apart annually for the
16 maintenance of the mother of Maharaja Dhulip
17 Singh ; and lastly, that the provisions of the treaty
18 should have effect during the minority of Maharaja
19 Dhulip Singh, and should cease and determine on his
20 Highness attaining the full age of sixteen years, or
21 on the 4th September of the year 1854.
22 The new council of regency consisted of eight
23 members, amongst them being the four chiefs already
24 mentioned as having charge of the ministry. The
25 first Resident was Colonel Henry Lawrence, whose
26 talent for administration, great nobility of char-
27 acter, and intimate knowledge of the Sikh people,
28 pre-eminently fitted him for the post. The British
29 officers appointed as his assistants were some of
30 the ablest men that the Government of India had
31 at its disposal ; indeed, there could be no stronger
32 proof of the latter 's desire to save the kingdom of
33 Lahore than the selection, for the administration of