1 Under British Protection. 193
2 Sirdar and Sikh in the Punjab were to avow himself
3 satisfied with the humble position of his country, it
4 would be the extreme of infatuation to believe him,
5 or to doubt for a moment that, among the crowd who
6 are loudest in our praise, there are many who
7 cannot forgive our victory or even our forbearance,
8 and who chafe at their own loss of power, in
9 exact proportion as they submit to ours."
10 The fact that the Sikhs resented the control of
11 their conquerors is no censure on Lord Hardinge's
12 policy. The only alternative to a British protectorate
13 was annexation, which both on military and political
14 grounds was considered impracticable. At the close
15 of the first Sikh war the task of annexation would
16 have imposed a very severe strain on the military
17 resources of the Government ; for, although the army
18 of the Khalsa had been thoroughly defeated, there
19 was still a sufficient force in the Punjab to render the
20 complete subjugation of the country a long and
21 extremely arduous undertaking. Moreover, the
22 " buflfer state " policy had not been abandoned, and
23 both the East India Company and the Government
24 of India were at one in their desire for the establish-
25 ment of a strong and friendly government at Lahore.
26 In a British protectorate lay the only chance of
27 securing such a result. The possibilities of success
28 were not great, but they were sufficient to make the
29 risk of failure worth incurring. Difficulties were,
30 of course, expected. The sudden introduction into a
31 half wild country of the restraints of a civilized
32 government was bound to give rise to discontent,
33 mistrust, and ill-will. But, provided no untoward
34 (1,841) 13