1 212 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 could do to support such a government and to
3 sustain that policy — I no longer believe it feasible
4 to do so."
5 On March 29, by order of the Governor-General,
6 Sir Henry Elliot, the Foreign Secretary, held a
7 durbar at Lahore for the purpose of making known
8 the decision of the Government of India. It was
9 attended by the boy-maharaja, seated, for the last
10 time, on the throne of his ancestors, and all the
11 Sikh chiefs then present in the capital, while the
12 proceedings were watched by a vast concourse of
13 spectators. Amidst a deep silence, the Proclamation
14 of the Annexation of the Punjab was read aloud in
15 English, Persian, and Hindustani. In the equally
16 deep silence which followed, a paper was then handed
17 by Tej Singh to the Maharaja, containing the condi-
18 tions on which he and his chiefs might assure them-
19 selves of generous treatment at the hands of their
20 conquerors. The paper was immediately signed by
21 Dhulip Singh, after which Sir Henry Elliot rose and
22 left the hall. As he did so the British flag was
23 hoisted on the ramparts of the citadel, and the boom-
24 ing of guns announced that the kingdom of Lahore
25 had ceased to exist.
26 It is impossible to study the history of the Sikhs
27 during the last decade of their kingdom's existence
28 without being led to share Lord Dalhousie's con-
29 viction of the " expediency, the justice, and the
30 necessity " of . the annexation. The considerations
31 which determined his policy can be best summarized
32 by quoting from the Proclamation itself : —
33 " The Government of India formerly declared that