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Mss Eur F213/23, p159
- Record Id:
- 041-002301819
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002301764
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001953.0x0002e3
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Mss Eur F213/23, p159
- Title:
- Letter from Dalhousie to Hobhouse
- Scope & Content:
- Troops gradually marching off, so far with no ill effects; rumour of Edwardes having suffered defeat; Currie has written a more becoming letter; he now says European troops can be moved easily at this season – Dalhousie continues to be anxious about combined effects of sickness and heat on their health; fears Multan may be harder nut to crack than people think, but thirty pieces of heavy artillery should be effective nutcrackers; Edwardes reports that Sikhs are fighting desperately; hopes once Multan is taken, insurrection will end, after which will come the determination of future British-Sikh relations; reviews events since conclusion of 1st Sikh War; failure of Sikh Govt to fulfil their part of peace treaties, including failure to make annual payment of 22 lakhs of rupees; numerous observers confirm rebellious state of Sikh army, and that rebellion is directed not against Maharaja and his Government but at the expulsion of the British and re-establishment of the Khalsa; Currie believes there has been widespread conspiracy in Sikh army for many months 'to which very many influential persons were parties … to create a disturbance … which was to be the signal for a more general insurrection'; Currie also believes Sikh population, provincial officials and highest men of the State disaffected; Sikh Govt, population, and army have repaid 'British friendship and forgiveness' by 'conspiracy to drive us from the country they invited us to protect, and to destroy the power which towards them had been so leniently used'; if proof of Currie's charges is forthcoming, it will be indispensable to British power 'to subvert the Sikh dynasty; to render the Sikhs … utterly impotent as a military power; and to convert the Punjab into a British province' – such measures necessary as 'justice on a guilty nation', as proof to native powers of danger of plotting against our power, and to secure ourselves from recurrence of treachery; if proof of widespread conspiracy is not forthcoming, Dalhousie reviews various options of increasing severity for punishing Sikh Govt for wrongs already done to British; argues that policy of forming a strong Hindu buffer state in Punjab between India and Afghanistan has failed - Khalsa army 'have hated us as their conquerors in arms, and loathed us as heretical in their eyes guilty offenders against the holiest tenets of that religion in which they are fanatics'; concludes that immediate annexation is justified, because it can be foreseen that Sikh turbulence will make it unavoidable after 1854 when Maharaja Duleep Singh comes of age and British protectorate ends; discusses objection to British occupation of Punjab on financial grounds; gives reasons for believing size of military garrison required has been exaggerated, for example the Muslim part of population would be 'eager for our rule, which to them would be delivery from political oppression and religious persecution'; civil administration can be on rudimentary basis until revenue picks up; a study of the unavoidable military and civil costs of occupation is in hand; summarises the foregoing arguments in favour of annexation: if Sikh conspiracy is proved, annexation indispensable whatever the financial implications, if unproved, annexation still the best policy unless financial obstacles are insurmountable; has appointed minimal staff for Law Commission pending receipt of Directors' instructions; Major Smyth's book; despite belief that Calcutta is where Governor-General can conduct government most efficiently, believes he should be near frontier this cold weather (which incidentally should help his health – though better he is 'far from being the man I once was'; brief comments on Sir Willoughby Cotton, and Sir Charles Napier.
- Collection Area:
- India Office Records and Private Papers
- Project / Collection:
- India Office Private Papers
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002301764
036-002301791
040-002301801
041-002301819 - Is part of:
- Mss Eur F213 : Papers of John Cam Hobhouse, Baron Broughton, as President of the Board of Control 1835-41 and 1846-52
Mss Eur F213/21-28 : John Cam Hobhouse, Baron Broughton, President of the Board of Control 1846-52: correspondence with persons in India and…
Mss Eur F213/23 : Letters from persons in India. Principal correspondents: John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, legislative member of the Supreme…
Mss Eur F213/23, p159 : Letter from Dalhousie to Hobhouse - Hierarchy:
- 032-002301764[0008]/036-002301791[0003]/040-002301801[0018]/041-002301819
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Mss Eur F213
- Record Type (Level):
- Item
- Extent:
- 1 item
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- English
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1848
- End Date:
- 1848
- Date Range:
- 15 Aug 1848
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- Legal Status:
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