The History Of The Reigning Family Of Lahore by George Carmichael Smyth Preface The Sikh army had become extremely powerful and had killed the brother of Maharani Jind Kaur, Wazir Jawahar Singh Aulakh, due to a conspiracy which he was involved in. Rani Jind Kaur also wanted to preserve her own power and safety, and that of her son, Maharaja Duleep Singh, who she was the regent for. Pg.168-169 -Maharani Jind Kaur and Wazir Lal Singh were plotting to punish the army for the killing of Wazir Jawahar Singh. -Wazir Lal Singh read out letters supposedly from Sikhs in British territories that the British were rapidly advancing. -These “created considerable interest among the troops and people at Lahore, and soon formed the only topic of discussion and remark”. - At a meeting, Diwan Dina Nath, a minister of the court said that Rani Jind Kaur was willing to “sanction the march of the army across the Sutlej for the protection of the national honour”(169) Pg. 171-172 - The Sikhs under Wazir Lal Singh marched to the Sutlej River, with Raja Teja Singh, the commander-in-chief, joining him around a month after he left. - The combined Sikh force of 200,000 were to attack the British garrison of Ferozepur, but the soldiers were convinced that the garrison was too heavily fortified. - Lal Singh took care not to spend too much time with the army, whom he knew despised him. Pg. 173-174 - Lal Singh and his forces attacked British reinforcements to the Ferozepur garrison at Mudki - The Sikhs were showered with artillery and grapeshot, so they quickly retreated, but attacked the sleeping British at night. - “During the whole of that nght, the Gorechars came dropping into their camp from the different directions in which they had fled.” - Several days later, as the Sikhs rested inside their own camp at Ferozeshah, the British came and attacked them. The Sikhs were showered with bullets and by morning, retreated to the Sutlej River. - Teja Singh came with 25-30,000 reinforcements but turned back instead of fighting the British. - “At this moment Sirdar Teja Sing, with some twenty-five or thirty thousand fresh troops, arrived from the camp at Ferozepore, and presented himself before the British force, which, tired and exhausted with its previous exertions, was unable to attack him, and would, in all likelihood, have been found unable to repel a vigorous assault from an army of fresh me, in overpowering numbers, like that led by him.” (175) - The British won the battle as Teja Singh retreated without fighting them. - “Instead of seeing the Seik reserve advance to the attack, they had the satisfaction of beholding them turn back without firing a shot and follow their defeated comrades towards the Sutlej. Pg.176-9 - The Sikhs correctly suspected they were losing because of their leaders’ motives. - “The Khalsa soldiers entertained strong suspicions that their late defeats were brought on by the treachery of their chiefs, prompted by the Ranee, who sought their destruction in revenge for the death of her brother Jewahir Sing.” - The Sikhs had no faith in the Rani and the court, so they thought Raja Gulab Singh could save them from subjugation by the British. - “They had no confidence in their leaders, and their only hope of safety lay in the promise of Goolaub Singh to place himself at their head....He made, however, a great show and many promises of assistance, which were never to be realised.” (178) - He never went to the Sutlej River to lead the Sikhs to victory, and instead stayed at Lahore the whole time. - "Goolaub Sing was yet at Lahore, when...the Seik army was assailed in its works on the left bank of the Sutlej, and after a desperate resistance, driven across the stream with great slaughter. - “The Punches who had taken charge of Goolaub Sing, had almost by force installed him as Wuzeer, he day by day promising at such a time to proceed to the Sutlej and take command of the army.” - Gulab Singh, the last hope of the Sikhs, had abandoned them Pg. 180 - The Sikh soldiers were now almost completely sure that their leaders had led them into a trap. - “There was but too much reason for them to believe that the whole or nearly the whole of their sirdars and officers, were combined in a treacherous scheme to entrap them, and deliver up an easy prey to the British army.” - Nevertheless they did not make any attempt to abandon the war or to desert their chiefs - “The troops however, though convinced of the treachery of their chiefs, could only follow where they led; for no one came forward from among themselves to lead or advise them, and without a head they could do nothing.” (181) - Teja Singh did not adequately command the troops at the battle of Sobraon, and in fact made plans to escape - “While the battle was raging, the commander-in-chief [Teja Singh] was, it is said, securely ensconced in his own peculiar forces, watching only for an opportunity of making good his retreat unobserved from the bridge.” (183) - After Teja Singh escaped, he, being "the first to quit the bloody field of Subraon”, destroyed the bridge that allowed the Sikhs to move across the Sutlej River, dooming the Sikhs to their deaths.
