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The Expansion of British India (1818-1858)
The Expansion of British India - 1818-1858 Author:George Anderson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III FOREIGN WARFARE. THE PUNJAB AND BURMA In this chapter an attempt is made to show the causes and effects of Lord Dalhousie's policy towards two ... more »countries situated beyond the limits of the Company's territory, the Punjab and Burma. Nanak, the founder of the Sikh 1 sect, was born in 1469. He was one of India's greatest religious reformers; he hated tyranny and superstition, and strove to bring about religious peace and union between Hindus and Muhammadans. Some hundred years later, a second leader arose. Guru Gobind rejected his predecessor's policy of peaceful persuasion, and bound his followers into a great military caste. Equality among themselves, a bitter hatred of Muhammadan tyranny and cruelty, and a Spartan hardiness of life, then became the chief characteristics of the Sikhs. Their enemies from Delhi strove hard to exterminate this troublesome race, but their strength was already tried to its utmost by Afghan invasions. The Sikh confederacy, therefore, grew steadily in power and, by the end of the eighteenth century, formed an admirable buffer state " between the Company's territories and the thorny countryside of Pathan, Afghan, and Beluchi tribesmen beyond the Indus." And after the departure of Zeman Shah, Ranjit Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, united the hitherto discordant units into one powerful kingdom. The treaty of friendship formed between him and the British soon developed into a definite alliance which was respected by both parties until the death of the Great Maharajah in 1839. It is difficult to over-estimate the importance of the part played by the Sikhs during the later part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth centuries. Accounts of the development of their power and of their political importance are given below. 1 The wo...« less