History of Bikaner - Early and Middle 19th Century

Early and Middle 19th Century

In 1802, during the last of the wars between Bikaner and Marwar, Mountstuart Elphinstone was passing through Bikaner on his way to Kabul; when Maharaja Surat Singh (1788–1828), applied to him for British protection, which was refused. In 1815 Surat Singh's tyranny led to a general rising of his Thakurs, and in 1816 the maharaja again applied for British protection. On 9 May 1818 a Treaty of Perpetual Friendship was signed between the Bikaner ruler and the East India Company, and order was restored in the country by British troops. Ratan Singh, who succeeded his father in 1828, applied in vain in 1830 to the British government for aid against a fresh rebellion of his Thakurs; such that during the next five years banditry became so rife on the borders that the government raised a special force to deal with it (the Shekhawati Brigade), to which over the next seven years Bikaner contributed part of the cost. Henceforth the relations of the maharajas with the British government were increasingly cordial.

By the middle of the 19th century the years of internal strife together with the financial and military demands put on Bikaner by the British had put the kingdom in debt. A sharp turnaround in the fortunes of the kingdom occurred in 1842 when Maharaja Ratan Singh took advantage of a shortage of pack animals to supply Bikaner's renowned camels at considerable profit to the British for their Afghan expedition. Ths turnaround was such that by 1844 he was able to reduce the dues on goods passing through Bikaner. He also gave assistance in both Sikh campaigns to the British. His son, Sardar Singh (1851–1872), was rewarded for help given during the Revolt of 1857 by an increase of territory. In 1868 a rising of the Thakurs against his extortions led to the despatch of a British political officer, by whom affairs were adjusted.