Shah Mohammad - The Run-up To The Anglo-Sikh Wars

The Run-up To The Anglo-Sikh Wars

The secular rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh worked well during his lifetime, but with Kharak Singh, his eldest son, becoming the king, things started to change. The new Maharaja turned out to be full of vices and lacked the ability to rule.

Also, after the Maharaja's death, the council of ministers and the nobility at the court became sharply divided. Two major factions emerged.

One consisted of three Dogra brothers, Gulab Singh, Dhyan Singh and Suchet Singh as well as Dhyan Singh's son Hira Singh.

Opposed to the Dogras, were the Sikh aristocracy, of which three families - the Sandhawalias, the Attariwalas, and the Majithias - were the most prominent.

Due to the inept nature of Kharak Singh, the whole palace soon became awash with intrigues and infighting between the Sikhs, the Dogras and several other smaller factions.

The British, who had been kept at bay by Ranjit Singh, finally got a foothold in the Durbar. They began playing one faction against the other in line with their usual policy in other parts of the Indian subcontinent.

After two abortive Anglo-Sikh Wars, the Punjab was finally annexed to the East India Company in 1849, a decade after the death of Ranjit Singh.