The First-Anglo Sikh War 1845-46
Amarpal Singh
HarperCollins India
256 pages; Rs 699
After victory over the Marathas in 1818 made the British East India Company the paramount power in the subcontinent, the only areas outside the company’s control were Punjab (ruled by Maharaja Ranjit Singh), Kashmir and Sind. Ranjit Singh was a strong ruler with a European-trained army, but following his death in 1839, his kingdom’s descent into anarchy was swift, and power came to be exercised by army panchayats consisting of soldiers who held both the civilian and military leadership in contempt. With the Sikh state and the
