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THROUGH THE SIKH WAR Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] ThisebookisfortheuseofanyoneanywhereintheUnitedStatesandmostother partsoftheworldatnocostandwithalmostnorestrictionswhatsoever. Youmay copyit,giveitawayorre-useitunderthetermsoftheProjectGutenbergLicense includedwiththisebookoronlineathttps://www.gutenberg.org/license. Ifyou arenotlocatedintheUnitedStates,you’llhavetocheckthelawsofthecountry whereyouarelocatedbeforeusingthisebook. Title: ThroughtheSikhWar ATaleoftheConquestofthePunjaub Author: G.A.Henty ReleaseDate: January11,2017[EBook#53717] Language: English Charactersetencoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THROUGH THE SIKH WAR*** ProducedbyAlHaines. Through the Sikh War A Tale of the Conquest of the Punjaub Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] iii Coverart Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] iv PERCYTHREATENSTOSHOOTTHEFERRYMEN Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] v BY G. A. HENTY Authorof”BerictheBriton””TheDashforKhartoum” ”HeldFastforEngland””WithCliveinIndia”&c. WITHEIGHTILLUSTRATIONSBYHALHURST ANDMAPOFTHEPUNJAUB LONDON:BLACKIE&SON,LIMITED COPPCLARKCO.LTD.,TORONTO WILLIAMBRIGGS,TORONTO PREFACE. Among the many wars by which, province by province, the Empire of India waswon,few,ifany,weremorebrilliantandhardfoughtthanthosewhichter- minated in the annexation of the Punjaub. It is satisfactory to know that the conquestoftheSikhs—abraveandindependentrace—wasnotbroughtaboutby anyoftheintrigueswhichmarredthebrilliancyofsomeofourearlyconquests, or by greed for additional territory, but was the result of a wanton invasion of the states under our protection by the turbulent soldiery of the Punjaub, who believedthemselvesinvincible,andembarkedupontheconflictwithaconfident belief that they would make themselves masters of Delhi, if not drive us com- pletelyoutofIndia. ItwasfortunateforBritainthatthestrugglewasnotdelayed forafewyears,andthattherewastimeforthePunjaubtobecomewellcontented with our rule before the outbreak of the Mutiny; for had the Punjaub declared against us at that critical period it would assuredly have turned the scale, and the work of conquering India must needs have been undertaken anew. I have endeavoured,whilekeepingmyherowellintheforeground,torelatethewhole oftheleadingincidentsinthetwoSikhwars. G.A.HENTY. Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] vi CONTENTS CHAP. I. EastwardHo! II. TheShadowofWar III. AttheCastle IV. ARaidfromtheHills V. Retribution VI. ASiege VII. StartlingNews VIII. IntheService IX. MoodkeeandFerozeshah X. AliwalandSobraon XI. AnAmbush XII. APrisoner XIII. Escape XIV. Treachery XV. TheNewsoftheMassacre XVI. SevenHoursofSuspense XVII. WithSherSingh XVIII. Rejoining XIX. Chillianwalla XX. Gujerat XXI. Retired Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] vii ILLUSTRATIONS PercythreatenstoshoottheFerrymenFrontispiece PercylearnsthePunjaubiLanguage PercyshootstheAssassinduringtheattackontheFortress TheCommander-in-chiefthanksPercyforhisReport Percyawakes,tofindthattheGuardsareVigilant ”Ishedead?”PercyaskedashereineduphisHorse PercytakespartintheBattleofChillianwalla PercyhasanInterviewwithSherSingh MapofthePunjaub THROUGH THE SIKH WAR: ASTORYOFTHECONQUESTOFINDIA. CHAPTER I. EASTWARDHO! ”Groves,hereisaletterforyou,”Dr. Bubear,thehead-masterofalargeschool atDulwich,said,astheboysrosefromtheirplacestoleavetheschool-roomat theconclusionoftheirwork. Theladaddressed,aboyofaboutfifteen,wentup tothedesk. ”It is from your father’s lawyers, Messrs. Sims & Hammond. I have re- Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] viii THEPUNJAUBTOILLUSTRATE”THROUGHTHESIKHWAR” ceivedonefromthemmyself,Ithinkyouwillfinditsatisfactory,”andhenodded kindly. ”Youhadbetterstopinheretoreadit,foritlookssomewhatbulky,and Ifancycontainsaninclosure.” PercyGrovesreturnedtohisseat,anddidnotopentheletteruntilhewas aloneintheschool-room. Itwasalongtimesincehehadreceivedone. Fifteen monthsbeforehehadlosthisfather. MajorGroveshadreturnedonhalf-paya yearbeforehisdeath,beingobligedtoquittheservicefromtheeffectsofasevere wound which he received at the storming of Ghuznee. His regiment had been absentseveralyearsfromEngland,andafterhehadlefttheserviceandtakena houseatDulwich,hehadmadebutfewacquaintances,spendingmostofhistime atthemilitaryclubtowhichhebelonged. Percy, who was an only child, had been born in India—his mother dying whenhewasfiveyearsold. Hisfatherhadkepthimthreeyearslongerwithhim, andhadthensenthimhometoEnglandtothecareofhisgrandfather,whohad, Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] ix however,diedayearlater;andfromthattimePercyhadknownnohomebutDr. Bubear’s,untilhisfatherreturnedandtookuphisresidenceneartheschool. A fewdaysbeforehisdeathMajorGroveshadalongtalkwithhisson. ”Iamtroubledaboutyou,Percy,”hesaid. ”Besidesmyhalf-payIhavebut three thousand pounds—a sum sufficient indeed to finish your education, pay yourexpensesattheUniversityifyoudecidetogointooneofthelearnedpro- fessions,andtohelpyouabituntilyoumakeyourway. Ihavewrittentothree orfourofmyoldfriends, whowill, whenthetimecomes, dotheirbesttopro- cure you a commission in the army, in case you have a fancy then, as I know you have now, for soldiering. Lastly, there is my brother. We have never kept upmuchcorrespondence,butwehavealwaysbeengoodfriends;hewasinthe army himself, but sold out after only serving a year, as he saw that there was very little chance of active service in Europe. He knocked about the world for someyearsandthenwentouttoIndia,andthenextIheardofhimwasthathe hadenteredtheserviceofRunjeetSingh,theleaderoftheSikhs,whohadgreat respectforEuropeantroops,andemployedanumberofforeignofficers—Italian, German,andafewEnglish—totrainhistroopsonourmethod. ”I have not heard of him for some three or four years, but when I did he wasstillintheSikhservice,andheldtherankofcolonel,andwas,Iheard,high in favour with Runjeet Singh, and there I have no doubt he is still, that is if he is alive. No doubt he is married to some dusky princess, and has probably accumulatedafortune. Theseadventurers,asEuropeansintheserviceofnative princes are generally called, either get murdered soon after they get out there, orelseaccumulatelargefortunes. Ihavenodoubtthatifheisalivehewilltake chargeofyou. ”Thelifeisanadventurousone,andIdonotsaythatIshouldadviseyouto adoptit;butinthatrespectyoumustdecideforyourself,whenyoureachtheage todoso. Ifyouruncleisabletopushyourfortuneoutthereyoumightdoworse thanstaywithhim;if,ontheotherhand,whenyougettotheageofseventeen or eighteen, you do not care to remain in India, you must come home and get theofficerstowhomIhavewrittentousetheirinfluencetoobtainacommission foryou,whichtheywill,Ihavenodoubt,beabletodo,asthesonofanofficer forcedtoretirefromtheserviceinconsequenceofwoundsisalwaysconsidered tohaveaclaim. ”In that case the knowledge that you will obtain of Indian methods and languageswouldbeaverygreatassistancetoyou. Butmind,ifyoudogooutto youruncleitwillnotbepossibleforyouafterwardstochooseoneofthelearned professions, for however much you may try to educate yourself out there, you willnotbeuptothemarkofladswhohavegonethroughtheregularcourseof schoolinghere.” Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected] x ”Idon’tcareforthat,father;Ihavealwaysmadeupmymindtobeasoldier, asyouwere. Ishouldlikeverymuchtogoouttomyuncleifhewillhaveme.” Themajorwassilentforafewminutes. ”Idon’tknowthatitisawisestep,”hemurmuredtohimself;”buttheboy hasnofriendshere—myoldcomradeswilldowhattheycanforhimwhenthe timecomes,butuntilthenhewillhavebutalonelylife. ”Very well, Percy,” he went on, turning to his son, ”I will write to your uncle. Itmaybeeighteenmonthsbeforeyougetananswerfromhim—thatisall thebetter. Workhardatschool,lad,andlearnasmuchasyoucan,foryouwillget but little learning out there. If your uncle does not care to have you, or thinks that things are too disturbed and unsettled out there for him to undertake the responsibility,youmustfallbackontheotherplanandremainatDr. Bubear’s untilyouareseventeen. Ihavewrittenletterstothefriendswhopromisedtosee afteryourcommission;youwillfindtheminmydesk. Keepthembyyouuntil youareleavingschool,andthenpostthem,thatisifyourwishtogointothearmy isunchanged. Ifitshouldbechanged,Messrs. Sims&Hammond,mylawyers, willputyouinthewayofcarryingoutyourwishesinwhateverdirectionthey maylie.” Therehadbeenseveralsuchtalksbetweenfatherandson,andPercyknew thatheshouldnothavehisfatherlongwithhim. Helistened,therefore,gravely to his words, but without showing emotion; for although when alone he often gave way to tears, he knew that the major, himself a quiet and self-restrained man,wasadversetoanydisplayoffeeling. Theboydidnotthinktheendwas sonear,andthoughpreparedinsomewayfortheblow,itwasaterribleshock tohimwhenhisfather,fivedayslater,expired. Hehadagainbecomeaboarder atDr. Bubear’s,remainingthereduringtheholidaysaswellasinschool-time. Twoorthreetimesoldfriendsofhisfatherhadcometoseehim,andhad taken him out for the day. This was the only change he had had, but he had workedhardandrisenconsiderablyinhisplaceintheschool. Inaccordancewith instructionsfromMessrs. Sims&Hammondhehadgoneregularlytoariding- school,asthemajor,knowingtheSikhstobeanationofhorsemen,hadthought itdesirablethatheshouldlearntohaveagoodseatonahorse. Thelawyershad alsoarrangedthatheshouldtwiceaweekhavelessonsinHindustani,andhewas allowedtoworkatthisinsteadofGreek. Hisprogresswascomparativelyrapid, asafteratimethelanguagehehadheardspokenforthefirsteightyearsofhis lifecamebacktohimrapidly. Hehadhardlybeguntolookforareplyfromhis unclewhenDr. Bubearhandedhimtheletter,whichhedoubtednotcontained the answer. He had hardly hoped that it would be favourable, for during the interveningtimehehadlearnedsomethingofwhatwasgoingoninthePunjaub, andknewthatsinceRunjeetSingh’sdeaththerehadbeenmanytroublesthere, Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary [email protected]