After the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War, British Governor-General Lord Hardinge moved to the Sikh capital on 20 February 1846 and imposed a peace treaty on Maharaja Duleep Singh, then seven and a half years old, on 9 March. The preamble to the treaty accused the Lahore government and the Sikh army of violating the terms of the 1809 treaty by unprovoked aggression against the British provinces. The areas of Maharaja Duleep Singh, which were on the left bank of the Sutlej, were confiscated and annexed. Under the terms of the treaty, the Maharaja renounced all claims related to these territories for himself and his heirs. He ceded to the East India Company in permanent sovereignty all its forts, territories and rights in the Jalandhar Doab – the hilly and flat area between the Sutlej and the beds – and agreed to pay one and a half crore rupees as compensation for the costs of the war. A key condition of the British agreement was that a British officer residing with an effective establishment of assistants be appointed by the Governor-General to remain in Lahore, with “full authority to direct and control all affairs in each Foreign Office”. [30] The regent, Maharani Jindan Kaur, mother of the Maharaja, received an annual pension of 150,000 rupees and was replaced by a board of regents composed of chiefs and sirdars acting under the control and direction of the British resident.[30] [31] This effectively gave the British control of the government. On the 11th. In March 1846, two days after the signing of the treaty, an addendum containing eight articles of the treaty was signed by the same parties.
[22] It provided that a British force would remain in Lahore until the end of the year at the latest “to protect the person of the Maharaja and the inhabitants of the city of Lahore during the reorganization of the Sikh army.” This additional agreement was concluded at the request of Lahore Durbar. Lahore`s army would evacuate the city, British troops would receive cheap quarters, and the Lahore government would pay the extra costs. [23] During the First Anglo-Sikh War, Maharaja Gulab Singh Jamwal (Dogra) helped the British Empire against the Sikhs. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] After the defeat of the Sikh Empire, the Treaty of Lahore (March 9, 1846) and the Treaty of Amritsar (1846) (March 16, 1846) were signed. As the time approached for the British withdrawal, the Durbar demanded that the troops remain until the Maharaja reached the age of 16. The British agreed and new treaty articles were drafted that formed the Treaty of Bhyroval. [29] It was signed on December 26, 1846 by Currie, Lawrence and 13 members of the Durbar and later ratified by Hardinge and the young Maharaja. The Treaty of Lahore of 9 March 1846 was a peace treaty that marked the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War. The whole part of the peace treaty between the British Government and the State of Lahore, which will bear the date of 9 March 1846, will remain binding on both Governments, unless this obligation can temporarily modify it with regard to clause 15 of the said Treaty. Additional articles in addition to the treaty, which were added two days later (March 11, 1846), provided: Signed March 16, 1846).
In December 1846, between the East India Company and minor Maharaja Duleep Singh, a Regency under British control was established until the Maharaja came of age. .
