Question

First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between
A) 1845 and 1846
B) 1846 and 1847
C) 1847 and 1848
D) 1848 and 1849

Answer 1

Hint: Maharaja Ranjit Singh consolidated and expanded the Sikh kingdom during the early years of the nineteenth century. This was also the time when the British-controlled territories were advanced by annexation or conquest to the borders of Punjab.

Complete Answer:
Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s confederacies successfully resisted many Afghan invasions and also captured areas under them like Lahore, Peshawar, and Multan. Maharaja Ranjit Singh thus earned the title of ‘Sher-i-Punjab’. After he occupied Lahore in 1799, it became his capital. His Sikh empire included lands to the South of the north-western Himalayas and the north of the Sutlej River.

Major towns like Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Kangra, Multan, Srinagar (Kashmir), Attock, Jammu, and Sialkot came under his empire. He maintained friendly relations with the British. In his army, there were men from different races and religions. His empire started disintegrating following his death in 1839 as his relatives struggled for succession. Finally, he was succeeded by his eldest son Kharak Singh.

In 1843, Major Broad was placed in Amritsar as the East India Company’s agent. The British were closely watching the developments in the Punjab political front and as in other parts of the subcontinent; they had territorial ambitions there too. In December 1845, the Sikh forces crossed the Sutlej River and took offensive positions against the English forces. Battles were thus fought in different places. The English victory at Sobraon consequently led to the signing of the Lahore treaty in 1846.

Thus, option (A) is correct.

Note: According to the Lahore treaty, Maharaja Duleep Singh was to remain the ruler of Punjab with his mother Jidan Kaur being a regent. The Sikhs were also asked to pay a huge war indemnity, but since they weren’t able to pay all of it, they made up by giving Kashmir, Hazaras, and all other territories between the Beas and the Indus River to the British, they also had to cede the Jalandhar Doab to the English. They had to limit their army to a certain number and Sir Henry Lawrence was also appointed to the Sikh court.