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 Glass replica of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond in its original form. From the Reich der Kristalle museum in Munich Interesting find while plying through Allens India Mail – this time from 1852. Came across a mention of the Darya-i-Noor (meaning river of light) . Never heard of this stone before although it was supposed to be the ‘brother’ of the more famous Koh-i-noor . The diamond was part of the Lahore jewellery taken after the anenxation of the state. The diamond was exhibited along with the koh-i-noor during the Great Exhibition of 1850 and then taken back to India whiel the koh-i-noor stayed in England. it was auctioned of in 1852.
The Darya-i-Noor – “a magnificent stone spreading a surface quite as broad as that of its more famous brother the koh-i-noor and it brought only Rs. 59,000.” the article describes.
The purchaser was a “wealthy Mahomedan gentlemean of Dacca, Kojah Alim Oolah by name. the prices fetched by other lots served to show that there is still money to spare among the natives of India for matters of luxury and display”
A quick search on google reveals it now resides in the vault of the Sonali Bank in Bangladesh having been used by the nawabs of Dhaka as a turban ornament
Just been going through “An account of the battlefield of Alexander and Porus” by Capt. Abbott on account of the fact that Chilllianwala is supposed to be the same site where this ancient battle also took place. The book was published in 1849 but written before the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Sikh War. Abbott, interested in the macedonian had trekked around the Jhelum area trying to figure out where the great battle took place. He also seemed to have pored through all the first hand accounts to eke out any clues to the location.
The accounts mention a great bend in the river which can only be the one just higher than the town of jhelum. In fact its the only sizeable bend in the river in that area. Alexander on the right bank of the river could go up river by cutting across like an arc of a circle whereas Porus had to march round the bend as well as crossing the Sukeyturr river which joins the Jhelum. Alexander after crossing 10 miles up stream then marched down a few miles down the left bank. At which point Porus had managed to cross the Sukeyturr . So my guess (According to what Abbotts written) is the battlefield is the point on the map . I may have interpreted Abbotts details incorrectly and i notice a lot of names of villages and places he mentions dont pop up on google maps . And then again he may be totally wrong anyway – but definitely the bend in the river is there and his logic make sense – and Porus definitely crossed the Sukeytur.
So if its true this battle took place around 30 miles upstream of Chillianwalla so not realy on the same site although they found loads of Greek coins under Moong village near Chillianwalla which supposedly stands on the site of Nikaea , a city he built to commemorate the victory. Maybe the Moong area was the best nearby place to build a city. ? There’s been a ford across the river there since the year dot making it a good place..
Some account of the camps and battle field of Alexander and Porus by James Abbott
 education stats for Puunjabi Schools 1852 Been poring through old copies of Allen’s Indian Mail (1852 to be precise), an aggregation of the more interesting collection of news from the various newspapers in India . An insight into the state of education in Punjab shortly after the AngloSikh war and annexation revealed by the “Bombay Dyanodoya” newspaper.
Only around 3% of children atended school in Punjab at the time – i suspect only the richer portion of society. But thats not the whole story. Of the 1385 schools in the Punjab that catered for this 3%, only 76 were teaching in Gurmukhi – around 5.5% despite Punjab being recently Sikh dominated. 337 of the schools taught exclusively Persian , the lingua franca of the time. Another 421 (30%) taught Arabic either as a language or for undertsanding the quran - in other words they were madrassas . The news item ends with the comment “The larger portion even of these are Mahomedans who from religous reasons pay far more attention to education that the Sikhs.”.
Link http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=G7cOAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PA454
 battlefield of chillianwala Researching into the second Anglo Sikh War at present for the forthcomming book on the subject and came across a poem on Chillianwalla which i had never seen before written by George Meredith. Verses three and four are particularily powerful so here goes.
CHILLIANWALLAH by George Meredith
Chillanwallah, Chillanwallah!
Where our brothers fought and bled,
O thy name is natural music
And a dirge above the dead!
Though we have not been defeated,
Though we can’t be overcome,
Still, whene’er thou art repeated,
I would fain that grief were dumb.
Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
‘Tis a name so sad and strange,
Like a breeze through midnight harpstrings
Ringing many a mournful change;
But the wildness and the sorrow
Have a meaning of their own -
Oh, whereof no glad to-morrow
Can relieve the dismal tone!
Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
‘Tis a village dark and low,
By the bloody Jhelum river
Bridged by the foreboding foe;
And across the wintry water
He is ready to retreat,
When the carnage and the slaughter
Shall have paid for his defeat.
Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
‘Tis a wild and dreary plain,
Strewn with plots of thickest jungle,
Matted with the gory stain.
There the murder-mouthed artillery,
In the deadly ambuscade,
Wrought the thunder of its treachery
On the skeleton brigade.
Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
When the night set in with rain,
Came the savage plundering devils
To their work among the slain;
And the wounded and the dying
In cold blood did share the doom
Of their comrades round them lying,
Stiff in the dead skyless gloom.
Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
Thou wilt be a doleful chord,
And a mystic note of mourning
That will need no chiming word;
And that heart will leap with anguish
Who may understand thee best;
But the hopes of all will languish
Till thy memory is at rest.
 Raja Lal Singh Currently going through “The Trial of Raja Lal Singh” by R.R.Sethi. The trial of the unpopular vizir came about due to his encouragement of the Governor of Kashmir Shaikh Imam-Ud-Din to rebel against Gulab Singh who had been given Kashmir virtually as a reward by the British for staying neutral during the first AngloSikh War.
Its a useful book but unfortunately R.Sethi has published an abridged version of the court proceedings. Reading through he’s included most of what the prosecution said but vital sections regarding where Lal Singh spoke he has summarized in his own words. Since the trial centred on Lal Singh it would have been useful to have had the exact words said by Diwan Dina Nath on behalf of Lal Singh as well. At one point Sher Singh Attariwalla spoke out against Lal Singh regarding secret correspondence sent by the Durbar or Lal Singh not using the usual Munshis (secretaries). Sher Singh would lead the Sikh army during the second Sikh War. Again his exact words were left out. Fortunatley the entire decision of the court of Enquiry seems to have been published.
Not entirely sure why he wouldn’t have printed out the ‘complete works’ . Maybe he decided to leave out portions he deemed ‘boring’. Currently in the process of ordering a copy of the trial papers from the Indian Archives so should be able to pore through the fine detail and elaborate on anything interesting R. Sethi left out.
 Dhuleep Singh It’s a pity John McCosh the photographer couldn’t have been there and captured it for posterity- the last chance to catch the Lahore durbar in session with Dhuleep Singh on the throne. For the 29th March 1849, 162 years ago was the last day the Durbar would meet. During the session, a proclamation was declared with all Sirdars and notables present that the Empire was at an end and the Punjab was being annexed to the British Empire. Dhuleep Singh probably oblivious as to the importance of the moment willingly signed the papers bringing to an end the the Lahore Durbar which had begun with his father nearly 50 years earlier.
McCosh had captured Dewan Mulraj. Mulraj had been brought to Lahore after his surrender at Multan – is that where he was photographed – not sure? There’s also the picture of the front of Lahore fort with British soldiers on guard taken during annexation. It’s highly probable the photographer may have been in Lahore at this time so a great misfortune he wasn’t present there during the Durbar.
Anyway the chance was passed . The shot of the Durbar would have been the photographic equivalent of the famous schoeft painting of Ranjit Singh’s court.
 Penguin zafarnama Flier Author and Diplomat Navtej Sarna is releasing his new book “Zafarnama” (Penguin India) in March. The book analyzes the famous 111 verse letter written by Guru Gobind Singh in elegant Persian verse to the Mughal Emperor Aurungzeb rebuking him for his intolerance, his excesses and his broken oaths taken over the Quran. Navtej Sarna is the Indian ambassador to Israel and is the other of several books including “The Exile” a novel on the life of Dhuleep Singh. More information on this important book as and when I get it.
 This book was first published in 1851 just two years after the campaign which ended the kingdom of Punjab. At that time only Daniel Sandford’s account of the war (Journal of a Subaltern During the Campaign in the Punjaub)had been published so this would have been the second publication detailing the battles of Ramnuggar, Sadalpore, Chillianwallah and Gujrat. The book doesn’t cover the siege of Multan, Thackwell having not been present. The writer Edward Thackwell is aide-de camp for General Thackwell – however the book never makes clear whether they are related or not.
The book is a fine narrative from an eye-witness to the campaign and differs from Sandford’s account in being told from someone considerably higher up the pecking order and with more knowledge on how the campaign is being run. Whereas Sandford’s account is a personal account of his experiences during the campaign, Thackwell tells it as a narrative. There are excellent number of minor details of camp life and the fighting inserted into the story and the writing style is interesting and keeps you engrossed. Thackwell never has any doubt that the Company’s army will win although there an honest narrative of how close the Chillianwala battle really was. The story of the battle is told in exquisite detail in a chapter 75 pages long.
There’s no great explanation and analysis into the reasons for the outbreak of the war and Thackwell ends the book at the surrender of Shere Singh after the battle of Gujrat with no details into the annexation of the state thus keeping the attention firmly on the campaign only.
Being aide -de-camp for General Thackwell, the Generals contribution during the war is naturally given much more attention in the proceedings. The book comes with the more important of the despatches between General Thackwell, Gough and Dalhousie. Definitely recommend it as one to read if you want heavy detail – its available on amazon and other internet site but can be read free on Google Books.
 I thought I’d try and decipher “Snarleyow” again since the anniversary of Ferozeshah just passed. I read Kipling’s famous poem about an artillery horse in the battle a few years ago but couldn’t make head or tale of it. But after reading it a few times and with notes on the poem it strikes me as being very powerful. The artillery horse (Snarleyow) on being stuck by a cannon shot and badly wounded is unhooked from the horse artillery train but gallantly refuses to lie down and is seen trying to keep up with the rest of the horses. And one of the horse riders as they ride on instead gets shot as they discuss the spirited behaviour of the horse. If they had stopped for Snarleyow maybe the rider may not have been struck. It’s short but sweet. Kipling apparently met Sergeant Bancroft who had taken part in the battle and whose description of the combat became the inspiration for the work. The use of the word niggers meaning the Sikh soldiers betrays the poems age and grates modern sensitivities but definitely worth a read – with notes.
Snarleyow poem
Notes on Snarleyow
 Ferozeshah village today It’s the anniversary of the Battle of Ferozeshah today. An epic encounter if ever there was one and just three days after the smaller battle of Mudki. Fought on the 21st December, in the fierce heat of the day continuing well into the freezing night of the Punjab winter, the contest nearly ended the British hold on India. Bereft of ammunition and with their artillery smashed against the superior guns and gunners of the Sikh army, without food, water or adequate clothing for the subzero temperatures it all seemed to be finished for the British army. The next day the entire army would either perish in a final effort or be taken prisoner along with the Governor-General Sir Hardinge and Sir Gough, the Commander –in-chief and a whole host of other high ranking officers-an event that would mark the end of the British Empire in India.
Of course what should have happened didn’t happen. Lal Singh pulled the entire army back during the night and Tej Singh did the same the next day leaving an exhausted British force to recover for the battle of Sabraon. Sad that with so much bravery and chivalry on both sides, the result was decided by a treacherous general and a Vizier, Lal Singh who had never seen a battle before.
Gough had contemplated retreat and a number of officers had been asked for their advice. The answer was that the army was much too exhausted for the 10mile march to Ferozepore or the 6 miles retreat in the dark to Mudki from where they had came. Perhaps if they hadn’t been so exhausted and had retreated in the end, the Sikh commanders seeing a chance for glory as the British left the field may have shifted their loyalties back to their own troops – who knows.
“..and it was a night that no human being who was on that plain could ever forget, for truly it was most awful, and the scenes I there witnessed were of the most appalling and fearful description..” – Corporal Cleveland HM 31ST regiment, Night of Ferozeshah
 Mudki monument Today, the 18th of December is the 165th anniversary of Mudki, where around 3000 Sikh infantrymen battled with the over 12,000 strong main British army led by Sir H.Gough in a furious battle lasting well over eight hours in the initial contest of the First Anglo-Sikh War.
The Sikh commanders, Lal Singh and Tej Singh kept the two main Sikh armies static at the Ferozeshah camp and outside Ferozpore city leaving the small Mudki contingent to fend for itself. Despite the huge disparity in numbers, it was noted the number of Sikh dead was seen to be around the same as the British dead.
In any other country this would be lauded as a great and famous stand against a disciplined and far more numerous foe and fit to be remembered. Unfortunatley in Punjab and in the fields of Mudki, there is nothing but the old British monument to remind passersby of the battle.
“In this battle as in all others in which the Sikhs were our adversaries, their gunners were conspicuous for their reckless braveryand devotion to their guns. They never left them, but died rather than yield; and there were no white flags and no quarter asked or given by either side, so we just had to fight it out” – Col. Robertson, Mudki
 Former area of the Indian Camp near the Little Big Horn River Said by Low Dog, an Oglala Chief during the battle of the Little Big Horn. Smithsonian Magazine have published a superb article written purely from the point of view of the American Indians taking part in the battle. As the article mentions there were only Indian accounts of the battle anyway simply because all of Custer’s force including his Indian scouts were killed in the battle. But most books tend to write from the white man’s point of view using these accounts to read between the lines as to what Custer was doing.
The article’s accounts are taken from a new book “The Killing of Crazy Horse” by Thomas Powers. Powers wanted to write about the battle from the American-Indian point of view.
The last sections of the battle are quite harrowing. With Custer and most his men dead, his force began to disintegrate and each man began to seek his own escape .Some begged to be taken prisoner but the Indians had long memories of the atrocities of the Europeans. All were killed. Some tried to get to the river but met another party of Indians. Most were found mutilated – the Indians believed people inherited the same wounded body after death so it was a permanent vengeance. Custer’s body was apparently identified by two women. He had promised 10 years earlier not to wage war against them but paid little attention in a meeting. The women pushed sewing needles into his corpses’s ears – maybe he would hear better in the afterlife.
Read more at the Smithsonian website
 I must confess I know little about the early history of the Sikh community in Canada. As in Britain and India though, Sikh youth in the small community established there were also eager to volunteer for the front at the outbreak of World War One. Sandeep Singh Brar has researched the remarkable story of Bukham Singh, a 21 year old youth on SikhMuseum.com. He was one of nine Sikh boys who joined the Canadian Army and fought in Flanders before dying of Tuberculosis,the great killer after the end of the war,at the early age of 25.
As Remembrance day here in the UK approaches therefore , its important to note there were Sikh soldiers elsewhere as well who gave up their lives in a cause not their own. The annual Canadian remembrance service for Buckam Singh is being held at..
Sunday November 7, 2010, 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Kitchener Mount Hope Cemetery
175 Moore Ave Kitchener, Ontario
My thanks to Sandeep Singh Brar for this information. Click here for the Sikh museum website. Click here for the biography of Bukham Singh.
Details
Remembrance – The Sikh Story
Tuesday 9 November
11.20-11.50pm BBC ONE and BBC ONE HD
 There’s been few if any documentaries here in the west as far as I can remember on the Sikh soldier during the twentieth century so a new program commissioned by the BBC airing on the 9th November promises to be a ground-breaker. Remembrance Sunday has now taken on a more inclusive direction in the last decade or two with non-European contribution to the war effort being fully recognized as well. And one of the most valiant and selfless contributions of course was by the Sikh community during the Great war and later against the fight against Nazism during WW2. This program delves into this subject.
Tracing the Sikh martial spirit from the times of deep intolerance and persecution by Mughals and Afghans in the early 19th century, the film analyzes the survival instincts that were infused into the community by Guru Gobind Singh which helped it firstly survive and later culminated in self rule during the half century of Ranjit Singh’s rule.
During the world wars over a hundred thousand soldiers volunteered for the British army. Fighting 4000 miles away from their homes in the Punjab in the cold rain swept mud and trenches of Flanders amongst people that had never seen a Sikh before couldn’t have been a pleasant experience. But by all accounts they were warmly welcomed as friends and allies.
It’s fortunate the documentary was filmed this year as the film crew were able to organize an interview with Mohinder Singh Pujji. This promises to be both a poignant and memorable clip. Pujji died shortly afterwards.He was the the last Sikh RAF pilot of the ww2 and so the documentary becomes a lasting reminder of his life. There really cannot be many Sikh veterans of the Second World War left now and any experiences these men had need to be captured on film sooner rather than later.
 I was saddened to hear of the death Mohinder Singh at the ripe old age of 92. The passing away of the last Sikh fighter pilot of WW2 means another link has broken to the past. Being always interested in ww2, I had thought many times in the last year or two of going down to Gravesend to meet him and getting a few precious anecdotes and stories from him before it was too late. Apparently he was thinking along the same lines of getting them down as well as I find there’s already a book of his memoirs on Amazon released earlier this year. So now we have a record of his memories and experiences and thankfully all is not lost.
 Now that’s a mouthful. If you use the Apple Iphone or some of the new Android powered phones you may have dabbled with it already. And very useful it is too. Augmented reality technology like Layar has arrived on modern phones allowing users passing through an area to find out which houses are up for sale and for how much, where the nearest burger place is, the nearest hotel is and a million other things. This comes from a combination of GPS facilities, compass and camera facilities that are now built in to modern phones. But it has serious uses as well in the form of virtual reality tours of museums etc. Your phone guides you around the museum rather than having to look for directions. It has other applications as well. Somebody has already applied the technology to battlefields and a layar targeting important first world war related landmarks and battlefields has already been released. Currently I’m developing an information layer for the First AngloSikh war to complement the book. Apple Iphones have been available in india for a while and no doubt the android platform phones are also selling briskly. The layer will allow Punjabis to explore all five of the battlefields using just their phone. Several hundred key points of interest will be marked. Its half done at the moment and should be completed comfortably before the book comes out in September. If there’s any folks in Punjab reading this who a) have an Iphone or Android phone b) have an interest in battlefields – of you want to email me would be happy to give them access to help beta test the software!!
 Have set up a new website (www.thefirstanglosikhwar.com) for the book and hopefully will add more details over the coming few weeks and months relating to information in the book and how best readers can use it to explore the battlefields in a useful and enjoyable way. Enjoy..
  A couple of books came to my attention a few days ago both written by Narinder Singh Desi. These are two volumes recently released dealing with the history of Sikh soldiers to the present day. They are both named “Sikh Soldier” with Volume 1 entitled “Battle honours” dealing as it suggests with the battles fought by Sikh soldiers , with Volume 2 entitled “Gallantry honours”. I havent read them yet being busy with my own book but a review is definitely on the cards in a couple of weeks when i’ve cleared the decks a bit. Although there’s titbits of information everywhere in various books and on the ‘net’ about what Sikh soldier from which regiment was awarded what medal there may not be any books detailing all this information so a concise record of this information in the form of a new book is welcome news for fans of Sikh militaria. Reading through the blurb the books cover medals won during the Kargil War for military history enthusiasts of more modern battles. The books are published by Naval and Military Press and are available for purchase here and here. In the meantime if anyone’s got these books and wants to send in a review I’ll stick it up as well.
 Working on a book can be very interesting but time consuming – that’s whats kept me busy the last month. However the editing is all done and its finally off for printing with a release date of middle to late August. Its already on Amazon and other internet book sites. A number of items were required ..
1) new maps of the battlefields . Pretty sure everyone’s fed up with the same old maps and sketches that Gough and Co. made during the battles popping up in every book on the war. They were sketches at the end of the day and not made to scale so new scale maps should come in pretty handy. On the maps are drawn new roads and canals showing how the battlefield has evolved so visitors can see where was what in relation to new landmarks.
2) Sorting out images and photographs with museums to be used for the book – and they’re not cheap!!! My advice – use as many of your own photographs in a book and reduce the number you’re getting permission for and save a bundle of money, unless of course you specifically want some oldie pics in there.
3) Doing the index for the book – necessary but hardly the most interesting piece of work in the making of a book
4) Doing a glossary – again not the most interesting bit
4) Reading , then rereading and reading the book again to catch out any mistakes – gets to you after a while
Thus being my first book – its been a learning experience and some things i should have done a lot earlier. Hopefully the whole cycle will be done in half the time next time.
This is the kind of course I’d really like to do. The course is run by the Centre for Battlefield archaeology at Glasgow University by Dr. Tony Pollard. You may remember him from the “Two men in a trench” programme series. Unfortunately it’s in Glasgow which isn’t exactly close. Seems to me we really need this kind of course in Punjab as within the next 20-30 years, so quickly is the landscape changing through population growth and clearance of land for cultivation there will be little left to explore soon of our battlefields.
 Mudki fort Its a highly worrying factor that as the villages related to the AngloSikh battles (and the hundreds of other battles through history) that have taken place in Punjab gradually spread, any archeological evidence of these events is quickly being destroyed. Its not just the spreading of the villages, but the construction of houses and other building in fields outside of the village. Normally this wouldn’t be significant but in the cases of battlefields they obscure the view of these important places for visitors and reducing their attractiveness as potential tourist attractions. New roads and canals are also the culprits. The battlefields just do not have any Government protection of any sort at the moment. Its an issue I’ll adress in a series of future blogs as well discussing the various battlefields and other sites in turn as each are threatened in different ways.
I’ll take Mudki fort as a first example which is now in a perilous state. The fort used to have a small garrison as this was Runjeet Singh’s territory during the AngloSikh war’s. Before the battle of Mudki, the fort was occupied by the British. Frederick Currie, the secretary to Hardinge,the Governor-General spent a few uncomfortable nights there as did Robert Cust, the political agent amongst the many British wounded. It was here the message was rxed of the perilous situation the British found themselves in at Ferozeshah and orders rxed to burn state papers if the worst happened. Many British soldiers were buried in the fort and adjacent to it. The fort remains is now surrounded on all sides by the village now and someone seems to have attempted to build a house or something. Part of one of the towers remains and the internals of the building are now open to view. Tantalizing glimpses of the inside are open to view. The place was well built with considerable walls although it wouldn’t have taken an artillery barrage. However it was never meant to be any more than a garrison post.
There are some curious structure visible and I’m not at all sure what they are – too shallow for storage surely. Much of the lower floor lies in ruins although certain decorative features on the second floor walls survive. The sheer size of the ruins i suspect had stopped the local people from knocking down the whole edifice. More on the fort later…
 The First World War ended over 90 years ago but along with WW2 retains a powerful hold both on people who experienced them and with modern military enthusiasts. This means there are plenty of battlefield tours now taking tourists across the channel. The wars have a special resonance within our community too, over 83,000 Sikhs giving their lives during these conflicts. To cater for this interest, the first battlefield tours related to the Sikh involvement were commenced a few years ago by ASHT and this year’s took place on the 29th May. I just happened to be with them and here’s what we saw.
The focus of the tour was the Ypres area where many of the Sikh casualties took place. The Ypres salient as it was called – a bulge in the allied lines near the village of the same name was fought over a number of times during the four years of the Great War, the Germans being anxious to straighten their lines and complete their capture of Belgium.
After crossing the channel and heading to Belgium, our first stop was Grotebeek cemetery seven km southwest of Ypres where members of  the Indian army were buried. The cemetery was quite small and their graves were set aside from the European graves. The reason we were told by the guide most likely being one of respect as most of them probably wouldn’t have wanted to be buried among the numerous crosses that previously dotted the European section. The fact that Sikh soldiers were buried seemed kind of strange as Sikhism firmly believes in cremation. On closer inspection, the graves were of Muslims who had also served in the 52nd Sikhs regiment along with various other regiments (84th Punjabis,12th Baluchis, 57th Wildes, and 56th rifles). The 47th Sikhs and the 15th Sikhs were the pure Sikh regiments which served in this theatre of the war although other regiments had Sikhs as well as a mixture of others. When the Ferozepore brigade first landed in France in 1914, uniforms were in short supply and anything had to do while the shortfall of around a million uniforms was gradually made up. The French locals proved very welcoming to the Sikh and other Indian arrivals who had come to stand by them in the war. The soldiers we were told had traditionally been given worse rifles than the European soldiers but a more equitable policy was quickly adopted during the First World War.
Our next stop was 7km south of Ypres close to Wijtschate village where a company of Sikhs were stationed and fought back a determined German attack. In fact this was the location where the first Sikh troops came into action. The Ferozepore brigade fought here was ferried into  action on red London buses apparently such was the shortage of military vehicles at the time. They weren’t given much respect by the European troops initially but this soon changed when the brigade held its position under determined German attack while at the same time suffering horrendous casualties. This interestingly was also the area a certain German Corporal in the Bavarian division called Adolf Hitler was engaged in during the war and the guide recited a colourful and heroic description written by Hitler of the battles in this area. The area was also the scene of a quite stirring and heroic stand by a certain Gunga Singh, a soldier who personally killed five Germans in close combat, continuing the fight at close quarters even after he had broken his bayonet by taking possession of a German sword, a piece of bravery for which he received the Indian Order of Merit. Such was the ferocity of the fighting in this area that the usual complement of 764 men in the battalion had been whittled down to 385 fit for duty by early November 1914, although even some of these had wounds. A Sikh soldier informing his family of the conflict back in India wrote “This is not war – this is the ending of the world”. There couldn’t be more of a contrast now of course, the area is a very quiet place in between the small villages and unspoiled by development allowing visitors to see the whole of the battlefield, its undulations and the positions of both armies. This was incidentally before the war had descended into trench warfare and the battles here in 1914 were quite fluid. As we moved on the guide pointed out the area where Hitler earned his Iron cross after rescuing an officer who apparently turned out to be Jewish.
Bayernweld was the next destination where we had the chance to walk through the remnants of some preserved German trenches. The guide gave a graphic description of the primitive conditions here in the trenches, men living among rats, other vermin and mud caused by rain in the  trenches. These conditions brought about a new problem for the soldiers called “trench fever”. At this point the weather broke forcing us to return to the coaches but conveniently allowing for a lunch break. Although everybody had brought packed lunches ASHT had very thoughtfully brought some parathas which were very welcome and which rather outgunned (excuse the pun) the sandwiches I had brought. In fact they had brought many sundry other items like crisps, fruit and sweets that kept everyone occupied during the trip. There was a lively informal atmosphere and a lady behind me offered a cup of highly welcome cup of tea.
Next stop was Neuve Chapelle in France where the 47th Sikhs had been in action. After only a short fifteen minute bombardment of the German position, the men had been ordered to advance against the town which inevitably led to many casualties although the town was captured. This had almost inevitably led to a German counterattack. Here we heard the story of a Indian soldier who had stood in the middle of the village encouraging a German sniper to make his position known before shooting him – quite a daring  thing to do and something for which he received the Indian Order of Merit later from the Viceroy of India.
The southern outskirts of Neuve Chapelle is the location of the Indian memorial, a large circular construction in memory of all those from India that had died in the war. “God is one, his is the Victory” Ek Onkar Sri Waheguru ji ki Fateh is carved prominently within the complex along with Muslim and Hindu inscriptions. A war stone sits in the middle inscribed with the words “Their names liveth evermore”. We did Ardas at the memorial before moving on.
The final destination was at the Menin gate in Ypres where we witnessed the daily ritual of the Last Post ceremony in memory of those who had died. The names of Sikh soldiers that had died on the war were also inscribed on this monument. Among the wreath layers were two of our members of the tour. The Last Post ceremony is very popular and a considerable crowd had built up prior to the event.
The tour was organized in association with Anglia battlefield tours, an experienced outfit with many ex-military men and military historians including Professor Richard Holmes in their ranks as guides. Our guide was Major Tim Saunders. The Major, an MBE no less, was a mine of  information pointing out directions and spots, important areas of high and low ground that played important roles in the various battles. No slouch, he jumped onto the ground and showed us how the beginning of trench warfare developed with the common soldier digging himself a small hole for cover and kept plying us with all sorts of interesting and relevant information during the tour.
Overall this was a great trip professionally arranged and executed by ASHT and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn of the experiences of the Sikh soldiers on the western front. Next year ASHT are organizing a trip to the battlefield at Monte Cassino, Italy scene of a major clash near the end of WW2 and where Sikh soldiers were involved which should prove even more interesting.
More photos can be seen in the gallery section.
 The Sikh standards I visited Lichfield cathedral to see the Sikh standards on display a few days ago. There were mixed emotions on inspecting them, a certain amount of interest mixed with sadness at their current condition. The standards are well over a 150 years old now and very much showing their age.
Three flags are on display used by the Sikh army at Ferozeshah and Sabraon, the famous black Akali flag flanked by two red and yellow standards of the regular army. While the Akali flag seems to be in good condition, the red standards are in bad shape with many parts now completely threadbare, sunlight filtering through from many angles. Only 50% of the red fabric is still there although the three yellow horizontal lines can clearly be distinguished. The details of the border pattern in yellow and black is now very difficult to make out. The right hand one seems to be in slightly better shape than the left one with the colours a little more vibrant. The motifs on the red part of the flags can no
 Standard on the left is threadbare in considerable areas now longer be identified easily anymore and I could personally only identify one. The Akali flag wasn’t made of the same embroidered silk cloth that the other two were and has suffered much less form the ravages of time losing much less of its black and red colours.
The standards hang from a marble plinth in memory of the 80th regiment who took part in the war. The plinth also holds the medals won by Lt. Col. Bunbury. As I stood there one of the frequent guided tours around the cathedral passed by me with the tour leaders giving a short explanation of the Sikh wars in relation to the standards. Nearby are also old standards of the 80th regiment stretching back two hundred years with the older ones naturally in poor condition. The tradition, the guide said, was not to restore them but to leave the standards on display till they literally disintegrate and fall at which point they are buried of with much dignity and ceremony. I guess this may be the fate of the Sikh flags unless moves are made for restoring them. Certainly restoration of the flags would be a big job – large parts of the cloth having lost their detail.
 Colours of the Akali flag have faded but its in better condition than the other two I’ve yet to come across any information as to which Sikh regiments the two red standards belonged to and exactly where on the battlefield they were captured – the first hand accounts of the wars generally mention merely that standards were taken and the
details on the plinth again mention only that they were taken at Sabraon and Ferozeshah. What is known is the Sikh elite brigade, the Fauj-i-khas manned the western portion of the Sikh camp at Ferozeshah with the Akalis and other regiments in the south and east so the Akali flag which was taken at the battle most probably was taken in the southeast or east of the village.
Finally one small detail I hadn’t noticed before was the yellow horizontal lines on the standards have a thin black line or raised thread or similar running through it’s middle.
 Standard on the right  Detailed image of the standard on the right
 Sikh soldiers in the German army  Subhas chander Bose with Himmler The Bundesarchiv put their resources on line a couple of months ago. I didn’t get a chance to review it earlier so here goes. The photographs date from from 1910 onwards can be accessed at http://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/. Unfortunately quantity-wise there’s not that many relating to Sikh or Indian history and of the various pictures there are many that have already found their way on to the internet but there’s a few gems I hadn’t seen before . To view the photographs go to the website above and search for “indien”. Searching for india or indian only draws out some recent pics and there’s no results for “Sikh”.
The most interesting are the Nazi period pictures. There’s a good one of the Maharaja of Patiala in Berlin in 1930 along with a few of Rabindernath Tagore but the cream of the crop are Sikh soldiers in the “Freies Indien” division of the wermacht. The Germans were actively recruiting Indian soldier POW’s to join them and many did. There a good one of Erwin Rommel with the division.
The other interesting batch are of Subhas Chandra Bose with Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. Theres also several of an early Sikh athlete Dhana Singh, a cyclist in the 1955 8th International Peace race from Prague to Warsaw getting some real friendly attention from locals.
 WW1 trenches I signed up to the AngloSikh Heritage battlefield tour a few days ago. It should prove quite interesting although the day promises to be quite long. The coach leaves Birmingham at 4am although I’m personally catching it at Slough which gives me a couple of hours extra sleep compared to the Birmingham enthusiasts although it still means getting up way earlier than normal. Ypres and the other sites to be visited aren’t far away from London, around 250km as the crow flies but there the small matter of crossing the channel which slightly complicates things so we reach the first stop at 12:45 in the afternoon.
There is ceremony involved i guess but as a military history fan it’d be fascinating to visit the trenches. The tour takes in the Indian army graves at Grotebeek, Wytschaete the area where the Sikh regiments were first engaged, Bayernwald where there are preserved trenches, Neuve Chapelle battlefield and the Indian memorial, Ypres and the Menin gate before the journey back. The coach drops me off at around midnight at Slough so with a bit of luck i’ll be back in bed by about 1′ish.
I haven’t been to a battlefield tour before or studied WW1 battles and battlefield in depth at all so I have few preconceptions – it should prove to be an eyeopener. Anyway better get some Euros sorted out ..
 Considerable books on Sikh history can now be found online. Many of these are under the Google books program where the resources have been scanned or converted to text. The other major source is archive.org while apnaorg.com contains some interesting items. A new resource menu has been put up on the menu list on the top of this page. I’ve begun adding some books but this is only a tiny portion. The list will become more comprehensive over time so continue to check back.
 Battle of Ferozeshah This book is pretty hard to get hold of. Search Amazon and you might find the odd overpriced copy. I got mine from abe.com for an expensive £50. That said its a most important book as it’s the only real eyewitness account from the Sikh point of view of what happened at the Lahore court and during the first AngloSikh wars. The book was written by Dewan Ajudhia Parshad, a high official in the Lahore Government.
The book is pretty thin, around 50 pages and can be divided effectively into two roughly equal sections. The first half deals with the anarchy in the Lahore court and state during the years before the war. The second deals the battles of Mudki, Ferozheshah and Sabraon; there’s nothing on Bhudowal and Aliwal.
What’s apparent quite quickly is the writer has little or no sympathy for the troops and and their indiscipline. As an official Parshad no doubt suffered in some way from the overbearing soldiers and in no uncertain fashion lays the blame for the decline of the state firmly on the army. His account of the war is bereft of any nationalism or regret at the loss of independance. Written during the period between the First and Second AngloSikh wars and with Lal Singh and Tej Singh heading the state albeit in nominal fashion with the British pulling the strings behind the scenes, Parshad is careful not to lay any blame on either the ruling clique or the British. Nevertheless his narrative provides numerous valuable glimpses into the relationship between the army and it’s officers.
Parshad wasnt present at the battle but was apparently on the north bank at Sabraon so while he didnt witness the fighting on the south bank he had a chance to see what was happening in the sikh camp in the north.
According to Parshad the reason only half the Sikh army was marched to Mudki was that the rest of the army had just arrived at Ferozeshah and were tired. This doesnt have the ring of truth to me – if you are fighting a world power that the British were , you fight with all your force delaying any encounter if neccessary. You wouldnt just march off with who ever was ready. The description of Mudki is pretty short, Parshad saying the Sikh troops fled after a few shots abandoning their baggage. In fact the battle lasted around 8 hours and none of the British accounts mention any baggage being captured.
His description of Ferozehshah is unlike any other. At Ferozeshah he says the troops pulled back after the first night after a beating by the British. This goes against other accounts . Mouton for instance present at Ferozeshah (unlike Parshad) later told the British that the Sikh soldiers were full of confidence after pushing them out of the entrenchment. All the other British sources relate the Sikh cannon bombarding the British bivouac without any answer during the night. He further says the Fauj-i-Khas elite force were driven back by the left wing of the British. In fact the British left under Littler was driven back suffering significant losses in their attack and retreated to Misreewalla village 2km away not rejoining the rest of the Brtish army til the next day after the battle.
I could go on but suffice to say his account seems to be deeply flawed on this period.If the book is treated as a personal glimpse of the troubled times at Lahore and during the war,the constant wrangling in the court and the riotous behavior of the troops during the twilight years of the durbar, its great. As a resource on the war, while useful it doesnt really stack up in my opinion and runs contrary to other sources.
 The Al Khalid tank If there a war between Pakistan and India, chances are the tank on the left will be chewing up the roads in Pakistan – and the Pakistanis hope in our Punjab as well. Its an “Al Khalid” tank developed by the Pakistanis. Regrettably I haven’t kept up with military innovations for many years now – so when I first heard of it a week or two ago it took me by surprise – a brand new Pakistani tank !! Well actually its just a Russian T80 tank thats been modded up a bit by the Pakistanis and given a Muslim name (after Khalid bin Al-Walid the general who conquered the Arabian peninsula and thrashed the Byzantine army at Yarmuk). The tank was developed in the 1990′s after some modding by the Chinese followed by more modding by the Pakistanis and entered service in the Pakistani army in 2001. They expect to take 600 into service. Its got a 12.5mm antiaircraft machine gun on top which sounds a bit old fashioned to me – since when could tanks with a puny machine gun stand up to air attacks by tank busting planes but I may be wrong. The T72′s and T80′s got picked of like flies in the Iraq conflict by the American Abrams tanks hundreds being destroyed on an hourly basis but I guess the ‘Al Khalid’ wont have to do the same American’s being Pakistani Allies. The T72 and T-80′s are the tank version of the Kalashnikov – endless cheap variations and evolutions of the original will be popping up for many years – useful for regional conflicts not involving a western power but really already obsolete .
 Its quite interesting how quickly technology moves on. The main reason I started this website was to share my interest on the AngloSikh wars and put up some stuff on the related battlefields these were fought on. I thought i would put up galleries of photos describing where such and such happened. That’s a bit old fashioned it seems. Rather than putting hundreds of static pictures up with dreary text descriptions I realize now theres a far better media for this – Youtube !! I should have asked my children – they could have told me this a long time ago. Youtube video makes things a lot more interesting. My older son even uses youtube for his A-Level studies – there’s loads of physics/chemistry etc videos explaining anything you don’t understand – who wants to read static pages when you got someone talking to you.
So I’m ditching the photogalleries I was going to create and going high tech with youtube – a few years after everyone else. Currently brushing up my skills in moviemaker as and when i get some spare time and will try and get a youtube video ready in the next couple of weeks. Each battle has many aspects e.g Sikh positions, British positions, where the thickest of the fighting took place, where it ended, notable land marks etc so probably a good idea to deal with these seperately. So I’ll deal with each battle in a number of videos.
 Sham Singh Attariwala I received an email from Col. Harinder Singh Attariwala a few days ago. The Colonel is a direct descendant of the famous Sham Singh who made his last stand at the battle of Sabraon. He is working on some pretty interesting projects.
No. 1 There is a documentary being made on Sham Singh costing 25 lakhs. This will play as a light and sound show at Attari village museum. I’ll put up any information on this that I get from Harinder Singh.
No. 2 The Colonel is also writing a book on the veteran General , which together with the recently released book on Hari Singh Nalwa by Vanit Nalwa begins to address the men behind Runjeet Singh who expanded the Sikh empire during the 1820′s and 30′s. Most history books tend to only mention these generals in passing.
No. 3 A museum related to the General is being built. The work on the museum is expected to cost 15 lakh rupees.
Although a museum exists at Ferozeshah, there seems to be little care of the weapons on display and it gets relatively few visitors. I suspect this new museum will be much better frequented being so close to Amritsar and on the way from the Wagah border. Many tourists and locals already travel from Amritsar to see the border ceremonies and the light and sound show and the museum on the way will just add to the ‘critical mass’ of a day trip west of Amritsar with plenty to see and do.
The target finish date for the all the above is the 10th Feb 2011 – the 165th anniversary of the climactic battle of Sabraon and Sham Singh’s death and the Prime Minister is to be invited. The General Sham Singh Attariwalla Trust which the Colonel is heading could do with donations for these sizeable projects. If you feel generous or if you have an interest in the great General or the AngloSikh wars , or even all of these , then you could do worse than donate a few hard earned bucks to the cause. I’ll get details of how donations can be made from him.
I’ll be interesting to to know how these projects are progressing through the months and I’ll try and burden Harinder Singh for an update on how the book, the work on the museum and fund raising is moving forward and maybe some pictures on the museum as it is being constructed would be great.
http://www.gsssatrust.org
 Incan skull with musket shot There’s few parallels in military history to the cruelty shown during the Spanish conquest of America. Amongst the atrocities , whole tribes were burnt at the stake to serve as an example to other tribes who were subsequently worked to death. Live Incan or Aztec babies were thrown to hungry dogs. I remember reading somewhere the enslaved populations were branded on the face so one spaniards could tell to which other spaniard a slave belonged to. A slave bought and sold many times had multiple brandings on the face.
I thought there must be plenty of evidence over and above the first hand Spanish and indigenous accounts but surprisingly it seems there has been NO physical evidence of this reign of terror found as yet. Now the first direct evidence of spanish massacres perpetrated has surfaced as archaeologists have dug up a burial ground of slaughtered Incans. The spanish used subjugated tribes as allies to destroy others who were resisting Spanish rule. So many of the killed found have evidence of being killed by Incan weapons. But some have musket shots through the skulls and other wounds made by steel weapons indicating Spanish conquistadors at work as Incans never had steel.
“I’m struck by the severity of violence in certain individual cases, where the skull was essentially crushed, repeatedly stabbed or struck, or shot through by gunshot,” comments archaeologist Steven Wernke of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Whoever killed these individuals wanted to intimidate survivors as well, he asserts. The burial site has been dated to around 1540 (the time of Pizarro) when the Spanish were busy subjugating the country with extreme violence. Some of the bodies had multiple shots through the head, the holes having radiating fractures round them , evidence of a low velocity roundshot from early Spanish musket.
 Gurkhas and Sikhs doing battle at Aliwal There’s little track of the many Sikh standards brought to this country after the wars and I’m guesing there’s some still to be accounted for. An enemy’s standard isnt something you discard. There might be the odd one or two in peoples lofts somewhere. I came across this picture the other day of the Battle of Aliwal showing some Gurkhas which brought this to mind. What really made it stand out for me was the standard almost takes centre stage. As with all the Sikh standards, the flag is quite beautiful even seen as a sketch with a black with a gold border and with tassels. Many of the standards of the army were plain colour with a motif pattern with a border of a different colour round the edge, the main colour representing the regiment. Theres a good example at Lichfield cathedral, the Akali flag being black with a red border. This flag definitley belonged to an infantry regiment (the cavalry contingents had the same flag but with a prancing horse in the middle as well). The only documented Sikh regulars at Aliwal were the Avitabile regiment who i believe carried a green flag. There were a few other small amount of other regulars – as seen in the picture so it must have been their standard I guess. If we could work out which other regulars fought in
 Closeup of the black and gold standard the battle then we cna be pretty sure it’s their flag. The British used two Gurkha units at Aliwal -the Nusseeree and the Sirmoor batallions both of which were placed in the middle of the British line. The Sirmoor batallion was on the left so I guess they most likely clashed with the Sikh regulars although in the heat and confusion of the battle could have been the others. Guess the only way is to identify either the uniform of the Sikhs or the Gurkhas . Regarding the flag , as said it’s a beautiful piece – I just wish the motif could be more clearly seen.
 The book isn’t a specific account of the AngloSikh wars but rather an account of the history of the HM50th regiment which after a series of amalgamations is now the Queens own (Royal West Kent ) regiment . However the regiment fought in all the battles of the first AngloSikh war apart from Bhudowal so theres a chapter on the war.
The account is written in a very straightforward “matter of fact” way with little passion apart from one or two quotes by a Lieut Bellars. The history is written from the point of view of the regiment itself which make a change and also therefore has a few titbits of ‘ground level information’ that a conventional account wouldnt have e.g who in the regiment got killed where etc . For instance the regiment was inspected by the Governor-General on the 11th of December 1845 who told them they would soon be employed. This was on the day the Sikh army was crossing the Sutlej something Hardinge couldnt have known at Ambala suggesting he was already on a war footing. He remarked to Col. Ryan of the regiment that he hoped his men would behave as he had seen the old 50th do in the Peninsula referring to the war against the French. The colonel replied that “they were only anxious to be tried”. Orders reached the Colonel late and in consequence the rest of the brigade marched off to war before the regiment. Lieut Brockman in the rush to the Sulej had forgotten his baggage and never rejoined the regiment – in fact he had become the first casualty of the war being shot by Sikh soldiers at Wudnee. Other titbits include the Roman Catholic priest of Ludhiana for some reason marching into the battle with the 50th and becoming a statistic at Mudki. Amongst the maps used, there’s also a small copy of the Sackville west map showing detail of the Sikh camp along with a small map showing position of the British army and Tej Singh on the second day and the march of the 50th from Misreewalla village where they had retreated during the battle, There’s also an emotional account of Lieut Bellars of the regiment as to the state and confusion of the British during the night . The regiment ate a captured bullock at Ferozeshah after the battle, their rations having been used up. You don’t get this type of ‘trivial’ information in normal accounts.
I wouldn’t suggest using this book as a front line resource at all but its good as a secondary read to get a better picture of what the 50th did. The regiment arrived in India in 1840 and there is also a brief account of its actions at the battle of Punniar included as well.
 Peshawar fort Further to the earlier Avitabile post, was skimming through the book “Narrative of the late victorious campaign in Afghanistan” by Lieut. Greenwood of the HM31st regiment and came across a ‘colourful’ description of the regime of General Avitabile at Peshawar. Greenwood was part of the British army going through the Punjab as permitted by Shere Singh. It’s worth repeating so here goes..
“…Peshawaur is a fine fortified city, and when we were there was governed by an Italian general in the service of the Maharaja Shere Sing. His name was Avitabili, and he seemed just the sort of person to keep the turbulent and lawless population of Peshawur in order. At every corner of the city was erected a large treble gibbet each of which had seventeen or eighteen malefactors hanging on it, as a gentle hint to the inhabitants to be on their best behavior. I believe there was very little ceremony made with them. If a man looked sulky he was strung up at once in case he should be disaffected. Murder and robbery took place every day in the streets of the city until the General used such energetic measures. Even when we were there it was not safe to leave the camp without being well armed. From all I heard, I imagine that Peshawur contains the most villainous population in India and their Governor whose office it is to keep them in order has no sinecure.”
He goes on to describe the General as having a “fine palace where he hosted splendid dinners for his guests, entertainment being provided by 20 or 30 sets of nautch girls who danced “pretty nearly the whole night” ending with his description that the Maharaja could not have found a more able deputy than the ‘jolly’ general. Cant imagine the rather dour and puritanical Pathans of that region trying to look jolly rather than surly but I guess if it meant not having to make a good acquaintance with the gibbet…
 Aliwal monument in the 1870's  Notice the height of the original base  The present day monument I’m getting the strongest feeling the Aliwal British war monument is either a totally new construction dating back 40/50 years or largely a new construction with the odd bits of the old monument merged in. What is obvious is that the monument is much smaller than it was previously. The long tapering obelisk on top of the squat square base is gone. Looking at an early image of the monument shows long cracks appearing just a year or two after it’s construction. The cracks in fact reached right done into the base and it seems to me the obelisk section must have collapsed at some point shortly afterwards. But that’s not all.The base of the original is different from the current monument. Early images show an approximately four foot base which then tapers slightly at around shoulder height. This has disappeared as well meaning the area where the plaques once were installed into the recesses are much lower than they used to be. Now you can virtually touch the area where the plaques were – before you would need to stand on someone else’s shoulders to do the same. There are more subtle differences as well – some of the decorative edging above the plaque are is different. Add to that the extremely poor brick work of the present structure – vastly inferior to the superior workmanship of the other surviving obelisks and it suggests the monument has had a little more thna a slight makeover.
 The first thing that struck me when I first came across the book was the title. Normally books on the AngloSikh wars usually have a title like “The AngloSikh wars” or similar. I guess Featherstone decided to be a little more imaginitive. The title comes from a quotation by Sir Gough, the British commander-in-chief at the battle of Sabraon when the British artillery had run out of ammunition. When told of this condition he is reported to have said “Then I will be at them with the bayonet”. Obviously the publishers thought this was a bit too cryptic and although the edition I have doesnt have a subtitle, newer editions have the subtitle “The first AngloSikh war 1845-1846″ .
Donald Featherstone has a good style of writing and keeps the reader interested. The book came much later than the other well known books by British writers on the AngloSikh wars (first published 1968) and in keeping with this tends to be a bit more fairer in his description of the chaos and duplicity at Lahore and the subsequent battles than the Victorian writers. Featherstone quite freely attributes the defeat of the Khalsa to the treachery of the Sikh commmanders. The second chapter “After the old Lion” ends with the summing up of the chaos after Runjeet Singhs death. The strength of the lahore state he says “…ebbed away as a wave spends itself on the sands when its driving force has vanished. It was the petering out of a movement the life force of which has spent and which had lost its leader”. He describes the assistance given to the British by the Sikh commanders quite frankly.
Chapter 3 “John Company’s army” deals almost exclusively with the structure of the British army and the casualties suffered by the European regiments during the campaign with a description of the artillery used in Chapter 4, the views of the British Governor-General and Gough, the Commander-in-Chief on the comming campaign. Nothing is written of British hostile actions apart from some of Broadfoot’s abrasive actions.
Chapters 5 to 9, the main meat of the book deal with the battles themselves with 10 and 11 dealing with the aftermath. Featherstone obviously did his own research rather than relying solely on previously published works. There was some titbits of information that dont appear in other books and mark it down as worth reading. For instance at Ferozeshah the British soldiers were reduced to licking the cannons for the early morning dew, such was their desperation in the early hours of the morning. I’d seen plenty of other desperate measures written of but never seen this mentioned elsewhere . He also seems to have researched Hardinge’s conversation with Wellington and the other leading lights as there are some interesting quotes sprinkled throughout the book. As other books do Featherstone largely lays the blame for the war on the Sikh army crossing the river without delving too much into the reasons for this.I suspect he used Gough and Innis’s book as the basis for his own with some good research on top of that.
One thing the book has going for it is it deals solely with the First AngloSikh war giving it its full attention. I alway feel books dealing with both AngloSikh wars tend to diminish the important impacts of each of the wars and their outcomes.
The style of writing is good and interesting and its probably the best overall book on the campaign I would say and certainly for the younger interested readers.
 As part of writing my current book on the First AngloSikh war, I systematically went through just about every book available on the subject. Some were good – some not so good. It would be useful for others going down the same road or wishing to learn more about the war as I did to know how well these books stack up against each other and the weaknesses (and strengths) I found in them. So over the next few weeks and months I’ll try and review as many as I can.
Some of the weaknesses are general. Most in fact all of the books are not illustrated at all apart from the usual single map of each battle. This makes them a little dry for all but the super interested (who would buy them regardless). The point being they are not particularily interesting or attractive for people who may or may not know much about these campaigns. This goes double for youngsters – I cant see many 15 year olds sitting down to read Gough and Innes’s The Sikhs and Sikh wars for example. The second thing is most of the good accounts were written in the Victorian period so the language tends to be a little quaint. A prime example of this is JD Cuninghams book “History of the Sikhs”. I really like the rousing words and language used that make you reach for the dictionary but would a teenager feel the same? Many also tend to be fairly partisan towards the British – and naturally so I guess being of the Victorian era. Nevertheless many were written by soldiers and civilians who were present at the battles and therefore provide valuable eye witness accounts that later works cannot.
There hasnt been any major recent work on the subject since Donald Featherstone’s book “At them with the bayonet” written nearly 40 years ago, a great pity. Battles like Ferozehshah and Sabroan are some of the greatest fought on the subcontinent. Lets hope there a few in the pipeline. Anyway new books aside I’ll shortly cast a critical eye on what books there are at the moment.
One of the more obscure pieces of the treaty of Lahore was the handing over of the Hazara province to the British(Article 4). The British demand for this area of the NorthWest sounds fairly odd – far away from their own territories at a time when they hadnt extended their rule over the whole Punjab. With British now able to cross the Punjab as and when they pleased however(Article 10), it may be Hardinge the Governor-General desired a stepping stone of British teritory for launching future invasions into Afghanistan. The debacle of the first Anglo-Afghan war from 1839-1842 was still fresh in everyones mind and a further adventure to avenge the defeat may have been mooted. However the territory was swiftly transferred to Golab Singh along with the whole of Kashmir in the treat of Amritsar on the 16th of March , just six days after the Lahore treaty. The immediacy of the 75 lakh Rupees Golab Singh was willing to pay up was probably a little more attractive than having a remote stepping stone. Hardinge had little himself to say about the demand for Hazara and the British motives are open to speculation.
 Sutlej cannons captured or surrendered during the First AngloSikh war The anniversary of the beginning of the end of independance of the Sikh state approaches. The treaty of Lahore was signed on the 9th of March 1846, 164 years ago. The terms of the treaty relating to the giving away of the Jullunder doab, Kashmir, Hazara and control of the Sutlej are pretty well known. There were other terms relating to the permanent weakening of the Sikh army as well in the treaty. They encourage the disbanding of the mutinous troops and confiscation of their arms.The Sikh army was to be reduced to 25 Battalions of Infantry, consisting of 800 bayonets each with twelve thousand Cavalry. The remaining guns left with the Sikh army, 36 in number were also to be surrendered.
25 times 800 = 20,000 Sikh infantry + 12,000 cavalry meant a total strength of 32,000 after the war, a big drop from the strength of over 100,000 in total before the war. But Lal Singh recruited many thousands of muslim into the najeeb batallions to counter the mutinous Sikh army at Lahore which he feared during the months between the breakout of war and the signing of the treaty. This policy continued right up to the time he was exiled, Sikh troops being systematically disbanded and replaced with muslim and pathan troops. These would have been included in the 20,000 figure allowed to the Lahore state. I suspect by the end of 1846 there could not have been more than a few thousand Sikh infantry troops left – and across the state nearly a hundred thousand Sikh troops now without employment. Its no surprise when the second AngloSikh war broke out, thousands of eager Sikh recruits rejoined the Sikh army under Shere Singh.
While the reduction in Sikh troops was done steadily, the surrender of the 36 remaining guns used at Sabroan was not. It was the sad moment for the Sikh troops, the artillery being the pride of the army. A British newspaper report of the time writing about the ceremonial handing over of the guns to the British mentioned it was accompanied “with many groans” from the Sikh soldiers.
 Paulo Avitabile, Governor of Peshawar There’s bomb explosions virtually every day in the Pakistani north west region. The recent murder of two Sikhs for a twenty million Rupee ransom their families couldnt pay puts into perspective how little control the Pakistani government has of the northwest region and of how little protection there is for vulnerable Sikh community there. Recently some Sikhs were held and murdered in the region because their families couldnt pay the Jizya (islamic tax on nonmuslims) – basically extortion money. The Pakistani governments tends to allow the tribes in these areas more or less to ‘govern’ themselves for fear of too many army casualties. The British did the same until 1947 giving them cash grants for not causing any chaos. The tribes kept quiet with these subsidies but needless to say it made them even more confident and independant – so much so they stopped taking central government rule seriously anymore.
But it wasnt always this way. Ranjit Singh earlier used slightly different tactics employing the Italian adventurer Avitabile as Governor of Peshawar. Avitabile used the gallows liberally to keep the bigoted tribals in line. There is a story that when Avitabile was made Governor of the province and before he reached Peshawar he sent before him two lengths of rope to the city as an indication to the violent and unruly people of this region what they could expect from his regime. Once established as Governor, he established the ritual of having a few criminals thrown of the minarets of the Mahabbat Khan mosque in Peshawar almost daily to keep the people in line.
This naturally brought the tribals to the straight and narrow and as the region gradually changed, honest folk probably for the first time could work and travel through the region in pefect safety without fear of being robbed or killed. The locals unable to pronounce the Italian name naturally changed it a to the more islamic sounding “Abu Tabela” by which moniker he is still remembered today. Avitabile was well respected and remained governor from 1834 to 1842 bringing law and order to a province that hadnt seen order before his time and wouldnt see it again afterwards either.
 The Indus dolphin, an endangered species Went to the British Library a few days ago and was looking through some pictures taken near Harike near Sabraon. One of the more interesting ones showed some British guys posing with a crocodile they had shot in the Sutlej river which got me thinking. The photo was taken during the 1920′s. So basically right into the first half of the century there was some genuine ‘dangerous’ wildlife in the Punjab. It could well be some crocs still survive somewhere along the Sutlej but they havent featured in any news items of late that i have come across. The overfishing in the river plus the various dams etc have destroyed their natural habitat. We know lions used to be around during the times of Guru Gobind Singh Ji because he did battle with them. They most probably died out late in the 18th century through overhunting by the numerous rajas up and down the country although tigers still survive tenously in some parts of India. Jackals used to be extremely common in the Punjab – after the battles of Ferozeshah and Sabraon hundred of jackals (and vultures) descended on to the battlefields to feast on the numerous corpses of humans and cavalry horses. There was also plenty of wild game, the area around Harike had numerous wild pigs. So much so that one of the British generals used to amuse himself with some daily pigsticking during the weeks before the battle of Sabraon. I’d be surprised if theres one left now The Indus dolphin across in Pakistan is highly endangered now. The Sutlej being basically a tributary of the Indus, it’s possible there was some dolphins in the Sutlej at some time but the damming of the river at Harike means you’ll never get them up stream in Punjab at all, which is all a great pity. But I daresay there could be reintroduced assuming there’s any fish left in the Sutlej.
 The Davis-Monathan base also called the “Bone yard” in Tucson, Arizona is the greatest pilgrimage place for anyone into military planes. Thousands of planes lined up in the desert waiting, probably for ever, for a chance to be up in the air again. Basically a whole ghost airforce. The place is a devil to visit though – I’ve passed by it twice over the years in an attempt to see the place and each time the place is closed. It’s only open once a week so if you are in Arizona you’ve got to basically build your trip round the opening time of this place. There’s scores of B52′S , Tomcats, Eagles and Hornets, Phantoms along with older planes. Its basically a museum more or less except the planes are used for spare parts as well. It seems now GoogleEarth have updated their satellite images of that area so the planes can be seen in far greater detail than before. You can see some great closeup shots of the rows and rows of planes.Very close to the Bone yard is the Pima Air Museum and I had to make do with that – I say make do – even that’s much better than the air museums here in the UK. You’ve got a Blackbird in the hangar plus several B47′S and B36 Peacemakers lined up in the open air bit. The B36 must be the most beautiful bomber around especially up in the air. I havent seen any B36′s (or B47′s come to think of it) in the UK air museums -I suspect they only live on in American museums now .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/7297032/The-Boneyard-22bn-military-cemetery-pictured-in-stunning-Google-Earth-photos.html
To see the airbase in Google Earth copy and paste these co-ordinates into the search bar 32° 9’16.37″N, 110°49’39.03″W
 Battle of Ferozeshah Apart from the Henry Martens paintings on the AngloSikh wars and a few choice others, there are precious few depictions of the battles available on the market. The only other ones that come to mind are the large ones painted specifically i guess for the AngloSikh war museum at Ferozeshah. The reason i am bringing this up here is because I am in need of one. My book on the first AngloSikh war is currently being completed and it would be great to have a good front cover. Whats the problem with the Martens paintings you say. Well they are rather one-sided typically showing a large phalanx of British cavalry or infantry triumphantly mowing down the Sikh line leaving bayonetted Sikh soldiers in their wake. I’d rather a have more even looking scene. I guess it takes rather a long time painting a good painting and even its good it’ll sell for relative peanuts. Then again these Martens paintings make money for the art libraries so eventually they do make money – it just takes a few hundred years.
 sham singh attarwalla statue Its hard to belive that the only (modern) memorial to the Sikh soldiers who died in the AngloSikh wars is only being constructed now, a hundred and fifty years after the wars. Well actually its for the great General Sham Singh who died at Sabraon but it’s a start. The Sham Singh Samadhi is now being completed at his ancestral village of Attari. What’s really needed is a tomb of the unknown soldier from the Punjab government at Ferozeshah or Sabroan as well for all the hundreds of soldiers who died in the battles. At Ferozeshah the AngloSikh war museum is too me a dissapointment. There are some weapons from the period but these are gathering dust and rust . I think the museum relies too heavily on the big paintings and consequently gets few visitors. What little there is youcant take a picture of . This requires permission from Chandigarh.
For more information on the project on this link http://gsssatrust.org/
 Anarkali Kaur Honaryar Its difficult doing anything in the medieval society that is Afghanistan. Dr Anarkali Kaur Honaryar is leading the fight for women’s rights. Its a difficult and dangerous activity especially for a nonmuslim. Lets hope she stays safe. There are few Sikh left now in Afghanistan and a whole community looks like its going to die out soon as the flight for safety continues and the community slowly emigrates.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8494291.stm
Always been a fan of the “sweet science”. Used to stay up in the early hours to watch the hagler-hearns or tyson-bruno type fights in the eighties. This came to my attention the other day though
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/indians-abroad/Sikhs-in-Britain-fight-ban-on-bearded-boxers/articleshow/5441216.cms
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8451615.stm
Apparently there is a ban on beards in boxing.It’s difficult to believe the boxing world still has these sort of rules. Maybe this has been the reaosn we havent seen many Sikh kids enter the boxing world. Definitely need some action on this one – more on this later.
Unfortunateley I travel everywhere by car on my visits to the battlefields. Walking (when it isnt too hot!) would really allow one to soak in the ‘atmosphere’. What I’ll have to do next time is walk the entire route from Ferozeshah to Mudki – what those Sikh soldiers did on the 18th of December 1845 prior to the battle.The Sikh army contingent fighting at Mudki reached there the same day as the British.
Well. the route is pretty direct – a straight road from Ferozeshah via the village of Kulkhurdh and then on to Mudki – a distance of just 5.5 miles. Typical walking speed for a man is say 4mph. At a speed of say 2-3 mph (weighed down by rifles plus ammunition) this would have taken the average sikh soldiers around 2 hours say. We know the Sikh army reached there just a short time before the British who reached Mudki at around 4′ish . My guess is the march started after a good lunch say 1′ish in the afternoon allowing the army to reach Lohaum where they formed battle order at around 3′ish
What about the British ? Well Mudki is a lot closer to the battlefield at around 2.5 miles. Some probably trudged down the road but most no doubt others crossed the ploughed fields from the village – a lot slower. So a speed of 2mph would mean around an hour forming up for battle after the signal to rush to the battlefield. Gough received the message that the SIkh amry had arrived at Lohaum at around 3pm. So accounts of the first shots being fired at 4pm make sense. So there was abare hour for the Sikh army to rest and form line prior to the battle.
The inclusion of images from the Life magazine in the Google search engine gives a fascinating new source of images
of sikhs during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. These are available at http://images.google.com/hosted/life
Many of the ones from the late 1940′s are by Margeret Bourke-White are probably well known. However others are more obscure.
Several show Sikhs in British service in China and hongkong during the late 1940′s
 Photographed in Sept 1945 showing bomb damage suffered during the war Theres also some rare ones of Sikh soldiers serving in Italy and the North Africa area of operations
Theres also a fair amount of rural images.Perhaps the most interesting are pics of the early Sikh community in the UK.
Back in the Punjab, there are some fascinating rural scenes
rural scenes dominate
gudrwara amrisar
There are also some interesting ones of the early Shpeherds Bush gurdwara and its congregation captured
Considering the Sikh army was considered by all the finest army in Asia during the late Runjeet Singh period and would have beaten the British (the premier European power of the time) quite comfortably at Ferozeshah(but for treason in hugh places), one could argue it was the best in the world. There’s few resources about it on the web though. So here goes.. a website/blog dedicated to the best army in the world !!!
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