LAIRDEE (d. 1846), an Englishman who deserted the East India Company`s artillery and came to Lahore. He took up service under the Sikhs in 1842. He trained the gunners and was one of the few Europeans who actually fought against the English in the first Anglo Sikh war. At

MURRAY, Dr, a British physician attached to 4th Native Infantry, who was in 1836 sent from Ludhiana to Lahore by the British for Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s treatment after he had suffered a stroke of paralysis. During his 8 months` stay in Lahore, Murray found it difficult to persuade the Maharaja

THOMAS, GEORGE (1756-1802), Irish soldier of fortune, deserted the British navy in India in 1781 in which he had served as a gunner. He first joined a band of mountain robbers in south India and then took up service in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad as a gunner,

ALLARD, BENJAMIN (1796-1877), step-brother of General Allard, born at Saint Tropez in 1796, was sent to Lahore in 1829 in order to replace his brother as the military adviser of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, but the two brothers failed to win the confidence of the Maharaja, who would not release General

BURN, LtCoL, who commanded British detachments at Deoband, now in Uttar Pradesh, led in 1804 an expedition against the cis Sutlej Sikh chiefs, Gurdit Singh ofLadva and Karnal, Sher Singh of Buna, Rai Singh of Jagadhri, Jodh Singh of Kalsia and Mahtab Singh of Thanesar, who had fought against

DUBUIGNON, ROBERT WALTER, DE TALBOT (1809-1868), a French adventurer in the employ of Begam Samaru of Sardhana, who came to Lahore to seek better prospects. He obtained employment in the Sikh court through the good offices of General Ventura, and was assigned to General Allard as aide decamp. He

GOUGH, SIR HUGH (1779-1869), commander of the British armies in the first and second Sikh wars, was born on 3 November 1779, at Wood town, Limerick, Ireland. He joined British army service in 1793 and served at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Peninsular wars under the Duke

LANE, STEPHEN, an American, who served for some years in Scindia`s army rising lo the rank of lieutenant. Hejoined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army in 1834, and was entrusted with the command of a battalion. Being an habitual drunkard, he was dismissed from service after about 18 months and deported

NICHOLSON, JOHN (1821-1857), political assistant at Firozpur (1844-45), was born in Dublin on 11 December 1821, the son of Dr Alexander Nicholson. He obtained cadetship in Bengal Infantry in 1839 and in December the same year was posted to the 27th Native Infantry at Firozpur. In 1844, he became political

THOMAS, JACOB, son of the celebrated 18th century adventurer and soldier of fortune, George Thomas, an Irish sailor who had carved out a small kingdom for himself in the wastelands of Haryana. Jacob Thomas was in the service of Begam Samru before he joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army in

ALLARD, JEAN FRANCOIS (1785-1839), Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, an order instituted in 1802 by Napoleon I, was born at Saint Tropez, France, on 8 March 1785. In 1803, he joined the French army and served in it fighting in the Imperial Cavalry in far flung fields in Italy,

BURNES, SIR ALEXANDER (1805-1841), British traveller, explorer and writer, was born on 16 May 1805. He joined Bombay infantry in 1821. Upon his arrival in India, he devoted himself to the study of the local languages and was, while still an ensign, selected for the post of regimental interpreter. In