SIKH YUDDHER ITIHAS O MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH

SIKH YUDDHER ITIHAS O MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH, by Barodakanta Mitra, is a brief narrative in Bengali of the fall of the Sikh kingdom and of the career of the deposed sovereign Duleep Singh. Published in Calcutta in AD 1893, the monograph made use of the official records and other primary sources, besides relying heavily on a number of secondary works such as those of Cunningham, Bell, Smyth and Stein bach. Broadly, the volume can be divided into two sections, the first dealing with the Anglo Sikh wars which, in the opinion of the author, marked the “most decisive event” in the nineteenth century history of India, and the second devoted to the life of Maharaja Duleep Singh.

Mitra attributes the outbreak of hostilities between the British and the Sikhs to the excessive concentration of the military power of the former along the Sutlej and other acts of provocation such as the appointment to the frontier of Major George Broad foot, knewn for his anti Sikh bias. He holds the East India Company responsible for violating the treaty of friendship with the Lahore kingdom. In the description of the battles, he contrasts Lal Singh`s treacherous role at Mudki with the determined heroism of Sham Singh Atarivala at Sabhraon.

The teaty of Bharoval ending the war is considered just, so also the administration of the British Resident at Lahore.The author is however critical of the policy of Lord Dalhousie and blames the British for delaying military intervention against the Multan mutineers. The annexation of the Punjab is described as contravening all norms of political morality. Maharaja Duleep Singh`s life is delineated in considerable detail, drawing upon Lady Login`s account as well as upon contemporary newspapers such as The Englishman, Moscow News and The Times of London. The monograph comes to a close with the Maharaja`s revolt against the British, his political activities in different European capitals and his sorrowful end in a Paris hotel in 1893.