The First Anglo-Sikh War

by Amarpal Singh, Amarpal Singh

During the eighteenth and early years of the nineteenth century, the red tide of British expansion had covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent, stretching to the borders of the Punjab. There the great Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh had developed his military forces to thwart any British advance into his kingdom north of the River Sutlej. Yet on the death of Ranjit Singh, unworthy successors and disparate forces fought over his legacy while the British East India Company seized on the opportunity and prepared for battle. In the winter of 1845, the First Anglo-Sikh War broke out. From the start, the two-month campaign was marred by Victorian arrogance and bluster on the British side and personal ambition, intrigue and treason in the Sikh camp. Five keenly fought contests ensued, including the great battle of Ferozeshah where the British force found itself caught between two powerful Sikh armies and came close to destruction. Declining to retreat, Sir Hugh Gough, the British Commander-in-Chief, told his second in command: ‘My mind is made up. If we must perish, it is better that our bones should bleach honourably at Ferozeshah than rot at Ferozepore: but they shall do neither the one nor the other.’ The fate of the British Empire in India would be decided that day. Amarpal Singh writes a warts-and-all tale of a conflict characterised by treachery, tragedy and incredible bravery on both sides. In an innovative approach to history writing, the narrative of the campaign is accompanied by battlefield guides that draw on eyewitness accounts and invite the reader to take a tour of the battlefields, either physically or virtually. Fully illustrated with period drawings, modern-day photographs and new maps, The First Anglo-Sikh War gives a forgotten conflict the meticulous attention it deserves.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India, War, Military History, 19th Century, British Literature

317 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

For the main page about this author, please see Amarpal Sidhu

Reviews

[Nick_britten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t normally review Non-Fiction books but as a self confessed ‘Empire’ addict, to get a new history of the 1st Sikh war is always welcome. I have read lots of histories on the Sikh wars and inevitably they are mostly written from the British point of view, the wonderful thing about this book is that it comes from a much more Sikh perspective. This gives the book a freshness that has been missing form a lot of the histories I have read before.

The author gives a nice brief description of the background to the cause of the war but the real strength of his book is the chapters outlining each major battle.

For each battle the author gives us an overview of the battles context within the war, a nice break down of the forces involved, a good narrative of the actual battle and then the aftermath of the battle and where this leaves us within the wider war.

The best thing about each chapter is the maps. The author uses modern maps but overlays them with older maps so you can see where the battle and incidents happened within the landscape (if I ever get to see the battle landscapes then this is the book I’m taking!)

This is a well written and researched book that is useful for people who have only just started reading about the Sikh Wars but also bring new insights which would interest the more experienced reader.

This is a wonderful history of the 1st Sikh war and I highly recommend it to anyone with a passing history of the Formation of the British Raj and the Bravery of the Sikh Armies.
The author is currently working on the 2nd Sikh wars.

[Mansoor Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those in search of the political background of demise of Khalsa Raj or the detailed analysis of how it came down to this war; this aint the work.

This is supposed to be pure military history which sadly it is not. Yet, a superb effort, gives Sikh side of the account using whatever published historiography author could get hands on.

Discussed each battle of the first Anhlo-Sikh war in detail. The narrative, very simple; Lost opportunities.

Every work on the twilight of Sikh Empire particularly so about the battles is so important especially in the light of so little available to contemporary reader.

a commendable effort.

[J Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming from a Sikh family, I thought I was well versed in our history. However the Anglo Sikh Wars was definitely a blind spot.

I was totally unaware of the traitors within the Sikh army that betrayed the Khalsa. Amarpal has done an amazing job in researching this topic, providing political context and bringing the war to life for the reader.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in British and Sikh Empire.

[Nigel Seed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkably well written book that covers a conflict that is almost forgotten in the West. The amount of detail is pitched at just the right level and gives an even handed treatment to both sides in the war. It has clearly been researched extremely thoroughly and has provided me with considerable help when preparing my own work of historical fiction.

[Norman Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an engaging and interesting short history of the campaigns of the First Anglo-Sikh War, all of which is new to me. I will take on faith that the author has accurately represented the actions of the war.

The author seems to have done his research. He includes frequent quotes from participants in his text, though I can not recall any from the Sikh side of the war - those participants might not have been permitted or able to record their thoughts after their defeat. There are no footnotes so it is difficult to know what the sources were for the descriptions.

The maps were not great, in my opinion. They could have used a little more detail and context, and the present-day things (e.g., electrical sub-stations) should have been shown in a different style.

I skipped the battlefield guides as they are intended for people who are actually going to visit the sites of the battles.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise overview of this little discussed war. My greatest surprise in reading this, is that the war was orchestrated by the upper echelons of the Sikh government, their hope being that their troops, who had an increasingly powerful voice in the army, would be decimated, As a result, the Sikh generalship actually assisted the British, treacherously revealing their battle plans, refusing to follow up on near victories (e.g., at Mudki and Feroszeshah), and retreating at inopportune times. As was often the case in colonial wars, the British were dismissive of their foes and in this case it nearly cost them as the Sikh army fought expertly and ferociously. Ultimately, the British were able to accomplish the annihilation of the Sikh forces at Sobraon, again with the clandestine assistance of the Sikh generals.

[Saurabh Odak]

A great war book taking you straight to the battlefields. I would visualise myself watching the area.

[orin king · Rating 4 out of 5]

extremeley enjoyable and well researched overview of the battles of the first anglo-sikh war. sometimes the writing felt a bit scattered and i struggled to maintain a cohesive picture in my head but i would have to reread it to know whether that was more of a problem of the way the information was structured or a failure of my understanding

[Robin Braysher · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent follow-up to 'Flashman and the Mountain of Light'. A good account of the war and its intrigues from both sides of the Sutlej. The book has splendid maps and is well illustrated. Although I doubt I will ever visit the battlefields, it's interesting to have descriptions and photos of the locations now.

[James Carrigy · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

7/10

Just about the right side of dry military history, admirably impartial though most certainly not pro-Empire, relying on plain honesty to hoist the East India Company by it's own petard simply by being frank with the source material shown. Neatly ilustrates the fact that one of Britain's most insidious strengths as an Empire was it's ability to utilise espionage and deception to exploit the divisions of the societies it sought to conquer, and very effectively in this case for it seems that if some of the Sikh commanders weren't so cravenly bent, the history of British involvement in the subcontinent might have looked very different indeed.

[T P S Sidhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent description of war, battle fields and reasons for the loss of war. Author virtually takes you to the battle field and you feel as if you are part of the battle.