Punjab

by Rajmohan Gandhi

magnanimous

To sum up in respect of conversion to Islam in Punjab, roles may have been played by conquest, prolonged rule, Sufis, the practice of untouchability, and policies such as the jizya. In addition, we may surmise, repeated ferocious attacks by anti-Muslim Mongols helped the conversion to Islam of several clans and tribes, starting with their chiefs.

Note

abdication.

fratricide

persecution

prevalence

admonition?

consternation

conceded,

repudiated

conciliation.

upheavals

satrap,

settle.

irrevocably

denuded

exertions,

contingents

augmented

remnants

Ominously

contingent

doab,

annexed.

desecration

resilience.

egalitarian

misls.

camaraderie,

peasant,

Granth Sahib.

gurmatta

semblance

Waris Shah’s celebrated Heer, composed in 1766.

Dissensions

belied

investiture

worsted.

suzerainty.

Map of ranjit Singh kingdom

consort

animus

evangelist

fanatic

Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 had ended any French hopes of displacing the British from India, but it also freed some French and Italian officers for service outside Europe, including in Punjab. In 1822, two French commanders, Jean Francois Allard and Jean Baptiste Ventura, whom I have referred to earlier, were among the first Europeans to join the Maharaja’s army. Within a few years, more than fifty whites or Eurasians were on Ranjit Singh’s payroll, of whom the best known, besides Allard and Ventura, were Claude August Court and Paolo Avitabile from France and Italy respectively. From 1829, the Maharaja also employed the Austro-Hungarian homeopath, Martin Honigberger, as his personal physician, and two years later he facilitated a journey to the Himalayas by the French geologist and botanist, Victor Jacquemont. Always conscious of the British next door, Ranjit Singh was glad to have officers who had fought the British and could train his army along European lines. Though most of his ministers and commanders advised against the employment of foreigners on handsome emoluments, they were overruled.

French officers

confabulating

hypochondria,

ministrations

Cunning

conciliation