INTRODUCTION :
Ranjit Singh and British relations can be described as a relation of horse and rider where Ranjit is horse and British were rider. In 1800 for the first time the British and Ranjit Singh came in contact when India was threatened by an invasion of Zaman Shah , Afghan ruler. To avoid this threat the British sent their massager in the court of Ranjit Singh. In 1805 the second time both the parties came in contact when Martha chief Holkar who was defeated by the British went to Ranjit Singh to seek help against the British. General lake wrote to Ranjit Singh that any action of help given to holkar will be considered as a challenge against the British so Ranjit Singh stayed loyal towards Britishers.
EVENTS BETWEEN BRITISH AND RANJIT SINGH :
- TREATY OF AMRITSAR : Ranjit Singh led his expeditions on ciz sutlej area in 1806 and 1807 AD but British got offended from this action of his so they decided to bring him under treaty so that Ranjit Singh could not conquer the states of cis sutlej. On April 2,1809 AD both the parties entered into a treaty of Amritsar which stopped Ranjit Singh at the border of Sutlej river.
- PROBLEM OF WADANI : In 1822 the issue of wadani raised between two parties. It was the territory gifted by Ranjit Singh to Rani Sada Kaur. At last the British gave the territory to Ranjit Singh.
- SINDH DISPUTE : Ranjit Singh wanted to conquer Sindh due to its commercial importance but on the other hand British wanted to conquer Sindh to establish trade relations with Sindh. The British sent their agent Colonel Pottinger to Sindh to establish trade relations with the Amirs of Sindh and were successful in signing a treaty with them. On December 26, 1832 Ranjit Singh signed a treaty with the British which ultimately established British supremacy over Sindh.
- DISPUTE OF SHIKARPUR : Ranjit Singh had great fascination over Shikarpur as it was a trade centre. He went to shikarpur with his army but was disrupted by the British again and he was asked to take back his army and again Ranjit Singh was yielded.
- FEROZEPUR DISPUTE : British turned Ferozepur into military cantonment in 1838 which jolted the relationship between two parties. Ranjit Singh protested against it but it went in vain.
- THE TREATY OF TRIPARTITE : The British wanted to enter into a friendly alliance with the Afghans but the Afghan ruler demanded Peshawar to be given back to them from Ranjit Singh. It was difficult for the British to offend Ranjit Singh, under such circumstances the British proposed a tripartite treaty to Ranjit Singh where Ranjit Singh, British and shah shuja would wage a war against the common enemy , Dost Mohammed. On 26 June 1838 the treaty was signed between all three known as The Tripartite Treaty.
In 1839 Ranjit Singh unfortunately died when war with Kabul was going on.
CONCLUSION
Ranjit Singh was a powerful ruler of punjab. His relation with the British was of rider and horse. Despite all disputes he was able to maintain the independence and preserved the sikh state as far as he could.
BOOK REFERENCE ( CLICK TO BUY )
The Sikhs of the Punjab: 03 (The New Cambridge History of India)