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1 of 253523 objects
After James Henry Lawrence-Archer (1823-89)
Battle of Guzrat, 21st Feb 1849.
Lithograph, hand-colouring | RCIN 750938
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A lithograph of a view of the Battle of Gujarat (in the Punjab, present day Pakistan) fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the British East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa army with their Afghan allies. General Campbell's infantry division advances in formation towards the abandoned Sikh camp and town; with skirmishers of Her Majesty's 24th Regiment firing on some fugitive Sikh cavalrymen, background right; with the Kashmir mountains in the distance, left. Lettered below.
By the early nineteenth century the Punjab region of north-west India was the last remaining independent kingdom of India which had not been subjugated and claimed as part of the British Empire. There were fears that the powerful Sikh Khalsa army posed a serious threat to British territories neighbouring the Punjab. In additon, the British East India Company had long viewed north-west India and Afghanistan as an important buffer between India and Russia, fearing that the Russian Emperor Nicholas I had plans to expand his empire into Asia.
The First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845-6 had resulted in the surrendering of part of the Punjab territories to the British. In the city of Multan, a dispute over taxes resulted in the British East India Company's decision to replace the Diwan (governor) of Multan, Mulraj Chopra, with a compliant Sikh ruler, Sirdar Khan Singh. A British political agent, Lieutenant Patrick Vans Agnew, and Lieutenant William Anderson who accompanied Khan Singh to Multan, were murdered by men in league with Mulraj's troops. This was the trigger for open rebellion against the British, and the Second Anglo-Sikh war of 1848-9.
On 13th January 1849 General Sir Hugh Gough led the British army into the first major battle of the Second Anglo-Sikh War at Chillianwallah. The battle proved inconclusive, though both sides claimed victory, and the prestige and reputation of British military might was profoundly damaged. After Chillianwallah Raja Sher Singh and his the Sikh army withdrew to Gujarat, north of Lahore, where they hastened to construct defensive positions. What became known as the `Battle of Guns' began on 21st February with an artillery duel lasting nearly three hours. General Sir Hugh Gough's British and Indian troops advanced against fierce Sikh resistance around the villages of Burra Kalra and Chota Kalra, but under fire from the advancing British artillery the Sikh forces began a retreat which turned into a rout as British and Indian cavalry divisions ruthlessly pursued the Khalsa. The next day a division led by Major General Sir Walter Gilbert took up the pursuit, and after eleven days Sher Singh was finally forced to agree to the British terms for surrender. On 14 March 1849, the young Maharaja of the Sikh empire, Duleep Singh, was forced to renounce all claims to rule of the Punjab, and the region was annexed to British India.
This lithograph was based on a drawing made on the spot at the Battle of Gujarat by Lieutenant James Henry Lawrence-Archer. Archer began his military career in 1840, as an ensign in the 39th Regiment of Foot, stationed in India. In December 1843 he purchased a commission as a lieutenant, moving with his regiment from Agra to Danapur (in present day Bihar state) in 1844. He was wounded while serving with the 24th Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Chillianwallah.
For prints showing battles of the Anglo-Sikh wars, see RCINs 750916-750919, 750922, 750923, 750929, 750931-750939. -
Creator(s)
(lithographer)(printmaker) -
Medium and techniques
Lithograph, hand-colouring
Category
Object type(s)
Alternative title(s)
The Battle of Gujarat
