Lehal Library

13. British Annexation of Malwa: Treaty of Lahore, 1809 I n the decade that Ranjit Singh had been ruler of Lahore, the north-western and north-eastern frontiers of the Punjab had ceased to be a somce of danger to the Durbar. Toe Afghans were busy quarrelling among themselves. The Raj puts and the Gurkhas had cancelled each other out and could no longer contemplate descending on the plains. On the east, however, tbe English, who bad eliminated the Marathas, had become masters of almost the whole of India except the Puajab and Sindh. In these years Ranjit Singh had also consolidated his hold on the country north of the river Sutlej. He had annexed Kasur, taken tribute frc:-:-: ::..~e Muslim chiefs of Multan and north-western Punjab, and reduced the misls of the Majba to subservience. All that remained to be done to unify the Punjab was to incorporate the remaining misls holding lands between the Sutlej and the Jumna. Consequently, two of the major problems at the end of the first ten )'ears were the integration of Malwa and the drawing up of the frontier with the English. Ranjit Singh had twice crossed the Sutlej with his army and been acclaimed as the sovereign of the Punjab: with spontaneous enthusiasm by the populace, with some reluctance by the chiefs. Even the latter had submitted to his orders and paid tribute as they would have done to an overlord. Ranjit Singh's suzerainty over the Cis-Sutlej states was a fact accomplished in all but title.