The burning grounds: Punjab in 1857

Pages: 1698-1701
Suresh Kumar (Department of History, Govt. College for Girls, Datta, Hisar, Haryana)

The article is an attempt to have a glance at the contribution of Punjab to the first Indian Struggle in 1857 and seeks to defy the general idea that Sikhs of Punjab kept aloof from the first Indian Struggle, instead they helped the British to save their faltering feet on the soil of Punjab. The article is an attempt to explain the importance of Punjab province for the British to control all the country and why the Empire could not let it be slipped from under its yoke. As is the general perception that the British position in Punjab was quite safe and they were not feeling any problem in Punjab on account of the rebels. The realty was just the contrary to this generally held view, the British hold was not at all strong and safe in the Punjab during our First National Struggle. The article examines the swiftly shifting situations of the principle cities of then Punjab as Peshawar, Multan, Lahore, Amritsar, Ludhiana, etc. It also throws light on the wily plots, un-stately intrigues and the utmost cruelty adopted by the British to keep the situation under control, and although some Riyasats such as the Riyasats of Patiyala, Nabha, and Jind, were standing with the British, the common man and especially the peasantry stood against the national foe. And how the British had totally failed to prevent the native discontent and disaffection be expressed against the British rule. The article also exposes the British post-rebellion policies to dig and widen the ditch between the Eastern and the Western Indians, what was the main British policy, viz., divide et Impera.