35 



CHAPTER IV. 



FROM SABATHU TO KASHMIR. 1846. 



A MILLION and a half sterling was the fine 

 which Sir Henry, now soon to become Lord 

 Hardinge, inflicted on the Sikh Government for 

 waging an unprovoked war with its peaceful 

 neighbour. But the Lahore Treasury could not 

 scrape together more than half a million. Gulab 

 Singh, Rajah of Jammu and a leading member of 

 the Lahore Darbar, off'ered to pay over the re- 

 maining million if Lord Hardinge would recognise 

 him as sovereign ruler of Kashmir. His ofi*er was 

 accepted as the easiest way of replenishing the 

 East India Company's exchequer, and of solving 

 a rather knotty political problem. Out of the 

 rest of Ranjit Singh's kingdom the Governor- 

 General reserved for his master's own keeping 

 the Jalandhar Doab, the strip of country lying 

 between the Satlaj and the Biyas. 



The intriguing mother of little Dhulip Singh 

 retained her place at the head of the Lahore 

 Darbar with Lai Sino-h for her Wazir. The old 

 Khalsa army was to be cut down to a third of 

 its former strength, and a strong British garrison 

 under General Littler ensured for a time the 



