Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 1).djvu/207

] marched northwards in September to join their coreligionists.

On the 13th of January, 1849, Lord Gough fought a very hardly contested battle at Chilianwala. If this was but a doubtful victory, that won six weeks later at Gujrat was decisive. On 12th March, 1849, the soldiers

Fig. 65. Zamzama Gun.

of the Khdlsa in proud dejection laid down their weapons at the feet of the victor, and dispersed to their homes.

Annexation.— The cause they represented was in no sense a national one. The Sikhs were a small minority of the population, the bulk of the people being Muhammadans, to whom the English came as deliverers. On the 30th of March, 1849, the proclamation annexing the Pan jab was read at Lahore.