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 CHAPTER V

Lawrence as Agent in the Punjab — Kashmír and Ghuláb Singh

Lawrence as Agent in the Punjab.

To carry into effect his intentions in regard to the strength and independence to be left to the Punjab Government, and at the same time to punish the State for its aggressive action, the conditions that the Governor-General demanded were these — the transfer to the British Government of a portion of the Punjab territory, called the Jálandhar Doáb (i. e. the tract lying between the rivers Sutlej and Beas); an indemnity of 1½ crores of rupees (i. e. millions sterling); the reduction of the Sikh army to 20,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry; and the surrender of all the artillery that had been used in the campaign.

These conditions were accepted, and the arrangements proposed and adopted for the proper conduct of the administration were, that it should be vested in a Council of Regency of leading men, with Lál Singh at their head as Minister, under the watch and control of a British Agent; that, in the case of difficulty about the indemnity, there should be a further cession of territory; and (at the urgent