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 CHAPTER VII

Lawrence as Resident in the Punjab

Colonel Henry Lawrence was now practically the real ruler of the Punjab. The Council of Regency, who nominally governed and in whose name all orders were issued, consisted of eight leading men — Tej Singh, who had commanded the Sikh army; Ranjúr Singh, one of its generals; Sher Singh (Attaríwála), the Mahárájá's brother-in-law; Sardárs Atar Singh and Shamsher Singh (Sindhanwála); Diwán Dina Náth; Fakír Núr-ud-dín; and Bhai Nidhán Singh. Lawrence's influence was such that he secured their assent to his several measures. He selected and employed an exceptionally suitable and efficient body of officers, who fell in with his ideas, and acted in their several districts and posts in hearty accordance with his prescriptions, of which the guiding precept was — 'settle the country, make the people happy, and take care that there are no rows.' The genial accessibility, the freedom of discussion, the manly sympathy and the readiness to redress wrongs and evils, united with the sturdy capacity for rule and the freedom from all tendency to intrigue or narrowness of demeanour or