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Rh almost unequalled magnitude, was a gigantic effort to throw off our supremacy, which in the interests of civilisation it was our duty to maintain, and it needed the great struggle to bring home to all India the full significance of our mission there. The magnificent behaviour of the Punjab at that time, which so materially aided our cause, was a reflection of the generous treatment accorded to brave enemies and of their belief in our prestige, their loyalty being a matter of conviction and of genuine feeling.

When the Bengal army was reconstructed in 1860, the majority of the new regiments raised in the Punjab were incorporated in it. The Sikhs now started on a new extended career. In that year they formed part of the force sent to China, a field which ever since has had great attractions for them. Wherever during the last forty years the Indian army has served they have formed a valuable part of it. China, Abyssinia, Afghanistan, far Chitral,