On January 22, 1849, the self appointed Dewan of Multan, Mulraj surrendered. And the siege of Multan ended.
The Sikh kingdom was built and expanded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. By the time he died in 1839, the East India Company was growing in military might. The First Anglo-Sikh war fought between 1845-46 between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company resulted in partial submission of the Sikh kingdom. At the end of the war, the Treaty of Lahore was drawn up.
Maharaja Duleep Singh, the ruler, was seven years old. Under the treaty, it was Sir Henry Lawrence who controlled the policy of the Durbar. The Sikhs were made to surrender the region between the Beas and Sutlej rivers. The Lahore Durbar had to also pay an indemnity of 15 million rupees. And since they did not have the funds, they had to give up Kashmir and Hazarah. In early 1948, Sir Henry Lawrence took ill and was sent back to England. He was replaced by Sir Fredrick Gough.
Triggers
Multan, was a city that was a part of the Sikh kingdom. It was governed by Dewan Mulraj. After the First Anglo-Sikh war, Mulraj began to act independently. When the Durbar required him to pay increased taxes and revenues, he installed his son in his place. But the Durbar imposed on him a Sikh governor, Sardar Khan Singh and a British Political Agent, Lieutenant Patrick Vans Agnew. In April 1848, Vans Agnew and Lieutenant William Anderson arrived at Multan. But when they attempted to take possession of the fort, they were attacked by a party of Mulraj’s irregular troops. Vans Agnew’s head was presented to Sardar Khan Singh and told to take it back to Lahore. News of the killings spread and there was disquiet.
Lieutenant Herbert Edwardes, the British Political Agent in Bannu, was near Multan at this time, and he sent some Pakhtun irregular troops, and some Sikh regiments. Together, they defeated Mulraj’s army at the Battle of Kineyri.
Currie ordered a small force from the Bengal Army under General Wish to begin the siege of the city, joined by several contingents of locally recruited irregulars and detachments of the Sikh Army. In November, the East India Company’s armies joined battle. Sir Hugh Gough, Commander in Chief of the Bengal army led his main force. But they suffered great losses and this caused much alarm. His tactics were criticised and he was replaced by General Charles James Napier.
The British with their heavy guns soon quelled the Sikh fight. Mulraj surrendered and the siege of Multan ended. On March 12, the Sikhs finally laid down there arms and on March 29, Punjab too was annexed by the British dominion of India. On March 30, Duleep Singh held his last court at Lahore, at which he signed away all claims to the rule of the Punjab. A proclamation by Lord Dalhousie, annexing the Punjab, was then read out.
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