Lord Ellenborough (1842-44)

Annexation of Sindh (1843)

• Lord Ellenborough was appointed at a time when the situation in India was serious due to the British failure in Afghanistan during Auckland’s time.
• He was known for his vigour and decision and had previously acted as the President of the Board of Control.
• The first work he did was to bring the First Afghan War to a successful close, sharing the credit with various English generals involved in the campaign.
• Another major event of his Governor-Generalship was the conquest and annexation of Sindh in 1843.
• Sindh was ruled by a number of Amirs of the Talpura tribe, including those at Khairpur, Hyderabad, and Mirpur. The Amir of Khairpur claimed suzerainty over the others.
• In 1809, the English Company entered into a treaty with the Amirs of Sindh, where they agreed not to allow any French settlement in the region.
• In 1831, Burnes passed through the Indus River and a local Syed remarked that Sindh was lost to the English as they had seen the river.
• In 1831, Maharaja Ranjit Singh suggested the partition of Sindh between himself and the British, but the British Government refused.
• The British forced the Amir of Hyderabad into a treaty in April 1832, which included:
  1. No covetousness for each other’s possessions.
  2. British merchants were allowed to use Sindh’s rivers and roads for trade, with restrictions on military stores and armed vessels.
  3. No permanent English merchants were allowed to settle in Sindh, only visiting for business and returning to India.
• This treaty was renewed in 1834, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh was eager for the conquest of Sindh, but the British Government protected the Amirs.
• In 1838, Lord Auckland forced the Amirs to accept a British Resident in Hyderabad.
• During the First Afghan War, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh refused to allow British forces to pass through Punjab, Lord Auckland sent British troops through Sindh, ignoring the 1832 treaty.
• The Amirs were informed that the article of the treaty prohibiting military use of the Indus River would be suspended due to the present exigency.
• The Amirs were also demanded to pay a large sum in commutation of Shah Shuja’s tribute claim, despite having been exempt from it by Shah Shuja in 1833.
• The British Resident insisted that the money be paid and warned that they had the power to crush and annihilate the Amirs if needed for the integrity or safety of the British Empire.
• Sir John Keane threatened to advance on the capital of Sindh, forcing the Amirs to enter into a new treaty in February 1839.
• The treaty was arbitrarily revised by Auckland and his advisers, favoring the British Company, and sent back for the Amirs to sign.
• The Amirs objected but were compelled to sign after pressure.
• Lord Auckland described the effects of the treaty as:
  • The confederacy of the Amirs dissolved, with each chief placed in his own territory and bound to refer disputes to British arbitration.
  • Sindh was placed under British protection and brought within the circle of Indian relations.
  • A British force was to be stationed in lower Sindh at a location decided by the British Government, with a contribution of three lakhs of rupees per year from the Amirs to cover the cost of this force.
• During the Afghan War, Sindh served as a base of operations. Despite possible opportunities for rebellion, the Amirs remained loyal to the British Company.
• Charges of disaffection and hostility were falsely leveled against the Amirs by the Indian Government, which were impossible to substantiate.
• Major James Outram was replaced by Sir Charles Napier, who assumed full control, both military and political.
• According to Innes, Napier treated the annexation of Sindh as a morally questionable act, justifying it as a “beneficent piece of rascality.”
• The opportunity for annexation came due to a disputed succession in Khairpur. Napier sided with Ali Murad and declared the Amirs guilty of disaffection.
• Napier imposed new treaties on the Amirs, demanding their acceptance by 20th January 1843.
• Outram arranged a meeting with the Amirs at Khairpur, but Napier attacked and destroyed the fortress of Imangarh before the meeting could take place.
• The Amirs of Upper Sindh were delayed, but Napier refused to let them sign the treaty and marched towards Hyderabad.
• Thornton argued that Napier acted as though the British Government had the right to take Sindh at will, disrespecting the rights of the Amirs.
• Under the new treaties, the Amirs were required to:
  • Cede important territories to the British.
  • Provide fuel for the British steamers navigating the Indus.
  • Give up their right to coin money in favor of the British Government.
• Napier’s high-handedness provoked an attack by Baluchis on Outram’s residence on 15th February 1843. Outram escaped to a steamer.
• War broke out, with key battles fought at Miani and Dabo in February and March 1843.
• On 27th March 1843, Napier occupied Mirpur, and the victory was communicated to Lord Ellenborough with the famous phrase: “Peccavi, I have Sindh.”
• Sindh was officially annexed in August 1843, and the Amirs were exiled.
• Napier received £70,000 in prize money, while Outram was awarded £3,000, which he distributed among charitable institutions.
• Outram expressed disillusionment with Napier’s policies, writing: “I am sick of policy…I will not say yours is the best, but it is undoubtedly the shortest—that of the sword.”
• The Sindh policy of Lord Ellenborough and Sir Charles Napier was widely condemned, even by the Company Directors, though they lacked the courage to restore the Amirs.
• The Amirs had shown complete loyalty throughout, and their treatment was deemed unjust.
• Innes argued that Sindh was one of the most morally inexcusable actions in British history.
• Napier himself described the annexation as a “very advantageous, useful, humane piece of rascality.”
• Dr. Marshman critiqued the annexation, stating the rascality was evident, though it only benefited the captors.
• Elphinstone compared the annexation to a bully beating his wife in revenge after being kicked in the streets (referencing the Afghan disaster).
• Dodwell contended that the main culpability lay with Auckland, who failed to address the Amirs’ intrigues earlier, making Ellenborough‘s responsibility limited.
• The annexation of Sindh was seen as an act of political expediency, akin to the annexation of Carnatic, to strengthen the position of the East India Company.
• Ramsay Muir called Sindh the only British acquisition in India that was not necessitated by circumstances, making it an act of aggression.
• P.E. Roberts viewed the conquest of Sindh as the moral and political sequel to the First Afghan War.