Note 49 — HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE THIRD, OR THE KING'S OWN, REGIMENT OF LIGHT DRAGOONS. (continued 2)

In narrating the services of the regiments which composed the Army of the Sutlej in the years 1845 and 1846, it may be desirable that a brief account be given of the country of the Punjaub, particularly of the Sikhs, the most powerful of the population. The important results of the sanguinary and eventful conflicts in the Punjaub in 1846, following so rapidly on each other, excited the warmest interest throughout a great part of the world; and the heroic deeds of the several regiments employed, added another page to the records of the glorious achievements of the British Army.

The Punjaub, (Punj, five; aub, water,) deriving its name from the five rivers which intersect it, is an extensive country to the northwest of India. The chief of these rivers are the Indus and the Sutlej, by which and by the lofty Himalayas, the whole of this fine territory is bounded. At the period of the invasion of India by Alexander the Great, the Punjaub is stated to have been a wealthy and populous country, governed by numerous princes, whose subjects were characterised as brave and warlike. The Sikhs, originally a religious sect, were founded by Nanac, or Nanaïc, Shah, about four centuries ago; but, in after years, in order probably to defend their doctrines, they were induced by Govind, one of their high priests, to unite the warrior with the priestly character, thus forming a military as well as religious association, not dissimilar to the Templar Knights of the times of the Crusades. They, however, for a time almost disappeared; but profiting by the calamities of the Mogul empire during the last century, the Sikhs threw off the yoke of Mussulman despotism, their Sirdars or Chieftains spreading themselves over the country, ruling by might rather than right, and each acting independently of the other, until the death of Maha Singh in 1792. His son and successor Runjeet Singh contrived, however, to make several of the Sirdars acknowledge him as their leader, and by skilful management, in the course of a short period, obtained possession of Lahore, the principal city of the Punjaub, and eventually of Cashmere, Mooltan, and Peshawur. In the end all the chiefs submitted to him; thus bringing the whole country, from the Indus to the Sutlej, under his rule. He was greatly aided in his views of aggrandisement by the assistance of a few Italian and French officers, who trained his army upon the European model, and by their instructions it attained a high degree of discipline, proving one of the strongest enemies the British had ever contended with in India. Since the death of Runjeet in 1839, anarchy and confusion have prevailed; hatred of the English, which his influence checked, manifested itself, finally inducing the Sikh forces to invade the British territories, by crossing the Sutlej in great numbers in December, 1845, actuated as much by the hope of plunder, as by the desire of conquest.