THE BRITISH PERIOD

John Lawrence ,Henry Lawrence , C.G. Mansel

 The Board was given a charter in respect of Administration of the newly occupied territories with brief details and guideline regarding the measures to be taken. It also laid procedures for the civil, revenue and criminal justice, settlement of the lands and development of the country.

 From 1849 to 1853 Punjab was administered by Board of Administration with a say, and the work conducted and supervised by Members. In 1853 John Lawrence was appointed as Chief Commissioner of Punjab which assignment he held up to February, 1858. On 1st January, 1859 he was appointed the lieutenant Governor of Punjab. A list of the officers and Governors who held charge of Lahore (Punjab from 1849 to 1947) is given below for purpose of reference and interest of the readers:- 

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION, LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS AND GOVERNORS

The British from 1849 onwards took steps for settlement of territory, restored law and order and took measures for the development of the area under directions from the Governor General/Viceroy of India. A brief mention may be made of the city’s position during the War of Independence in 1857 (termed as Mutiny by British) which led to no result except the persecution of Muslims whom the British considered their rivals as they had taken over from them.

 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

The following account of the events of 1857 is taken from the Punjab Government Mutiny records and explains the nature/extent of involvement and how they were controlled. The important move which gave us a foothold in North India when the empire seemed well high overwhelmed by the flood of mutiny which had burst forth so uncontrollably in the North-Western Provinces, was the disarming of the troops at Mian Mir. The danger on the morning of May 13th was far greater than had been conceived. A plot had been laid for the simultaneous seizure of the fort and the outbreak of the troops in cantonments. To understand the importance of this move it must be borne in mind that the fort commands the city of Lahore; that it contains the treasury and the arsenal; that a Ferozepur, 50 miles distant there is another arsenal, the largest in this part of India; and had these two fallen, the North-Western Provinces and the Punjab must have been, for the time being, irrevocably lost, the lives of all Europeans in these regions sacrificed, Delhi could not have been taken, India must have been ab initio reconquered. The designs of the conspirators were frustrated. By 5.00 a.m. on the 13th, three companies of Her Majesty’s 81st Foot marched into the fort and relieved the native infantry guard; while the ringing of the ramords as the remaining companies of that regiment of the parade-ground at Mian Mir obeyed the order to load sounded the knell of sepoy power in the Punjab. The three regiments of native infantry and one of ligh cavalry were cowed by the stirring sound and by the sight of twelve horse artillery gunds charged with destruction to them should they resist. The infantry piled arms and marched off with silent and angry astonishment. The cavalry unbuckled their swords and threw them on the ground, and the capital of the Punjab was saved. The next night, May 14th, at 10.00 p.m. Mr. Roberts, the Commissioner, accompanied by one military and two civil officers, brought Mr. Montgomery a paper, in the Persian character, which had just reached him with an injunction of secrecy from the writer. He writes. “It was a report from a police officer stationed on the Sutlej, giving a confused account of the attack on the Ferozepur entrenchment that afternoon by the 45th Native Infantry. It gave no account of the result of the action. We conjectured that my express of the previous day to Brigadier Innes had failed of its design that the sepoys had gained the arsenal, had crossed the bridge of boats, and were in full march to Lahore. In the earnest deliberation which ensued other circumstances occurred to our minds which seemed to make our position in Lahore critical to the last degree. A Punjabi Police Corps, the only one we had to carry on the civil duties, and which furnished personal guards to all the civil officers at the station, was reported to be disaffected. (Happily this turned out to be quite false). Lieutenant Gulliver, Engineers, volunteered to ride off to cantonments to acquaint the Brigadier with what we had just heard, and beg him to do what he could to defend himself. Messers Egerton, Deputy Commissioner, and Elliott, Assistant Commissioner, went round the station to take note of what might be going on. They returned reporting all quiet. Shortly afterwards, Leiutenant Gulliver also came back, hearing from Brigadier Corbett the joyful news of the repulse of the outbreak and the comparative safely to Ferozepur, the Brigadier having received a despatch direct from brigadier Innes. There could be no doubt that there had been a plot arranged between the Lahore and Ferozepur brigades for on the same forenoon (May 14th) I received two hasty notes from Brigadier Corbett saying that all the troops in Mian Mir were preparing to desert bodily. This caused a panic among the residents of Anarkali, and a rendezvous of all male residents took place at the central jail. The guns and Her Majesty’s 81st Regiment, however so quickly got ready that the natives retired into their lines. Some who did escape were seized by the villagers of the tract called the Majha, and taken to Mr. Thomas, Assistant Commissioner at Kasur, the chief town of that part of the Majha which lies in the  Lahore district, and on the direct route to Ferozepur. Mr. Thomas sent them into Lahore. The stalwart Sikhs who from the population of the Majha were wholly on  Many villages have been almost decimated by the number of recruits who have flocked to form our new regiments in memory of the bygone days when they bravely fought against us under the banners of the Khalsa.

     Defensive measures were at once adopted in Anarkali as follows: The fort was provisioned for six months for 4,000 men, and every gate blocked up but one. All the men of the various Punjab regiments who happened to be on leave at their homes in this neighborhood were called in and collected under the command of Captain Travers. They furnished pickets for guard all round the central jail and at other places where danger seemed to threaten. A company of volunteers from the European residents of Anarkali was raised in 36 hours to the number of 130 men, and for some days Anarkali was guarded only by a half company of Subhan Khan’s Police battalion, and a few ordinary police. A rendezvous was appointed, and danger signals arranged. A chain of mounted police was thrown out along the roads leading to cantonments, which for a length of time were patrolled during the night by the junior civil and military officers of the station. The usual precautions in regard to ferries, sepoy's letters, were vigorously observed. On the 26th and 27th the Guide Corps passed through on their famous march to Delhi, and about a week afterwards the movable column under Brigadier Neville Chamberlain arrived. On June 9th two men of the 35th Native Infantry, which was one of the regiments composing the column, were blown from guns on the Anarkali parade-ground, by sentence of a drum-head court-martial, for sedition and intended mutiny.

      On the 30th July, the 26th native Infantry mutinied at Mian Mir, and murdering Major Spencer, their commanding officers, one non-commissioned European and two native officers, fled. They escaped during a heavy dust-storm, which concealed them from observation and kept us in ignorance of their route. They were destroyed by Mr. Cooper, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, on the banks of Ravi. This event showed the necessity for some means of tracking and (any) future body of deserters, especially as the loyalty of the remaining regiments was very doubtful. Four strong police posts were established in villages which lie beyond the plains upon which the cantonment is built, and the men were instructed to throw out chains of sentries and to watch narrowly all passers-by. On the 17th September Mr. R.B. Egerton, Officiating Deputy Commissioner, was called suddenly down to the south-west part of his district in order to prevent the taint of Kharral insurrection from reaching the Mussalman population of that part of the country. Mr. Perkins, Assistant Commissioner, was also for a few days stationed at a remote police post into the boundaries of which emissaries from the insurgents were known to have come. The appearance, with Mr. Egerton, of half a regiment of Wales’ Horse and other demonstrations, deterred the Kharrals of the district from joining their rebellious kinsmen. Mr. Egerton was out on another occasion for three or four weeks in company with the Commissioner, Mr. Roberts, in the Gugera district on similar duty. The civil charge of this important station was confided on these occasions to Mr. R. Berkeley, Extra Assistant Commissioner.

      Lahore is Pakistan’s historic and interesting city; the cultural heart of the country. Its faded elegance, busy streets and bazars and wide variety of Muslim and British architecture make it a city full of atmosphere (of) contrasts and surprise. Due to its location on the main road of invaders from the North, those who visited the city gained some understanding of the cultural influences that shaped the city life, its traditions and environment as a whole.

            It has been the capital of the Punjab or the areas that form part of Punjab for the last over 1000 years. First from 1021 to 1186 under Ghaznavide Muslim dynasty founded by Mahmood of Ghazni, then under Ghauris and later under Sultanate of Delhi. It reached its fully glory under Mughal rule from 1524 to 1752 as already mentioned in preceding paragraph. The Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great held his court in Lahore for 14 years from 1584 to 1598 and made marvellous additions to the architectural foundations of the Fort and city. Jahangir and Shah Jahan similarly made their own contributions. Beautiful palaces and tombs were built and gardens laid out. The last and great Mughal Aurangzeb gave Lahore its most famous ‘Badshahi’ Mosque.

   The downfall of Mughals and anarchy in Punjab areas provided a fertile climate for the establishment of a Sikh state which continued until late 1840s. The British who had been contained on that side of the River Sutlej had their eyes on this fertile region and in the garb of tourists and visitors had surveyed in detail the potential of the Punjab plains which was ultimately to form greenery of their empire. The British after defeating the Sikhs in the wars formally took over Lahore in the year 1849. On 31.03.1849 the Governor General of India constituted a Board of Administration for the affairs of only the conquered territory. The headquarters of the Government were established at Lahore. The old Residency still in existence in the Civil Secretariat and forming part of the Chief Secretary’s office was made the office of the Board of Administration. Needless to state that prior to occupation in 1849 the British have been continuing their relations with the Sikhs through their Resident stationed at Lahore. The Residency building belonged to one of the French officers who had been engaged by Ranjit Singh to train his armies. General Ventura the owner of the Residency building died leaving behind a daughter and a wife (local Kashmiri) who shifted to Ludhiana. This building previously on rent was purchased by the British for an amount of Rs.400. The Board of Administration for the affairs of Punjab was headed by Sir Henry Lawrence, later

Lord Lawrence with Mr.’John Lawrence and Mr. C.G. Mensel as members. Mr. P. Melvel was the Secretary of the Board. The Board under a written code of administration covering revenue, administration, judicial, civil and criminal justice, police administration and policy towards local landed aristocracy and general public started operating at Lahore. Lahore became the divisional headquarters and Mr. D.F. McLeod was the first Commissioner and Major. Macreggor the first Deputy Commissioner of the city. The Anarkali area which was under use as a camping ground for the army during Ranjit Sing period was formally declared as cantonment. Some of the arsenal, armoury and the treasury alongwith offices were located in the Palace (Fort). The cantonment area of the Anarkali existed on alluvial plan which infact had been built on the ruins of the successive city. It was most unhygienic place, water pools would appear here and there and inspite of some trees there was a lack of gardens. The important monuments in the area were Bara Dari of Wazir Khan and Anarkali Tomb. The Bara Dari of Wazir Khan was used as the first museum of Lahore and later on (as) Anarkali Book Club. The Anarkali Tomb which had been previously used as residence by Raja Kharak Singh was converted into a church and hence till date the road leading from the Board of Revenue to Secretariat is known as Church Road. In 1851 there were around 100 deaths of European army officers in the Anarkali cantonment due to cholera. The Sanitary Commissioner opined that this had happened due to unhygienic conditions and the cantonment should be shifted at once. Accordingly a plan was draw to shift the cantonment to a dreary plain and jungle six miles from Anarkali ahead of Hazrat Mian Mir, towards east. The cantonment was located here and connected with Anarkali with a road approximately built at a cost of about Rs.14,000 generally called the Mall Road. The area around Mall Road extending upto Lawrence Gardens was called as Donald Town. This included the localities towards Mozang and Regal Chowk, flats and modern residences on the Beadon Road behind the Hall Road quarters, Birdwood Road upto village Mozang and then adjoining the Race Course and GOR I which were European bungalows, some sort of garden houses built of western style. Towards north-east the areas of Naulakha, the Railway Officers Colony and on its left the locality of Qila Gujjar Singh, the Railway station across which lies the Railway Hospital and village Garhi Shahu.

    As the Board of Administration settled, the territory, Lahore due to expansion and increase in the administrative machinery, became the Chief Commissioner’s headquarters for the affairs of Punjab. It may be added that at that time Punjab included the Frontier and Derajaat Divisions. Delhi was later detached from the north-western province and added to Punjab. Lahore remained the Chief Commissioner’s H.Q., from 1853. From 1859 onwards it became the Lt. Governor’s Province. The Secretariat expanded and the Departments due to their increased pace of work had their various new offices set up. The institutions of Revenue and Financial Commissioners loading with work the Department of Education, Health, Irrigation and Public Works came into existence. The emphasis of the Government was on the development projects to enhance production of the Province in agriculture, exploit mineral and industrial potential of the country and attend to the welfare of the common man. In 1857 according to the British there was a Mutiny in the army which was later on termed as War independence by the natives. It started at Barrackpur, Meerat and Barelli etc. and spread like wild fire throughout the country. The rebel forces and the freedom fighters occupied the city of Delhi which was retaken by the British forces after an effort of four months. The situation of Lahore has already been narrated somewhere else in this chapter.

STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE

    The reasons for the war of independence were manifold. These were political, economic, religious and administrative. The British took the Muslims as their natural rivals as they had captured the country from them. The Hindus considering the Muslims as their rivals as former rulers hated them and connived with the British. The Muslims ignored the western education which had replaced the Mughal system of administration and thus themselves became extinct from the services / administration as they did not qualify for jobs. The jagirs and grants given by Muslim rulers to Muslim nobility were taken away and the Muslims economically became crippled. The Europeans exploited the resources of their Indian empire, used their raw material, finished the same in Europe and resold the same to Indians. The Christian missionaries under full protection of the Government had started conversion of local Indians without any obstruction. These reasons led to a war against the British which, however, did not succeed and instead strengthened the British rule. They adopted repressive measures lest the Muslims recaptured their lost power and also they were the victims of the British. This policy also worked in Lahore. The Hindus were brought forward whereas the Muslims remained behind and only menial jobs fell to their share. Considering this degradation of Muslim community of India, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan launched his movement for western education and loyalty to the British so that by way of education Muslims could get a share in the Government. The founding of Aligarh Institution in 1875 was the first brick towards this building. Lahore also did not remain behind and also fully participated in these efforts by way of supporting Anjaman-e-Islamia, Lahore, the Scientific Society of Lahore, Muslim Educational Conference and Anjaman-e-Hamayat-e-Islam. In the year 1891 the concept of Legislative Council for the Province of Punjab was sanctioned and this too was located at Lahore.

    Another most important aspect of the political currents in the late 19th century which took the shape of an organization was the founding of Congress Party by a British officer viz A.O. Hume in Calcutta which started making efforts for safeguarding the interests of the Hindus. For sometime the Muslims also cooperated but later they learnt that it was only fighting for the cause of Hindus. Consequently Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk and some of the Bengali Muslim Leaders founded the Muslim League in 1906 at Dacca. Its Head office was in Aligarh but its support areas were majority Muslim provinces and Punjab was the leading one. Later on in 1905 when Hindus resented the partition of Bengal, purely an administrative decision, this was annulled by the British due to protests and it cautioned the Muslims for their rights. Consequently all along there was an agitation through available press/papers in Lahore for the cause of Muslims. In 1922 Lahore fully participated in the Khilafat Movement and there was a lot of agitation against the Government in favor of Turkey. Lahore had its share in this movement and quite a few families in protest migrated. The history of freedom movement under Quaid-e-Azam from Khilafat Movement till the implementation of 1935 Act, elections of 1937 and rule of Congress in for out of seven provinces cleared the Muslim leadership the ultimate goal of Hindu leadership. Before backing out of the Congress from the Lucknow Pact and their outright opposition of Muslim rights in Nehru Report, Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal from Lahore gave an idea of a separate State for the Muslims. This proposal was made by Dr. Muhammad Iqbal in his presidential address of 1930 session of All India Muslim League at Allahabad. The negative attitude of the Hindu community all along contributed to the unity of the Muslims. It was this attitude of the Hindus that the Muslim leaders thought of saving the Muslim masses from the exploitation of Hindus capitalists. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal initiated the idea of separation. There were people before him who had advocated partition but Iqbal was the first important figure who profounder the idea from the platform of the Muslim League. In the presidential address to the League’s session at Allahabad he discussed the problems at length. He clearly explained that the principles of European democracy cannot work in India. The Muslims of India were the only Indian people who could be rightfully described as a Nation. His famous remarks, which earned him the title of Father of Pakistan Idea, were I would like to see Punjab, North-West Frontier Province. Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated into a single State. Their Government within the British Empire or without the British Empire formation of a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim State appears to be the final destiny of the Muslims at least of North-West India”.

   It would be observed that again it was the Lahore leadership both intellectual and political that gave the idea of a separate State for the Muslims. This idea of Pakistan is a real landmark in the history of the sub-continent. It established the two-nation theory and on this basis justified not only the need for a separate homeland but demarcated areas which were to form this country. The Government of India Act 1935 provided for complete autonomy for the provinces in which the Congress achieved a big success. However, after coming into power the Hindu leadership ordered hoisting of Congress flag and rendering of ‘Bandey Matram’. Hindi was also introduced in the schools and colleges and slaughter of cow prohibited and attacks on mosques became frequent as they had forbidden the ‘Azam’. This aroused feelings of Muslims and Jinnah, till now, a messenger of Hindu-Muslim unity decided and devoted himself for a separate homeland for the Muslims. After the 2nd World War the congress demanded a promise for independence before helping the British authorities. The demand was not accepted and the congress Government ceased to function. In October 1937 the Muslim League was re-organized and branches established at all places and efforts made to have the widest possible support and strength from the masses. When the Congress resigned in November, 1939 the day of deliberations was celebrated by the Muslims throughout India.