ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>COUNCIL OF REGENCY</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="COUNCIL,REGENCY"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279COUNCIL OF REGENCY, To govern the State of the Punjab during the minority of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh, two successive councils of regency were set up at Lahore - the first functioning from 1844-46 and the second from 1846-49. After the assassination of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh on 15 September 1843, R&#257j&#257 H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh had won over the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 army and established himself in the office of prime minister with the minor Duleep Si&#7749gh as the new sovereign. But his rule was short-lived, and he, along with his favourite and deputy, Pa&#7751&#7693it Jall&#257, was killed by the Army on 21 December 1844. Mah&#257r&#257&#7751&#299 Jind Kaur, who had an active hand in overthrowing H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh, now cast off her veil and assumed full powers as regent in the name of her minor son, Duleep Si&#7749gh. To run the administration, she constituted a Council of Regency on 22 December 1844, composed of Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh, R&#257j&#257 L&#257l Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299 R&#257m Si&#7749gh, Ba<u>kh</u>sh&#299 Bhagat R&#257m, D&#299w&#257n D&#299n&#257 N&#257th, Atar Si&#7749gh K&#257li&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257, Sh&#257m Si&#7749gh A&#7789&#257r&#299v&#257l&#257, General Maht&#257b Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257, General Mev&#257 Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257 and General L&#257l Si&#7749gh Mor&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257. The composition of this Council represented a combination of elder statesmen of the Darb&#257r and army generals. Mah&#257r&#257&#7751&#299 Jind Kaur acted with determination and courage in transacting public business. The Council nullified the enhanced taxes and burdens imposed by R&#257j&#257 H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh, restored to the feudatory <i>sard&#257rs j&#257g&#299rs</i> and fiefs resumed by him and enhanced the pay of the soldiery. It also quelled the revolts of Ka&#7749var Kashm&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh and Ka&#7749var Pashaur&#257 Si&#7749gh and sent a force 35, 000 strong to Jamm&#363 to crush the rebellious activities of R&#257j&#257 Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh, who was brought to Lahore and arraigned on a charge of treachery against his sovereign.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After the first Anglo-Sikh war, under article 5 of the Agreement concluded between the British government and the Lahore Darb&#257r at Bharov&#257l (16 December 1846), Henry Lawrence was appointed resident with "full authority to direct and control all matters in every department of the State" and a new eight-member Council of Regency was constituted, the members being R&#257j&#257 Tej Si&#7749gh, Sher Si&#7749gh A&#7789&#257r&#299v&#257l&#257, D&#299w&#257n D&#299n&#257 N&#257th, Faq&#299r N&#363r ud-D&#299n, Ra&#7751jodh Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257, Bh&#257&#299 Nidh&#257n Si&#7749gh, Atar Si&#7749gh K&#257li&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 and Shamsher Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257. The Treaty of Bharov&#257l had changed the entire complexion of the Council of Regency. Its members could only hold office during the pleasure of the British resident. Mah&#257r&#257&#7751&#299 Jind Kaur was pensioned off, and the British government became the guardian of the minor Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of the Punjab. A British garrison was stationed at Lahore, and the entire civil and military administration of the country was vested in the British resident. The Council of Regency ceased to exist as a sovereign political body. It was more an instrument for subserving British interests as it did, for instance, in acquiescing in the removal of the Mah&#257r&#257&#7751&#299 from the capital in August 1847 and her final expulsion from the Punjab in June 1848; in forcing D&#299w&#257n M&#363l R&#257j to resign the governorship of Mult&#257n in December 1847; and in meekly accepting the blame of the Mult&#257n revolt under Resident Frederick Currie's pressure. In directing the course of events leading to the second Anglo-Sikh war, the Council of Regency had no voice at all. None of its members spoke to contradict British accusations that the whole Sikh nation was involved in a general resurrection to re-establish the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 R&#257j. The Council's last dismal act was the signing on behalf of the minor sovereign the Instrument of deposition and annexation of the Punjab to the British empire on 29 March 1849, which spelt the end of the dynasty of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Cunningham, J. D. , <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>. London, 1849<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Si&#7749gh, <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. 2. Princeton, 1966<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, B. J. , <i>Anglo-Sikh Relations</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1968<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">B. J. Hasrat<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>