ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>RICHMOND COLONEL AF</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="RICHMOND,COLONEL"> <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">&#65279RICHMOND, COLONEL A.F., agent to the Governor-General, North-West Frontier Agency (June 1843-November 1844), who came to the Sutlej frontier when the political situation at Lahore had become unstable. It is believed that the Italian General Ventura, who had gained influence with the new Waz&#299r, H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh, feeling insecure at the Sikh capital, supplied secret intelligence to Col Richmond on the state of affairs in the Punjab. Richmond was among those who believed that the kingdom of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh was heading towards disintegration. H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh, he surmised, would flee to the Jamm&#363 hills and that the &#7692ogr&#257s would form an independent state in the hills; that the province of Mult&#257n would break loose, and that the Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns would ultimately recover Pesh&#257war. Amidst these conjectures, Richmond was confronted with a few practical problems which he was unable to handle competently. Early in April 1844, Saunders ,his political assistant at F&#299rozpur, reported that a treasure valued at 1,500,000 rupees belonging to the deceased R&#257j&#257 Suchet Si&#7749gh had been discovered. He hastily ascertained the Sikh Darb&#257r's wishes as to its disposal; then, regretting the step on a hint from superior authority, decided to have it removed secretly to Meerut, but finally allowed it to remain in deposit at F&#299rozpur until a rightful claimant was discovered. The matter was allowed to drag on for months and it became a constant source of irritation between the British and the Sikhs. Differences between the two governments also arose in respect of the village of Maur&#257&#7749 which the protected ruler of N&#257bh&#257 had ceded to Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. The N&#257bh&#257 chief became displeased with Hukam Si&#7749gh, the Lahore grantee, and a N&#257bh&#257 subject. Richmond, irrespective of the Darb&#257r's remonstrations, recommended the resumption of the village on the grounds that a protected chief had made the gift without the concurrence of the British government. These two incidents caused bitter feelings among the Sikhs, and were recounted by the Darb&#257r and the army as major grievances against the British before the commencement of the first Anglo-Sikh war.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Richmond was a keen observer of Sikh affairs across the Sutlej. His despatches in the <i>India Secret Proceedings</i> are full of penetrating detail. He was the first British political officer who compiled fairly accurate statistics of the military resources of the Punjab in 1844, which closely tally with the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Darb&#257r Records</i> &#8212 70,000 men of all arms and 655 guns. He also wrote a highly informative book, <i>A Memoir on the Jamm&#363 Rajas</i>, completed in December 1843.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lord Hardinge, the governor-general, did not like the moderate policy which Richmond pursued in relation to the Sikhs. "Richmond, I confess," he observed soon after his arrival, "has disappointed me; he blows hot and cold and has no decided opinion." Further, he suspected him to be playing into the hands of Lieut J.D. Cunningham, who was favourably inclined towards the Sikhs. Consequently, he was relieved of his charge on 1 November 1844, Major George Broadfoot replacing him.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Banerjee, A.C., <i>Anglo-Sikh Relations</i>. Calcutta, 1949<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>Panjab on the Eve of First Sikh War</i>. Chandigarh, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Gough, C. and Innes, A., <i>The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars</i>. London, 1897<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, <i>Anglo-Sikh Relations (1799-1849)</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>