Military reform under Ranjit Singh

Testing manoeuvres

Military change under Ranjit Singh can be examined through particular practices. Henry Edward Fane attended a review on 5 December 1838, describing infantry, cavalry and horse artillery assembled for inspection. He compared their manoeuvres with what he had seen during his 1837 visit to Lahore. In his assessment, the displayed troops now moved with considerably greater steadiness. The comparison concerns units on parade and a military visitor’s judgment of their performance.[2]

Fane also distinguished elaborate movements from elementary formations. He thought the troops attempted complicated evolutions while needing more attention to advancing in line, wheeling and forming quickly. His praise and criticism belong together: they show the criteria by which he assessed improvement. The review demonstrates an ongoing concern with coordinated movement, without fixing a single beginning for reform or establishing how every formation would perform under fire.[2]

Making ordnance

William Barr’s account of his 1839 journey describes ordnance production. At Lahore’s foundry he saw recently cast brass howitzers modelled on those presented to Ranjit Singh by Lord William Bentinck. The episode brings local manufacture into view alongside the circulation of designs. It supports a specific example of adapting a model; Barr’s brief visit supplies neither a complete inventory of the foundry nor an audited total of the kingdom’s artillery.[1]

Local command

At Peshawar on 23 April, Barr watched General Court’s brigade on parade. A local officer conducted the drill, giving commands in French. The three infantry regiments had six-pounder guns between them and guns on the flanks, and Barr commended the steadiness of the manoeuvres. His description places an Indian officer within the exercise of command. Reform here involved people practising and directing techniques, as well as equipment and the employment of European officers.[1]