A dated settlement

The Treaty of Lahore’s closing formula dates the sixteen-article instrument to 9 March 1846 and states that it was ratified that day. It names the East India Company and Maharajah Duleep Singh as the parties. Its preamble blames the Sikh army for breaking the earlier relationship. That is the settlement’s interested account of the war, rather than an independently established explanation of its causes.[1][2]

The territorial provisions distinguish renouncing claims south of the Sutlej from ceding the country between the Beas and Sutlej. A further cession concerned hill territories between the Beas and Indus, including Kashmir and Hazara, as the equivalent of one crore of the demanded indemnity. Another fifty lakh rupees were payable by ratification. These clauses describe different obligations, not a single undifferentiated transfer.[1][2]

Army and authority

Articles six to eight addressed disbandment, military pay and armaments. The regular force was limited to twenty-five infantry battalions of eight hundred bayonets each and twelve thousand cavalry, unless the British government agreed to an increase. Discharged soldiers’ arrears were to be paid. The text also required surrender of thirty-six specified guns; it did not declare that every gun in Lahore’s possession was surrendered.[1][2]

Article fifteen promised British non-interference in internal administration while allowing advice on questions referred to the Governor-General. Other clauses required British consent for employing British, European or American subjects and for changing territorial limits. Reading these provisions together shows the particular powers reserved in the text, rather than treating its promise of friendship as an unrestricted guarantee of autonomy.[1][2]

The supplementary agreement

A separate eight-article agreement dated 11 March provided for a British force at Lahore during army reorganisation, with an outside limit at the end of 1846. It assigned that force possession of the fort and city, required Lahore troops to leave the city and charged additional expenses to Lahore. These are terms of the arrangement, not proof of when troops actually withdrew.[1][2]

The supplement also addressed revenue arrears, state property and boundary commissioners. Property could be removed from ceded forts except for guns, with valuation provisions if the British retained it. The Gazette separately prints the Amritsar agreement with Gulab Singh dated 16 March. That instrument must be distinguished from both Lahore documents, rather than folded into the 11 March supplement.[1]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Government of India; Frederick Currie, Henry Montgomery Lawrence and the named signatories. London Gazette 20602: original March 1846 settlement instruments ↗official printed legal instruments · Source date: 1846-05-08 · Locator: 8 May 1846, printed pp. 1678–1681 / PDF pp. 4–7: Treaty of Lahore, sixteen articles and closing formula; 11 March agreement, eight articles; separately headed 16 March Amritsar agreement. The surrounding conference reports and speeches are not used. Accessed 2026-11-02.The printed instruments were read. They establish the written terms; the original signed documents and their implementation were not examined.Return to A dated settlement, paragraph 1 ↑Return to A dated settlement, paragraph 2 ↑Return to Army and authority, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Army and authority, paragraph 2 ↑Return to The supplementary agreement, paragraph 1 ↑Return to The supplementary agreement, paragraph 2 ↑
  2. C. U. Aitchison; revised by authority of the Government of India Foreign Department. A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sanads, volume IX: Lahore nos. XVI–XVII ↗official compilation reproducing the same legal instruments · Source date: 1892 · Locator: Original government title / PDF p. 1; Lahore no. XVI, printed pp. 39–43 / PDF pp. 61–65; no. XVII, printed pp. 43–45 / PDF pp. 65–67. Only the named March instruments are used; the adjacent December agreement is separate. Accessed 2026-11-02.The two printed witnesses reproduce the same instruments. Their agreement is not independent corroboration of implementation.Return to A dated settlement, paragraph 1 ↑Return to A dated settlement, paragraph 2 ↑Return to Army and authority, paragraph 1 ↑Return to Army and authority, paragraph 2 ↑Return to The supplementary agreement, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-HIS-0088 · English edition · human review not performed