Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"

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'''Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"''', also known as "the Paladins of the Punjaub", were a group of [[East India Company]] officers sent to act as "advisers" to the Sikhs after the [[First Sikh War]] in 1846. In the words of [[George St Patrick Lawrence|George Lawrence]], his duties were "to act as a friendly adviser to the native officials".<ref>{{cite book |title=Gazetteer of the Peshawar District 1897–98 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |place=Lahore |year=1989 |edition=reprint |page=78 }}</ref> They served under the command of Sir [[Henry Montgomery Lawrence|Henry Lawrence]], initially the Agent to the Governor General and later also the Resident at Lahore.

Collectively these men laid the foundations of British rule in the [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]] and [[North-West Frontier (military history)|Northwest Frontier]] between the First Anglo-Sikh War and the [[Indian Rebellion]] in 1857.

==Background==
Following the successful defeat of the [[Maratha Empire]] in the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]], the East India Company was able to expand its operations westwards largely unchecked.<ref>Joe Bindloss, Northeast India, Lonely Planet, 2009, page 31</ref> This created a new frontier for the company which brought them into competition with the expanding [[Sikh Empire]] under [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]]. At the same time, [[Russia]] was empire building in Asia, and the British government became fearful of the Russian threats to its commercial interests in India and central Asia. The British viewed [[Afghanistan]] as a potential protectorate, behind a series of further buffer states in central Asia and [[Persia]] designed to protect British India. However, to gain access to Afghanistan, a route would be required through [[Sindh|Sind]] and the [[Punjab]].<ref name=ingram1980>[[Edward Ingram (historian)|Edward Ingram]]. The International History Review, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Apr., 1980), pp. 160–171. Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40105749 [http://pahar.in/wpfb-file/1980-great-britains-great-game-an-introduction-by-ingram-from-intl-hist-rev-v2-s-pdf/ Great Britain's Great Game: An Introduction]</ref>

The death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 marked a period of instability within the Sikh Empire.<ref>Hernon, Ian (2003). Britain's forgotten wars. Sutton Publishing Ltd. {{ISBN|0-7509-3162-0}}, page 546</ref> To counter the threat to British territories along the border, the East India Company increased its military strength near the border with a new cantonment in [[Firozpur]]. However this act, viewed together with the recent conquest of [[Sindh]] in 1843, was viewed with great distrust by the Sikhs.<ref>Farwell, Byron (1973). Queen Victoria's little wars. Wordsworth Editions. {{ISBN|1-84022-216-6}}, page 30</ref> This led to a breakdown in diplomatic relations and the outbreak of the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] in 1845.

The British marched unopposed into [[Lahore]] on 20 February 1846 and a peace treaty, known as the [[Treaty of Lahore]] was drawn up by [[Sir Frederick Currie, 1st Baronet|Frederick Currie]]. A supplement to the treaty stipulated that a British force would remain in Lahore until no longer than the end of the year "for the purpose of protecting the person of the Maharajah and the inhabitants of the City of Lahore, during the reorganisation of the Sikh Army.<ref>Article 1 to 4 of the supplementary Agreement</ref> Towards the end of 1846, the Treaty of Bhyrowal was ratified, which provided that a Resident British officer, with an efficient establishment of assistants, was to be appointed by the Governor-General to remain at [[Lahore]], with "full authority to direct and control all matters in every Department of the State".<ref>Article 2 of the Treaty of Bhyroval</ref>

==Paladins of the Punjaub==
The new Resident was to be Henry Lawrence, who had assisted Currie in the drafting of the Lahore Treaty. Lawrence would subsequently hand pick a number of assistants to carry out his orders. These included contemporaries such as [[James Abbott (Indian Army officer)|James Abbott]], [[Frederick Mackeson]] and his brothers [[George St Patrick Lawrence|George Lawrence]] and [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|John Lawrence]], however the majority were junior officers in their twenties taken directly from the [[Bengal Army]].<ref>Charles Allen, Soldier Sahibs: The Men Who Made the North-West Frontier, Hachette UK, 21 June 2012</ref> Some of the most prominent officers selected by Lawrence, were those he had served with in the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]]. The [[Battle of Sobraon]] alone included [[Herbert Edwardes]], [[William Stephen Raikes Hodson|William Hodson]] and [[Harry Burnett Lumsden|Harry "Joe" Lumsden]].<ref>Stephen Wade, Spies in the Empire: Victorian Military Intelligence, Anthem Press, 1 Jul 2007, p.36</ref>

Lawrence was always on the lookout for new recruits and carried around a notebook recording names and observations.<ref>Stephen Wade, Spies in the Empire: Victorian Military Intelligence, Anthem Press, 1 Jul 2007, p.36</ref> The charismatic Lawrence nurtured his proteges into a brotherhood of young men, sharing a vocation, very much a band of brothers, Paladins at the court of their mentor and master.<ref>Stephen Wade, Spies in the Empire: Victorian Military Intelligence, Anthem Press, 1 Jul 2007, p.7</ref>

The [[Siege of Multan|murders in Multan]] of [[Patrick Alexander Vans Agnew|Patrick Vans Agnew]] and Lt. Anderson, sparked the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] and led to the annexation of the [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Gazetteer of the Multan District 1923–24 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |place=Lahore |year=2001 |edition=reprint |page=283 }}</ref>

=="Young Men"==
[[File:Henry Montgomery Lawrence - Project Gutenberg eText 16528.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Henry Montgomery Lawrence, after photograph by Ahmed Ali Khan, 1857. NPG]]
* [[James Abbott (Indian Army officer)|James Abbott]]
* [[Lewin Bentham Bowring|Lewin Bowring]]
* [[Neville Bowles Chamberlain]]
* [[John Coke (East India Company officer)|John Coke]]
* [[Holled Wallace Henry Coxe|Henry Coxe]]
* [[Henry Daly]]
* [[Herbert Edwardes]]
* [[William Stephen Raikes Hodson|William Hodson]]
* [[George St Patrick Lawrence|George Lawrence]]
* [[Harry Burnett Lumsden|Harry "Joe" Lumsden]]
* [[Frederick Mackeson]]
* [[Philip Sandys Melvill|Philip Melvill]]
* [[John Nicholson (general)|John Nicholson]]
* [[Frederick Richard Pollock|Richard Pollock]]
* [[Reynell Taylor]]
* [[Patrick Alexander Vans Agnew]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=Political Diaries of the Agent to the Governor General, North West Frontier and Resident at Lahore from 1 January 1847 to 4 March 1848 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |place=Lahore |year=2005 |edition=reprint |ISBN=969-35-1766-0 }}
* {{cite book |title=Political Diaries of Lieut. H. B. Edwardes, Assistant to the Resident at Lahore 1847-1849 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |place=Lahore |year=2006 |edition=reprint |ISBN=969-35-1770-9 }}
* {{cite book |title=Political Diaries of Lieutenant Reynell G. Taylor, Mr. P. Sandys Melvill, Pandit Kunahya Lal, Mr. P. A. Vans Agnew, Lieutenant J. Nicholson, Mr. L. Bowring and Mr. A. H. Cocks, 1847-1849 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |place=Lahore |year=2006 |edition=reprint |ISBN=969-35-1771-7 }}
* {{cite book |title=Soldier Sahibs: the men who made the North-West Frontier |authorlink=Charles Allen (writer) |first=Charles |last=Allen |publisher=John Murray |place=London |year=2000 |ISBN=978-0-349-11456-9 }}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry Lawrence's Young Men}}
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers|Young Men, Sir Henry Lawrence's]]
[[Category:History of Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of India]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War]]

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Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"