Foreword To The Book ‘Maharaja Kharak Singh’  Book By Fauja Singh

In recent years history of the Sikhs has attracted the attention of several scholars both in India and abroad, and as a result of this widely awakened interest a number of valuable studies have appeared. Among them books on the period of Sikh rule, 1799-1849, alone nearly run into half a dozen, maybe even more. But here too the scope of scholarly investigation is not exhausted and still there is considerable room for intensive work. This present publication may well be taken to offer a striking illustration of this point. It contains voluminous official corres­pondence pertaining to the brief period from June 1839 to November 1840, the time-span which coincides exactly with the reign of Maharaja Kharak Singh. Though brief in length, this is a very crucial period, however, when the relations between the Sikh and British governments almost came to a breaking point. I am confident that the documents published herein will go a long way in helping us to understand the gravity and magnitude of the problems faced by the Lahore government during these months. They are also expected to throw a considerable amount of light on the great impact which the then prevailing critical situation made on the domestic politics of the Lahore Durbar. Moreover, there are many knotty problems relating to this period, which need to be examined afresh, for instance the realignment of political forces at Lahore about this time, the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Maharaja Kharak Singh and Kanwar Nao Nihal Singh etc., etc. I do hope that this source book will assist our scholars greatly in resolving all such problems in a manner more authentic and satisfactory.

I am happy that our Department of Punjab Historical Studies under the leadership of Professor Fauja Singh has brought out the first volume of the project which has been taken up with a view to the publi­cation of research materials in the custody of National Archives of India, bearing on Punjab affairs from the death of Ranjit Singh to the year of Punjab's annexation to British Dominion in 1849. It is my earnest hope that the remainder of the project will be pushed through with equal vigour for the benefit of students and researchers.

1st July, 1977                                                                                                                                                         I. K. Sandhu
PUNJABI UiNlVERSITY                                                                                                                                       Vice-Chancellor
PATIALA

Table Of Contents Of The Book ‘Maharaja Kharak Singh’ By Fauja Singh