# Foreign officials of the Sikh Empire

The Sikh Empire of the northwestern Indian subcontinent employed many foreigners, mostly Europeans and some Americans, in its administration and military. Fixty-two Europeans served in the Sikh Khalsa Army, coming from English, Russian, Spanish, Greek, German (incl. Prussian), French, and Austrian-backgrounds. The nationality with the largest representation in the Sikh Empire were the French, with there being sixteen French officers of the Sikh army. The foreign officials were known as Firanghis and served in various roles, such as generals, military advisors, administrators, and physicians.
Western/European officers from various backgrounds, including Britishers, Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Americans, and Russians, also rose to high levels within the Sikh court in many instances. However, the Sikh court was wary of the Westerners within the court, and kept them therefore under strict regulation. These foreign Western members of the court were persuaded by the state to integrate themselves by marrying a local woman, settling down within the empire, swearing loyalty to the Sikh state, and adopt the cultural customs of the locals, such as growing out a beard or wearing a turban. The Western members of the court were also banned from publicly consuming beef or smoking. The Westerners adopted a mixture of both European and Punjabi clothing and some chose to wear Punjabi weapons on their person.

## Military

After the fall of Napoleon, the generals Ventura and Allard joined the services of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1822. They helped reform the jagirdari cavalry along European lines. Generals Ventura and Allard were responsible for establishing the Fauj-i-Khas unit, with Allard commanding three regiments in his brigade while Ventura controlled five divisions. Meanwhile, Claude-Auguste Court was tasked with setting-up an artillery division of the Sikh army, which had three brigades by 1830. Colonel Francois Henry Mouton and Signor Colonel Domingo Hurbon were given the job of engineering a pontoon bridge for the Sikh Army at the Battle of Sobraon in 1846 during the First Anglo-Sikh war. Signor Colonel Domingo Hurbon was one of the European officials who remained serving the Sikh Empire until its very end.
French cavalry officers of the Sikh army included General Allard, Commander de la Roche, Mouton, Mr Garron (or Carron), Messrs de Facieu (father and son) and Captain Argoud. The infantry wing consisted of Captain de la Font, Mr Amise, Mr Dubuignon, Mr de la Ust, and Mr Gervais, while General Court took-care of the artillery operations.

## Doctors

Three foreign doctors were recorded as being on the payroll of the Sikh army: the Transylvanian Johann Martin Honigberger, a Frenchman called Benet, and an Englishman called Harvey. Dr Benet was employed shortly as Maharajah Ranjit Singh's medical physician and the surgeon-general of the Sikh army.

## List of foreigners who served the Sikh Empire
### French

* Jean-François Allard (1785 – 1839)
* Claude-Auguste Court (1793 – 1880)
* François Henri Mouton (1804–1876)

### Italian

* Jean-Baptiste Ventura (1794 – 1858)
* Paolo Avitabile ("Abu Tabela") (1791 – 1850)

### Spanish

* Domingo Urbón de Alcántara (1811 – 1851)

### Austrian

* Johann Martin Honigberger (1795 – 1869)

### American

* Alexander Gardner (1785 – 1877)
* Josiah Harlan (1799 – 1871)