The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-04-21 00:00:00

INDIA.

BY EXTRAORDINARY EXPRESS FROM MARSEILLES.

(FROM YESTERDAY'S TIMES)
The intelligence from India which we have received in
anticipation of the Bombay mail of the Kith of March,
confirms the important intelligence of the pacification of
the Punjab.

To render our relation of the events which have occurred
since the date of our previous accounts more clear, it will,
perhaps, be better that we should recapitulate a few of the
more important particulars subsequent to the great victory
at the bridge of Sobraon, which decided the fate of the
Punjab. This battle, by which the Sikhs were driven
across the Sutlej, took place on the 10th of February.
The first division of the British army entered the Punjab
on that day. On the 14th, the Governor-general was at
Kussoor, where he issued a proclamation declaring the
independence of that country. The alarm of the Sikh
government was great ; Gholab Singh, the Wuzeer, re-
presented to the Queen-mother that the defeat of the
Khalsa was attended with the loss of 20,000 men. He
was commissioned to make terms. He sent word to the
British authorities, and promised to be at Kussoor, where
the Governor-general was waiting for the remainder of his
army. Gholab Singh arrived four hours after his time,
and was received with coldness, and was referred to the
Secretary, Mr. Currie, and to Major Lawrence, the Poli-
tical Agent, with whom he remained in close conference
until past midnight. The terms of convention prescribed
to him were the cession of all the country to the east of
the Beas, in addition to the provinces declared in De-
cember to have been confiscated ; the payment of a mil-
lion and a half sterling ; the surrender of all the cannon
used against the British ; and the total disbanding of the
'Chaise army. Gholab Singh had another long conference
on the 17th. The presence of the young King, Dhuleep
Singh, was required in the British camp, which, on the
18th, advanced to within eighteen miles of Lahore.
Dhuleep Singh came there, and was received without any
salute. He then " expressed his contrition for the late
hostile proceedings, and his acquiescence in all the terms
and conditions imposed by the British Government."
The Governor-general then ordered a royal salute to be
fired, and issued a proclamation, that " the inhabitants of
the Punjab were perfectly safe in person and property from
any molestation by the British troops, and might dismiss
apprehension and follow their respective callings with all
confidence."
On the morning of the 20thjthe British army appeared
under the walls of Lahore, where no resistance was shown.
Preparations were made for sending Dhuleep Singh to his
palace, under an escort of the British troops. The report
of Mr. Currie of the ceremony of introducing Maharajah
Dhuleep Singh into his palace is highly interesting. He
says, that he proceeded with eighteen officers on elephants,
and several troops of cavalry, to the encampment of the
Maharajah, and " on reaching the Maharajah's camp, the
troops of our escort drew up, and the Maharajah, with
Bhee Ram Singh on the same elephant, came forward from
his tent, accompanied by several chiefs. After the usual
salutations and complimentary questions and replies, I
placed the Maharajah's elephant next to mine, and the
troops having fallen in, as at first, proceeded round the
walls of the city to the gate of the citadel. On arriving,
Brigadier Cureton drew up the escort in line in front of
the 'gateway, and I took the Maharajah, accompanied by
the officers enumerated iu the former part of this letter,
with Rajah Gholab Singh and the other chiefs, into the
interior of the citadel, and to the inner door of his palace.
I then observed to the Maharajah and chiefs, that by order
of the Right Honourable the Governor-general, I had
thus brought the Maharajah, conducted by the British
army, to his palace, which his Highness had left for the
purpose of tendering submission to the British Govern-
ment, and for placing himself, his capital, and his country,
at the mercy of the Governor-general, and requesting
pardon for the insult that had been offered ; and that the
Governor-general had thus restored him to his palace as
a mark of the favour which he desired to show to the
descendants of the late Maharajah Runjeet Singh. A
salute of 21 guns was then fired by the Horse Artillery.
We then took leave of the Maharajah at the gate of his palace
and returning to theoutside of the city we continued our pro-
gress roundlLahor, ,'hus returned to our camp.' They then
made the entire circuit of Lahore, which was considered
preferable to going through the city, as the streets, being
very narrow, the progress of so large an escort would
have been impeded.
On the 22d the citadel of Lahore and a part of the
Palace was formally taken possession of by the British
authorities.
On the 15th the Governor-General issued the next im-
portant general order to the British army. It contains
the expression of thanks for the triumphant successes
obtained, and orders twelve months' batta to the troops.
This was accompanied by a general order from the
Governor-General, which, after recapitulating the va►ious
successes of the British arms, has the following :—" The
Governor-General being determined, however, to mark
with reprobation the perfidious character of the war, has
required and will exact that every remaining piece of Sikh
artillery which has been pointed against the British army
during this campaign shall be surrendered. The Sikh
army, whose inordinate conduct is one of the chief
causes of the anarchy and misrule which have brought
the Sikh state to the brink of destruction, is about to be
disbanded."

The Khalsa troops after their defeat at Sobraon retired
towards Umritsir. Their commander, Tej Singh, was
twice wounded in their last conflict, and, seeing no advan-
tage from further resistance, gave in. The remnant of the
Khalsa army was obliged to surrender their cannon, and
to disperse. The surrender of their guns was a proof of
their conquest, for on them their great reliance was placed
in battle. Groans and tears attended their departure from
Lahore. _

The Wuzeer Gholab Singh was the chief agent, but the
queen-mother wishes to promote her paramour Lall Singh
to the wuzeership, and Gholab is discontented. Intrigues
are busy. '
The first instalment of the money had not been paid on
the Ist of March, but it was daily expected. The with-
drawal of the British army was to take place about the
10th. The state of the country round Lahore is described
as tranquil, but there were bands of armed men prowling
in the aistricts.

Permission was given in the general orders of the 25th
of February to the men of the 16th: Lancers and of the
31st Foot to volunteer into other corps. These regiments
are to come by water to Bombay, and there to embark for
Europe.
Arrangements were fast making for the occupation of
the conquered country, which is exceedingly fertile, and
and will yield an annual revenue of £400,000. The chief
town is Jullinder, with 40,000 inhabitants; Phulloor, Pug-
warra, and Sultanpore are also of note. The cantonments
of the British will not be far distant from Lahore, so as
to be able to keep down all attempts at insurrection.

The news from Scinde is not of remarkable interest.
Sir Charles Napier, having been fired at on going up the
river Sutlej, landed at 006, and proceeded to Bhawul-
pore, where he landed on the 20th of February, visited the
Rajah, and set out on:the 22nd for Ferozepore to join the
Governor-General. The distance is 230 miles. He had
not arrived at Lahore on the Ist of March. General
M`Laren died of his wounds at Ferozepore. The Adju-
tant-General of the Bengal Army, Sir J. R. Lumley, died
also at Ferozepore.
The Nizam's dominions are in a state of inextricable
confusion.

The Governor of Bombay, Sir G. Arthur, has had a
severe fit of illness, but was recovering. The native ba-
zaar master at Poonah had, after a trial of several months,
been convicted of extortion, and sentenced to six years'
imprisonment.
Lord Elphinstone had reached Delhi, en route, to join
the Governor-General's camp.
The barks continued to pay high interest on their capi-
tal. The Benares Bank has declared a dividend of 10,
and the Agra Bank of 142 per cent.