The Sutlej Campaign - also known as the first Anglo-Sikh War of 1845/46 - was the showdown between two expanding and rival Indian powers - Britain's East India Company, and the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab. The great Sikh ruler, Ranjit Singh, had expanded his kingdom and built the Punjab into a formidable military power at the same time as the Company was growing around his borders. After Ranjit's death in 1839, the kingdom fell into disorder, and the Company took advantage of the chaos to move in. Coley was an East India Company chaplain. His journal covers the battles of Moodkee and...

A civilian's view of the First Sikh War
James Coley, the author of this small book, was Chaplain to the Governor General, Sir Henry Hardinge, not a serving soldier, but his account of the harrowing events he witnessed during the First Sikh War is the kind of primary source material relating to the campaign to subjugate the Sikhs of the Punjab that only an eyewitness can provide. The Sikhs were a martial nation and were not only the strongest and best trained native military force on the Sub-Continent, but also the last remaining independent army to stand in the path of the British...

A civilian's view of the First Sikh War
James Coley, the author of this small book, was Chaplain to the Governor General, Sir Henry Hardinge, not a serving soldier, but his account of the harrowing events he witnessed during the First Sikh War is the kind of primary source material relating to the campaign to subjugate the Sikhs of the Punjab that only an eyewitness can provide. The Sikhs were a martial nation and were not only the strongest and best trained native military force on the Sub-Continent, but also the last remaining independent army to stand in the path of the British...