Lord Auckland

George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, was Governor-General of India from 4 March 1836 to 28 February 1842, the years that saw Maharaja Ranjit Singh's last treaty with the British and then his death. He was born on 25 August 1784 at Beckenham in Kent, was a Whig politician who had been President of the Board of Trade and First Lord of the Admiralty, and died unmarried on 1 January 1849 (Wikipedia).

The treaty with Lahore. Auckland sent Alexander Burnes to ally with Dost Muhammad of Afghanistan, but Dost Muhammad demanded Peshawar, which the British could not give without a war with the Sikhs. Auckland chose instead to back Shah Shuja against Dost Muhammad, and Sir William Macnaghten was sent to Lahore in May 1838 to negotiate. Ranjit Singh signed the Tripartite Treaty between the British, Lahore and Shah Shuja on 26 June 1838. One Sikh history site lists its terms: Sikh control of Kashmir, Attock, Hazara, Peshawar and the lands up to the Khyber, plus Multan, and 1,500,000 rupees for giving up Lahore's claim to Shikarpur. The same page argues that the British aim was largely to block Sikh ambitions in Sindh.

The war. On 1 October 1838 Auckland issued the Simla declaration, which accused Dost Muhammad of an unprovoked attack on Ranjit Singh's realm and said Shah Shuja would be restored with British backing. In late November 1838 Ranjit Singh brought the Dal Khalsa to Ferozepore for a review with the Company's troops, with Auckland present, and Auckland announced that the Army of the Indus would march on Kabul. Ranjit Singh's troops went through the Khyber while the British army entered Afghanistan from the south (Wikipedia).

The outcome. The campaign ended in disaster; Wikipedia's infobox puts the dead of the whole war at 15,000 to 40,000 British, sepoys and camp followers. Lord Ellenborough replaced Auckland, who returned to England in 1842. Ranjit Singh had died on 27 June 1839. The First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845 and 1846 was fought under Governor-General Henry Hardinge.

Key moments

• 4 March 1836: becomes Governor-General.
• 26 June 1838: Ranjit Singh signs the Tripartite Treaty.
• 1 October 1838: the Simla declaration.
• Late November 1838: the Ferozepore review with Ranjit Singh.
• 28 February 1842: leaves office.

What he is remembered for. He is remembered chiefly for the Simla declaration and the first Afghan war. For the Panth's record, his Afghan policy rested on the 1838 treaty with Ranjit Singh.