After peace, the Sikh Army was basically disbanded by decree and turned loose on a society that had no real place for a formally honored class. It is small wonder that unrest was immediate and continuing. A scant two years after Sobraon, rebellion flared again. At first there was merely local trouble which was thought to be contained by scratch irregulars, but soon Shere Singh called the Khalsa to arms and there was a war. Paddy Grough, still in the saddle, arrived and with his usual drive met the Sikhs in a violent skirmish at Ramnuggar.. Losses of around 100 men resulted including two general officers and something that almost might be called a victory for the Sikhs. Hidden weapons and old uniforms were produced along with a surprisingly formidable artillery park; the Khalsa was back for another go at the enemy they had so nearly defeated. The Sikhs were seemingly as fond of field works as Russians or even Joe Johnston. They met the British behind such works in January 1849 at Chillianwallah. An almost impossibly bitter battle followed with both the Sikhs and Grough surrendering the battlefield. A drawn battle; thousands dead and nothing accomplished but the rebuilding of Sikh confidence. Later that month, Multan (where the revolt started) fell at last and Grough, for once with a superiority in artillery, won a near run battle at Guierat. The Sikhs broke at last, and the British cavalry turned it into a rout. Not long after the Khalsa laid down its arms with considerable dignity and pride. The Company would shortly, almost wholesale, take them into their service. The great military theorist Sun Tzu once said, "To make an ally, treat a soldier like a soldier." It must have worked in this case. A short eight years later the sepoys of the Bengal Army mutinied and the fate of India hung in the balance. Through all that not a single Sikh regiment wavered. They may have been the reason that the mutiny failed. Those bearded "lions" were even better allies than they had been enemies. More Napoleonics and Palm Trees: The Sikhs Introduction Who are the Sikhs? Uniforms of the Sikhs Uniforms of John Company First Sikh War 1845-46 Second Sikh War 1848-49 Wargaming the Sikh War Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VIII No. 4 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com