CHAPTER IX
The English and the Cis-Sutlej Territory
To one friendship the Mahárájá remained ever constant; from one alliance he never sought to shake himself free. This was the friendly alliance with the British Government, then represented in Hindustán by the East India Company. In the first years of the century, before he had appreciated the power and policy of the English, he was doubtful what line to adopt towards his new neighbours, and in December, 1808, had all but decided on war with them. But when his and their position was once defined and assured by the treaty of 1809, by which he renounced for ever all supremacy over the Cis-Sutlej chiefs, he frankly accepted the duties and responsibilities which the agreement imposed, and for thirty years remained the true and faithful ally of the British Government. He trusted its word with a calculated confidence which was astonishing in so suspicious and unscrupulous a ruler, and which, at the same time, was the highest proof of statesmanship. Nor was his confidence misplaced. The British Government invariably treated
