The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought in 1845-46. Following were its causes :

1. The British policy of Encirclement of the Lahore Kingdom: Ever since the time of Ranjit Singh, the British were making schemes for the conquest of the Punjab. They had built cantonments around the Sikh kindgom. Politically and diplomatically, they had half encircled the Sikh kingdom. They had already occupied Ferozepur and established a military cantonment there. They had brought Sindh and Shikarpur under their sphere of influence. After Ranjit. Singh’s death, their dream of conquering Punjab acquired more clear and definite shape. Naturally, such designs of the British alarmed the Sikh army in particular and the people of the Punjab in general.

2. Anarchy in the Punjab: Soon after the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 A.D., there prevailed anarchy in the Punjab and within a span of about four years, many of his sons and relatives were put to sword. Now the Khalsa army was all powerful and it became a problem for the Lahore Durbar to keep it under control. With the army being all in all, nobody’s life was safe. All the important chiefs and courtiers were afraid of the Khalsa army. It was in their best interest to engage the army in some war so as to weaken its power.

3. Defeat of the British in the First Afghan War: In the First Afghan War, the English fought with Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842 A.D. The English suffered a defeat. This encouraged the Sikhs to wage a war against the British. They had begun to think that the English were not invincible. If the Afghans could teach them a lesson, why not the Sikhs who had humiliated the Afghans in the times of Ranjit Singh.

4. Annexation of Sindh to the British Empire: The British annexed Sindh to their Empire in 1843 A.D. This incident brought the imperialistic designs of the English in the limelight. It was clear that the English would now try to annex the Punjab. It was difficult for the English to maintain their control over Sindh unless they annexed the Punjab too.

The annexation of Sindh brought their aggressive designs to the forefront and the Sikhs naturally became suspicious of the English.

5. Ellenborough’s plan to capture Punjab: The British, in fact, had been planning to occupy the Punjab much before their war with the Sikhs actually began. After the annexation of Sindh to the British Empire, Lord Ellenborough planned to capture the Punjab. To materialise this plan, the English began to make elaborate military preparations. When the Sikhs came to know about the intentions of the British, the Sikhs also began to make preparations for War.

6. Military Activities of the British: The prevailing anarchy in the Punjab encouraged the English to start making elaborate military preparations. They began to station their army men in large numbers near the Sutlej.

It is said that on the boundaries of the Sutlej in 1836 A.D., there were only 2500 British soldiers. Their number rose to 14,000 in 1843. Besides this, the English had stationed a large number of their troops at Ferozepur, Ludhiana and Ambala. Not only that, the English had begun to collect boats to cross the Sutlej. All these activities of the English made the Sikhs more suspicious and they began to feel that the English wanted to grab the Punjab.

7. The dispute over the treasure of Suchet Singh: Dogra Sardar Suchet Singh was in the service of Lahore Darbar. At the time of his death, he was at Ferozepur. He left behind fifteen lakh rupees there. Because he had no issue, the Lahore Darbar claimed its right on this amount. But the English Government wanted to bring this matter to the court. At this the Sikhs rose in revolt against the English.

8. Dispute over Mauran Village: Dhanna Singh, a native of the village Mauran situated in the Nabha State, was in the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh; who being pleased with him, wrote to Jaswant Singh the Raja of Nabha to grant him the village Mauran as Jagir. In return, the Maharaja granted him a number of villages for life to Jaswant Singh’s sister. After the death of Dhanna Singh, his son Hukam Singh succeeded him. But Devinder Singh, the new ruler of Nabha, sent his troops to the village and seized Hukam Singh’s property worth about two lakh rupees and occupied the village. The Lahore Darbar demanded the restoration of the village. But the English Government rejected the claim of the Lahore Darbar and said that Jaswant Singh’s grant to Dhanna Singh had been illegal.

9. Provocation of Major Broadfoot: The appointment of Major Broadfoot as the British Resident at Ludhiana in place of Mr. Clark added fuel to the fire. He was hard-headed and hot-tempered. Immediately after taking charge of his post, he declared that Maharaja Dalip Singh’s territories South of the Sutlej would be considered under British rule. This declaration aroused the anger of the Sikh chiefs beyond limit and they began to feel that a war with the British was unavoidable.

10. Plans of Lai Singh and Rani Jindan: Lai Singh and Rani Jindan planned to incite the Sikh army against the British. They made the Sikh army to think that the British were determined to capture Punjab after occupying Sindh.

11. Immediate Cause: Crossing of the Sutlej by the Sikhs. The excited Sikh forces made up their mind to settle their scores with the British. Thus, between December 11 and 14 in 1846 A.D., the Sikh soldiers in large numbers began to cross the Sutlej river. The English were already waiting for the Sikhs to first begin the war. As soon as the Governor-General Lord Hardinge got the information that the Sikh forces had crossed the Sutlej, he also declared a regular war against the Sikhs on December 18, 1845 A.D.