HAZARA UNDER BRITISH RULE

The British came to sub continent in the garb of traders but because of their machination they assumed the role of its rulers. Up to 1843 to 1846 quite a few regions were captured by them but the imposition of the British Raj on the Punjab was yet to come. This opportunity was afforded to them with the outbreak of the first war between the Sikhs and the British which besides other consequences resulted in an agreement between the two. Due to this agreement a British Resident was deputed to Lahore while Kashmir and Hazara area sold to Raja Ghulab |Singh for 7500000 rupees in March 1846. But during the same month of the succeeding year on the request of the Raja management f Hazara was directly assumed by the Lahore Darbaar H Lawrence. The British Resident at Lahore deputed Captain James Abbott in this region entrusted with the task of demarcating the boundary between Kashmir and the Punjab. It was towards the end of May 1847 while engaged in this work near the border of Hazara that he James Abbott received order deputing him to Hazara with full power of control over the administration.

Of a sanguine enthusiastic temperament warm hearted and generous he had little difficulty in winning the hearts of the people who welcome him as their savior from the Sikh as well as from the Dogra oppression. He earned their gratitude with his many acts of generosity and kindliness. Due to his kind heartedness he came to be almost worshipped by the people.

He up to the latter half of 1848 worked very patiently for the British as well as for the people cause but soon after wards some disputes between him and Sardar Chattur Singh the Sikh Governor of Hazara took place. These differences became so ominous that Major James Abbott and his 16 British colleges were compelled to take refuge first in Gandgar and later in the Tanawal area. In these areas the British found hospitable friends who in their hard days were a source of satisfaction for them and the second Sikh war maintained them and thwarted all the efforts of the Sikhs and the Afghan who came in the area to dislodge the British. Major James Abbott with the help of the local people fought so bravely against his enemies during the March 1849 that on the conclusion of the war be was appointed the first Deputy Commissioner D.C of the District. As a matter of fact with arrival of Major James Abbott a new era dawned in the chequered history of this area.