Patrick Alexander Vans Agnew (1822–1848) was a British civil servant of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
, whose murder during the
Siege of Multan
The siege of Multan began on 19 April 1848 and lasted until 22 January 1849, and saw fighting around Multan (in present-day Pakistan) between the British East India Company and the Sikh Empire. It began with a rebellion against a ruler imposed ...
by the retainers of
Dewan Mulraj
Mulraj Chopra (1814 – 11 August 1851) was the Diwan (governor) of Multan and leader of a Sikh rebellion against the British which led to the Second Anglo-Sikh War.Bobby Singh Bansal, Remnants of the Sikh Empire: Historical Sikh Monuments in I ...
led to the
Second Sikh War and to the British annexation of the
Punjab region
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
.
Background
Vans Agnew was the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Vans Agnew, a
Madras officer of considerable reputation, and afterwards a director of the East India Company.
India
After a very successful career at
Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to:
Australia
* Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
** Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia
China
* Haileybury International School, an internatio ...
, where he gave evidence of superior talent and of judgment and force of character in advance of his years, Agnew joined the
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
civil service in March 1841, and in the following year commenced his official life as assistant to the commissioner of the
Delhi division
Delhi Division is the only administrative and revenue division in the Delhi which consists of eleven Revenue districts. Civil Lines in Central Delhi district is the headquarters of the Delhi division. Delhi Division is headed by an IAS officer ...
. In December 1845 he was appointed assistant to Major
George Broadfoot, the superintendent of the
Cis-Sutlej states
The Cis-Sutlej states were a group of states in the modern Punjab and Haryana states of northwestern India during the 19th century, lying between the Sutlej River on the north, the Himalayas on the east, the Yamuna River and Delhi District on the ...
, and was present at the
Battle of Sobraon
The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Sikhs were completely defeated, making this the decisive battle of th ...
early in 1846. He was subsequently employed in settling the boundaries of the territory of Maharaja
Gulab Singh
Gulab Singh Jamwal (1792–1857) was the founder of Dogra dynasty and the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the largest princely state under the British Raj, which was created after the defeat of the Sikh Empire in ...
, the new ruler of
Kashmir, and in a mission to
Gilgit.
Chain of Events
In the spring of 1848, being then assistant to the resident at
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
, he was sent to
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the old ...
with instructions to take over the government of that province from
Mulraj, the
Nazim
Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...
or governor, who had applied to be relieved of it, and to make it over to Sardar Kahan Singh Mann, a Sikh noble, remaining himself in the capacity of political agent to introduce a new system of finance and revenue. On this mission he was accompanied by Lieutenant
W. A. Anderson, of the
Bombay Army
The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India.
It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred all presidencies to the d ...
, who had been his assistant on his mission to Gilgit, and also by Sardar Kahan Singh Mann, the dewan designate, and an escort of Sikh troops. The mission reached Multan on 18 April 1848. On the following day Agnew and Anderson were visited by Mulraj, and some discussion, not altogether harmonious, took place as to the terms upon which the province should be given over, Agnew demanding that the accounts for the six previous years should be produced. On 20 April, the two English officers inspected
Multan Fort
The Multan Fort was a historic fort in the city of Multan. According to some estimates the original fort was built by Katoch Dynasty Rajput between 800 and 1000 B.C. However, it was later destroyed. It was rebuilt by Ranghar chiefs near the city o ...
and the various establishments, and on their return to their camp in company with Mulraj were attacked and wounded (Anderson severely) by the retainers of Mulraj, who immediately rode off at full speed to his country residence. The two wounded Englishmen were placed by their attendants in an idgah, or fortified temple, where, on the following day, their Sikh escort having gone over to the enemy, they were brutally murdered by the adherents of Mulraj.
This incident, so important in its political results, produced a profound sensation throughout India. Both the murdered officers, though young in years (Agnew would have been twenty-six had he lived one day longer), had already established a high reputation in the public service. Anderson had some time previously attracted the favourable notice of Sir
Charles Napier in
Sind, and the duties upon which Agnew had been employed, including his last most responsible and, as the event proved, fatal mission, sufficed to show the high estimation in which his services were held. Nor was it only as a rising public servant that Patrick Vans Agnew's death was mourned. In private life his brave, modest, and unselfish nature had won the esteem and affection of all who knew him. "If," wrote Sir
Herbert Edwardes
Major-General Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes DCL (12 November 1819 – 23 December 1868) was a British administrator, soldier, and statesman active in the Punjab region of British India. He is best known as the "Hero of Multan" for his pivotal ...
to one of his nearest relatives, "few of our countrymen in this land of death and disease have met more untimely ends than your brother, it has seldom been the lot of any to be so honoured and lamented."
Monument
A monument was erected for Vans Agnew after the Siege of Multan. It stands in Ibne-Qasim Bagh, a park in
Fort Kohna
The Multan Fort was a historic fort in the city of Multan. According to some estimates the original fort was built by Katoch Dynasty Rajput between 800 and 1000 B.C. However, it was later destroyed. It was rebuilt by Ranghar chiefs near the city o ...
, Multan, at .
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnew, Patrick Alexander Vans
British East India Company civil servants
People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College
1822 births
1848 deaths