The correct answer is 1849.The Punjab region was officially annexed by the British East India Company (EIC) on March 29, 1849. This followed the British victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, which marked the end of the sovereign Sikh Empire.
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The correct answer is 1849.
The Punjab region was officially annexed by the British East India Company (EIC) on March 29, 1849. This followed the British victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, which marked the end of the sovereign Sikh Empire.
The Sikh Empire, established by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, had been a powerful buffer state between British India and the Afghan regions. Following the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, the empire faced internal instability, leading to two major conflicts with the British:
Following the defeat of the Sikh forces, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, issued the Proclamation of 1849. The young Maharaja Duleep Singh was forced to sign the Treaty of Lahore, resigning his sovereignty and handing over the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond to the British Queen.
The annexation of Punjab was the final major territorial acquisition by the East India Company in the Indian subcontinent. It gave the British control over the fertile plains of the Indus River and a strategic frontier against potential threats from the northwest.
1846: The year the First Anglo-Sikh War ended and the British took control of the Jalandhar Doab and Kashmir.
1850: Punjab was already being administered by a Board of Administration by this time.
1847: A period of "British Residency" in Lahore, but not yet full occupation/annexation.
1849: The correct answer, marking the official annexation and end of the Sikh Empire.
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