John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, known as Sir John Lawrence was an English-born Ulsterman who served as Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869. This article focuses on Lord Lawrence and his term as the viceroy of India for the UPSC Exams.

Sir John Lawrence (1864-1869)

• Lawrence was born in Richmond, Yorkshire's North Riding on 4th March 1811.
• Lawrence grew up in Derry, a city in the Province of Ulster in Northern Ireland, and attended Foyle College and Wraxhall School in Bath.
• His father had served in the British Army in India, and his elder brothers included Sir George Lawrence and Sir Henry Lawrence.
• Despite his desire to join the military like his brothers, his father enrolled him at the East India Company College, Haileybury, believing that a career as a civil servant offered better prospects.
• He spent two years at Haileybury, where he admitted he was neither idle nor industrious, but he still won prizes in history, political economy, and Bengali.
• From 1864 to 1869, Lord John Lawrence was Governor-General and Viceroy of India.
• The policies of Lord Elgin(1862-63), Lord Lawrence(1864-69), Lord Mayo(1869-72), and Lord Northbrook(1872-76) are known as the Policy of Masterly Inactivity.
• The main goal of British policy during this time period was to let things go quietly so that the land could rest. It ran counter to Lord Lytton's "Forward Policy."
• A scholarship scheme was introduced.
• War with Bhutan in 1864.
• Indo-European telegraph from Karachi, Persia and Turkey in 1865.
• Masterly Inactivity policy was followed.
• Establishment of High courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in 1865.
• Passed the Punjab Tenancy Act (1868)
• In 1868 annual grant of six lakhs of rupees to Sher Ali Amir of Afghanistan and a railway opened from Ambala to Delhi.

Lord Lawrence

Lord Lawrence in Punjab

• In India, Lord John Lawrence was not a new face. During the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845-1846, he brilliantly organized the supply of the British army in Punjab and was appointed commissioner of Jalandhar.
• During the Second Anglo-Sikh War, he was appointed to the Punjab Board of Administration by his elder brother, Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence. Some reforms, such as the abolition of internal duties, the establishment of a common currency and postal system, and the development of Punjabi infrastructure, helped him gain popularity, and he was dubbed "the Saviour of the Punjab" by some.
• Due to his popular image and a general Sikh dislike for the Mughals, he was able to keep the Sikhs from mutinying.
• Lawrence had made an agreement with the Afghan leader Dost Muhammad Khan while in Punjab, but as Viceroy, he adopted a cautious policy and avoided conflicts with the Afghans and Persians.

Policy Towards Afghanistan: A Masterly Inactivity Policy

• In dealing with Afghanistan and Persia, Lord Lawrence was cautious. Lawrence recognized Sher Ali, the third son and recognised heir of Dost Mohammed, like Amir of Afghanistan and his son, Mohammed Ali, as heir presumptive after Dost Mohammed's death on June 9, 1863.
• But then there was a long civil war in Afghanistan, during which two of the Dost's older sons, Afzal and Azum, took control of most of the country and were partially recognized as de facto rulers by Lawrence, who refused to recognize Sher Ali.
• Soon after, the latter reclaimed power, and in 1869, he was able to inform Lawrence that he had regained entire control. "We will leave the Afghans to settle their own quarrels," Lawrence said, "and we are willing to remain on terms of amity and goodwill with the nation and its rulers de facto." This is referred to as a masterly inactivity policy.

Bhutan War: 1826

• Bhutan's relations with the British were established in 1826. The British desired to occupy hilly routes because Bhutan raided Bengal and Assam via these routes.
• Lord Elgin dispatched Ashley to begin negotiations, but the Bhutanese forced him to sign a humiliating treaty in which the British agreed to hand over Duars to the Bhutanese.
• When the British government learned of this, it immediately repudiated the treaty and dispatched an army to Bhutan. The British army suffered some setbacks at first, but the Bhutan war, also known as the Duar War, eventually resulted in the defeat of the Bhutanese army.
• The "Treaty of Sinchula," signed on November 11, 1865, brought peace. Bhutan ceded territories in the Assam and Bengal Duars, as well as approximately 80,000 kilometres of Dewangiri (Deothang), to the British in exchange for a 50,000 rupee annual subsidy.

Orissa Famine

• The Orissa famine of 1866 occurred as a result of a severe drought and the destruction of the rice crop. The government imported rice, but it arrived only after millions of people had died of starvation.
• This exposed the government's inability to deal with the famine situation in Orissa, resulting in a terrifying loss of life. Floods devastated the area after the famine.
• Famine and floods killed 40-50 lakh people in two years, primarily due to cholera and malaria outbreaks. Bundelkhand and Rajputana were also affected by a similar type of famine.
• Under the leadership of Henery Campbell, the government established the Famine Commission. The emphasis has been placed on infrastructure development so that relief can be delivered on time.

Conclusion

Submarine telegraphy between India and Europe via the Persian Gulf began in 1865. In 1868, the Punjab and Oudh Tenancy Acts were passed. Sir John Lawrence stepped down in January 1869. In 1869, Lord Mayo succeeded Lord Lawrence. Lawrence sought British security in a divided loyal sepoy army and the weakening of princely forces; he opposed the appointment of Indians to high civil service positions but advocated for increased educational opportunities. Lawrence restricted the sepoy (Indians employed as soldiers) battalions to Punjab when the mutiny broke out in 1857 and negotiated a successful truce with Afghan monarch Dost Mohammad Khan, for which he was awarded a baronet and Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. He returned to India in 1864 as a member of the civil service and was appointed viceroy and governor-general after a brief tour to England.