Sir Henry Fane (1778 -24.31840) was the commander-in-chief of the British army in India. He joined the marriage party of Kanwar Naunihal Singh who married Nanaki, the daughter of Sirdar Sham Singh Atariwala, in March 1837. Sir Henry Fane viewed Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army, its strength and the other strategic points. Sir Henry Fane learnt that Ranjit Singh’s army consisted of 60 to 70 infantry regiments, 700 pieces of artillery etc. He was also shown the famous Kohinoor jewel. Sir Henry collected a lot of useful information about the Lahore Darbar which was, later, used by the British army during the first Anglo-Sikh war.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)