The last battles
Meanwhile, Whish's force completed their siege works around Multan, their batteries opened fire and made a breach in the defences, which the infantry stormed. Mulraj surrendered on January 22. He was to be imprisoned for the remainder of his life. The ending of the siege allowed Whish to reinforce Gough. In particular, Whish's division had large numbers of heavy guns, which the Sikhs lacked.
As Gough's army closed in on the Khalsa, Sher Singh attempted a last outflanking move, sending cavalry to cross the Chenab, and re-cross in Gough's rear. They were thwarted by British irregular cavalry led by Harry Burnett Lumsden and William Hodson. On February 13, Gough attacked the Khalsa at the Battle of Gujarat. Here, he began the battle with a three-hour bombardment from 100 guns, which drove the Sikhs from their hasty entrenchments. He then sent his cavalry and horse artillery after them in a pursuit which lasted for four hours.
On March 12, Chattar Singh and Sher Singh surrendered near Rawalpindi. Some 20,000 men (mainly irregular cavalry) laid down their arms. Dost Mohammed Khan of Afghanistan had half-heartedly sent some tribes into the Punjab to fight against the British. After learning of the Battle of Gujarat, they withdrew.
On March 30, Duleep Singh held his last court at Lahore, at which he signed away all claims to the rule of the Punjab. A proclamation by Dalhousie, annexing the Punjab, was then read out. For his services the Earl of Dalhousie received the thanks of the British parliament and a step in the peerage, as marquess. Gough also received rewards for his services, although his tactics at Chillianwala were to be questioned for the remainder of his life. Many of the junior British Political Agents who had organised local resistance to the Khalsa were to have distinguished later careers.
[edit] Aftermath
The Sikh defeat had resulted from several causes. Their administration of the population of the Punjab had been poor, which meant that their large armies found it difficult to find enough food. The mainly Muslim inhabitants of the frontier districts who had themselves been subjugated by the Khalsa in earlier years readily fought under British officers against the Sikhs, continually disrupting their movements. Finally, the East India Company had brought overwhelming force against them.
The Sikh Wars gave the two sides a mutual respect for each other's fighting prowess (although the war itself had been unchivalrously fought - Sikhs took no prisoners at Chillianwala, and the British had taken no prisoners at Gujarat).
There was an increased recruitment of people from various communities of the Punjab in the Punjab Irregular Force under British command. These recruits fought for the East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, against the mutineers and other opponents (mostly high-caste Hindus from Eastern provinces, and forces or loyalists of Shia, Maratha and Mughal rulers). These Punjabi recruits had especially little sympathy with the Hindu mutineers of the Bengal Army, ironically contributed to by the latter's role in helping the British in the Anglo-Sikh wars. A long history of enmity of the Sikhs with Mughal rule did not help the mutineers' cause either, given their choice of Bahadur Shah Zafar as a symbolic leader.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Course of the War
Course of the War
As the cold weather season began in November, substantial contingents from the East India Company's armies at last took the field.
A contingent from the Bombay Army (administered separately from the Bengal Army) had been ordered to reinforce Whish and besiege Multan. This force was delayed by a petty squabble over seniority and could arrive only when its first commander (who was senior to Whish and refused to serve under him) was replaced by a more junior officer. Whish's army was supplied and reinforced by sea and river transport up the rivers Indus and Chenab.
Sir Hugh Gough led his main force against Sher Singh. Sher Singh's army held the line of the River Chenab against Gough for several weeks. On November 22, the Sikhs repelled a British cavalry attack on their bridgehead at Ramnagar. Although they subsequently withdrew from their exposed bridgehead, the Sikhs regarded the battle as a victory and their morale was raised.
Gough forced his way across the Chenab in December, but then paused. Meanwhile, Chattar Singh had at last recaptured the fort at Attock by treachery, and this allowed him to march west and then south from Hazara. Dalhousie had earlier ordered Gough to halt operations while waiting for Multan to fall, which would allow Whish to reinforce him. Learning of the fall of Attock, he instead ordered Gough to destroy Sher Singh's army before it could link up with Chattar Singh.
Gough unexpectedly encountered Sher Singh's position near the Jhelum River on January 13, 1849. Sher Singh had cunningly concealed his army, and Gough was faced with the choice of withdrawing, or attacking when it was late in the day. Gough unhesitatingly took the latter course. The resulting Battle of Chillianwala was desperately fought. Gough's troops, attacking into thick scrub without artillery support, suffered heavy losses. Some units lost their colours (which was regarded as a disgrace) and part of one British cavalry regiment fled in panic, resulting in the loss of four guns, also reckoned a humiliation. Sher Singh's army was also hard hit, losing twelve of its own guns, but after both armies had faced each other for three days without renewing the action, both withdrew. Sher Singh continued northwards to join Chattar Singh near Rawalpindi, which made the battle into a strategic British defeat.
There was much alarm at the losses Gough had suffered. His tactics were severely criticised and he was replaced by General Charles James Napier, who could not arrive for several weeks. Some junior officers reckoned that the true cause of the setback lay lower down the ranks. Promotion in both the British and Bengal armies came slowly, and by the time officers were appointed to command regiments and brigades, they were too old, and worn out by harsh climate and disease. At Chillianwala, several senior officers had proved unable to command their units effectively.
As the cold weather season began in November, substantial contingents from the East India Company's armies at last took the field.
A contingent from the Bombay Army (administered separately from the Bengal Army) had been ordered to reinforce Whish and besiege Multan. This force was delayed by a petty squabble over seniority and could arrive only when its first commander (who was senior to Whish and refused to serve under him) was replaced by a more junior officer. Whish's army was supplied and reinforced by sea and river transport up the rivers Indus and Chenab.
Sir Hugh Gough led his main force against Sher Singh. Sher Singh's army held the line of the River Chenab against Gough for several weeks. On November 22, the Sikhs repelled a British cavalry attack on their bridgehead at Ramnagar. Although they subsequently withdrew from their exposed bridgehead, the Sikhs regarded the battle as a victory and their morale was raised.
Gough forced his way across the Chenab in December, but then paused. Meanwhile, Chattar Singh had at last recaptured the fort at Attock by treachery, and this allowed him to march west and then south from Hazara. Dalhousie had earlier ordered Gough to halt operations while waiting for Multan to fall, which would allow Whish to reinforce him. Learning of the fall of Attock, he instead ordered Gough to destroy Sher Singh's army before it could link up with Chattar Singh.
Gough unexpectedly encountered Sher Singh's position near the Jhelum River on January 13, 1849. Sher Singh had cunningly concealed his army, and Gough was faced with the choice of withdrawing, or attacking when it was late in the day. Gough unhesitatingly took the latter course. The resulting Battle of Chillianwala was desperately fought. Gough's troops, attacking into thick scrub without artillery support, suffered heavy losses. Some units lost their colours (which was regarded as a disgrace) and part of one British cavalry regiment fled in panic, resulting in the loss of four guns, also reckoned a humiliation. Sher Singh's army was also hard hit, losing twelve of its own guns, but after both armies had faced each other for three days without renewing the action, both withdrew. Sher Singh continued northwards to join Chattar Singh near Rawalpindi, which made the battle into a strategic British defeat.
There was much alarm at the losses Gough had suffered. His tactics were severely criticised and he was replaced by General Charles James Napier, who could not arrive for several weeks. Some junior officers reckoned that the true cause of the setback lay lower down the ranks. Promotion in both the British and Bengal armies came slowly, and by the time officers were appointed to command regiments and brigades, they were too old, and worn out by harsh climate and disease. At Chillianwala, several senior officers had proved unable to command their units effectively.
Subsequent outbreaks
Subsequent outbreaks
Lieutenant Herbert Edwardes, the British Political Agent in Bannu, had been near Multan in April but was unable to save Vans Agnew. He hastily levied some Pakhtun irregular troops, and together with some loyal Sikh regiments, defeated Mulraj's army near the Chenab River on June 18 and drove them back to the city but was unable to attack the city's fortifications. On August 18, he was joined by a small force from the Bengal Army under General Whish to begin the siege of the city.
Meanwhile, on learning of the events at Multan, Currie (supported by Dalhousie, the Governor General, and Sir Hugh Gough, the Commander in Chief of the Bengal Army) declined to order up major units of the East India Company to the Punjab until the end of the hot weather and Monsoon seasons, which would not be until November. Instead, Currie ordered several detachments of the Khalsa to suppress Mulraj's rebellion. To the alarm of several Political Agents, the largest contingent was commanded by Sirdar Sher Singh Attariwalla, Chattar Singh's son.
Some Agents were already taking action to forestall outbreaks of rebellion. Captain John Nicholson, leading irregular cavalry, seized the vital fort of Attock on the Indus River from its Sikh garrison while they were still deciding whether to rebel. His force then linked up with James Abbott's local Hazara levies to capture the Margalla Hills which separated Hazara from the other parts of the Punjab. When Chattar Singh openly rebelled in August, his force was unable to leave Hazara without fighting a battle. Although Chattar Singh twice succeeded in capturing the passes through the hills, he nevertheless failed to take advantage of this (possibly because of dissension among his senior officers and continual harassment by pro-British irregulars), and retreated into Hazara.
On September 14, Sher Singh's army openly rebelled at Multan. He did not join Mulraj however. He and Mulraj conferred at a carefully chosen neutral site, at which it was agreed that Mulraj would give some money from his treasury to Sher Singh's army, which would march north into the Central Punjab and ultimately rejoin Chattar Singh. Meanwhile, Whish was forced to raise the siege until he was reinforced.
Lieutenant Herbert Edwardes, the British Political Agent in Bannu, had been near Multan in April but was unable to save Vans Agnew. He hastily levied some Pakhtun irregular troops, and together with some loyal Sikh regiments, defeated Mulraj's army near the Chenab River on June 18 and drove them back to the city but was unable to attack the city's fortifications. On August 18, he was joined by a small force from the Bengal Army under General Whish to begin the siege of the city.
Meanwhile, on learning of the events at Multan, Currie (supported by Dalhousie, the Governor General, and Sir Hugh Gough, the Commander in Chief of the Bengal Army) declined to order up major units of the East India Company to the Punjab until the end of the hot weather and Monsoon seasons, which would not be until November. Instead, Currie ordered several detachments of the Khalsa to suppress Mulraj's rebellion. To the alarm of several Political Agents, the largest contingent was commanded by Sirdar Sher Singh Attariwalla, Chattar Singh's son.
Some Agents were already taking action to forestall outbreaks of rebellion. Captain John Nicholson, leading irregular cavalry, seized the vital fort of Attock on the Indus River from its Sikh garrison while they were still deciding whether to rebel. His force then linked up with James Abbott's local Hazara levies to capture the Margalla Hills which separated Hazara from the other parts of the Punjab. When Chattar Singh openly rebelled in August, his force was unable to leave Hazara without fighting a battle. Although Chattar Singh twice succeeded in capturing the passes through the hills, he nevertheless failed to take advantage of this (possibly because of dissension among his senior officers and continual harassment by pro-British irregulars), and retreated into Hazara.
On September 14, Sher Singh's army openly rebelled at Multan. He did not join Mulraj however. He and Mulraj conferred at a carefully chosen neutral site, at which it was agreed that Mulraj would give some money from his treasury to Sher Singh's army, which would march north into the Central Punjab and ultimately rejoin Chattar Singh. Meanwhile, Whish was forced to raise the siege until he was reinforced.
Second Anglo-Sikh War
Background to the War
The Sikh kingdom of the Punjab was consolidated and expanded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh during the early years of the nineteenth century. During the same period, the British East India Company's territories had been expanded until they were adjacent to the Punjab. Ranjit Singh maintained an uneasy alliance with the East India Company, while increasing the military strength of the Khalsa (the Sikh Army, which also saw itself as the embodiment of the state and religion), to deter the British from interference with his state.
When Ranjit Singh died in 1839, the Punjab began to fall into disorder. There was a succession of short-lived rulers at the central Durbar (court), and increasing tension between the Khalsa and the Durbar. The East India Company began to build up its strength on the borders of the Punjab. Eventually, the increasing tension goaded the Khalsa to invade British territory, under weak and very possibly treacherous leaders. After the hard-fought First Anglo-Sikh War ended in defeat for the Sikh army, the Punjab was partially governed by the East India Company.
[edit] Aftermath of the first Anglo-Sikh War
The infant Maharaja Duleep Singh was allowed to retain his throne, but a British Resident (Sir Henry Lawrence) now controlled the policy of the Durbar. The Sikhs were made to cede some valuable territory (the Jullundur Doab) to the British and the Maharaja Gulab Singh, the ruler of Jammu, was allowed to acquire Kashmir from the Sikh kingdom by a large cash payment to the East India Company. These conditions naturally humiliated and angered the Sikhs.
At the same time, some of the Khalsa had to be kept in being, since many predominantly Muslim areas of the Sikh kingdom threatened to ally with Dost Mohammed Khan in Afghanistan or to lapse into disorder, and only force of arms could keep them in subjugation. The British were unwilling to incur the financial and manpower costs of using large numbers of British or Bengal units for this task. The leaders of the Khalsa naturally resented carrying out the orders of comparatively junior British officers and administrators, who at the same time were imposing British administration and weakening the authority of the Sikh Sirdars (generals).
Early in 1848, Sir Henry Lawrence, who was ill, departed on leave to England. Although it was assumed that his younger brother, John Lawrence would be appointed in his place, the Governor-General of India Lord Dalhousie, appointed Sir Frederick Currie instead, who was unfamiliar with military matters and with the Punjab. While the Lawrences were comparatively informal and familiar with the junior officers who were Residents and Agents in the various districts of the Punjab, Currie was stiffer in manner, and inclined to treat his subordinates' reports with caution. In particular, he refused to act on reports from James Abbott, the Political Agent in Hazara, who was convinced that Sirdar Chattar Singh Attariwalla who commanded the troops from the Khalsa in Hazara, was actively plotting a rebellion with other Sirdars.
[edit] First outbreak
The city of Multan, although part of the Sikh kingdom, had nevertheless been governed by a Hindu viceroy, Dewan Mulraj. After the end of the First Anglo-Sikh war, Mulraj had behaved independently. When required by the British-controlled Durbar in Lahore to pay taxes and revenues which had been owed for some years, Mulraj attempted to give up power to his son, so as to maintain his family's position as rulers. Currie instead imposed a Sikh governor, with a British Political Agent, Lieutenant Patrick Vans Agnew.
On April 18, 1848, Vans Agnew arrived at Multan, with another officer, Lieutenant William Anderson, and a small escort. Mulraj handed over the keys of the fortress, but as Vans Agnew's party attempted to take possession, they were attacked by a party of Mulraj's irregular troops, and a mob from the city. When both officers were wounded, their escorts fled, and the officers were murdered by the mob the next day.
Mulraj not only instigated these attacks but was committed to rebellion because of them. He presented Vans Agnew's head to the Sirdar who Currie had tried to impose, and told him to take it back to Lahore. The news of the killings spread over the Punjab, and unrest and disquiet increased. Large numbers of Sikh soldiers deserted the regiments loyal to the Durbar to join those prepared to rebel under the leadership of Mulraj.
The Sikh kingdom of the Punjab was consolidated and expanded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh during the early years of the nineteenth century. During the same period, the British East India Company's territories had been expanded until they were adjacent to the Punjab. Ranjit Singh maintained an uneasy alliance with the East India Company, while increasing the military strength of the Khalsa (the Sikh Army, which also saw itself as the embodiment of the state and religion), to deter the British from interference with his state.
When Ranjit Singh died in 1839, the Punjab began to fall into disorder. There was a succession of short-lived rulers at the central Durbar (court), and increasing tension between the Khalsa and the Durbar. The East India Company began to build up its strength on the borders of the Punjab. Eventually, the increasing tension goaded the Khalsa to invade British territory, under weak and very possibly treacherous leaders. After the hard-fought First Anglo-Sikh War ended in defeat for the Sikh army, the Punjab was partially governed by the East India Company.
[edit] Aftermath of the first Anglo-Sikh War
The infant Maharaja Duleep Singh was allowed to retain his throne, but a British Resident (Sir Henry Lawrence) now controlled the policy of the Durbar. The Sikhs were made to cede some valuable territory (the Jullundur Doab) to the British and the Maharaja Gulab Singh, the ruler of Jammu, was allowed to acquire Kashmir from the Sikh kingdom by a large cash payment to the East India Company. These conditions naturally humiliated and angered the Sikhs.
At the same time, some of the Khalsa had to be kept in being, since many predominantly Muslim areas of the Sikh kingdom threatened to ally with Dost Mohammed Khan in Afghanistan or to lapse into disorder, and only force of arms could keep them in subjugation. The British were unwilling to incur the financial and manpower costs of using large numbers of British or Bengal units for this task. The leaders of the Khalsa naturally resented carrying out the orders of comparatively junior British officers and administrators, who at the same time were imposing British administration and weakening the authority of the Sikh Sirdars (generals).
Early in 1848, Sir Henry Lawrence, who was ill, departed on leave to England. Although it was assumed that his younger brother, John Lawrence would be appointed in his place, the Governor-General of India Lord Dalhousie, appointed Sir Frederick Currie instead, who was unfamiliar with military matters and with the Punjab. While the Lawrences were comparatively informal and familiar with the junior officers who were Residents and Agents in the various districts of the Punjab, Currie was stiffer in manner, and inclined to treat his subordinates' reports with caution. In particular, he refused to act on reports from James Abbott, the Political Agent in Hazara, who was convinced that Sirdar Chattar Singh Attariwalla who commanded the troops from the Khalsa in Hazara, was actively plotting a rebellion with other Sirdars.
[edit] First outbreak
The city of Multan, although part of the Sikh kingdom, had nevertheless been governed by a Hindu viceroy, Dewan Mulraj. After the end of the First Anglo-Sikh war, Mulraj had behaved independently. When required by the British-controlled Durbar in Lahore to pay taxes and revenues which had been owed for some years, Mulraj attempted to give up power to his son, so as to maintain his family's position as rulers. Currie instead imposed a Sikh governor, with a British Political Agent, Lieutenant Patrick Vans Agnew.
On April 18, 1848, Vans Agnew arrived at Multan, with another officer, Lieutenant William Anderson, and a small escort. Mulraj handed over the keys of the fortress, but as Vans Agnew's party attempted to take possession, they were attacked by a party of Mulraj's irregular troops, and a mob from the city. When both officers were wounded, their escorts fled, and the officers were murdered by the mob the next day.
Mulraj not only instigated these attacks but was committed to rebellion because of them. He presented Vans Agnew's head to the Sirdar who Currie had tried to impose, and told him to take it back to Lahore. The news of the killings spread over the Punjab, and unrest and disquiet increased. Large numbers of Sikh soldiers deserted the regiments loyal to the Durbar to join those prepared to rebel under the leadership of Mulraj.
Outbreak and course of the war
After mutual demands and accusations between the Sikh Darbar and the East India Company, diplomatic relations were broken. An East India Company army began marching towards Ferozepur, where a division was already stationed. This army was commanded by Sir Hugh Gough, the commander in chief of the Bengal Army, and was accompanied by Sir Henry Hardinge, the British Governor General of Bengal, who placed himself beneath Gough in the military chain of command. The "British" army consisted of formations of the Bengal Army, with usually one British unit to every three or four Bengal infantry or cavalry units. Most of the British artillery consisted of light guns from the elite Bengal Horse Artillery.
In response to the British move, the Sikh army began crossing the Sutlej River on December 11, 1845. Although the leaders and principal units of the army were Sikhs, there were also Punjabi, Pakhtun and Kashmiri infantry units. The artillery consisted mainly of units of heavy guns, which had been organised and trained by European mercenaries.
The Sikhs claimed they were only moving into Sikh possessions (specifically the village of Moran) on the east side of the river, but the move was regarded by the British as clearly hostile and they declared war. One Sikh army under Tej Singh advanced towards Ferozepur but made no effort to surround or attack the exposed British division there. Another force under Lal Singh clashed with Gough's and Hardinge's advancing forces at the Battle of Mudki on December 18. The British won an untidy encounter battle.
On the next day, the British came in sight of the large Sikh entrenchment at Ferozeshah. Gough wished to attack at once, but Hardinge used his position as Governor General to overrule him and order him to wait for the division from Ferozepur. When they appeared late on December 21, Gough attacked in the few hours of daylight left. The well served Sikh artillery caused heavy casualties among the British, and their infantry fought desperately. On the other hand, the elite of the Sikh army, the irregular cavalry or Gorchurras, were comparatively ineffective against Gough's infantry and cavalry as they had been kept from the battlefield by Lal Singh.
By nightfall, some of Gough's army had fought their way into the Sikh positions, but other units had been driven back in disorder. Hardinge expected a defeat on the following day and ordered the state papers at Mudki to be burned in this event. However, on the following morning, the British and Bengal Army units rallied and drove the Sikhs from the rest of their fortifications. Lal Singh had made no effort to rally or reorganise his army. At this point, Tej Singh's army appeared. Once again, Gough's exhausted army faced defeat and disaster, but Tej Singh inexplicably withdrew.
Operations temporarily halted, mainly because Gough's army was exhausted and required rest and reinforcements. The Sikhs were temporarily dismayed by their defeats and by their commanders' actions, but rallied when fresh units and leaders joined them, and Maharani Jind Kaur exhorted 500 selected officers to make renewed efforts.
When hostilities resumed, a Sikh detachment crossed the Sutlej near Aliwal, threatening Gough's lines of supply and communications. A division under Sir Harry Smith was sent to deal with them. Sikh cavalry attacked Smith continually on his march and captured his baggage, but at the Battle of Aliwal on January 28, 1846, Smith won a model victory, eliminating the Sikh bridgehead.
Gough's main army had now been reinforced, and rejoined by Smith's division, they attacked the main Sikh bridgehead at Sobraon on February 10. Tej Singh is said to have deserted the Sikh army early in the battle. Although the Sikh army resisted as stubbornly as at Ferozeshah, Gough's troops eventually broke into their position. The bridges behind the Sikhs broke under British artillery fire, or were ordered to be destroyed behind him by Tej Singh (ostensibly to prevent British pursuit). The Sikh army was trapped. None of them surrendered, and the British troops showed little mercy. This victory effectively broke the Sikh army.
[edit] Aftermath
In the Treaty of Lahore in 1846 the Sikhs were made to give up Kashmir and had to accept a British resident in Lahore. This effectively gave the East India Company control of the region's government. The treaty also gave the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria.
Sikh historians have always maintained that, in order to retain their hold on power and maintain the figurehead rule of Duleep Singh, Lal Singh and Tej Singh embarked on the war with the deliberate intent of breaking their own army. In particular, Lal Singh was corresponding with a British political officer and betraying state and military secrets throughout the war. Lal Singh's and Tej Singh's desertion of their armies and refusal to attack when opportunity offered seem inexplicable otherwise.
In response to the British move, the Sikh army began crossing the Sutlej River on December 11, 1845. Although the leaders and principal units of the army were Sikhs, there were also Punjabi, Pakhtun and Kashmiri infantry units. The artillery consisted mainly of units of heavy guns, which had been organised and trained by European mercenaries.
The Sikhs claimed they were only moving into Sikh possessions (specifically the village of Moran) on the east side of the river, but the move was regarded by the British as clearly hostile and they declared war. One Sikh army under Tej Singh advanced towards Ferozepur but made no effort to surround or attack the exposed British division there. Another force under Lal Singh clashed with Gough's and Hardinge's advancing forces at the Battle of Mudki on December 18. The British won an untidy encounter battle.
On the next day, the British came in sight of the large Sikh entrenchment at Ferozeshah. Gough wished to attack at once, but Hardinge used his position as Governor General to overrule him and order him to wait for the division from Ferozepur. When they appeared late on December 21, Gough attacked in the few hours of daylight left. The well served Sikh artillery caused heavy casualties among the British, and their infantry fought desperately. On the other hand, the elite of the Sikh army, the irregular cavalry or Gorchurras, were comparatively ineffective against Gough's infantry and cavalry as they had been kept from the battlefield by Lal Singh.
By nightfall, some of Gough's army had fought their way into the Sikh positions, but other units had been driven back in disorder. Hardinge expected a defeat on the following day and ordered the state papers at Mudki to be burned in this event. However, on the following morning, the British and Bengal Army units rallied and drove the Sikhs from the rest of their fortifications. Lal Singh had made no effort to rally or reorganise his army. At this point, Tej Singh's army appeared. Once again, Gough's exhausted army faced defeat and disaster, but Tej Singh inexplicably withdrew.
Operations temporarily halted, mainly because Gough's army was exhausted and required rest and reinforcements. The Sikhs were temporarily dismayed by their defeats and by their commanders' actions, but rallied when fresh units and leaders joined them, and Maharani Jind Kaur exhorted 500 selected officers to make renewed efforts.
When hostilities resumed, a Sikh detachment crossed the Sutlej near Aliwal, threatening Gough's lines of supply and communications. A division under Sir Harry Smith was sent to deal with them. Sikh cavalry attacked Smith continually on his march and captured his baggage, but at the Battle of Aliwal on January 28, 1846, Smith won a model victory, eliminating the Sikh bridgehead.
Gough's main army had now been reinforced, and rejoined by Smith's division, they attacked the main Sikh bridgehead at Sobraon on February 10. Tej Singh is said to have deserted the Sikh army early in the battle. Although the Sikh army resisted as stubbornly as at Ferozeshah, Gough's troops eventually broke into their position. The bridges behind the Sikhs broke under British artillery fire, or were ordered to be destroyed behind him by Tej Singh (ostensibly to prevent British pursuit). The Sikh army was trapped. None of them surrendered, and the British troops showed little mercy. This victory effectively broke the Sikh army.
[edit] Aftermath
In the Treaty of Lahore in 1846 the Sikhs were made to give up Kashmir and had to accept a British resident in Lahore. This effectively gave the East India Company control of the region's government. The treaty also gave the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria.
Sikh historians have always maintained that, in order to retain their hold on power and maintain the figurehead rule of Duleep Singh, Lal Singh and Tej Singh embarked on the war with the deliberate intent of breaking their own army. In particular, Lal Singh was corresponding with a British political officer and betraying state and military secrets throughout the war. Lal Singh's and Tej Singh's desertion of their armies and refusal to attack when opportunity offered seem inexplicable otherwise.
First Anglo-Sikh War
Background and causes of the war
The Sikh kingdom of Punjab was expanded and consolidated by Maharaj Ranjit Singh during the early years of the nineteenth century, about the same time as the British-controlled territories were advanced by conquest or annexation to the borders of the Punjab. Ranjit Singh maintained a policy of wary friendship with the British, while at the same time building up his military forces to deter aggression both by the British and by the Afghans under Dost Mohammed Khan. He hired American and European mercenary soldiers to train his artillery, and also incorporated contingents of Hindus and subjugated Muslims into his army.
[edit] Events in the Punjab
Ranjit Singh died in 1839. Almost immediately, his kingdom fell into disorder. Ranjit's unpopular legitimate son, Kharak Singh, was removed from power within a few months, and later died in prison under mysterious circumstances. It was believed that he was murdered. He was replaced by his able but estranged son Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh, who also died within a few months in suspicious circumstances - crushed by a falling archway at the Lahore Fort while returning from his father's, Kharak Singh's, cremation. [1] There were at the time two major factions within the Punjab contending for power and influence, the Sikh Sindhanwalias and the Hindu Dogras. The Dogras succeeded in raising an illegitimate son of Ranjit Singh, Sher Singh, to the throne in January 1841. The most prominent Sindhanwalias took refuge on British territory, but had many adherents among the Army of the Punjab.
The army was expanding rapidly in the aftermath of Ranjit Singh's death, as landlords and their retainers took up arms. It now claimed itself to be the Khalsa, or embodiment of the Sikh nation. Its regimental panchayats (committees) formed an alternate power source within the kingdom, declaring that Guru Gobind Singh's ideal of the Sikh commonwealth had been revived, with the Sarbatt Khalsa or the Sikh as a whole assuming all executive, military and civil authority in the State. [2]. Whilst the British decried this as a "... dangerous military democracy ...". British representatives and visitors in the Punjab described the regiments as preserving "puritanical" order internally, but also as being in a perpetual state of mutiny or rebellion against the central Darbar (Court). In one notorious instance of unrest, Sikh soldiers ran riot, looking for anyone who looked as if they could speak Persian (the language used by the clerks who administered the Khalsa's finances) and putting them to the sword.
Maharajah Sher Singh was unable to meet the pay demands of the Khalsa, although he reportedly lavished funds on a degenerate court. In September 1843 he was murdered by his cousin, an officer of the Khalsa, Ajit Singh Sindhanwalia. The Dogras took their revenge on those responsible, and Jind Kaur, Ranjit Singh's youngest widow, became Regent for her infant son Duleep Singh. After the Vizier Hira Singh was killed attempting to flee the capital with loot from the Royal Treasury, Toshkana, by troops under Sham Singh Attariwala [3], Jind Kaur's brother Jawahir Singh became Vizier in December 1844. He apparently spent his term of office in a state of terror, trying to bribe the Khalsa with promises of treasure which could not be met. At an army parade in September 1845, he was butchered to death in the presence of Jind Kaur and Duleep Singh. [1]
The Khalsa nevertheless did not take over the kingdom at this point. Although Jind Kaur publicly vowed revenge against her brother's killers [1], she remained Regent. Lal Singh (reportedly the lover of Jind Kaur) became Vizier, and Tej Singh became commander of the army. Sikh historians have stressed that both these men were prominent in the Dogra faction. Originally high-caste Hindus from outside the Punjab, both had converted to Sikhism in 1818 just like the majority of the Sikhs in Punjab at that time.
[edit] British actions
Meanwhile, immediately after the death of Ranjit Singh, the British East India Company had begun increasing its military strength.
The actions and attitudes of the British, under Governor-Generals Lord Ellenborough and his successor, Sir Henry Hardinge, are disputed. By most British accounts, the main concern was that the Khalsa, now without strong leadership to restrain them, was a serious threat to British territories along the border. It was well known that the Khalsa had been asking Ranjit Singh for an opportunity to engage the British Army ever since their expansion had reached the borders of the Punjab.[citation needed] Sikh and Indian historians have countered that the military preparations made by these Governor-Generals were offensive in nature; for example, they prepared bridging trains and siege gun batteries, which would be unlikely to be required in a purely defensive operation.[2].
The British attitudes were affected by reports from their new Political Agent in the frontier districts, Major George Broadfoot, who stressed the disorder in the Punjab and recounted every tale of corrupt behaviour at the court. For some British officials, there was a strong desire to expand British influence and control into the Punjab, as it was the only remaining formidable force that could threaten the British hold in India and the last remaining independent kingdom not under British influence. The kingdom was also renowned for being the wealthiest, the Koh-i-noor being one of its many treasures. Despite this, it is unlikely that the British East India Company would have deliberately attempted to annex the Punjab had the war not occurred, as they simply did not have the manpower or resources to keep a hold on the territories (as proven by the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Sikh War).
Nevertheless, the unconcealed and seemingly aggressive British military build-up at the borders had the effect of increasing tension within the Punjab and the Khalsa. It is also equally well known that the British had been interfering in the intrigues at the Court or Lahore.[c
The Sikh kingdom of Punjab was expanded and consolidated by Maharaj Ranjit Singh during the early years of the nineteenth century, about the same time as the British-controlled territories were advanced by conquest or annexation to the borders of the Punjab. Ranjit Singh maintained a policy of wary friendship with the British, while at the same time building up his military forces to deter aggression both by the British and by the Afghans under Dost Mohammed Khan. He hired American and European mercenary soldiers to train his artillery, and also incorporated contingents of Hindus and subjugated Muslims into his army.
[edit] Events in the Punjab
Ranjit Singh died in 1839. Almost immediately, his kingdom fell into disorder. Ranjit's unpopular legitimate son, Kharak Singh, was removed from power within a few months, and later died in prison under mysterious circumstances. It was believed that he was murdered. He was replaced by his able but estranged son Kanwar Nau Nihal Singh, who also died within a few months in suspicious circumstances - crushed by a falling archway at the Lahore Fort while returning from his father's, Kharak Singh's, cremation. [1] There were at the time two major factions within the Punjab contending for power and influence, the Sikh Sindhanwalias and the Hindu Dogras. The Dogras succeeded in raising an illegitimate son of Ranjit Singh, Sher Singh, to the throne in January 1841. The most prominent Sindhanwalias took refuge on British territory, but had many adherents among the Army of the Punjab.
The army was expanding rapidly in the aftermath of Ranjit Singh's death, as landlords and their retainers took up arms. It now claimed itself to be the Khalsa, or embodiment of the Sikh nation. Its regimental panchayats (committees) formed an alternate power source within the kingdom, declaring that Guru Gobind Singh's ideal of the Sikh commonwealth had been revived, with the Sarbatt Khalsa or the Sikh as a whole assuming all executive, military and civil authority in the State. [2]. Whilst the British decried this as a "... dangerous military democracy ...". British representatives and visitors in the Punjab described the regiments as preserving "puritanical" order internally, but also as being in a perpetual state of mutiny or rebellion against the central Darbar (Court). In one notorious instance of unrest, Sikh soldiers ran riot, looking for anyone who looked as if they could speak Persian (the language used by the clerks who administered the Khalsa's finances) and putting them to the sword.
Maharajah Sher Singh was unable to meet the pay demands of the Khalsa, although he reportedly lavished funds on a degenerate court. In September 1843 he was murdered by his cousin, an officer of the Khalsa, Ajit Singh Sindhanwalia. The Dogras took their revenge on those responsible, and Jind Kaur, Ranjit Singh's youngest widow, became Regent for her infant son Duleep Singh. After the Vizier Hira Singh was killed attempting to flee the capital with loot from the Royal Treasury, Toshkana, by troops under Sham Singh Attariwala [3], Jind Kaur's brother Jawahir Singh became Vizier in December 1844. He apparently spent his term of office in a state of terror, trying to bribe the Khalsa with promises of treasure which could not be met. At an army parade in September 1845, he was butchered to death in the presence of Jind Kaur and Duleep Singh. [1]
The Khalsa nevertheless did not take over the kingdom at this point. Although Jind Kaur publicly vowed revenge against her brother's killers [1], she remained Regent. Lal Singh (reportedly the lover of Jind Kaur) became Vizier, and Tej Singh became commander of the army. Sikh historians have stressed that both these men were prominent in the Dogra faction. Originally high-caste Hindus from outside the Punjab, both had converted to Sikhism in 1818 just like the majority of the Sikhs in Punjab at that time.
[edit] British actions
Meanwhile, immediately after the death of Ranjit Singh, the British East India Company had begun increasing its military strength.
The actions and attitudes of the British, under Governor-Generals Lord Ellenborough and his successor, Sir Henry Hardinge, are disputed. By most British accounts, the main concern was that the Khalsa, now without strong leadership to restrain them, was a serious threat to British territories along the border. It was well known that the Khalsa had been asking Ranjit Singh for an opportunity to engage the British Army ever since their expansion had reached the borders of the Punjab.[citation needed] Sikh and Indian historians have countered that the military preparations made by these Governor-Generals were offensive in nature; for example, they prepared bridging trains and siege gun batteries, which would be unlikely to be required in a purely defensive operation.[2].
The British attitudes were affected by reports from their new Political Agent in the frontier districts, Major George Broadfoot, who stressed the disorder in the Punjab and recounted every tale of corrupt behaviour at the court. For some British officials, there was a strong desire to expand British influence and control into the Punjab, as it was the only remaining formidable force that could threaten the British hold in India and the last remaining independent kingdom not under British influence. The kingdom was also renowned for being the wealthiest, the Koh-i-noor being one of its many treasures. Despite this, it is unlikely that the British East India Company would have deliberately attempted to annex the Punjab had the war not occurred, as they simply did not have the manpower or resources to keep a hold on the territories (as proven by the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Sikh War).
Nevertheless, the unconcealed and seemingly aggressive British military build-up at the borders had the effect of increasing tension within the Punjab and the Khalsa. It is also equally well known that the British had been interfering in the intrigues at the Court or Lahore.[c
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould (September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was a prominent American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation. Gould spent most of his career teaching at Harvard University and working at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Gould's greatest contribution to science was his theory of punctuated equilibrium which he developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972. In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., Models in Paleobiology. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company, pp. 82-115. The theory proposes that most evolution is marked by long periods of evolutionary stability, which is later punctuated by rare instances of branching evolution. The theory was contrasted against phyletic gradualism, the popular idea that evolutionary change is marked by a pattern of smooth and continuous change in the fossil record.
Most of Gould’s empirical research was based on the land snails Poecilozonites and Cerion. He also contributed to evolutionary developmental biology, and has recieved wide praise for his book Ontogeny and Phylogeny. In evolutionary theory, he opposed strict selectionism, sociobiology as applied to humans, and evolutionary psychology. He campaigned against creationism and proposed that science and religion should be considered two distinct fields, or "magisteria," whose authority does not overlap.
Many of Gould's Natural History essays were reprinted in collected volumes, such as Ever Since Darwin and The Panda's Thumb, while his popular treatises included books such as The Mismeasure of Man, Wonderful Life and Full House.
Gould's greatest contribution to science was his theory of punctuated equilibrium which he developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972. In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., Models in Paleobiology. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company, pp. 82-115. The theory proposes that most evolution is marked by long periods of evolutionary stability, which is later punctuated by rare instances of branching evolution. The theory was contrasted against phyletic gradualism, the popular idea that evolutionary change is marked by a pattern of smooth and continuous change in the fossil record.
Most of Gould’s empirical research was based on the land snails Poecilozonites and Cerion. He also contributed to evolutionary developmental biology, and has recieved wide praise for his book Ontogeny and Phylogeny. In evolutionary theory, he opposed strict selectionism, sociobiology as applied to humans, and evolutionary psychology. He campaigned against creationism and proposed that science and religion should be considered two distinct fields, or "magisteria," whose authority does not overlap.
Many of Gould's Natural History essays were reprinted in collected volumes, such as Ever Since Darwin and The Panda's Thumb, while his popular treatises included books such as The Mismeasure of Man, Wonderful Life and Full House.
Genome projects
The Human Genome Project was organized to map and to sequence the human genome. Other genome projects include mouse, rice, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the puffer fish, bacteria like E. coli, etc. In 1976, Walter Fiers at the University of Ghent (Belgium) was the first to establish the complete nucleotide sequence of a viral RNA-genome (bacteriophage MS2). The first DNA-genome project to be completed was the Phage Φ-X174, with only 5368 base pairs, which was sequenced by Fred Sanger in 1977 . The first bacterial genome to be completed was that of Haemophilus influenzae, completed by a team at The Institute for Genomic Research in 1995.
In May 2007, the New York Times announced that the full genome of DNA pioneer James D. Watson had been recorded.[1] The article noted that some scientists believe this to be the gateway to upcoming personalized genomic medicine.
Many genomes have been sequenced by various genome projects. The cost of sequencing continues to drop.
[edit] Comparison of different genome sizes
Main article: Genome size
Organism Genome size (base pairs) Note
Virus, Bacteriophage MS2 3,569 First sequenced RNA-genome[2]
Virus, SV40 5,224 [3]
Virus, Phage Φ-X174; 5,386 First sequenced DNA-genome[4]
Virus, Phage λ 50,000
Bacterium, Haemophilus influenzae 1,830,000 First genome of living organism, July 1995[5]
Bacterium, Carsonella ruddii 160,000 Smallest non-viral genome.[6]
Bacterium, Buchnera aphidicola 600,000
Bacterium, Wigglesworthia glossinidia 700,000
Bacterium, Escherichia coli 4,000,000 [7]
Amoeba, Amoeba dubia 670,000,000,000 Largest known genome.[8]
Plant, Arabidopsis thaliana 157,000,000 First plant genome sequenced, Dec 2000.[9]
Plant, Genlisea margaretae 63,400,000 Smallest recorded flowering plant genome, 2006.[9]
Plant, Fritillaria assyrica 130,000,000,000
Plant, Populus trichocarpa 480,000,000 First tree genome, Sept 2006
Yeast,Saccharomyces cerevisiae 20,000,000 [10]
Fungus, Aspergillus nidulans 30,000,000
Nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans 98,000,000 First multicellular animal genome, December 1998[11]
Insect, Drosophila melanogaster aka Fruit Fly 130,000,000 [12]
Insect, Bombyx mori aka Silk Moth 530,000,000
Insect, Apis mellifera aka Honey Bee 1,770,000,000
Fish, Tetraodon nigroviridis, type of Puffer fish 385,000,000 Smallest vertebrate genome known
Mammal, Homo sapiens 3,200,000,000
Fish, Protopterus aethiopicus aka Marbled lungfish 130,000,000,000 Largest vertebrate genome known
Note: The DNA from a single human cell has a length of ~1.8 m (but at a width of ~2.4 nanometers).
Since genomes and their organisms are very complex, one research strategy is to reduce the number of genes in a genome to the bare minimum and still have the organism in question survive. There is experimental work being done on minimal genomes for single cell organisms as well as minimal genomes for multicellular organisms (see Developmental biology). The work is both in vivo and in silico.
In May 2007, the New York Times announced that the full genome of DNA pioneer James D. Watson had been recorded.[1] The article noted that some scientists believe this to be the gateway to upcoming personalized genomic medicine.
Many genomes have been sequenced by various genome projects. The cost of sequencing continues to drop.
[edit] Comparison of different genome sizes
Main article: Genome size
Organism Genome size (base pairs) Note
Virus, Bacteriophage MS2 3,569 First sequenced RNA-genome[2]
Virus, SV40 5,224 [3]
Virus, Phage Φ-X174; 5,386 First sequenced DNA-genome[4]
Virus, Phage λ 50,000
Bacterium, Haemophilus influenzae 1,830,000 First genome of living organism, July 1995[5]
Bacterium, Carsonella ruddii 160,000 Smallest non-viral genome.[6]
Bacterium, Buchnera aphidicola 600,000
Bacterium, Wigglesworthia glossinidia 700,000
Bacterium, Escherichia coli 4,000,000 [7]
Amoeba, Amoeba dubia 670,000,000,000 Largest known genome.[8]
Plant, Arabidopsis thaliana 157,000,000 First plant genome sequenced, Dec 2000.[9]
Plant, Genlisea margaretae 63,400,000 Smallest recorded flowering plant genome, 2006.[9]
Plant, Fritillaria assyrica 130,000,000,000
Plant, Populus trichocarpa 480,000,000 First tree genome, Sept 2006
Yeast,Saccharomyces cerevisiae 20,000,000 [10]
Fungus, Aspergillus nidulans 30,000,000
Nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans 98,000,000 First multicellular animal genome, December 1998[11]
Insect, Drosophila melanogaster aka Fruit Fly 130,000,000 [12]
Insect, Bombyx mori aka Silk Moth 530,000,000
Insect, Apis mellifera aka Honey Bee 1,770,000,000
Fish, Tetraodon nigroviridis, type of Puffer fish 385,000,000 Smallest vertebrate genome known
Mammal, Homo sapiens 3,200,000,000
Fish, Protopterus aethiopicus aka Marbled lungfish 130,000,000,000 Largest vertebrate genome known
Note: The DNA from a single human cell has a length of ~1.8 m (but at a width of ~2.4 nanometers).
Since genomes and their organisms are very complex, one research strategy is to reduce the number of genes in a genome to the bare minimum and still have the organism in question survive. There is experimental work being done on minimal genomes for single cell organisms as well as minimal genomes for multicellular organisms (see Developmental biology). The work is both in vivo and in silico.
Genome
For other uses, see Genome (disambiguation).
For a non-technical introduction to the topic, see Introduction to genetics.
In classical genetics, the genome of an diploid organism including eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a gamete, thereby a regular somatic cell contains two full sets of genomes. In a haploid organism, including bacteria, archaea, virus, and mitochondria, a cell contains only a single set of genome, usually in a single circular or contiguous linear DNA (or RNA for some viruses).
In modern molecular biology the genome of an organism is its whole hereditary information and is encoded in the DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA).
An image of multiple chromosomes, making up a genome
This includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA. The term was adapted in 1920 by Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests the name to be a portmanteau of the words gene and chromosome, however, many related -ome words already existed, such as biome and rhizome, forming a vocabulary into which genome fits systematically.[1]
More precisely, the genome of an organism is a complete genetic sequence on one set of chromosomes; for example, one of the two sets that a diploid individual carries in every somatic cell. The term genome can be applied specifically to mean that stored on a complete set of nuclear DNA (i.e., the "nuclear genome") but can also be applied to that stored within organelles that contain their own DNA, as with the mitochondrial genome or the chloroplast genome. When people say that the genome of a sexually reproducing species has been "sequenced," typically they are referring to a determination of the sequences of one set of autosomes and one of each type of sex chromosome, which together represent both of the possible sexes. Even in species that exist in only one sex, what is described as "a genome sequence" may be a composite read from the chromosomes of various individuals. In general use, the phrase "genetic makeup" is sometimes used conversationally to mean the genome of a particular individual or organism. The study of the global properties of genomes of related organisms is usually referred to as genomics, which distinguishes it from genetics which generally studies the properties of single genes or groups of genes.
Both the number of base pairs and the number of genes vary widely from one species to another, and there is little connection between the two. At present, the highest known number of genes is around 60,000, for the protozoan causing trichomoniasis (see List of sequenced eukaryotic genomes), almost three times as many as in the human genome.
An analogy to the human genome stored on DNA is that of instructions stored in a book:
The book is over one billion words long;
The book is bound 5000 volumes, each 300 pages long;
The book fits into a cell nucleus the size of a pinpoint;
A copy of the book (all 5000 volumes) is contained in almost every cell;
Contents[hide]
1 Types
2 Genomes and genetic variation
3 Genome projects
4 Comparison of different genome sizes
5 Genome evolution
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
//
[edit] Types
Most biological entities that are more complex than a virus sometimes or always carry additional genetic material besides that which resides in their chromosomes. In some contexts, such as sequencing the genome of a pathogenic microbe, "genome" is meant to include information stored on this auxiliary material, which is carried in plasmids. In such circumstances then, "genome" describes all of the genes and information on non-coding DNA that have the potential to be present.
In eukaryotes such as plants, protozoa and animals, however, "genome" carries the typical connotation of only information on chromosomal DNA. So although these organisms contain mitochondria that have their own DNA, the genes in this mitochondrial DNA are not considered part of the genome. In fact, mitochondria are sometimes said to have their own genome, often referred to as the "mitochondrial genome".
[edit] Genomes and genetic variation
For a non-technical introduction to the topic, see Introduction to genetics.
In classical genetics, the genome of an diploid organism including eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a gamete, thereby a regular somatic cell contains two full sets of genomes. In a haploid organism, including bacteria, archaea, virus, and mitochondria, a cell contains only a single set of genome, usually in a single circular or contiguous linear DNA (or RNA for some viruses).
In modern molecular biology the genome of an organism is its whole hereditary information and is encoded in the DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA).
An image of multiple chromosomes, making up a genome
This includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA. The term was adapted in 1920 by Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests the name to be a portmanteau of the words gene and chromosome, however, many related -ome words already existed, such as biome and rhizome, forming a vocabulary into which genome fits systematically.[1]
More precisely, the genome of an organism is a complete genetic sequence on one set of chromosomes; for example, one of the two sets that a diploid individual carries in every somatic cell. The term genome can be applied specifically to mean that stored on a complete set of nuclear DNA (i.e., the "nuclear genome") but can also be applied to that stored within organelles that contain their own DNA, as with the mitochondrial genome or the chloroplast genome. When people say that the genome of a sexually reproducing species has been "sequenced," typically they are referring to a determination of the sequences of one set of autosomes and one of each type of sex chromosome, which together represent both of the possible sexes. Even in species that exist in only one sex, what is described as "a genome sequence" may be a composite read from the chromosomes of various individuals. In general use, the phrase "genetic makeup" is sometimes used conversationally to mean the genome of a particular individual or organism. The study of the global properties of genomes of related organisms is usually referred to as genomics, which distinguishes it from genetics which generally studies the properties of single genes or groups of genes.
Both the number of base pairs and the number of genes vary widely from one species to another, and there is little connection between the two. At present, the highest known number of genes is around 60,000, for the protozoan causing trichomoniasis (see List of sequenced eukaryotic genomes), almost three times as many as in the human genome.
An analogy to the human genome stored on DNA is that of instructions stored in a book:
The book is over one billion words long;
The book is bound 5000 volumes, each 300 pages long;
The book fits into a cell nucleus the size of a pinpoint;
A copy of the book (all 5000 volumes) is contained in almost every cell;
Contents[hide]
1 Types
2 Genomes and genetic variation
3 Genome projects
4 Comparison of different genome sizes
5 Genome evolution
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
//
[edit] Types
Most biological entities that are more complex than a virus sometimes or always carry additional genetic material besides that which resides in their chromosomes. In some contexts, such as sequencing the genome of a pathogenic microbe, "genome" is meant to include information stored on this auxiliary material, which is carried in plasmids. In such circumstances then, "genome" describes all of the genes and information on non-coding DNA that have the potential to be present.
In eukaryotes such as plants, protozoa and animals, however, "genome" carries the typical connotation of only information on chromosomal DNA. So although these organisms contain mitochondria that have their own DNA, the genes in this mitochondrial DNA are not considered part of the genome. In fact, mitochondria are sometimes said to have their own genome, often referred to as the "mitochondrial genome".
[edit] Genomes and genetic variation
Arturo Uslar Pietri
Arturo Uslar Pietri (May 16, 1906 – February 26, 2001) was one of the most prominent Venezuelan figures of the twentieth century. He was a writer and an intellectual, who made important contributions as an educator, journalist, diplomat, politician and government official.
Contents[hide]
1 Life and career
2 Awards
3 Works
3.1 Novels
3.1.1 Essays
3.2 Short stories
3.3 Poetry
3.4 Theater
3.5 Travel
4 External links
//
[edit] Life and career
Born in Caracas, Uslar Pietri was raised partly there and partly in Maracay (State of Aragua) where he published several short stories in youth magazines. He studied Political Science in the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas and shortly after moved to Paris as a member of the Venezuelan diplomatic delegation. In Paris he met many Latin American writers and became a good friend of Alejo Carpentier and Miguel Ángel Asturias. One of his most celebrated books was written during his stay in France. In 1931 he published Las Lanzas Coloradas a historical novel set in revolutionary Venezuela.
When the 27-year-long dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez ended with the dictator's death in 1935, Uslar Pietri became active in the political debate, writing opinion articles in the local press. One of those articles, published on July 14, 1936, included a phrase that is still remembered and has both become an inspiration and a recrimination of Venezuela's fate as an oil producer and exporter. The title of that article was Sembrar el petróleo (to sow or plant oil) a metaphor he created to encourage Venezuelan leaders to invest oil wealth on sustainable growth.
In 1939, at the age of 33 he married Isabel Braun Kerdel with whom he had two sons, Arturo and Federico Uslar Braun (both deceased). That same year he became Minister of Education. He founded a political party Partido Democrático Venezolano and joined the Legislative Assembly as a Deputy in 1944. In 1945 he had been appointed Minister of the Interior, but political turmoil forced him to leave the country and move to New York in 1948. During his stay in New York he taught at Columbia University. He returned to Venezuela two years later and resumed his political activities as a Senator. In 1963 he ran for the Venezuelan Presidency as a third party candidate but was defeated by Raúl Leoni.
After this defeat, he stayed active in politics as a Senator but gradually distanced himself from the political fray. He became Director of the Caracas news daily El Nacional from 1969 to 1974, when he traveled to Paris as Venezuelan Ambassador at UNESCO. On his return in 1979, he concentrated on writing and education. He became a familiar face on a weekly educational television show written and directed by Henrique Lazo, called Valores Humanos, a show focusing on history and the arts that started in 1953.
Uslar Pietri died in Caracas on February 26, 2001 at the age of 94.
His only surviving son, Federico Alfredo Uslar Braun, died in Caracas in 2007.
[edit] Awards
El Nacional Best Short Story Award (1949)
National Literature Award (1952, (1982)
National Journalism Award (1971)
The Miguel de Cervantes Hispanic-American Journalism Award (1972)
Prince of Asturias Award (1990)
Légion d'honneur Grand-Croix (Grand Cross) (1990)
Rómulo Gallegos Prize for Best Novel (1991)
Contents[hide]
1 Life and career
2 Awards
3 Works
3.1 Novels
3.1.1 Essays
3.2 Short stories
3.3 Poetry
3.4 Theater
3.5 Travel
4 External links
//
[edit] Life and career
Born in Caracas, Uslar Pietri was raised partly there and partly in Maracay (State of Aragua) where he published several short stories in youth magazines. He studied Political Science in the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas and shortly after moved to Paris as a member of the Venezuelan diplomatic delegation. In Paris he met many Latin American writers and became a good friend of Alejo Carpentier and Miguel Ángel Asturias. One of his most celebrated books was written during his stay in France. In 1931 he published Las Lanzas Coloradas a historical novel set in revolutionary Venezuela.
When the 27-year-long dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez ended with the dictator's death in 1935, Uslar Pietri became active in the political debate, writing opinion articles in the local press. One of those articles, published on July 14, 1936, included a phrase that is still remembered and has both become an inspiration and a recrimination of Venezuela's fate as an oil producer and exporter. The title of that article was Sembrar el petróleo (to sow or plant oil) a metaphor he created to encourage Venezuelan leaders to invest oil wealth on sustainable growth.
In 1939, at the age of 33 he married Isabel Braun Kerdel with whom he had two sons, Arturo and Federico Uslar Braun (both deceased). That same year he became Minister of Education. He founded a political party Partido Democrático Venezolano and joined the Legislative Assembly as a Deputy in 1944. In 1945 he had been appointed Minister of the Interior, but political turmoil forced him to leave the country and move to New York in 1948. During his stay in New York he taught at Columbia University. He returned to Venezuela two years later and resumed his political activities as a Senator. In 1963 he ran for the Venezuelan Presidency as a third party candidate but was defeated by Raúl Leoni.
After this defeat, he stayed active in politics as a Senator but gradually distanced himself from the political fray. He became Director of the Caracas news daily El Nacional from 1969 to 1974, when he traveled to Paris as Venezuelan Ambassador at UNESCO. On his return in 1979, he concentrated on writing and education. He became a familiar face on a weekly educational television show written and directed by Henrique Lazo, called Valores Humanos, a show focusing on history and the arts that started in 1953.
Uslar Pietri died in Caracas on February 26, 2001 at the age of 94.
His only surviving son, Federico Alfredo Uslar Braun, died in Caracas in 2007.
[edit] Awards
El Nacional Best Short Story Award (1949)
National Literature Award (1952, (1982)
National Journalism Award (1971)
The Miguel de Cervantes Hispanic-American Journalism Award (1972)
Prince of Asturias Award (1990)
Légion d'honneur Grand-Croix (Grand Cross) (1990)
Rómulo Gallegos Prize for Best Novel (1991)
André Weil
André Weil (May 6, 1906 - August 6, 1998) (pronounced [ɑ̃dʁe vɛj][1]) was one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, renowned for the breadth and quality of his research output, its influence on future work, and the elegance of his exposition. He is especially known for his foundational work in number theory and algebraic geometry. He was a founding member and the de facto early leader of the influential Bourbaki group. The philosopher Simone Weil was his sister.
Contents[hide]
1 Life
2 Work
3 As expositor
4 Books
5 Quotations
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links
//
[edit] Life
Born in Paris to Alsatian Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, Weil studied in Paris, Rome and Göttingen and received his doctorate in 1928. While in Germany, he befriended Carl Ludwig Siegel. He spent two academic years at Aligarh Muslim University from 1930. Sanskrit literature was a life-long interest. After one year in Marseille, he taught six years in Strasbourg. He married Eveline in 1937.
Weil was in Finland when World War II broke out; he had been traveling in Scandinavia since April 1939. Eveline returned to France without him. The following anecdote is taken from his autobiography: after having been arrested under suspicion of espionage in Finland, when the USSR attacked on 30 November 1939, he was saved from being shot only by the intervention of Rolf Nevanlinna. This is the version that Nevanlinna propagated after the war. However, such a story is a bit too good to be true. In 1992, the Finnish mathematician Osmo Pekonen went to the archives to check the facts. Based on the documents, he established that Weil was not really going to be shot, even if he was under arrest, and that Nevanlinna probably didn't do - and didn't need to do - anything to save him. Pekonen published a paper[2] on this with an afterword by André Weil himself. Nevanlinna's motivation for concocting such a story of himself as the rescuer of a famous Jewish mathematician probably was the fact that he had been a Nazi sympathizer during the war. The story also appears in Nevanlinna's autobiography, published in Finnish, but the dates don't match with real events at all. It is true, however, that Nevanlinna housed Weil in the summer of 1939 at his summer residence Korkee at Lohja in Finland - and offered Hitler's Mein Kampf as bedside reading. Weil signed 'Bourbaki' in Nevanlinna's guestbook.
Weil returned to France via Sweden and the United Kingdom, and was detained at Le Havre in January 1940. He was charged with failure to report for duty, and was imprisoned in Le Havre and then Rouen. It was in the military prison in Bonne-Nouvelle, a district of Rouen, from February to May, that he did the work that made his reputation. He was tried on May 3, 1940. Sentenced to five years, he asked to be sent to a military unit instead, and joined a regiment in Cherbourg. After the fall of France, he met up with his family in Marseille, where he arrived by sea. He then went to Clermont-Ferrand, where he managed to join Eveline, who had been in German-occupied France.
In January 1941, Weil and his family sailed from Marseille to New York. He spent the war in the United States, where he was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and Guggenheim Foundation. For two years, he unhappily taught undergraduate mathematics at Lehigh University. He taught at the Universidade de São Paulo, 1945-47, where he worked with Oscar Zariski. He taught at the University of Chicago from 1947 to 1958, before spending the remainder of his career at the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1979, he shared the second Wolf Prize in Mathematics.
Contents[hide]
1 Life
2 Work
3 As expositor
4 Books
5 Quotations
6 See also
7 Notes
8 External links
//
[edit] Life
Born in Paris to Alsatian Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, Weil studied in Paris, Rome and Göttingen and received his doctorate in 1928. While in Germany, he befriended Carl Ludwig Siegel. He spent two academic years at Aligarh Muslim University from 1930. Sanskrit literature was a life-long interest. After one year in Marseille, he taught six years in Strasbourg. He married Eveline in 1937.
Weil was in Finland when World War II broke out; he had been traveling in Scandinavia since April 1939. Eveline returned to France without him. The following anecdote is taken from his autobiography: after having been arrested under suspicion of espionage in Finland, when the USSR attacked on 30 November 1939, he was saved from being shot only by the intervention of Rolf Nevanlinna. This is the version that Nevanlinna propagated after the war. However, such a story is a bit too good to be true. In 1992, the Finnish mathematician Osmo Pekonen went to the archives to check the facts. Based on the documents, he established that Weil was not really going to be shot, even if he was under arrest, and that Nevanlinna probably didn't do - and didn't need to do - anything to save him. Pekonen published a paper[2] on this with an afterword by André Weil himself. Nevanlinna's motivation for concocting such a story of himself as the rescuer of a famous Jewish mathematician probably was the fact that he had been a Nazi sympathizer during the war. The story also appears in Nevanlinna's autobiography, published in Finnish, but the dates don't match with real events at all. It is true, however, that Nevanlinna housed Weil in the summer of 1939 at his summer residence Korkee at Lohja in Finland - and offered Hitler's Mein Kampf as bedside reading. Weil signed 'Bourbaki' in Nevanlinna's guestbook.
Weil returned to France via Sweden and the United Kingdom, and was detained at Le Havre in January 1940. He was charged with failure to report for duty, and was imprisoned in Le Havre and then Rouen. It was in the military prison in Bonne-Nouvelle, a district of Rouen, from February to May, that he did the work that made his reputation. He was tried on May 3, 1940. Sentenced to five years, he asked to be sent to a military unit instead, and joined a regiment in Cherbourg. After the fall of France, he met up with his family in Marseille, where he arrived by sea. He then went to Clermont-Ferrand, where he managed to join Eveline, who had been in German-occupied France.
In January 1941, Weil and his family sailed from Marseille to New York. He spent the war in the United States, where he was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and Guggenheim Foundation. For two years, he unhappily taught undergraduate mathematics at Lehigh University. He taught at the Universidade de São Paulo, 1945-47, where he worked with Oscar Zariski. He taught at the University of Chicago from 1947 to 1958, before spending the remainder of his career at the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1979, he shared the second Wolf Prize in Mathematics.
Mary Astor
Mary Astor (May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. Most famous for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941) opposite Humphrey Bogart, Astor began her long motion picture career as a teenager in the silent movies of the early 1920s.
She eventually made a successful transition to talkies, but almost saw her career destroyed due to public scandal in the mid-1930s. She was sued for support by her parents and was later branded an adulterous wife by her ex-husband during a custody fight over her daughter. Overcoming these stumbling blocks in her private life, Astor went on to even greater success on the screen, eventually winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Sandra Kovak in The Great Lie (1941). Director Lindsay Anderson said of her: "...that when two or three who love the cinema are gathered together, the name of Mary Astor always comes up, and everybody agrees that she was an actress of special attraction, whose qualities of depth and reality always seemed to illuminate the parts she played." She continued to act in movies, on television and on stage into the 1960s. She retired from the screen in 1964.
Astor was also the author of five novels. Her autobiography became a bestseller, as did her later book, A Life on Film, which was specifically about her career.
Contents[hide]
1 Early life
2 Silent movie career
3 New beginnings
4 Scandals
5 Career continues
6 Middle years
7 Later life
8 Filmography
9 Bibliography
10 References
11 External links
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[edit] Early life
She was born Lucile de Vasconcellos Langhanke in Quincy, Illinois in May 3, 1906. Mary was the only child of Otto Ludwig Langhanke (October 2, 1871-February 3, 1943) and Helen Marie de Vasconcellos (April 19, 1881-January 18, 1947).
Her father, who was born in Berlin, immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1891 and became a naturalized citizen; her mother was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, of Portuguese and Irish extraction.[1] They married on August 3, 1904 in Lyons, Kansas. Otto was a German teacher at Quincy High School until the U.S. entered World War I. He then began doing light farming. Helen, who had always wanted to be an actress, began teaching drama and elocution.
Lucile was homeschooled in academics and taught to play the piano by her father, who insisted she practice daily. In 1919, she sent a photograph of herself to a beauty contest in Motion Picture Magazine and became a semifinalist. Her father then moved the family to Chicago, where he took a position teaching German in public schools. Lucile took drama lessons and appeared in various amateur stage plays.
The following year, she sent another photograph to the magazine and this time became a finalist, this time being named runner-up in the national contest. Her father then moved the family to New York, in order for his pretty daughter to become an actress in motion pictures. He managed all her affairs from September 1920 to June 1930.
A Manhattan photographer, Charles Albin, saw a photograph and asked the young girl with haunting eyes and long auburn hair, whose nickname was "Rusty," to pose for him. The Albin photographs were seen by Harry Durant of Famous Players-Lasky and Lucile was signed to a six-month contract with Paramount Pictures. Her name was changed to Mary Astor during a conference between Paramount chief Jesse Lasky, gossip columnist Louella Parsons, and producer Walter Wanger.
She eventually made a successful transition to talkies, but almost saw her career destroyed due to public scandal in the mid-1930s. She was sued for support by her parents and was later branded an adulterous wife by her ex-husband during a custody fight over her daughter. Overcoming these stumbling blocks in her private life, Astor went on to even greater success on the screen, eventually winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Sandra Kovak in The Great Lie (1941). Director Lindsay Anderson said of her: "...that when two or three who love the cinema are gathered together, the name of Mary Astor always comes up, and everybody agrees that she was an actress of special attraction, whose qualities of depth and reality always seemed to illuminate the parts she played." She continued to act in movies, on television and on stage into the 1960s. She retired from the screen in 1964.
Astor was also the author of five novels. Her autobiography became a bestseller, as did her later book, A Life on Film, which was specifically about her career.
Contents[hide]
1 Early life
2 Silent movie career
3 New beginnings
4 Scandals
5 Career continues
6 Middle years
7 Later life
8 Filmography
9 Bibliography
10 References
11 External links
//
[edit] Early life
She was born Lucile de Vasconcellos Langhanke in Quincy, Illinois in May 3, 1906. Mary was the only child of Otto Ludwig Langhanke (October 2, 1871-February 3, 1943) and Helen Marie de Vasconcellos (April 19, 1881-January 18, 1947).
Her father, who was born in Berlin, immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1891 and became a naturalized citizen; her mother was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, of Portuguese and Irish extraction.[1] They married on August 3, 1904 in Lyons, Kansas. Otto was a German teacher at Quincy High School until the U.S. entered World War I. He then began doing light farming. Helen, who had always wanted to be an actress, began teaching drama and elocution.
Lucile was homeschooled in academics and taught to play the piano by her father, who insisted she practice daily. In 1919, she sent a photograph of herself to a beauty contest in Motion Picture Magazine and became a semifinalist. Her father then moved the family to Chicago, where he took a position teaching German in public schools. Lucile took drama lessons and appeared in various amateur stage plays.
The following year, she sent another photograph to the magazine and this time became a finalist, this time being named runner-up in the national contest. Her father then moved the family to New York, in order for his pretty daughter to become an actress in motion pictures. He managed all her affairs from September 1920 to June 1930.
A Manhattan photographer, Charles Albin, saw a photograph and asked the young girl with haunting eyes and long auburn hair, whose nickname was "Rusty," to pose for him. The Albin photographs were seen by Harry Durant of Famous Players-Lasky and Lucile was signed to a six-month contract with Paramount Pictures. Her name was changed to Mary Astor during a conference between Paramount chief Jesse Lasky, gossip columnist Louella Parsons, and producer Walter Wanger.
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