Brothers in the Raj

In mid-nineteenth century British India, John and Henry Lawrence achieved formidable reputations as founders of the paternalist tradition of rule in the Punjab, and became heroes of the Great Revolt of 1857-58. Henry, the elder, first came to India as a soldier, was invalided home, then returned to purse a career as a surveyor, then as a political agent. John, four years younger, became a civil servant, and eventually joined his brother in the Punjab. However, their disagreement over the manner in which the Punjab should be ruled led to Henry's removal to Rajasthan, then to Lucknow, where he died during siege of the Residency. John, still in Lahore, organized the recapture of Delhi from the mutineers, and in the 1860's returned to India as Viceroy. In this first-length joint biography, Harold Lee makes his central them the congruence between the brothers' differing personalities and views on how the Punjab should be ruled.