ury, the Sikhs under Rajit Singh ruled themselves and a vast territory which encompassed most of contemporary Pakistan, northwest India and parts of Afghanistan and Tibet. The decline of the Mogul Empire was followed by the advent of the British, who defeated Sikh forces in a series of ferocious battles in 1848-1849. Sikh writer Gupte says that "the genesis of the Sikh Hindu polarization of the 1980s dates back to the last century when India's British rulers successfully sowed the seeds of mutual suspicion" between Sikhs and Hindus (Vengeance 119). The British imposed a strict military regime in Punjab, but they also recruited Sikhs in large numbers to serve in the army, respected the privileges of Sikh princes and constructed massive irrigation canals, which converted Punjab into the granary of India. Sikhs helped the British suppress the Sepoy mutiny of 1857 and loyally supported Britain in the two world wars in which they distinguished themselves by their valor.
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