Cis-Sutlej States

Cis-Sutlej states, Indian principalities, mostly Sikh, that became important in the early 19th century when their fate was in the balance between the British on the one hand and Ranjit Singh of the Sikhs on the other. They were called Cis- (Latin: “On This Side [of]”) Sutlej by the British because they were on the British, or southern, side of the Sutlej River. They had grown up during “the time of troubles” in the Punjab after the collapse of Mughal authority and the withdrawal of the Afghan chief, Aḥmad Shah Durrānī, in 1761.

Under the threat of absorption into Ranjit Singh’s kingdom, they appealed to the British, who established dominance over them by the Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809). After 1846 there were nine states, later reduced to six, with full powers; Patiala, 5,412 square miles (14,017 square km) in area with up to two million inhabitants at the time of its absorption, was the foremost. The states survived until the independence of India (1947), at which time they were organized into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU). They subsequently were absorbed into the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana.