160 A CONQUEST OF PASTS
the Marathas, and Ranjit Singh in Lahore. The Talpurs, wary of for-
eign troops on their land, signed the treaty to keep the Company at
bay for a while. In 1809, another treaty was negotiated to "prevent any I
establishment of the tribe of French in Sind" and again, in 18.20, to fur-
ther restrict the settlement of any "Europeans or Americans" in the
region.^19 The desire to chart the waters of the Indus brought Alexander
Burnes (1805-1841) to the port of Karachi in 1830. His ostensible mis-
sion was to deliver presents from the king of England to Raja Ranjit
Singh. After some hesitation, the Talpur gave him permission to navi-
gate the river to Lahore.
Burnes notes that as he ascended the river, a local elite ("Syud"J
turned to his companion and said, "Sinde is now gone, since the En-
glish have seen the river, which is the road to its conquest." Hearing
that, Burnes commented, "If such an event do happen, I am certain that
the body of people will hail the happy day; but it will be an evil one
for the Syuds, the descendants of Mahomed, who are the only people,
besides the rulers that derive precedence and profit from the existing
order of things.^1120 Burnes's voyage ended up opening the channels of
the Indus to the Company. The British capitalized on this opening and
forced more commercial treaties. One in 1832, and another in 1834, al-
lowed British passage across Sind, taxation on commerce along the
Indus, and the use of Karachi's harbors. Sind, the frontier, became a
necessary shortcut to the wars in Afghanistan and Punjab. In addition
to such concerns, the'East India Company was apprehensive that the
Indus was being used to supply Malwa opium to the Portuguese har-
bors of Daman and Diu in Gujarat, by way of the Karachi harbor. These
routes had to be stopped or, at the very least, taxed.
In 1839, more treaties followed. These increased the number of
British troops in Sind, abrogated all foreign affairs of the Talpur in favor
of the British, put an annual tax on the Talpur, and gave the British
the authority to mint coins (with the Queen's visage) in Sind. In the
meantime, Admiral Maitland captured the port of Karachi on the pre-
tense that someone had fired a cannon shot at his frigate while it was
in the harbor. The capture of Karachi, a major port of commerce, was
a severe blow to the Talpur. They did not have many options left. The
failed British campaign in Afghanistan (the first Anglo-Afghan war) ne-
cessitated troop movements across the Talpur territory, and any mis-