BROADFOOT, GEORGE (1807-1845) Joined service of the East India Company as a cadet in the Madras Native Infantry in 1826. In May 1841, he went to Kabul in command of the escort which accompanied the families of Shah Shuja` and Zaman Shah. He took part in the first Afghan war and distinguished himself in the Khaibar operations under General Pollock. In 1844, he was appointed Agent to the Governor General at the North-West Frontier Agency. The appointment was not liked by the Sikh Government. Major George Broadfoot was impulsive by nature and had a temperamental hostility towards the Sikhs.
CUNNINGHAM, JOSEPH DAVEY (1812-1851), the first British historian of the Sikhs (his A History of the Sikhs was published in London in 1849), was the eldest of the five sons of Allan Cunningham, a noted poet and playwright. Born at Lambeth on 9 June 1812, Joseph had his early education in private schools in London where he showed such a marked aptitude for mathematics that his father was advised to send him to Cambridge. But as the young boy was more keen on becoming a soldier, a cadetship in the East India Company`s service was procured him through the good offices of Sir Walter Scott.
CURRIE, SIR FREDERICK (1799-1875), diplomat, son of Mark Currie, was born on 3 February 1799. He came out to India in 1820, and served in various capacities in the civil and judicial departments before being appointed a judge in the North-West Frontier Province. He became foreign secretary to Government of India at Fort William in 1842. During the first Sikh war (1845-46), he remained with Governor General Lord Hardinge and was instrumental in arranging with the Sikhs the terms of the first treaty of Lahore.
