Henry Lawrence's "Young Men"

Henry Lawrence's "Young Men", also known as "the Paladins of the Punjaub", were a group of East India Company officers sent to act as "advisers" to the Sikhs after the First Sikh War in 1846. In the words of George Lawrence, his duties were "to act as a friendly adviser to the native officials". They served under the command of Sir Henry Lawrence, initially the Agent to the Governor General and later also the Resident at Lahore.

Collectively these men laid the foundations of British rule in the Punjab and Northwest Frontier between the First Anglo-Sikh War and the Indian Rebellion in 1857.

Following the successful defeat of the Maratha Empire in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, the East India Company was able to expand its operations westwards largely unchecked. This created a new frontier for the company which brought them into competition with the expanding Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. At the same time, Russia was empire building in Asia, and the British government became fearful of the Russian threats to its commercial interests in India and central Asia. The British viewed Afghanistan as a potential protectorate, behind a series of further buffer states in central Asia and Persia designed to protect British India. However to gain access to Afghanistan, a route would be required through Sind and the Punjab.

The death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 marked a period of instability within the Sikh Empire. To counter the threat to British territories along the border, the East India Company increased its military strength near the border with a new cantonment in Ferozepur. However this act, viewed together with the recent conquest of Sindh in 1843, was viewed with great distrust by the Sikhs. This led to a breakdown in diplomatic relations and the outbreak of the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1845.

...
Wikipedia