BROADFOOT, GEORGE (1807-1845), joined service of the East India Company as a cadet in the Madrās Native Infantry in 1826. In May 1841, he went to Kābul in command of the escort which accompanied the families of Shāh Shujā' and Zamān Shāh. He took part in the first Afghān 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. While leading a caravan of the royal Afghān families through the Punjab, he had annoyed the Sikh escort provided by the Lahore Government for the protection of the convoy. He incited the Muslim population to rise and rescue him and requisitioned a British brigade from Jalālābād to save him from what he called the violent intentions of the Sikhs. His distrust of the Sikh escort, however, proved imaginary, but his conduct had given offence to the Sikh Darbār.

        Broadfoot had come to the Sikh frontier with the set policy of inciting antagonisms against the Lahore Kingdom and bringing about a full-scale conflagration between the Sikhs and the British. He endeavoured to win over Mūl Rāj, the governor of Multān, to his side. He gave open encouragement to Gulāb Siṅgh, who had made numerous proposals to the British for the destruction of the Sikh army and offered to assist them in the occupation of the Punjab in return for his being recognized as an independent sovereign of Jammū and the neighbouring hills. In March 1845, Broadfoot challenged the right of the Sikh Government to administer its possessions to the south of the Sutlej. He arrested a party of Lahore officials, escorted by a cavalry force, proceeding to Koṭ Kapūrā to relieve State troops stationed there. He prepared a case for the seizure of Lahore lands on the left bank of the Sutlej, arguing that, if the river was the boundary between the Sikhs and the British, the former could not possess territories to the south of it. Soon afterwards took place the Anandpur Mākhovāl incident. The Colebrook Award of 1828 had accepted Lahore supremacy over the town, which was managed by the Soḍhī priests, and the Sikh Darbār's right so established had never been challenged. A dispute having arisen among the Soḍhis in the spring of 1845, Broadfoot took upon himself to settle it by force. The Sikh forces, however, upset Broadfoot's mediation and expelled both Lieutenant Cunningham and his assistant sent there by the British agent.

        These provocative acts on the part of Major Broadfoot were among the chain of events which culminated in the first Anglo-Sikh war. What Broadfoot did was only in line with Lord Hardinge's policy, and had the approval of the Home Government. Hardinge's approbation was expressed in his cryptic comment : "Broadfoot is in his element on the frontier. "

        Major Broadfoot was killed in action on 21 December 1845 in the battle of Ferozeshāh.