On his going back to India in October 1846, he was appointed an assistant political agent in the Punjab, having charge over the important Rajputana district. In the autumn of 1847, with only two thousand troops, Lawrence engaged and defeated on two occasions large numbers of the hill men of the tribes on the Swat border. On the breaking out of the second Sikh War in 1848, Lawrence's great personal influence at Peshawar for some time kept his regiments faithful, but at last they went over to the enemy, and, on 25 October 1848 he was a prisoner in the hands of Chuttur Singh, but was three times permitted to leave his captivity on parole.