 He owed his safety during this period to the high opinion which Akbar Khan had of his character, and to his strict adherence to all the promises which he made to his captor.Ill-health obliged Lawrence to return to England in August 1843, and shortly after that date the East India Company awarded him £600 in testimony of their sense of his services in Afghanistan.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.