A HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

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HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

FROM

THE ORIGIN OF THE NATION

TO

THE BATTLES OF THE SUTLEJ

BY

JOSEPH DAVEY CUNNINGHAM

LIEUTENANT OF ENGINEERS, AND CAPTAIN IN THE ARMY OF INDIA

EDITED BY

H. L. O. GARRETT, M.A., I.E.S.

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, LAHORE

NEW AND REVISED EDITION
WITH TWO MAPS

1(503 ^ (f

3j. 3. a I

HUMPHREY MILFORD

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK

TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY

19I8

H

PRINTED AT OXFORD, ENGLAND

BY FREDERICK HALL
PRINTER TO THE UNrVERSITY

EDITOR'S NOTE

The author's original spelling of Indian names is archaic
and almost intolerable to the modern reader. I have there-
fore adopted the modern accepted spelling, and for the
arduous work of transliteration I am indebted to L. Tej
Ram, M,A., Professor of Mathematics at the Randhir College,
Kapdrthala.

The author's text and notes have remained unaltered,
but where necessary I have added additional notes, which
will be found in brackets.

By permission of the Government of the Punjab, I am
enabled to reproduce some of the results obtained by the
recent examination of the manuscript records of the Sikh
days, which have long been lying in the archives of the Civil
Secretariat. In this connexion I have been greatly assisted
by L. Sita Ram Kohly, M.A., the research student in charge
of the work. Apart from this, he has been of great help
in preparing the entire volume and, in particular, in the
drawing up of the Bibliography. Finally, I tender my very
grateful thanks to the Hon. Mr. J. P. Thompson, I.C.S.,
Chief Secretary to the Government of the Punjab, who has
kindly looked through the manuscript and to whom I am
indebted for many valuable hints and suggestions.

H. L. O. GARRETT.

Lahore,
November 1915.

INTRODUCTORY

The original edition of Capt. Cunningham's book appeared
in 1849. A second edition was finished in 1851, but, as is
explained in the second preface by his brother, this edition
did not make its appearance till 1853, after the death of the
author. The second edition did not differ materially from
the first beyond certain re-arrangements and certain addi-
tions to the notes, with the exception of Chapter IX. This
chapter, which deals Avith the events leading up to, and the
progress and result of, the first Sikli War, was considerably
modified in the second edition. Even in this form the
chapter contains many statements of an injudicious nature.
Indeed, as the result of certain strictures upon the policy of
the Government of India in dealing with Gulab Singh of
Jammu, the author was dismissed from his employment in
the Political Department by the Honourable East India
Company and sent back to regimental duty. These
strictures, together with a note upon the subsequent
punishment meted out to the author, will be found in
their proper place in Chapter IX.

To turn to the volume as a whole. The author, as he tells
us in his own prefatory note, spent eight years of his service
(from 1838 to 1846) in close contact with the Siklis, and that
too during a very important period of their history. His
experiences began with the interview between Lord Auckland
and Ranjit Singh in 1838 and lasted down to the close of
the first Sikh War, when he became resident in Bhopal. The
result of his eight years' residence was to give him a great
insight into the history of the Siklis and to inspire in him a
partiality which is only too clearly visible in his handling
of the events leading up to the outbreak of hostilities
with the British. Tlie whole book bears evidence of most
meticulous care, and the voluminous footnotes show the
breadth and variety of the author's study.

Chapter I deals with the country and its people. There

viii INTRODUCTORY

is a detailed description of the industries of the Punjab and
its dependencies, much of which has been rendered
archaic by the natural march of events. The ethno-
logical part of this chapter has been carefully done, though
this again is in need of supplementation in the light of
modern research. It seems hardly necessary to guide the
modern reader in this direction when so many excellent
gazetteers are now available, but for a very lucid summary
of the Hill States of the Punjab and their peoples, a subject
in which the author is a little difficult to follow, reference
may well be made to an article (in vol. iii of The Journal
of the Punjab Historical Society) by Messrs. Hutchison and
Vogcl, which is admirably exi^licit and is supplemented by a
short bibliography on the subject.

Chapter II is concerned with the old religions of India.
Here again knowledge has moved forward and much of the
author's information is archaic. His conception of the lin-
gam and its significance, for example, is not in consonance
with modern theory. Unfortunately, too, he lived before
the days when the labours of the Archaeological Department
had thrown a flood of light upon the teaching of Buddlia
and the prevalence of his religion in India. Indeed, his
only reference to the British in this connexion is an accusa-
tion of iconoclasm which reads strangely to a modern
generation. His accoimt of ' modern reforms ' naturally
stops at an early point, and he seems to have been led into
the somewhat erroneous conclusion that the whole Indian
world — Hindu and Muhammadan — at the time that he
wrote, was moving in the direction of a hew revelation. As
I have pointed out in a supplementary note, the tendency
is rather, in the case of both creeds, towards a reversion to
ancient purity and the removal of accretions and corruptions.
The chapter concludes with an account of Guru Nanak
and his teaching.

Chapter III is concerned with the lives and teaching of
the Guriis. The gradual spread of the Sikh religion in
the Punjab led to the establishment of a sort of r/«j^er/«Ht in
imperio. This development caused the Mughal emperors to
follow a line of policy much like that adopted by the Roman
emperors when confronted by the rising organization of

INTRODUCTORY ix

the Christian Church. This policy — one of repression and
persecution — caused a profound modification of the whole
Sikh system. The simple altruism of the early days was
laid aside and, under Gobind Singh, the tenth and last
Guru, the Sikhs became a definite fighting force. At first
the armies of the Khalsa met with little success, and the
death of Gobind Singh in 1708, followed by that of Banda,
his successor in the command of the armies, in 1716,
seemed to sound the knell of Sikh hopes and ambitions.
But the fervour of their belief rose triumphant over
persecution, and the Sikhs found their opportunity in the
years of disorder which followed the death of the Emperor
Bahadur Shah in 1712.

Chapter IV relates the gradual establishment of Sikh
independence down to 1764. Northern India was a wild
welter of confusion. The Mughal Empire was falling
rapidly to pieces under the repeated blows of invaders from
north and south. First Nadir Shah and his Persian hosts,
and then the Afghan Ahmad Shah Durrani, swept down
upon the imperial capital. Like Rome of old, Delhi felt
again and again the hand of the spoiler, and its glories
became a thing of the past. The advent of the Marathas
upon the scene seemed at first the prelude to the establish-
ment of Hindu supremacy in the north of India. But the
battle of Panlpat (1761) jjroved fatal to their ambitions
and left the stage open for the development of a new
power in the Punjab.

Amid all this confusion the Sikhs gradually achieved
their independence. At first they were mere bands of
plunderers, but gradually these bands became united into
a formidable fighting force. In 1748 the army of the
Khalsa became a recognized organization under Jassa
Singh, and though it frequently suffered defeat, it never
lost its definite character after that date. The Sikhs
sustained their greatest disaster at the hands of the Afghans
at Ludhiana in 1762, but the waves of Afghan invasion
had spent their strength. In 1763, at Sirhind, the Siklis
avenged their defeat of the previous year and permanently
occupied the province of Sirhind. In the following year,
which witnessed the last Afghan invasion, they became

X INTRODUCTORY

masters of Lahore, and in the same year, at a meeting at
Amritsar, organized tliemselves into a ruling political
system, described by the author as a ' theocratic con-
federate feudalism '. The condition of the Punjab during
these years of bloodshed and disorder was miserable in the
extreme. To find any parallel in European history one
would have to go back to the days of King Stephen in
England or to some of the worst episodes of the Thirty
Years' War. Waris Shah, the author of the story of Hlr
and Ranjha, who flourished during this period, gives, in
the epilogue of this poem, a vivid account of the state of
the country :

Fools and sinners give counsel to the world,

The words of the wise are set at naught.

No man tells the truth or cares for justice.

Telling what is untrue has become the practice in the world.

With violence men commit fiagi'ant iniquity,

In the hands of tyrants there is a sharp sword.

There is no Governor, Ruler, or Emperor.

The country and all the people in it have been made desolate.

Great confusion has fallen on the country.
There is a sword in every man's hand.
The purdah of shame and modesty has been lifted
And all the world goes naked in the open bazaar.

Thieves have become leaders of men.

•Harlots have become mistresses of the household.

The company of devils has multiplied exceedingly.

The state of the noble is pitiable.

Men of menial birth flourish and the peasants are in great prosperity.

The Jats have become masters of our country,
Everywhere there is a new Government.^

The Sikhs had becoine a nation and, in theory, a united
nation, but in actual fact such was far from being the case.
The new State was composed of a number — twelve is the
usually recognized total — of leagues or 'Misals'. Instead of
uniting and forming a solid State, these ' Misals' were almost
constantly engaged in civil war, grouping and regrouping
in the struggle for pre-eminence. It needed a strong hand
to check these internecine disputes, and, fortunately for the

^ [I am indebted to Mi-. C. F. Usborne, C.S., for the above translation.]

INTRODUCTORY xi

Punjab, Ranjit Singh appeared on the scene. The career of
the one-eyed Lion of the Punjab is fully described in the
text and needs but little reference at this point. The
Maharaja's real career commences with his acquisition of
Lahore in 1799. From that date he steadily extended his
sway over the whole Punjab. Many books have been written
on the career of this remarkable man and upon the systein
of comparatively orderly government which he introduced.
There exist in the Secretariat at Lahore a number of manu-
script records (accounts, muster rolls, pay sheets, &c.) of
his government. These are now under examination, and
it is hoped that a great deal of additional light will be thrown
upon his system of government as a result. The papers
that have been examined up to the present time (1915)
show how actively Ranjit Singh interested himself in the
details of his administration. As regards his character,
he was not altogether without faults. Temperance and
chastity were not his conspicuous virtues. But with all his
shortcomings, he was a strong and able ruler admirably
suited to the conditions of the time. The Maharaja's
territorial expansion brought him into contact with the
Cis-Sutlej States, which were under English protection, and
so into contact with the English. The result of this was the
Treaty of 1809, which Ranjit Singh loyally observed down
to his death in 1839, although at times he showed symptoms
of irritation at the rising power of the English.

The death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 was the signal for the
outbreak of a series of palace revolutions, in which the army
of the Klialsa played a part hardly dissimilar from that of
the Praetorian Guards at their very worst. This period of
the story is fully dealt with by the author in Chapter VIII.
The disorder culminated in the crossing of the Sutlej by the
Sikh forces and the consequent outbreak of the first Sikh
War. From this point of the story the partiality of the
author causes many of his statements to be viewed with
suspicion. In his eyes the war represents a national tide of
self-preservation rising against the ever-encroaching power
of England. Such was far from being the case, and very
different motives actuated the corrupt administration of
Lahore. Terrified of the power of the army, that adminis-

xii INTRODUCTORY

tration flung its legions across the Sutlej in the hope that
tliey would be either annihilated or so seriously crippled as
to cease to be a danger in the future. At the same time the
outbreak of hostilities would divert attention from the short-
comings of the central government — a political manoeuvre
strongly reminiscent of some of the actions of Napoleon III.
The author gives a somewhat turgid description of the battles
of the war — indeed, the language in the account of the
battle of Sobraon reminds one of the story of the battle in
the poems of Mr. Robert Montgomery — and he concludes
his narrative by some general remarks upon English policy
in India. From the latter I have removed some passages
which are not only injudicious but which have been stultified
by the march of events.

Beyond a bare reference the author does not touch on the
second Sikli War and the resultant annexation at all ; but,
as he was transferred to Bhopal at the conclusion of the
first war, he probably lost touch with Punjab politics.

It is not possible in a short introduction of this nature to
follow the history of the Sikhs in detail since the Punjab
came under British control. That the Sikhs settled down
peacefiUly and loyally under the new regime is sufficiently
borne out by the records of the Mutiny, when the newly
raised Sikh regiments — many of them composed of the
disbanded regiments of the Khalsa army — did excellent
service. The Sikhs have displayed their warlike aptitude in
other fields since 1857 and are to be found to-day taking
their share in the great European War.

In 1911 the Sildi population of the Punjab numbered a
little over two millions out of a total population of some
twenty-three and a half millions. As regards modern con-
versions to Sikhism and the relation of that religion to
Hinduism, Mr. Candler has the following interesting remarks
in an article which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine in
September 1909 : ' The truth is that the Siklis have only
partially rid themselves of caste. They were able to suppress
the instinct so long as it endangered their existence, but
when they became paramount in the Punjab and the Khalsa
was sufficient for its own needs, the old exclusive Brahmani-
cal spirit returned. The influence of Ilanjit Singh's Court

INTRODUCTORY xiii

increased this retrogressive tendency, and in spite of the
Guru's teaching it is not always easy for a low-caste Hindu
to become a Sikli to-day. Still, it is not always impossible.
The acceptance or rejection of a convert is likely to depend
on whether the majority in the district Singh Sabha or
Sikh Council is conservative or progressive. The so-called
Conservative Party is naturally exclusive, while the so-
called Progressive Party are really purists who would revert
to the injunctions of Nanak and Gobind. They are ready
to receive all converts whom they believe to be genuine, of
whatever caste. The Siklis now number a little over two
millions, and in the last ten years the numbers have only
risen in proportion to the general increase in the Punjab.
The lack of converts is due as much to apathy as to obstacles
placed in the way by the priests.'

H. L. O. GARRETT.

ADDENDUM

Page xii, 11. 12-1+. The passages referred to, with the exception
of a single note (see p. 325), have now been restored, and the
original text is given unaltered, as stated in the Editor's Note.

Cunninyhams Sikhs

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
ON THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY

Allan Cunningham, the father of the author of this
volume, was born in the parish of Keir, Dumfriesshire, in
1784. Although apprenticed to his elder brother, then a
stonemason, he soon showed a literary bent. At the age of
eighteen he made the acquaintance of Hogg, the Ettrick
shepherd, and the acquaintance ripened into a warm friend-
sliip. Early in the nineteenth century he commenced his
career as an author, and his poems began to appear in
various periodicals, ^^^len R. H. Cromek, the engraver,
was travelling in Scotland in 1809, collecting Scottish songs,
he met Cunningham, who showed him some of his work.
Upon Cromek's advice Cunningham then went up to London
to try his fortune at literature. For some years he worked
both as a mason and as a literary man, producing a number
of poems in the Day and the Literary Gazette. In 1814,
Chantrey, the sculptor, to whom he had been introduced by
Cromek, engaged him as his superintendent of works, and this
connexion lasted down toChantrey's death, in 1841. During
this period he produced a quantity of literary work of a
varied nature. He had become acquainted with Sir Walter
Scott, when the latter was sitting for Chantrey, and in 1820
submitted to him a drama, Sir Marmaduke Maxwell. It was
considered unsuitable to the stage, but Scott was favourably
impressed with the style. In 1825 appeared The Songs of
Scotland, Ancient and Modern, which contained the well-
known sea song, ' A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea.' His
connexion with Chantrey gave him an intimate knowledge
of the artistic world, which he turned to account in his Lices
of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects,
which he published from 1829-33. His last important work
was an edition of Burns, which appeared in 1834. Late in
life he made the acquaintance of Carlyle, who had a warm

NOTE ON THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY xv

regard for him. Cunningham died in 1842, leaving five sons
and a daughter.

Joseph Davey Cunningham, the eldest son and the author
of the present volume, was born in 1812. At an early age
he showed such aptitude for mathematics that his father
was advised to send him to Cambridge. But as he was
keenly desirous of becoming a soldier a cadetship in the
East India Company's service was procured for him, through
the good offices of Sir Walter Scott. After a brilliant career
at Addiscombe he sailed for India in 1834, and was at first
employed on the staff of the chief engineer of the Bengal
Presidency. In 1837 he was appointed assistant to Colonel
(afterwards Sir Claude) Wade, the political agent on the
Sikh frontier. For the next eight years he held various
appointments under Colonel Wade and his successors, and
at the time of the outbreak of the first Sikh War was political
agent in the State of Bahawalpur. Upon the commence-
ment of hostilities he was attached first to the staff of Sir
Charles Napier and then to that of Sir Hugh Gough. He
was present, as political officer, with the division of Sir Harry
Smith at the battles of Buddawal and Allwal. At Sobraon
he served as an additional aide-de-camp to the Governor-
General, Sir Henry Hardinge. His services earned him a
brevet and the appointment of political agent to the State
of Bhopal. In 1849 appeared his History of the Sikhs. As
has been noted elsewhere in this edition, the views taken
by the author were anything but pleasing to his superiors.
As a punishment, he was removed from his political appoint-
ment and sent back to regimental duty. The disgrace un-
doubtedly hastened his death, and soon after his appointment
to the Meerut Division of Public Works he died suddenly at
Ambala, in 1851.

Like Joseph Davey Cunningham, his younger brothers
inherited their father's literary abilities. Alexander, the
second brother, had a distinguished career in India. He,
too, obtained his cadetship through the influence of Sir
Walter Scott, and arrived in India in 1833. Lord Auckland
appointed him one of his aides-de-camp, and while on the
Governor-General's staff he visited Kashmir, then almost
an unknown country. He served with distinction in the

xvi NOTE ON THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY

Gwalior campaign of 1843 and acted as executive engineer
of Gwalior until the outbreak of the first Sikh War. In this
war and also in the second Sikh War he did good service,
and then returned to Gwalior. In 1856 he was appointed
chief engineer in Burma (after a brief period of service in
Multan, where he designed the Vans Agnew and Anderson
momnnent), and remained there till 1858. He was trans-
ferred to the North- Western Provinces in 1858, and remained
there till his retirement in 1861 with the rank of major-
general.

It was at this stage that he commenced his archaeological
career. The Government of India decided to appoint an
archaeological surveyor, and Cunningham, who during his
whole career in India had displayed the greatest activity in
this direction, was appointed to the post. This he held (with
an interval from 1865 to 1870) down to his final retirement
in 1885. His work in this capacity is too well known to need
detailed treatment in a note of this nature. He continued
his interest in Indian archaeology after his retirement, and
the collection of coins in the British Museum bears testimony
to his generosity. He died in 1893 as Sir Alexander Cunning-
ham, having been created a K.C.I.E. in 1887.

Peter Cunningham, the third brother, under whose
editorship the second edition of this book appeared in
1853, was a well-known antiquary. He held an appoint-
ment in the Audit Office, which he obtained through Sir
Robert Peel in 1834. His chief work was the Handbook of
London, which first appeared in 1849 and is still regarded as
a standard authority. He also edited a large number of
books — ^the collected letters of Horace Walpole (1857) and
the works of Oliver Goldsmith (1854) being well-known
examples of his work. He retired from the public service
in 1860 and died in 1869.

Francis Cunningham, the youngest brother, also served
in India. He joined the Madras army in 1838 and won
distinction at the siege of Jalalabad. He retired from the
army in 1861, and after his retirement devoted himself to
literature, for which he displayed the family aptitude. He
published editions of Marlowe (1870), Massinger (1871), and
Ben Jonson (1871). His death took place in 1875.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SECTION A. PRINTED BOOKS

(1) English

Archer, J. H. Laurence. Commentaries on the Punjab Campaign

(1848-9). London, 1878.
Baird, J. G. A. Private Letters of the Marquess of Dalhoiisie. Black-
wood, 1910.
Broadfoot, Major. Career of Major George Broadfoot, C.B., in

Afghanistan and the Punjab, London, 1888.
Burnes, Sir A. Travels into Bokhara. London, 1834.
Burton, Lt. -Col. R. G. The First and Second 8ikh Wars. Simla, 1911.
Coley, J. Journal of the Sutlej Campaign (1845-6). London, 1856.
Cotton, .J. J. Life of General Avitabile. Calcutta, 1906.
Despatches of Lords Hardinge and Gough and General Sir Harry

Smith, tfcc, relative to the En/jagements of Moodkee, Ferozeshah,

d;c. (2nd edition.) London, 1846. (Olivier, Pall Mall.)
Dunlop, J. Multan, during and after the Siege. London, 1849.
Edwardes, Sir H. B. (vol. i), and H. Merivale (vol. ii). Life of Sir

H. Laurence. London, 1872.
Fane, H. E. Five Years in India, 1835-39. (Author was aide-de-
camp to Lord Auckland.) London, 1842.
Foster, G. A Journey from Bengal to England through North India,

Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Persia, into Russia ( 1 783-4). London,

1798.
Gardner, A. Memoirs of Col. A. Gardner. London (re-edited), 1898.
Gazetteer of the Punjab. Provincial Series of the Imperial Gazetteer

of India. Oxford, 1908.
Gough, Sir C, and A. D. Innes. The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars.

London, 1897.
Gough, Lord. Despatches of Lord Goiigh (Parliamentary Papers, 1846).
Griffin, L. H. Ranjit Singh (' Rulers of India ' Series). Oxford, 1892.
Hardinge, Lord. Despatches of Lord Hardinge (Parliamentary Papers,

1846).
Honigberger, J. M. Thirty-Five Years in the East. (The author

was court physician at Lahore for some time.) London, 1852.
Huegel, C. von. Travels in Kashmir and the Country of the Sikhs.

Written in German, translated by T. B. Jervis. London, 1845.
Humbly, W. W. W. Journal of a Cavalry Officer {Sikh Campaign,

1845-6). London, 1854.
Irvine, W. The Later Moguls. Journal of the Asiatic Society of

Bengal, vols. Ixiii (1894), Ixv (1896), Ixvii (1898).
Jacquemont, V. Letters from India {iv3^ns\a.iedi). London, 1835.

b

xviii BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kaye, Sir J. W. Life and Correspondence of Lord Metcalfe. London,

1854.
Khazan Singh. History and Philosophy of the Sikh Religion. Lahore,

1914.
Latif, M. A History of the Punjab. Calcutta, 1891.
Laurence, J. The Sikhs and their Country. Journal of the Asiatic

Society of Bengal, vol. iii.
Laurence, Major W. M. Some Passages of the Life of an Adventurer

in the Punjah. Delhi, 1842.
Macauliffe, M. A. The Sikh Religion, its Gurus, Sacred Writings,

and Authors. 6 vols. Oxford, 1909.
Macgregor, W. L. The History of the Sikhs. London, 1846.
Malcolm, J. A Sketch of the Sikhs. London and Bombay, 1812.
Marshman, J. C. Memoirs of Sir H. Havelock. London, 1860.
Masson, 0. Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghan-
istan, and the Punjah (1826-38). 3 vols. London, 1842,
Massy, C. F., and Griffin, L. H. The Chiefs and Families of Note in

the Punjah, 1909. Revised ed., 1907. '
Mohana Lala. Travels in the Punjab, Afghanistan, TurHstan. Lon-
don, 1846.
Moorcroft and Trebeck. Travels in the HimalayanProvinces (1819-25),

edited by H. H. Wilson. London, 1841.
Osborne, W. G. Court and Camp of Runjeet Sing. (Author was

military secretary to Lord Auckland.) London, 1840.
Prinsep, H. T. The Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab. Calcutta,

1834.
Rait, R. S. Life of Hugh, Viscount Gough. Constable, London, 1903.
Smyth, G. History of the Reigning Family of Lahore. Calcutta, 1847.
Steinbach, Lt.-Col. H. The Punjab. (Author was employed in

Ranjit Singh's army for about eight years.) London, 1845.
Thackwell, E. J. Narrative of the Second Sikh War. London, 1851.
Thorburn, S. S. The Punjab in Peace and War. Blackwood, London,

1904.
Wade, C. Our Relations with the Punjah. London, 1823.

(2) Persian

Kanhya Lai. Ranjit Nama. Lahore, 1876.

Khafi Khan. Muntakhab ul luhab. (Translation in History of India

as told by its own Historians, Elliot and Dowson. Vol. vii.

1877.)
Mohsin Fani. Dabistdn. (Translation by D. Shea and A. Troj^er.

London, 1843.) (Author was a contemporary of Gurus Far

Gobind and Har Rai, Vlth and Vllth Gurus.)
Sohan Lai. Diary of Ranjit Singh or Umdat-ul-Taimrikh. 1885.

The MS. copy of this book in Bankipur Oriental Public Library

closes at 1831. The published copy goes down to 1849. (Sohan

Lai was Ranjit Singh's Court vakil and historian, A very

faithful narrative of Ranjit Singh's life.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY xix

SECTION B. DOCUMENTS, UNPUBLISHED MSS.

1. Sarup Lai. Tarikh-Sil-Mn. (MSS. undated.)

2. State Records. MSS. Civil Secretariat, Punjab, 1812-49.

OiTieial documents of Eanjit Singh's government. Papers of
various descriptions. Civil and military departments. Written
in the Persian language, and now under examination by a
research student.

3. Eecords of Ludhiana, Ambala, and Delhi agencies. MSS. Civil

Secretariat, Punjab, 180-4-1:9.

Dispatches and communications between the Sikh Govern-
ment and the East India Company and their Agents. Written
in English.

4. In the Library of the India Office,

M. Ali ud din. Ihrat Nama-. M. Khya Bux. Sher Singh
Nanm. Tarikh Mulk-i-Haza'ra.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE
SECOND EDITION, 1853

The sheets of this Edition were seen and corrected by
their Author, and were ready for publication several months
previous to his death, in February, 1851. The reasons —
of a painful, though temporary character — for the delay
in the appearance of the work will be found in a Memoir
already written and to be published hereafter, when regard
for the living will no longer interfere with the truth of
History.

The author fell a victim to the truth related in this book.
He wrote History in advance of his time, and suffered
for it ; but posterity will, I feel assured, do justice to his
memory.

My brother's anxiety to be correct was evinced in the
unceasing labour he took to obtain the most minute
information, ^^^lerever he has been proved to be wrong —
and this has been in very few instances — ^lie has, with
ready frankness, admitted and corrected his error. In
matters of opinion he made no change — not from obstinacy,
but from a firm conviction that he was right.

The new notes to this Edition contain some informa-
tion of moment, contributed by LordGough, Sir Charles
Napier, and others, and all received my brothers sanction.

The printed materials for the recent History of India are
not of that character on which historians can rely. State
Papers, presented to the people by ' both Houses of Parlia-
ment ', have been altered to suit the temporary views of
political warfare, or abridged out of mistaken regard to the
tender feelings of survivors.^ In matters of private life,.

1 The character and career of Alexander Burnes have both been
misrepresented in those collections of State Papers which are supposed
to furnish the best materials of history, but which are often only one-
sided compilations of garbled documents, — counterfeits, which the

ADVERTISE^IENT xxi

some tenderness may be shown to individual sensitiveness,
but History, to be of any value, should be written by one
superior to the influences of private or personal feelings.
What Gibbon calls ' truth, naked, unblushing truth, the
first virtue of more serious history ', should alone direct
the pen of the historian ; and truth alone influenced the
mind and guided the pen of the Author of this book.

Peter Cunningham.

Kensington,

ISth January, 1853.

ministerial stamp forces into cmrency, defrauding a present genera-
tion, and handing down to posterity a chain of dangerous lies. —
Kaye, AjfgJianislan, ii. 13.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE
SECOND EDITION

In this Second Edition the author has made some
alterations in the text of the last chapter, where it seemed
that his readers had inferred more than was meant ; but
the sense and sj^irit of what was originally MTitten have
been carefully preserved, notwithstanding the modifications
of expression now introduced. Throughout the gram-
matical imijerfections detected on reperusal have been
removed ; but no other changes have been made in the
text of the first eight chapters. Some notes, however,
altogether new, have been added, while others have been
extended ; and such as by their length crowded a series of
pages, and from their subject admitted of separate treat-
ment, have been formed into Appendices.

The author's principal object in writing this history has
not always been understood, and he therefore thinks it
right to say that his main endeavour was to give Sikhism
its place in the general history of humanity, by showing
its connexion with the different creeds of India, by exliibit-
ing it as a natural and important result of the Muhammadan
Coiiguest, and by impressing upon the people of England
the great necessity of attending to the mental changes now
in progress amongst their subject millions in the East, who
are erroneously thought to be sunk in superstitious apathy,
or to be held spell-bound in ignorance by a dark and
designing priesthood. A secondary object of the authors
was to give some account of the connexion of the English
with the Sikhs, and in part with the Afghans, from the
time they began to take a direct interest in the affairs of
these races, and to involve them in the web of their policy
for opening the navigation of the Indus, and for bringing
Turkestan and liliorasan within their commercial influence.

It has also been remarked by some public critics and
private friends, that the author leans unduly towards the

AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION xxiii

Sikhs, and that an officer in the Indian army should appear
to say he sees aught unwise or objectionable in the acts of
the East India Company and its delegates is at the least
strange. The author has, indeed, constantlj^ endeavoured
to keep his readers alive to that undercurrent of feeling or
principle which moves the Sikh people collectively, and
which will usually rise superior to the crimes or follies of
individuals. It was the history of Sikhs, a new and
peculiar nation, which he wished to make known to
strangers ; and he saw no reason for continually recurring to
the duty or destiny of the English in India, because he was
addressing himself to his own countrymen who know the
merits and motives of their supremacy in the East, and
who can themselves commonly decide whether the parti-
cular acts of a viceroy are in accordance with the general
policy of his government. The Sikhs, moreover, are so
inferior to the English in resources and knowledge that
there is no equality of comparison between them.

The glory to England is indeed great of her Eastern
Dominion, and she may justly feel proud of the increasing
excellence of her sway over subject nations ; but this
general expression of the sense and desire of the English
people does not show that every proceeding of her delegates
is necessarily fitting and far-seeing. The wisdom of England
is not to be measured by the views and acts of any one of
her sons, but is rather to be deduced from the characters
of many. In India it is to be gathered in part from the
high, but not always scruiDulous, qualities which dis-
tinguished Clive, Hastings, and Wellesley, who acquired
and secured the Empire ; in part from the generous, but
not always discerning, sympathies of Burke, Cornwallis,
and Bentinck, who gave to English rule the stamp of
moderation and humanity ; and also in part from the
ignorant well-meaning of the people at large, who justly
deprecating ambition in the abstract vainly strive to check
the progress of conquest before its necessary limits have
been attained, and before the aspiring energies of the
conquerors themselves have become exliausted. By con-
quest, I would be understood to imply the extension of
supremacy, and not the extinction of dynasties, for such

xxiv AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

imperial form of domination should be the aim and scope of
English sway in the East. England should reign over
kings rather than rule over subjects.

The Sikhs and the English are each irresistibly urged
forward in their different ways and degrees towards remote
and perhaps diverse ends : the Sikhs, as the leaders of
a congenial mental change ; the English, as the promoters
of rational law and material wealth ; and individual chiefs
and rulers can merely play their parts in the great social
movements with more or less of effect and intelligence.
Of the deeds and opinions of these conspicuous men, the
Author has not hesitated to speak plainly but soberly,
whether in praise or dispraise, and he trusts he may do
both, without either idly flattering or malignantly traducing
his country, and also without compromising his own
character as a faithful and obedient servant of the State ;
for the soldiers of India are no longer mere sentinels over
bales of goods, nor is the East India Company any longer
a private association of traffickers which can with reason
object to its mercantile transactions being subjected to
open comment by one of its confidential factors. The
merits of the administration of the East India Company
are many and undoubted ; but its constitution is political,
its authority is derivative, and every Englishman has
a direct interest in the proceedings of his Government ;
while it is likewise his country's boast that her children can
at fitting times express in calm and considerate language
their views of her career, and it is her duty to see that
those to whom she entrusts power rightly understand both
their own position and her functions.

25th October, 1849.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION ^

One who possesses no claims to systematic scholarship,
and who nevertheless asks the public to approve of his
labours in a field of some difficulty, is bound to show to his
readers that he has at least had fair means of obtaining
accurate information and of coming to just conclusions.

Towards the end of the year 1837, the author received,
through the unsolicited favour of Lord Auckland, the
appointment of assistant to Colonel Wade, the political
agent at Ludhiana, and the officer in charge of the British
relations with the Punjab and the chiefs of Afghanistan.
He was at the same time required as an engineer officer,
to render Ferozepore a defensible post, that little place
having been declared a feudal escheat, and its position
being regarded as one of military importance. His plans
for effecting the object in view met the approval of Sir
Henry Fane, the Commander-in-Chief ; but it was not
eventually thought proper to do more than cover the town
with a slight parapet, and the scheme for reseating Shah
Shuja on his throne seemed at the time to make the English
and Sikli Governments so wholly one, that the matter
dropped, and Ferozepore was allowed to become a canton-
ment with scarcely the means at hand of saving its am-
munition from a few predatory horse.

The author was also present at the interview which took
place in 1838, between Ranjit Singh and Lord Auckland.
In 1839 he accompanied Shahzada Taimur and Colonel
Wade to Peshawar, and he was with them when they
forced the Pass of IQiaibar, and laid open the road to
Kabul, In 1840 he was placed in administrative charge
of the district of Ludhiana ; and towards the end of the
same year, he was deputed by the new frontier agent,
Mr. Clerk, to accompany Colonel Shelton and his relieving
brigade to Peshawar, whence he returned with the troops

' PubUshed in 1 vol. 8vo 19th March, 1849.

xxvi AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

escorting Dost Muliammad Khan under Colonel Wheeler.
During part of 1841 he was in magisterial charge of the
Ferozepore district, and towards the close of that year,
he was appointed — on the recommendation again of Mr.
Clerk — to proceed to Tibet to see that the ambitious Rajas
of Jammu surrendered certain territories which they had
seized from the Chinese of Lassa, and that the British trade
with Ladakli, &c., was restored to its old footing. He
returned at the end of a year, and was present at the inter-
views between Lord Ellenborough and Dost Muhammad
at Ludhiana, and between his lordship and the Sikli chiefs
at Ferozepore in December 1842. During part of 1843
he was in civil charge of Ambala ; but from the middle of
that year till towards the close of 1844, he held the post of
personal assistant to Colonel Richmond, the successor
of Mr. Clerk. After Major Broadfoot's nomination to the
same office, and during the greater part of 1845, the author
was employed in the Bahawalpur territory in connexion
with refugee Sindhians, and with boundary disputes
between the Daudputras and the Rajputs of Bikaner and
Jaisalmer. \Mien war with the Siklis broke out, the
author was required by Sir Charles Napier to join his army
of co-operation ; but after the battle of Ferozeshah, he
was summoned to Lord Gough's head-quarters. He was
■subsequently directed to accompany Sir Harry Smith,
when a diversion was made towards Ludhiana, and he was
thus present at the skirmish of Badowal and at the battle
of Aliwal. He had likewise the fortune to be a participator
in the victory of Sobraon, and the further advantage of
acting on that important day as an aide-de-camp to the
Governor-General. He was then attached to the head
quarters of the Commander-in-Chief, until the army broke
up at Lahore, when he accompanied Lord Hardinge's camp
to the Simla Hills, preparatory to setting out for Bhojial,
the political agency in which state and its surrounding
districts, his lordship had unexpectedly been pleased to
bestow upon him.

The author was thus living among the Sikli people for
a period of eight years, and during a very important
portion of their history. He had intercourse, under every

AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION xxvii

variety of circumstances, with all classes of men, and he
had at the same time free access to all the public records
bearing on the affairs of the frontier. It was after being
required in 1844, to draw up reports on the British con-
nexion generally with the states on the Sutlej, and especially
on the military resources of the Punjab, that he conceived
the idea, and felt he had the means, of writing the history
which he now offers to the public.

The author's residence in Malwa has been beneficial to
him in many ways personally ; and it has also been of
advantage in the composition of this work, as he has had
the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the ideas and
modes of life of the military colonies of Sikhs scattered
through Central India.

Sehore, Ehopal,
December 9, 1848.

NOTE

In the references, and also in the text, from Chap. V to the end
of the volume, the names of military officers and civil functionaries
are quoted without any nice regard to the rank they may have held
at the particular time, or to the titles by which they may have been
subsequently distinguished. But as there is one person only of each
name to be referred to, no doubt or inconvenience can arise from this
laxity. Thus the youthful, but discreet Jlr. Metcalfe of the treaty
with Ranjit Singh, and the Sir Charles Metcalfe so honourably
connected with the history of India, is the Lord Metcalfe of rijjer
years and approved services in another hemisphere. Lieutenant-
Colonel, or more briefly Colonel, Pottinger, is now a Major-General
and a Grand Cross of the Bath ; while Mr. Clerk has been made
a knight of the same Order, and Lieutenant- Colonel Lawrence has
been raised to an equal title. CaiDtain, or Lieutenant- Colonel, or
Sir Claude Wade, mean one and the same person : and similarly the
late Sir Alexander Burnes sometimes appears as a simple lieutenant,
or as a captain, or as a lieutenant-colonel. On the other hand.
Sir David Ochterlony is referred to solely under that title, although,
when he marched to the Sutlej in 1809, ho held the rank of lieutenant-
colonel only.

CONTENTS

the Kukas, Bambas,

CHAPTER I
THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

Geographical Limits of Sikh Occupation, &c.
Climate, Productions, &c., of the Sikh Dominions

Grain and Shawl wool of Ladakh .

Silks, Indigo, and Cotton of Multan

Black Cattle of the Central Punjab

The Persian wheel used for Irrigation

The Sugar of the Upper Plains

The Saffron and Shawls of Kashmir

The Rice and Wheat of Peshawar .

The Drugs, Dyes, and Metals of the Hills
Inhabitants, Races, Tribes ....

Immigration of the Jats, and Introduction of Muham
madanism

The Tartars of Tibet .

The ancient Dardus

The Turkomans of Gilgit

The Kashmiris

— their western neighbours,
Gujars, &c.

The Gakhars and Janjuas

The Yusufzais, Afridis, &c.

Waziris and other Afghans

Baluchis, Jats, and Rains of the Middle Indus

Juns, Bhutis, and Kathls of the Central Plains

Chibs and Buhows of the Lower Hills

The Johiyas and Langahs of the South

The Dogras and Kanets of the Himalayas

The Kohlis of the Himalayas

The Jats of the Central Plains

— mixed with Gujars, Rajputs, Pathans, &c.
Relative Proportions of some principal Races
Kshattriyas and Aroras of the Cities
The Wandering Changars

The Religions of the Sikh Country
The Lamaic Buddhists of Ladakh .
The Shiah Muhammadans of Bultee
The Sunni Muhammadans of Kashmir,

Multan, &c. ....
The Brahmanist Hill Tribes .
The Sikhs of the Central Plains mixed

manists and Muhammadans
Hindu Shopkeepers of Muhammadan Cities
Village Population about Bhatinda purely Sikh

Peshawar

with Brah

PAGE
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XXX CONTENTS

A. D. PAGE

The debased and secluded Races, Worshippers of
Local Gods and Oracular Divinities ... 10
Characteristics of Race and Religion .... 10

Brahmanisin and Buddhism rather forms than
feelings . . . . . . . .11

— yet strong to resist innovation . . . .11'
Muhammadanism, although corrupted, has more of

vitality . . . . . . . .11

All are satisfied with their owti Faith ... 12

— and cannot be reasoned into Christianity . . 12
Sikhism an active and pervading Principle . . 13
The Jats industrious and high-spirited . . .14
The Rains and some others scarcely inferior as tillers

of the ground ....... 14

The peasant Rajputs ...... 14

The Gujars, a pastoral peojile .... 14

The Baluchis, pastoral and predatory ... 14
The Afghans, industrious but turbulent ... 14
The Kshattriyas and Aroras, enterprising but frugal . 15
The Kashmiris, skilful but tame and spiritless . . 15

The unmixed Rajputs ...... 15

The Tibetans plodding and debased ... 15

The Custom of PoZya «c?)'^ one of necessity . . 15

The Juns and Kathis pastoral and peaceful . . IG

Partial Migrations of Tribes . . . . . Ifi

Causes of Migrations . . . . . .IT)

Recent ^Migration of Baluchis up the Indus, and of
Daudputras iip the Sutlej . . . . .17

Migrations of Dogras, Johiyas, and Meh turns . . 17

Religious Proselji;ism . . . . . .17

Islamism extending in Tibet . . . . .17

— ■ and generally in Towns and Cities . . .17

Lamaic Buddliism progressive in some parts of the
Himalayas . . . . . . .17

Brahmanism likewise extending in the wilder parts of

the Plains 18

But the Peasantry and Mechanics generally are be-
coming seceders from Brahmanism . . .18

CHAPTER II

OLD INDIAN CREEDS, MODERN REFORMS, AND THE
TEACHING OF NANAK

UP TO A. D. 1539
A. D. PAOE

India and its successive Masters — the Buddhists, the
Brahmans and Kshattriyas, the Muhammadans,
and the Christians ...... 19

Brahmanism struggling with Buddhism becomes elabor-
ated ; its acliievements and characteristics . . 20

CONTENTS xxxi

A. D. PAGE

Brahmanism victorious over Buddhism ... 25

— loses its unity and vigour ..... 25

800-1000. Shankar Acliarj methodizes Polytheism . . 27

Reaction of Buddliisra on Brahmanism ... 27
Shankar Acharj establishes ascetic Orders, and gives

pre-eminence to Saivism ..... 27

1000-1200. Ramanuj establishes other Orders, with Vishnu

as a tutelary God ...... 28

Spiritual Teachers or Heads of Orders arrogate infalli-

biUty 29

Scepticism and heresy increase ..... 29

The Dogma of ' Maya ' receives a moral application . 30

General decline of Brahmanism .... 30

Early Arab incursions into India but little felt . . 30
Muhammadanism receives a fresh impulse on the con- .

version of the Turkomans . . . . .31

1001. Muhammad invades India ..... 31
120fi. Hindustan becomes a separate portion of the Muham-

madan World under the Ibaks . . . .31

— and the conquerors become Indianized ... 32
Action and reaction of Muhammadanism and Brahmanism 32
The popular belief imsettlcd . . . . .33

About 1400. Ramanand establishes a comprehensive Sect at

Benares ........ 34

— • and introduces Hero-worship .... 34

— but maintains the equality of true believers before

God 34

Gorakhnath establishes a Sect in the Punjab . . 35

— and maintains the equalizing effect of religious penance 35

— but causes further diversity by adopting Siva as the

type of God ....... 35

About 1450. The Vedas and Koran assailed by Kabir, a disciple

of Ramanand ....... 30

— and the mother tongue of the People used as an in-

strument ........ 30

— but Asceticism still upheld ..... 3fi
1500-50. Chaitan preaches religious reform in Bengal . . 37

— insists upon the efficacy of Faith .... 37

— and admits of secular occupations .... 37

— Vallabh extends the Reformation to the South . 37

— and further discountenances celibacy . . .38
Recapitulation ....... 38

The reforms partial, and leading to Sectarianism only . 38
Nanak's views more comprehensive and profound . 38

1469-1539. Nanak's Birth and early Life . , , .39

The mental struggles of Nanak ..... 40

He becomes a Teacher . . . . . .41

Dies, aged Seventy . . . . . . .41

The excellences of Nanak's Doctrine .... 42

The Godhead 42

Muhammadans and Hindus equally called on to worship

God in Truth . 43

xxxii CONTENTS

A. D. PAGE

1469- Faith, Grace, and Good Worka all necessary . . 43
1539. Nanak adopts the Brahmanical Philosophy ; but in

a popular sense, or by wa,j of illustration only . 43
Nanak admits the Mission of Muhammad, as well as the

Hindu Incarnations ...... 44

Disclaims miraculous powers ..... 45

Discourages Asceticism ...... 45

Conciliatory between Muhammadans and Hindus . 45

Nanak fully extricates his followers from error . . 46

— but his Reformation necessarily religious and moral

only ........ 46

Nanak left his Siklis or Disciples without new social

laws as a separate People ..... 46

— but guarded against their narrowing into a Sect . 47
Nanak declares Angad to be his successor as a Teacher

4 of Men 47

CHAPTER III

THE SIKH GURUS OR TEACHERS, AND THE MODIFICATION
OF SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND

A. D. 1539-1716

A. D. PAGE

Angad upholds the broad principles of Nanak . . 49

1552. Dies . . .49

Amar Das succeeds ....... 49

Separates the Sikhs from the Udasis .... 50

His views with regard to ' Sati ' .... 50

1574. Dies 50

Ram Das succeeds, and establishes himself at Amritsar 50

1581. Dies

Arjun succeeds and fairly grasps the idea of Nanak
Makes Amritsar the ' Holy City ' of the Sikhs
Compiles the Adi Granth .....
Reduces customary Offerings to a" systematic Tax or
Tithe . ■ .

— and engages in traffic . . . .
Arjiin provokes the enmity of Chandii Shah
Becomes a partizan of Prince Khusru in rebellion

1000. Imprisonment and death of Arjun

Diffusion of Sikhism ....

The Writings of Gur Das Bhulleh
The conceptions of Nanak become the moving impulses
of a People ......

— and his real History a Mythical narrative

Har Gobind becomes Gurii after a disputed succession

Chandu Shah slain or put to death

Har Gobind arms the Sikhs and becomes a military

leader ....
The gradual modification of Sikhisn

51
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CONTENTS

1645.

A. D. PAGE

1606. — and comiilete separation of the Sikhs from Hindu
Dissenters ......

Har Gobind falls under the displeasure of Jahangii-

— is imprisoned ......

— and released ......

1628. Jahangir dies, and Har Gobind engages in a petty warfare

Har Gobind retires to the wastes of Hariana

Returns to the Punjab

Slays in fight one Painda Khan, his friend

Death of Har Gobind

Self-sacrifice of disciples on his pyre ' .

The Body of Sikhs forms a separate Establishment

within the Empire
Some anecdotes of Har Gobind .

— his philosophical views .
Har Rai succeeds as Guru .
Becomes a political partisan
Dies

Har I^shan succeeds
Dies ......

Tegh Bahadur succeeds as ninth Guru

Ram Rai disputes his claims

Tegh Bahadur retires for a time to I'cngal

— returns to the Punjab .

— leads a life of violence .
and is constrained to appear at Delhi
put to death ....

— his character and influence .
The title ' Sachcha Padshah ' applied to the
Gobind succeeds to the Apostleship .

— but lives in retirement for several years
Gobind's character becomes developed

About 1695. He resolves on modifying the system of Nanak,
and on combating the Muhammadan faith and
power .....

Gobind's views and motives

— and mode of presenting his Mission
The Religions of the world held to be corrupt, and a new

Dispensation to have been vouchsafed
The Legend regarding Gobind's reformation of the Sec

of Nanak .......

The Principles inculcated by Gtobind .

The ' Khalsa '

Old Forms useless. God is One. All men are equal

Idolatry is to be contemned, and Muhammadanism

destroyed ......

The ' Pahul ' or Initiation of the Sect of ' Singhs '
The visible distinctions of Sikhs, or Singhs .
Lustration by Water. Reverence for Nanak. The Ex

clamation ' Hail Gurii ! ' .
Unshorn Locks ; the Title of ' Singh '

— and Devotion to Arms ....

1661.
1664.

1675.

Gmus

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xxxiv CONTENTS

A. D, PAGE

About 1695. The character and condition of the Mughal Empire

when Gobind resolved to assail it . . . .74

Akbar ......... 75

Aurangzeb ........ 75

Sivaji the Maratha ....... 76

Guru Gobind 76

Gobind' s plans of active opposition .... 76

— liis military posts ...... 77

— and leagues with the Chiefs of the Lower Himalayas . 77

— his influence as a Religious Teacher ... 77
Gobind quarrels with the Rajas of Nahan and Nalagarli 77
Aids the Raja of Kuhlur and other Chiefs against the

Imperial forces ....... 78

About 1701. Gobind's proceedings excite the susi^icions of the

Hill Chiefs, and cause the Emperor some anxiety , 78

Gobind reduced to straits at Anandpur ... 78

— his childi-en escape, but are subsequently put to death 79

— he himself flies to Chamkaur ..... 79
1705-6. Gobind escapes from Chamkaur .... 79

Successfully resists his pursuers at Muktsar . . 79

— and rests at Dam-Dama near Bhatinda ... 80
Gobind composes the Vichitr Natak .... 80

— is summoned by Aurangzeb to his presence . . 80
■ — replies to the Emperor in a denunciatory strain . 80

1707. Aurangzeb dies, and Bahadur Shah succeeds . . 81
Gobind proceeds to the South of India ... 81

— enters the Imperial service ..... 81

1708. Gobind wounded by assassins ..... 82

— and dies, declaring his Mission to be fulfilled, and the

Khalsa to be committed to God .... 82

Gobind's end untimely, but his labours not fruitless . 83

A new character impressed upon the reformed Hindus . 84

— although not fully apparent to strangers, if so to

Indians . . . ■ . . . . .85

Banda succeeds Gobind as a temporal leader . , 86

1709-10. Proceeds to the North and captures Sirhind . . 86

The Emperor marches towards Lahore ... 86

■ — but Banda is in the meantime driven towards Jammu 87

1712. Bahadur Shah dies at Lahore ..... 87

1713. Jahandar Shah slain by Farrukhslyar, who becomes

Emperor ........ 87

The Sikhs reappear under Banda, and the j)rovince of

Sirliind is plundered ...... 87

1716. Banda eventually reduced and taken prisoner . . 88

— and put to death at Delhi ..... 88
The views of Banda confined and his memory not revered 89
The Sikhs generally much depressed after the death of

Banda ........ 89

Recapitulation : Nanak. Amar Das. Arjun. Har

Gobind. Gobind Singh 89

CONTENTS XXXV

CHAPTER IV

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SIKH INDEPENDENCE
A. D. 1716-6-4

A. D. PAGE

1710-38. The Mughal Empire rapidly declines. Nadir Shah,

the Marathas, &c 91

The weakness of the Muhammadan Government favour-
able to the Sikhs 92

The Sikhs kept together by the fervour of their Belief . 92
1738-9. The Sikhs form bands of plunderers ... 92

About 1745. Establish a fort at Dalhwal on the Ravi ; but are

at last dispersed ...... 93

1747-8. Ahmad Shah's first Invasion of India ... 93
March, 1748. — retires from Sirhind. and is harassed by the

Sikhs • . .94

Mir Mannu Governor of the Punjab .... 94

— rules vigorously, and employs Kaura Mai and Adina

Beg Khan 94

But the Sikhs reappear, and Jassa Singh Kalal jDroclaims

the existence of the ' Dal ' or army of the Khalsa . 9.5
End of 1748, Mir Mannu disperses the Sikhs ... 95

— and comes to terms with Ahmad Shah, who had again

crossed the Indus ...... 95

1749-51. Mir Mannu breaks with Delhi by resisting his super-
cession in Mult an ...... 95

— and withholds tribute from Ahmad Shah, who crosses

the Indus for the third time .... 96

1752. The Abdali reaches Lahore ..... 96

April, 1752. The Abdali defeats Mir Mannu ; but retains him

as Governor of the Punjab ..... 90

The Sikhs gradually increase in strength ... 96
But are defeated by Adina Beg, who nevertheless gives

them favourable terms ..... 97

Jassa the Carpenter ....... 97

End of 1752. Mir Mannu dies, and Lahore is reannexed to Delhi 97
1755-6. Ahmad Shah's fourth Invasion : Prince Taimur
Governor of the Punjab, and Najib-ud-daula placed

at the head of the Delhi army .... 97

Taimiir expels the Sikhs from Amritsar ... 98
1750-8. But the Afghans eventually retire, and the Sikhs

occupy Lahore and coin money .... 98

1758. The Marathas at Delhi 99

Maratha aid against the Afghans sought by Atlina Beg

Khan 99

May, 1758. Raghuba enters Lahore, and appoints Adina Beg

Governor of the Punjab ..... 99

End of 1758. Adina Beg dies ...... 99

1759-01. Ahmad Shah's fifth expedition .... 99

1760. Delhi occupied by the Afghans, but afterwards taken by

the Marathas 100

xxxvi CONTENTS

A. D.

Jan. 7, 17G1. The Marathas signally defeated at Panipat, and
expelled temjjorarily from U^jper India
The Sikhs unrestrained in the open Country
17(il-2. Gujranwala successfully defended by Charat Singh
and the Durranis confined to Lahore
The Sikhs assemble at Anu'itsar and ravage the country

on either side of the Sutlej

Ahmad Shah's sixth invasion

Feb. 1762. The ' Ghulu Ghara ', or great Defeat of the Sikhs

near Ludhiana .

Alha Singh of Patiala

Kabuli Mai Governor of Lahore

End of 1762. Ahmad Shah retires after committing various

excesses .....

The Sikhs continue to increase in strength

• Kasur plundered ....

Dec. 1763. The Afghans defeated near Sirhind

Sirhind taken and destroyed, and the Province perma
nently occupied by the Sikhs
1764. The Sikhs aid the Jats of Bhailpur in besieging Delhi

Ahmad Shah's seventh expedition and speedy retirement 103

The Sikhs become masters of Lahore

A general assembly held at Amritsar, and the Sect es

tablished as a ruling People
The Sikhs form or fall into a political system
— which may b(^ termed a Theocratic confederate feu

dalism
Their ' Gurumattas ', or Diets
The System not devised, or knowingly adojjted, and

therefore incomplete and temjDorary
The Confederacies called ' Misals '
Their names and particular origin

The relative pre-eminence of the Misals or Confederacies 108

The original and acquired possessions of the Misals
The gross forces of the Sikhs, and the relative strengtl

of the Misals
The Order of Akalis .
Their origin and principles of action

CHAPTER V

100
100

101

101
101

101
102
102

102
102
102
102

103
103

103

104
104

104
105

106
106
107

108

109
110
110

FliOM THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE SIKHS TO THE AS-
CENDANCY OF RANJiT SINGH AND THE ALLIANCE
WITH THE ENGLISH

1765—1808-9

A. D. PAGE

1767 The Sikhs hurried into activity by Ahmad Shah's final

descent . . . . . . . .112

Amar Singh of Patiala and the Rajput Chief of Katotch

appointed to command under the Abdali . .113

Ahmad Shah retires . . . . . .113

CONTENTS xxxvii

A. D. . PAGE

1768. Rhotas taken by the Sikhs 113

The Sikhs ravage the Lower Punjab . . . .113

— and enter into terms with Bhawalpur . . .114

Threaten Kashmir . . . . . . .114:

1770. And press NajiU-ud-daula on the Jumna and Ganges . 114
Jhanda Singh of the BhangI ' Misal ' pre-eminent . 114'

Jammu rendered tributary . . . . .114

Kasur reduced to submission . . . . .114

1772. — and Multan occupied ...... 114

1774. Jhanda Singh assassinated by Jai Singh Kanhaya . 115
Jai Singh Kanhaya and Jassa Singh Kalal expel Jassa

the Carpenter . ' . . . . . .115

Kangra falls to the Kanhaya ' Misal ' . . . .115

1779. Taimiir Shah of Kabul recovers Multan . . .115

1793. Taimiir Shah dies, leaving the Sikhs masters of the

Upper Punjab as far as Attock . . . .115

1708-78. The Phulkias master Hariana . . . . IKi

1779-80. An expedition sent from Delhi against the Malwa

Sikhs succeeds in part onlv . . . .116

1781. Amar Singh of Patiala dies " 116

1776. Zabita Khan, son of Najib-ud-daula, aided in his designs

on the Ministry by the Sikhs . . . .116

1781-5. The ravages of the Sikhs in the Doab and Rohilkhand

under Baghel Singh Krora Singhia . . .117

1783. The Sikhs defeated at Meerut 117

The Rajputs of the Lower Himalayas rendered tributary 1 17

1784-5. Jai Singh Kanhaya pre-eminent . . . .118

Rise of Mahan Singh Sukerchukia . . .118

1785-6. The Kanhay as reduced . . . . . .118

Jassa the Carpenter restored, and Kangra macie over to

Sansar Chand of Katotch , . . . .118

1785-92. Mahan Singh pre-eminent among the Sikhs . .118

1792. Mahan Singh dies 118

1793. Shah Zaman succeeds to the throne of Kabul . . 119
1795-6. Invited to enter India by the Rohillas and the Wazir

ofOudh 119

1797. Shah Zaman at Lahore 119

1798-9. The Shah's second march to Lahore . . .119

1799. Ranjit Singh rises to eminence ..... 120

— and obtains a cession of Lahore from the Afghan King 120
1785. The power of the Marathas under Sindhia in Upper

India 120

Sindhia's alliance with the Sikhs .... 121

1788. Ghulam Kadir blinds Shah Alam . . . .121

Sindhia masters Delhi and curbs the Sikhs . . . 121

1797. General Perron appointed Sindhia's deputy in Northern

India \ . .122

Sindhia's and Perron's views crossed by Holkar and

George Thomas . . . . . .122

1798. George Thomas establishes himself at Hansi . . 122

1799. Engages in hostilities with the Sikhs . . . . 123

1800. Thomas marches towards Ludhiana . -' . . ,123

xxxviii CONTENTS

A. D. PAGE

1800. Opposed by Sahib Singh Bedl 123

Retires to Hansi, but afterwards masters Safidon near

Delhi 128

1801. Thomas rejects Perron's overtures, and resorts to arms 124

1802. Surrenders to Perron . . . . . .124

1802-3. The Marathas under Perron paramount among the

Sikhs of Sirhind 124

Perron forms an alliance with Ranjit Singh . .124

Is distrusted by Sindhia . . . . . .124

1803. Flees to the English, then at war with the Marathas . 125
First intercourse of the English with the Sikhs . .120

1715-17. The Mission to FarrukJisiyar detained by the campaign

against Banda . . . . . . .125

1757. Clive and Omichand 12(i

1784. Warren Hastings tries to guard Oudh against the Sikhs 12r)

1788. The Sikhs ask English aid against the Marathas . . 12<)

Early English estimates of the Sikhs . . . . 12()

Colonel Francklin . . . . . . .126

The traveller Forster . . . . . .126

1803. Sikhs opposed to Lord Lake at Delhi . . . 127

The Sikhs of Sirhind tender their allegiance to the English 127

The Chiefs of Jind and Kaithal . , . . .127

Shah Alam freed from Maratha thraldom . .127

1804-5. The English wars with Holkar . . . .127

The Sikhs mostly side with the English, and render good

service ........ 128

1805. Holkar retires towards the Sutlej .... 128

Delays at Patiala , , 128

Halts at Amritsar, but fails in gaining over Ranjit Singh 128

1805-0. Holkar comes to terms with the English, and marches

to tlie South 129

1803-8. Friendly Relations of the English with the Sikhs of

Sirliind J29

1806. Formal Engagement entered into with Ranjit Singh and

Fateh Singh Ahluwalia ... . . .120

The English correspond with Sansar Chand of Katotch 129
The Sikhs of Sirhind regarded as virtually dependents of

the English by Lord Lake . . . . .130

But the connexion not regularly declared, or made bind-
ing in form ....... 130

Retrospect with reference to Ranjit Singh's rise . .130

1799. Ranjit Singh masters Lahore . . . . .131

1801-2. Reduces the BhangI Misal and the Pathans of Kapur 131

Allies himself with Fateh Singh Ahluwolia . . 131

1802. Ranjit Singh acquires Amritsar . . . .131

1803-4. — and confines Sansar Chand to the Hills . . 131

— who becomes involved with the Gurkhas . . 131

1800-3. Shah Zaman deposed by Shah Mahmfid, and the

Durrani Empire weakened ..... 132

1 805. — wherefore Ranjit Singh proceeds to the South-West of

tlie Punjab 132

Returns to the North on Holkar's approach . .132

CONTENTS xxxix

A. D. PAGE

1805. A Sikh Gurumatta, or National Council, held . .132

— but the Confederate system found decayed and lifeless 133

— and a single temporal authority virtually admitted in

the person of Ranjit Singh . . . . .133

1806. Ranjit Singh interferes in the affairs of the Sikhs of

Sirhmd 133

1806. Takes Ludhiana 133

• — and receives offerings from Patiala . .134

180;"). Sansar Chand and the Gurkhas ..... 134
Sansar Chand and his confederate of Nalagarh driven to

the North of the Sutlej ... .134

— and the Gurkhas invest Kangra . . . .134

1807. Ranjit Singh expels the Pathan Chief of Kasur . . 135

— and partially succeeds against Multiin . . .135
Ranjit Singh employs Mohkam Chand . . .135
Crosses the Sutlej for the second time . . .135

— and returns to seize the territories of the deceased

Dalle wala Chief 136

The Sikhs of Sirhind become apprehensive of Ranjit Singh 136

1808. British Protection asked 136

• — but not distinctly acceded . . . . .136

— whereupon the Chiefs repair to Ranjit Singh . . 136
1808-9. The imderstood designs of the French on India modify

the policy of the English towards the Sikhs . .137

The Chiefs of Sirhind taken under protection, and a close

alliance sought with Ranjit Singh . . .137

Mr. Metcalfe sent as Envoy to Lahore . . . .138

Aversion of Ranjit Singh to a restrictive treaty, and his

third Expedition across the Sutlej . . .138

1S09. British troops moved to the Sutlej . . . .138

The views of the English become somewhat modified . 139

— but Ranjit Singh still required to keep to the North

of the Sutlej 139

Ranjit Singh yields ....... 140

— and enters into a formal treaty . . . .140
The terms of Sikh dependence and of English supremacy

in Sirhind 140

Sir David Ochterlony shows that the English regarded

themselves alone in offering Protection . . 141

The relations of the Protected Chiefs among themselves 141
Perplexities of the Britisli Authorities regarding the
rights of supremacy, and the operation of inter-
national laws . . . . . . .142

Sir David Ochterlony' s frank admission of the false

basis of his original policy . . . . .1^.1

xl CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI

FROM THE SUPREMACY OF RANJlT SINGH TO THE RE-
DUCTION OF MULTAN, KASHMIR, AND PESHAWAR

1809—1823-4

A. D. PAGE

1809. The English suspicious of Ranjit Singh, notwithstanding

their joint treaty ...... 145

— and Ranjit Singh equally doubtful on his part . .146

— but distrust gradually vanishes on either side . . 146
Ranjit Singh acquires Kangra, and confines the Gurkhas

to the left of the Sutlej 146

The Gurkhas urge the English to effect a joint conquest

of the Punjab ....... 147

1811. But Ranjit Singh told he may cross the Sutlej to resist

the Nepal leader . . . . . .147

1813. Amar Singh Thappa again presses an alliance against the

Sikhs 147

1814-15. The War between the English and Gurkhas . . 148

Sansar Chand of Katotch, Ranjit Singh, and the English 148

1809-10. Shah Shuja expelled from Afghanistan . . . 148

Ranjit Singh's suspicions and plans .... 149

1810. The Maharaja meets the Shah, but no arrangement come

to 149

Ranjit Singh attempts Multan, but fails . . .149

— and proposes to the English a joint expedition against it 149
1810-12. Shah Shuja's Peshawar and Multan campaign, and

subsequent imprisonment in Kashmir . . . 150

1811. Ranjit Singh meets Shah Mahmiid . . . .151
The blind Shah Zaman repairs for a time to Lahore . 151

1812. The family of Shah Shuja repairs to Lahore . . 151
Ranjit Singh uses the Shah's name for purposes of his own 152
Ranjit Singh meets Fateh Khan, the Kabul Wazir . 152

— and a joint enterprise against Kashmir resolved on . 152

1813. Fateh Khan outstrips the Sikhs, and holds the valley for

Mahmud ...."'.... 152
Shah Shuja joins Ranjit Singh, who acquires Attock . 152

— while Mohkam Chand defeats the Kabul Wazir in a

pitched battle . . . . . . .152

1813-14. Ranjit Singh obt;tins the Koh-i-nur diamond . . 153

— and promises aid to Shah Shuja . . . .153
Makes a movement towards the Indus . . . 153
Shah Shuja's distresses . . . . . ,153

1814. The flight of his family from Lahore to Ludliiana . 154

— and his own escape to Kishtwar . . . .154
1816. Fails against Kashmir, and retires to Ludhiana . . 154

1814. Ranjit Singh attempts Kashmir, and is repulsed . 154
1815-16. Various Cliiefs in the Hills, and various places towards

the Indus, reduced ...... 155

1818. Ranjit Singh captures Multan . " . . . . 156

Fateh Khan, Wazir of Kabul, put to death . . 157

CONTENTS xli

A. D. PAGE

1818. Muhammad Azim proclaims Shah Ayub . . . 157
Ranjit Singh marches to Peshawar .... 157

— which he makes over to Jahan Dad Khan . . 158
Ranjit Singh intent upon Kashmir .... 158

1819. Delayed by a discussion with the English . . . 158

— but finally annexes the Valley to his dominions . 159
1819-20. The Derajat of the Indus annexed to Lahore . . 159
1818-21. Muhammad AzIm Khan desirous of securing Peshawar 159

1822. — from which Ranjit Singh demands and receives tribute 160
But the prosecution of his plans interfered with by

a discussion with the English about his mother-in-
law and a place called Whadni . . . .160

1823. The Sikhs march against Peshawar . . . .161

The Battle of Noshahra 161

Peshawar reduced, but left as a dependency with Yar

Muhammad Khan ...... 162

Death of Muhammad Azim Khan . . . .162

1823-4. Ranjit Singh feels his way towards Sind . . .162

1824. Sansar Chand of Katotch dies 163

Ranjit Singh's power consolidated, and the mass of his

dominion acquired . . . . . . 1()3

1818-21. Miscellaneous transactions. Shah Shuja's expedition

against Shikarpur and Peshawar . . . .163

1821. The Shah returns to Ludhiana . . . . .164

— and is followed by Shah Zaman, who takes up his

abode at the same place . . . . .164

1820-2. Appa Sahib, Ex-Raja of Nagpur .... 164

His idle schemes with the son of Shfih Zaman . . 164
1816-17. The petty Ex-Chief of Niirpur causes Ranjit Singh

• some anxiety, owing to his resort to the English . 165

1820. The traveller Moorcroft in the Punjab . . . 166
Ranjit Singh's general system of government, and view

of his means and authority as leader of the Sikhs . 167
The Sikh Army 169

1822. Arrival of French Officers at Lahore . . . .169
Excellences of the Sikhs as soldiers . . . .170
Characteristics of Rajputs and Pathans . . .170

— of Marathas ....... 170

— and of Gurkhas . . . . . . .171

Aversion of the older military tribes of India to regular

discipline . . . . . . . .171

— with the exception of the Gurkhas, and, partially, of

the Muhammadans . . . . . .171

The Sikh forces originally composed of horsemen armed

with matchlocks . . . . . .171

1783. Notices of the Sikh troops, by Forster . . .171

1805. — by Malcolm . . ' 171

1810. — by Ochterlony 171

Characteristic Ai'ms of different Races, including the

English 171

The general importance given to Artillery by the Indians,

a consequence of the victories of the English . , 172

xlii

CONTENTS

A. D.

1810.

1807.

1810.
1802.
1S21.

Ranjit Singh laboiirs to introduce discipline

— and at length succeeds in making the Sikhs regular

Infantry and Artillery Soldiers ....

European discipline introduced into the Punjab before

the arrival of French officers ....

— whose services were yet of value to Ranjit Singh, and

honourable to themselves .....
Ranjit Singh's marriages and faimily relations
His wife Mehtab Kaur, and mother-in-law Sada Kaur .
Sher Singh and Tara Singh, the declared sons of Mehtab

Kaur, not fully recognized .....
Sada Kaur's vexation of spirit and hostile views .
Kharak Singh born to Ranjit Singh by another wife
Nau Nihal Singh born to Kharak Singh
Ranjit Singh's personal licentiousness and intemperance,

in connexion with the vices vaguely attributed to the

mass of the Sikh people
Ranjit Singh's favourites .
KJiushal Singh, a Brahman
The Rajputs of Jammu
Ranjit Singh's chosen servants
Fakir Aziz-ud-din
Dlwan Sawan Mai
Harl Singh Nalwa
Fateh Singh Ahluwalia
Desa Singh Majithia

PAGE

172

173

174

174
174
175

175
175

17(5
170

170
178
178
178
179
179
179
179
179
179

CHAPTER VII

FROM THE ACQUISITION OF MULTAN, KASHMIR, AND
PESHAWAR TO THE DEATH OF RANJlT SINGH

1824-39

Change in the Position of the Sikhs, relatively to the

English, after the year 1823 . . . .180

1824-5. Miscellaneous transactions . . . . .181

Peshawar ........ 181

Nepal 181

Sindh 181

BharatiJur ........ 181

Fateh Singh, the Ahluwalia Chief . . . .182

1826. Ranjit Singh falls sick, and is attended by an English

surgeon ........ 182

1827. Anecdotes. Lord Amherst, theBritish Governor-General 182
Lord Combermere, the British Commander-in-Chief . 183
C!aptain Wade made the immediate Agent for the affairs

of Lahore ........ 183

Discussions about rights to districts South of the Sutlej 184
Anandpur, Whadni, Ferozepore, &c. . , . .184

CONTENTS xliii

A. D. PAGE

1820-8. Gradual ascendancy of Dhian Singh, his brothers,

and his son ....... 185

1828. Proposed marriage of Hira Singh into the family of

Sansar Chand . . . . . . .185

Flight of Sansar Chand' s widow and son . . . 185

1829. Raja Hira Singh's marriage . . . . .185
1827. Insurrection at Peshawar imder Saiyid Ahmad Shah

Ghazi 186

History of the Saiyid ...... 186

His doctrines of religious reform . . .186

His pilgrimage ....... 187

His journey through Rajputana and Sind to Kandahar

and Peshawar . . . . . . .187

Rouses the Usufzais to a religious war . . .188

Saiyid Ahmad Shah fails against the Sikhs at Akora . 188

1829. But defeats Yar Muhammad, who dies of his wounds . 189

1830. Saijrid Ahmad Shah crosses the Indus . . . 189
He is compelled to retire, but falls upon and routs Sultan

Muhammad Khan, and occupies Peshawar . .189

The Saiyid's influence decreases. .... 190

He relinquishes Peshawar . . . . .190

18.31. And retires towards Kashmir, and is surprised and slain 190

Ranjit Singh courted by various parties . . .190

The Baluchis 191

Shah Mahmud 191

The Baiza Bai of Gwalior ...... 191

The Russians and the English . . . . .191

Lord Bentinck, the Governor- General, at Simla . . 191

A Meeting proposed with Ranjit Singh, and desired by

both parties for different reason.s . . .191

The Meeting at Rupar 192

Ranjit Singh's anxiety about Sind .... 192
The scheme of opening the Indus to commerce . .193

Proposals made to the Sindians and Sikhs . . . 193

Ranjit Singh's views and suspicions . . . .194

He repels the Daudputras from the Lower Punjab . 194

— and declares his superior right to Shikarpur . .195
1832. Ranjit Singh yields to the English demands . . 195

Declaring, however, that their commerce interfered with

his policy ........ 195

1833-5. Shah Shuja's second expedition to Afghanistan . 196

1827, &c. The Shah's overtures to the English . . .196

1831. His negotiations with the Sindians . . . .196

— and with Ranjit Singh . . . . . .196

The gates of Somnath and the slaughter of kine . .196

1832. Further negotiations with the Sikhs and Sindians . 197
The English indifferent about the Shah's attempts . 1 97

— but Uost Muhaminad Khan is alarmed, and courts

their friendship . . . . . . .198

1833. The Shah sets out 198

1834. Defeats the Sindians 199

— but is routed at Kandahar ..... 199

xliv CONTENTS

A. D. PAGE

183.1. The Shtih returns to Ludhiana 199

1834. Ranjit Singh, susiiicious of Shah Shuja, strengthens him-
self by annexing Peshawar to his dominions .
1832-6. Huzara and the Derajat more completely reduced

1833. Sansar Chand's grandson returns
1834-6. Ranjit Singli sends a Mission to Calcutta
1821. Ranjit Singh and Ladakh ....
1834-5. Ladakh reduced by the Jammu Rajas
1835-6. Ranjit Singh recurs to his claims on Shikarpur, and

his designs on Sind .....

Negotiations .......

Ranjit Singh's ambition displeasing to the English
The Maharaja nevertheless keeps in view his plans of

aggrandizement . . . . . .

1836. The objects of the English become political as well as

commercial ......

— and they resolve on mediating between Ranjit Singh

and the Sindians .....

The English desire to restrain Ranjit Singh without

threatening him .....

The Sindians impatient, and ready to resort to arms
Ranjit Singh equally ready ....

— but yields to the representations of the English
Yet continues to hold Rojhan with ulterior views

1829-36. Retrospect. The English and the Barakzais .

1829. Sultan Muhammad Khan solicits the friendship or pro-

tection of the English against the Sikhs
1832. Dost Muhammad Khan does the same

The Barakzais, apprehensive of Shah Shiija, again press
for an alliance with the English .

— and Jabbar Khan sends his son to Ludliiana .

1834. Dost Muhammad formally tenders his allegiance to the

English .......

— but defeats Shah Shuja, and recovers confidence
Dost Muhammad attempts to recover Peshawar .
The English decline interfering ....

1835. Ranjit Singh and Dost Muhammad in force at Peshawar
Dost Muhammad retires rather than risk a battle

1830. Dost Muhammad looks towards Persia, but still prefers

an English alliance .....
The Kandahar Chiefs desirous of English aid
Ranjit Singh endeavours to gain over Dost Muhammad
1836-7. But the Amir prefers war ....
Hari Singh's designs .....

1837. Battle of Jamrud

The Sikhs defeated and Hari Singh Idlled, but the

Afghans retire ......

Ranjit Singh's efforts to retrieve his affairs at Peshawar 212
His negotiations with Dost Muhammad and Shah Shujii 212
The English resolve on mediating between the Sikhs and

Afghans .212

— the more especially as they are apprehensive of Russia 212

CONTENTS xlv

A. U. I'AUE

1^37. — aud are further dissatisfied with tlie proceci-Ungs of

General Allard .213

The marriage of Nau Nihiil Singh .... 214

Sir Henry Fane at Lahore . . . . .214

The Sikh Military Order of the Star . . . .214

Ranjit Singh's object the gratification of his guests and

allies ........ 215

Anecdotes showing a similar purpose . . . 215

The British scheme of opening the Indus to commerce

ends in the project of restoring Shah Shuja . . 21G

1837-8. Sir Alexander Bm-nes at Kabul .... 217

Dost Muhammad eventually falls into the views of Persia

and Russia ....... 218

The original policy of the English erroneous . . 218

But under the circumstances brought about, the Ex-
pedition to Kabul wisely and boldly conceived . 218

1838. Negotiations regarding the restoration of Shah Shuja . 219
Ranjit Singh dissatisfied, but finally assents . . 219

1839. Ranjit Singh apparently at the height of greatness . 221
— but chafed in mind and enfeebled in health . .221

Death of Ranjit Singh 221

The political condition of the Sikhs as modified by the

genius of Ranjit Singh ..... 222

The artifices of Dhian Singh to bring about the quiet

succession of Kharak Singh .... 223

CHAPTER VIll

i RUM THE DEATH OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH TO THE
DEATH OF WAZlR JAWAHIR SINGH

1839-45

rAGE

224
224

225
225

227
228

1839. Sher Singh claims the succession

— but Nau Nihal Singh assumes all real power .

— and temporarily allies himself with the Jammu Rajas 224
The favourite, Chet Singh, put to death

1840. Mr. Clerk succeeds Lieut. -Col. Wade as Agent
The relief of the British troops in Kabul
English negotiations about trade
Nau Nihal Singh's schemes against the Rajas of Jammu 229
Interrupted by discussions Avith the English about

Afghanistan ....... 230

The death of Maharaja Kharak Singh . . .231

Death of the Prince Nau Nihal Singh . . . .231

Sher Singh proclaimed Sovereign .... 232

— but Chand Kam% the widow of Kharak Singh, assumes

power, and Sher Singh retires .... 232
Dalip Singh's birth and pretensions made known . 233

The English remain neutral at the time , . . 233

xlvi CONTENTS

A. D.

1840. Dost Miiliammad attempts Kabul, but eventually sur

renders to the English
Sher Singh gains over the troops with Dhian Singh's aid

1841. Sher Singh attacks Lahore ....
Chand Kaur yields, and Sher Singh proclaimed Maharaj
The Sindhianwala Family ....
The Army becomes uncontrollable

Sher Singh alarmed ......

The English anxious about the general tranquillity

— undervalue the Sikhs .....

— and are ready to interfere by force of arms

The military disorders subside, but the people become

suspicious of the English ....
Major Broadfoot's passage across the Punjab
The Sikhs further irritated against the English .
The changed relation of the Lahore Army to the State
Its military organization enables it to become the repre

sentative body of the ' Khalsa ' .
Negotiations with the English about inland trade
Zorawar Singh, the deputy of the Jammu Rajas, takes
Iskardo .....

— and seizes Garo from the Chinese .
The English interfere
The Sikhs defeated by a force from Lhasa

1842. The Chinese recover Garo
Peace between the Chinese and Sikhs

1841. The ambitious views of the Jammu Rajas towards th^

Indus .....
Clash with the policy of the English .
The Insurrection at Kabul (November 1841
The English distrustful of the Sikhs, but yet urgent ujjon

them for aid ....
• 1842. An army of retribution assembled
Gulab Singh sent to co-operate .
Kabul retaken ....

Discussions regarding Jalalabad and the limits of Sikh

dominion . . . . . ' .

The Governor- General meets the Sikh minister and heir

apparent at Ferozepore ....
1S43. Dost Muhammad returns to Kabul

Anxieties of Sher Singh .....

The Sindhianwala Chiefs and the Jammu Rajas coalesce 255

Sher Singh assassinated by Ajit Singh
— who likewise puts Dhian Singh to death
Hira Singh avenges his father .
Dallp Singh proclaimed Maharaja
The power of the Army increases
Raja Gulab Singh
Sardar Jawahir Singh
Fateh Khan Tiwana
1844. The insurrection of Kashmira Singh ar
Jawahir Singh

256
256
256
257
257
258
258
258
d Peshawara Singh 258
259

252
254
254

CONTENTS xlvii

A. D. PAGE

1844. Tlie attempt of Raja Suchet Singh . . . . 259

The insurrection of Sardar Attar Singh and Bhai BTr Singh 259

The Governor of Multan submits .... 260

1843. Gilgit reduced 261

1844. Hira Singh professes suspicions of the English . • . 261
The mutiny of the British Sepoys ordered to Sind . 261
Discussions with the English ..... 262

— about the village Moran ..... 262
■ — and about treasure buried by Suchet Singh . . 262
Hira Singh guided by Pandit Jalla, hia preceptor . 264
Pandit Jalla and Gulab Singh ..... 265
Pandit Jalla irritates the Sikhs, and offends the Queen

Mother 265

Hira Singh and Pandit Jalla fly, but are overtaken and

put to death 266

Jawahir Singh and Lai Singh attain power . . . 266

1845. The Sikh Army moves against Jammu . . , 267
Gulab Singh submits, and repairs to Lahore . . 268
Jawalur Singh formally appointed Wazir . . . 268

1844. Sawan Mai of Multan assassinated .... 269
Mulraj, his son, succeeds ...... 269

1845. — and agrees to the terms of the Lahore Com't . . 269
The rebellion of Peshawara Singh .... 270

— who submits, but is put to death .... 270

The Sikh soldiery displeased and distrustful . .271

The perplexity of Jawahir Singh . . . .271

The Army condemns him, and puts him to death . 271

The Army all-powerful ...... 272

Lai Singh made Wazir, and Tej Singh Commander-in-
Chief, in expectation of an English war . . 273

CHAPTER IX
THE WAR WITH THE ENGLISH
1845-6

A. 1). PAGJi

1845. The Indian public prepared for a war between the Siklis

and English ....... 274

The apprehensions of the English .... 275

The fears of the Siklis 275

The English advance bodies of troo}is towards the Sutlej,

contrary to their policy of 1809 .... 276

The English views about Peshawar, and their offer to

support Sher Singh, all weigh with the Sikhs . 277

The Sikhs further moved by their estimate of the British

Agent of the day ...... 279

Major Broadfoot's views and overt acts equally dis-
pleasing to the Sikhs ..... 280

Major Broadfoot's proceedings lield to virtually denote

war . . . . , . . . . 281

xlviii CONTENTS

A. D.

1845. And Sir Cliarles Napier's acts considered further proof of
hostile views .......

The Laliore Chiefs make use of the persuasion of the
people for their own ends .....

And urge the Army against the English in order that it
may be destroyed ......

The Sikhs cross the Sutlej .....

The English unprepared for a campaign

The English hasten to oppose the Sikhs

The numbers of the Sikhs ......

Ferozepore threatened, but purposely not attacked

The objects of Lai Singh and Tej Singh

The tactics of the Sikhs . . .

The Battle of Mudkl

The Battle of P'heerooshuhur, and retreat of the Sikhs

The difficulties and ap]>rehcnsions of the English
ISK). The Sikhs recross the Sutlej, and threaten Ludhiana

The Skirmish of Badowal ......

The Sikhs encouraged, and Gulab Singh induced to repair
to Lahore ........

The Battle of Aliwal

The Sikh Chiefs anxious to treat, and the English de-
sirous of ending the war .....

An understanding come to, that the Sikh Army shall be
attacked by the one, and deserted by the other

The defensive position of the Sikhs ....
84G. The English plan of attack .....

The Battle of Sobraon ......

The passage of the Sutlej ; the submission of the Maha-
raja ; and the occupation of Lahore

Negotiations ........

Gulab Singh ........

Lai Singh . . . . . ~ .

The Partition of the Punjab, and independence of Gulab
Singh ........

Supplementary arrangements of 1846, placing Dalip
Singh under British tutelage during his minority .

The Sikhs not disheartened by their reverses

Conclusion. The position of the English in India

APPENDIXES

r.VGE

APPENDIX I
The Jats and Jats of Ui^per India . . . . .331

APPENDIX II

Proportions of Races and Faiths : Population of India . . 332

APPENDIX III
The Kshattrij^as and Aroras of the Punjab .... 33-4

APPENDIX IV
Caste in India ......... 335

APPENDIX V

The Philosophical Systems of the Indians .... 337

APPENDIX VI

On the Maya of the Indians . . ... . . 339

APPENDIX VLl

The Metaphysics of Indian Reformers . . . . .341

APPENDIX VIII
Nanak's Philosopliical Allusions Popular or iloral rather than

Scientific ......... 342

APPENDIX IX
The Terms Raj and Jog, Deg and Tegh . ... 343

APPENDIX X
Caste among the Sikhs ....... 345

APPENDIX XI
Rites of Initiation into Sikhism ...... 34G

APPENDIX XII

The exclamation Wah Guru and the expression Deg, Tegh,

Fath 347

APPENDIX XIII

The Sikh Devotion to Steel, and-the Term ' Sachcha Padshah ' 347

APPENDIX XIV

Distinctive Usages of the Sikhs ..... 348

APPENDIXES

APPEXDIX XV

On the Use of Arabic and Sanskrit for the purposes of Edu-
cation in India . ....... 349

APPENDIX XVI

On the Land-tax in India . ...... 351

APPENDIX XVII

The Adi Granth, or First Book ; or, the Book of Nanak, the First
Gurii or Teacher of the Siklis

Preliminary Note ....... 352

The Japi (or simply the Jap) ..... 353

Sudar Rah Ras . " . 353

Kirit Sohila ........ 354

The Thirty-one JNtetres (or Forms of Verse) . . . 354

The Bhog 355

Supplement to the Granth ...... 355

APPENDIX XVIII

The Daswln Padshah Ka Granth, or, Book of the Tenth King, or
Sovereign Pontiff, i. e. of Gurii Gobind Singh

Preliminary Note ....... 356

The Japji (or simply the Jap) ..... 356

Akal Stut 357

The Vichitr Natak, or Wondrous Tale . . . .357

Chandi Charitr (the greater) ...... 357

Chandi Charitr (the lesser) ...... 357

Chandi ki Var 357

Gyan Prabodh _ . .357

Chaupayan Chaubis Avataran Kian (Twenty-four Avatars) 357

MihdiMir 358

Avatars of Brahma ....... 358

Avatars of Rudr or Siva ...... 358

Shastr Nam Mala 358

Sri Muldi Vak, Sawava Battis 358

HazaraShabd . " 359

Istri C'haritr, or Tales of Women ..... 359

The Hikayats, or Tales (addressed to Aurangzeb) . . 359

APPENDIX XIX

Some Principles of Belief and Practice, as exemplified in the opinions
of the Sikli Gurus or Teachers ; with an Addendum showing the
modes in which the Missions of Nanak and Gobind are represented
or regarded by the Siklis.

God ; the Godhead 359

Incarnations, Saints, and Prophets
The Sikh Gurus not to be worshipped
Images, and the AVorship of Saints
jMiracles .....
Transmigration ....

360
361
361
362
362

APPENDIXES

Faith

Grace

Predestination

The Vedas, the Purans,

Asceticism .

Caste

Food .

Brahmans, Saints, &c.

Infanticide .

SatI .

and the Koran

PAGE

362
363
363
363
363
364
364
365
365
365

Addendum.

Bhai Gurdas Bhalla's mode of representing the Mission of

Nanak 366

Guru Gobind's mode of representing his own Mission . 367
Extract from the Twenty-four Avatars and the Mihdi Mir

of Gobind's Granth ...... 369

APPENDIX XX

The Admonitory Letters of Nanak to the fabulous monarch Karun,
and the Prescriptive Letters of Gobind for the guidance of the

• Sikhs.

Pre] iTninary Note ...... . * 370

The Nasihat Nama, or Admonition of Nanak . . . 370

The Reply of Nanak to Karun . . . . .371

The Rabat Nama of Gobind ..... 372

The Tankha Nama of Gobind 374

APPENDIX XXI

A List of Sikh Sects, or Orders, or Denominations . . 377

APPENDIX XXII

A Genealogical Table of the Sikh Gurus or Teachers facing 378

APPENDIX XXIII
The Treaty with Lahore of 1806 379

APPENDIX XXIV

Sir David Ochterlony's Proclamation of 1809 . . . 380

APPENDIX XXV

The Treaty with Lahore of 1809 381

APPENDIX XXVI

Proclamation of Protection to Cis-Sutlej States against Lahore,

dated 1809 382

APPENDIX XXVII

Proclamation of Protection to Cis-Sutlej States against one

another, dated 1811 383

lii APPENDIXES

PAGE

APPENDIX XXVIII
Indus Navigation Treaty of 1832 ..... 385

APPENDIX XXIX

Supplementary Indus Xa\igation Treaty of 1834 . . . 387

APPENDIX XXX

The Tripartite Treaty with RanjTt Singh and Shah Shuja of

1838 389

APPENDIX XXXI

Indus and Sutlej Toll Agreement of 1839 . . . .393

APPENDIX XXXII
Indus and Sutlej Toll Agreement of 1840 . . . .394

APPENDIX XXXIII
Declaration of War of 1845 396

APPENDIX XXXIV
First Treaty with Lahore of 1846 . . . . .398

APPENDIX XXXV
Supplementary Articles to first Treaty with Lahore of 1846 402

APPENDIX XXX\T
Treaty with Gulab Singh of 1846 ... . . 403

APPENDIX XXXVII

Second Treaty with Lahore of 1846 405

APPENDIX XXXVIII

Revenues of the Punjab in 1844 . ... . . . 409

APPENDIX XXXIX
The Army of Lahore in 1844 413

APPENDIX XL

Genealogical Tree: Lahore Family . . . . .417

APPENDIX XLI

Genealogical Tree : Jammu Family . . . . .418

MAPS

Political Divisions of the Punjab 1764-1803 . . To face p. 1.
Political Divisions of the Punjab after 1846 . . . At end.

A HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAPTER I

THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

Geographical Limits of Sikh Occupation or Influence — Climate, Pro-
ductions, &c. of the Sikh Dominions — Inhabitants, Races, Tribes
— Religions of the People — Characteristics and Effects of Race
and Religion — Partial Migrations of Tribes — Religious Prose-
lytism.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of the Geographi-
Christian era, Nanak and Gobind, of the Kshattriya race, ^^^ hmits.
obtained a few converts to their doctrines of religious
reform and social emancipation among the Jat peasants
of Lahore and the southern banks of the Sutlej. The
' Sikhs ', or ' Disciples ', have now become a nation ; and
they occupy, or have extended their influence, from Delhi
to Peshawar, and from the plains of Sind to the Karakoram
mountains. The dominions acquired by the Sikhs are thus
included between the 28th and 36th parallels of north
latitude, and between the 71st and 77th meridians of east
longitude ; and if a base of four hundred and fifty miles
be drawn from Panlpat to the Khaibar Pass, two triangles,
almost equilateral, may be described upon it, which shall
include the conquests of Ranjit Singh and the fixed colonies
of the Sikh people.

The country of the Sikhs, being thus situated in a medium Climate,
degree of latitude, corresponding nearly with that of north- tbns^&c.
ern Africa and the American States, and consisting either
of broad plains not much above the sea level, or of moun-
tain ranges which rise two and three miles into the air,
possesses every variety of climate and every description of
natural produce. The winter of Ladakh is long and rigorous,
snow covers the ground for half the year, the loneliness of

B

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. I

its vast solitudes appals the heart, and naught living meets
Grain, and the eye ; yet the shawl-wool goat gives a value to the rocky
of Ladikh '^^stes of that elevated region, and its scanty acres yield
unequalled crops of wheat and barley, where the stars can
be discerned at midday and the thin air scarcely bears the
sound of thunder to the ear.^ The heat and the dust storms
of Multan are perhaps more oppressive than the cold and
the drifting snows of Tibet ; but the favourable position of
the cit3% and the several overflowing streams in its neigh-
bourhood, give an importance, the one to its manufactures
of silks and carpets, and the other to the wheat, the indigo,
and the cotton of its fields. ^ The southern slopes of the

Silks, in-
digo, and
cotton of
Multan.

1 Shawl wool is produced most abundantly, and of the finest
quality, in the steppes between the Shayuk and the main branch of
the Indus. About 100,000 rupees, or £10,000 worth may be carried
down the valley of the Sutlej to Ludhiana and Delhi. (Journal Asiatic
Society of Bengal, 1844, p. 210.) The importation into Kashmir alone
is estimated by Moorcroft (Travels, ii. 165) at about £75,000, and thus
the Sutlej trade may represent less than a tenth of the whole.

Moorcroft speaks highly of the cultivation of wheat and barley in
Tibet, and he once saw a field of the latter grain in that country such
as he had never before beheld, and which, he says, an English farmer
would have ridden many miles to have looked at. (Travels, i. 269,
280.)

The gravel of the northern steppes of Tibet yields gold in grains,
but the value of the crude borax of the lakes surpasses, as an article
. of trade, that of the precious metal.

In Yarkand an intoxicating drug named churrus, much used in
India, is grown of a superior quality, and while opium could be taken
across the Himalayas, the Hindus and Chinese carried on a brisk
traffic of exchange in the two deleterious commodities.

The trade in tea through Tibet to Kashmir and Kabul is of local
importance. The blocks weigh about eight pounds, and sell for 12s.
and 16s. up to 36s. and 48s. each, according to the quality. (Cf.
Moorcroft, Travels, i. 350, 351.)

2 The wheat of Multan is beardless, and its grain is long and heavy.
It is exported in large quantities to Rajputana, and also, since the
British occupation, to Sind to an increased extent. The value of
the carpets manufactured in Multan does not perhaps exceed 50,000
rupees annually. The silk manufacture may be worth five times that
sum, or, including that of Bahawalpur, 400,000 rupees in all ; but
the demand for such fabrics has markedly declined since the expulsion
of a native dynasty from Sind. The raw silk of Bokhara is used in
preference to that of Bengal, as being stronger and more glossy.

English piece-goods, or (more largely) cottori twists to be woven

CHAP. I

THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

Himalayas are periodically deluged with rain, which is almost
unknown beyond the snow, and is but little felt in Multan
or along the Indus. The central Punjab is mostly a bushy
jungle or a pastoral waste ; its rivers alone have rescued
it from the desert, but its dryness keeps it free froin savage
beasts, and its herds of cattle are of staple value to the
country ; while the plains which immediately bound the
hills, or are influenced by the Indus and its tributaries, are
not surpassed in fertility by any in India. The many
populous towns of these tracts are filled with busy weavers
of cotton and silk and wool, and with skilful workers in
leather and wood and iron. Water is foimd near the surface,
and the Persian wheel is in general use for purposes of irri-
gation. Sugar is produced in abundance, and the markets
of Sind and Kabul are in part supplied with that valuable
article by the traders of Amritsar, the commercial emporium
of Northern India. ^ The artisans of Kashmir, the varied

into cloth, have been introduced everywhere in India ; but those
well-to-do in the world can alone buy foreign articles, and thus while
about eighteen tons of cotton twist are used by the weavers of
Bahawalpur, about 300 tons of (cleaned) cotton are grown in the
district, and wrought up by the villagers or exported to Rajputana.

The Lower Punjab and Bahawalpu yield respectively about 750
and 150 tons of indigo. It is worth on the spot from 9d. to Is. 6d-
the pound. The principal market is Khorasan ; but the trade has
declined of late, perhaps owing to the quantities which may be intro-
duced into that country by way of the Persian Gulf from India. The
fondness of the Sikhs, and of the poorer Muhammadans of the Indus,
for blue clothing, will always maintain a fair trade in indigo. [It
seems hardly necessary to state that the prosperity of the Western
Punjab to-day depends principally upon its grain, and that cultiva-
tion has received a great stimulus from the canal system.

As regards the second paragraph of the note the statement about
the consumption of foreign cotton, &c., reads strangely to a modern
generation . — E d .]

1 In 1844 the customs and excise duties of the Punjab amounted
to £240,000 or £250,000, or to one-thirteenth of the whole revenue of
Ranjit Singh, estimated at £3,250,000. [' Under the present system
of decentralization in finance, the Imperial Government delegates to
the Punjab Government the control of expenditure on the ordinary
administrative services, together with the whole or a certain propor-
tion of certain heads of revenue sufficient to meet those charges. Of
the various heads of revenue, post office, telegraphs, railways, opium,
and salt are entirely Imperial. Land revenue, stamps, excise, income

B2

Black
cattle
of the
central
Punjab.

The Per-
sian wheel
used for
irrigation.

Sugar of
the upper
plains.

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. 1

The saffron
and the
shawls of
Kashmir.

Rice and
wheat of
Peshawar.

Drugs,
dyes, and
molals of
I he hills.

Inhabi-
tants.

Innnigra-
tion of the
Jats, and
introduc-
tion of Mu-
hammad-
anism.

productions of that famous valley, its harvests of saffron,
and its important manufacture of shawls, are well known
and need only be alluded to.^ The plains of Attock and
Peshawar no longer shelter the rhinoceros which Babar
delighted to hunt, but are covered with rich crops of rice,
of wheat, and of barley. The mountains themselves pro-
duce drugs and dyes and fruits ; their precipitous sides
support forests of gigantic pines, and veins of copper, or
extensive deposits of rock salt and of iron ore are contained
within their vast outline. The many fertile vales lying
between the Indus and Kashmir are perhaps unsurpassed
in the East for salubrity and loveliness : the seasons are
European, and the violent ' monsoon ' of India is replaced
by the genial spring rains of temperate climates.

The people comprised within the limits of the Sikh rule
or influence, are various in their origin, their language, and
their faith. The plains of Upper India, in which the Brali-
mans and Kshattriya had developed a peculiar civilization,
have been overrun by Persian or Scythic tribes, from the
age of Darius and Alexander to that of Babar and Nadir
Shah. Particular traces of the successive conquerors may
yet perhaps be found, but the main features are : (1) the
introduction of the Muhammadan creed ; and (2) the long
antecedent emigration of hordes of Jats from the plains of
Upper Asia. It is not necessary to enter into the anti-
quities of Grecian ' Getae ' and Chinese ' Yuechi ', to discuss
the asserted identity of a peasant Jat and a moon-descended
Yadu, or to try to trace the blood of Kadphises in the veins

tax, and major irrigation works are divided between the Imperial and
Provincial Governments in the proportion of one-half to each. Minor
irrigation works and some minor heads are divided in varying pro
po.rtions, while the revenue from forests, registration, courts of law,
jails, police, and education are wholly provincial, as well as the income
of district boards and municipalities. The Budget for 1914-15 shows
a total revenue (including opening balance) of Rs. 6,44,50,C00 and
a total expenditure of Rs. 5,00,29,000, leaving a closing balarce of
Rs. 1,44,21,000.'— /n^^iaw Year Book, 1915.]

1 Mr. Moorcroft (Travels, ii. 194) estimates the annual value of the
Kashmir manufacture of shawls at £300,000, but this seems a small
estimate if the raw material be worth £75,000 alone (Travels, ii. 165,
&c.), that is, 1,000 horse loads of 300 pounds, each pound being
worth 5s.

CHAP. I THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE 5

of Ranjit Singh. It is sufficient to observe that the vigorous
Hindu civilization of the first ages of Cliristianity soon
absorbed its barbarous invaders, and tliat in the lapse of
centuries the Jats became essentially Brahmanical in lan-
guage and belief. Along the southern Indus they soon
yielded their conscience to the guidance of Islam ; those
of the north longer retained their idolatrous faith, but they
have lately had a new life breathed into them ; they now
preach the unity of God and the equality of man, and,
after obeying Hindu and Muhammadan rulers, they have
themselves once more succeeded to sovereign power.^ The
Musalman occupation forms the next grand epoch in
general Indian history after the extinction of the Buddhist
religion ; the common speech of the people has been par-
tially changed, and the tenets of Muhammad are gradually
revolutionizing the whole fabric of Indian society ; but the
difference of race, or the savage manners of the conquerors,
struck the vanquished even more forcibly than their creed,
and to this day Jats and others talk of ' Turks ' as synony-
mous with oppressors, and the proud Rajputs not only
bowed before the Musalmans, but have perpetuated the
remembrance of their servitude by ado'pting ' Turkhana ',
or Turk money, into their language as the equivalent of
tribute.

In the valley of the Upper Indus, that is, in Ladakli and The
Little Tibet, the prevailing caste is the Bhoti subdivision ^^u*f'^'^ °^
of the great Tartar variety of the human race. Lower doAvn
that classical stream, or in Gilgit and Chulass, the remains The ancient
of the old and secluded races of Dardus and Dungars are I^^i'dus.
still to be found, but both in Iskardo and in Gilgit itself, Turkomans
there is some mixture of Turkoman tribes from the wilds °^ Gilgit.
of Pamer and Kashkar. The people of Kashmir have from The Kash-
time to time been mixed with races from the north, the '"^^'^
south, and the west ; and while their language is Hindu
and their faith Muhammadan, the manners of the primitive
Kash or Katch tribes, have been influenced by their proxi-
mity to the Tartars. The hills westward from Kashmir to .^nd tiipjj,
the Indus are inhabited by Kukas and Bambas, of whom western
little is known, but towards the river i*eelf,the Yusufzais bours
1 Sec Appendix I.

6

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. I

Kukas,
Baiiibas,
Gujars, &c.

The Gak-
hars and
the
Janjuas.

The Yfisuf-

zais,

Afrldis,

^^'azil■i.s,
and other
Afghans.

Baluchls,
Jats, and
llains, of
the Middle
Indus.

Juns,

Bhutis, and
Kathis.
of the
central
plains.

rhibs and
Buhows (if
the lower
hills.

and other Afghan tribes prevail ; while there are many
secluded valleys peopled by the widely spread Gujars,
whose history has yet to be ascertained, and who are the
vassals of Arabian ' saiyids ', or of Afghan and Turkoman
lords.

In the hills south of Kashmir, and west of the Jhelum
to Attock and Kalabagh on the Indus, are found Gakhars,
Gujars, Kliattars, Awans, Janjuas, and others, all of whom
may be considered to have from time to time merged into
the Hindu stock in language and feelings. Of these, some,
as the Janjiias and especially the Gakliars, have a local
reputation. Peshawar and the hills which surround it, are
peopled by various races of Afghans, as Yijsufzais and
Mohmands in the north and west, Khalils and others in the
centre, and Afrldis, Khattaks, and others in the south and
east. The hills south of Kohat, and the districts of Tank
and Bannu, are likewise peopled by genuine Afghans, as
the pastoral Wazlris and others, or by agricultural tribes
claiming such a descent ; and, indeed, throughout the
mountains on either side of the Indus, every valley has its
separate tribe or family, always opposed in interest, and
sometimes differing in speech and manners. Generally it
may be observed, that on the north, the Afghans on one
side, and the Turkomans on the other, are gradually pressing
upon the old but less energetic Dardus, who have been
already mentioned.

In the districts on either side of the Indus south of
Kalabagh, and likewise around Multan, the population is
partly Baluch and partly Jat, intermixed, however, with
other tribes, as Aroras and Rains, and towards the moun-
tains of Suleiman some Afghan tribes are likewise to be
found located. In the waste tracts between the Indus and
Sutlej are found Juns, Bhutis, Sials, Kurruls,, Kathis, and
other tribes, who are both pastoral and predatory, ana who,
with the Chibs and Buhows south of Kaslimir, between the
Jhelum and Chenab, may be the first inhabitants of the
country, but little reclaimed in manners by Hindu or
Muhammadan conquerors ; or one or more of them, as
the Bhutis, who boast of their lunar descent, may represent
a tribe of ancient invaders or colonizers who have yielded

THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

to others more powerful than themselves. Indeed, there
seems little doubt of the former supremacy of the Bhuti or
Bhati race in North-Western India : the tribe is extensively
diffused, but the only sovereignty which remains to it is
over the sands of Jaisalmer.^ The tracts along the Sutlej,
about Pakpattan, are occupied by Wattus and Johiya
Rajputs,^ while lower down are found some of the Langah
tribe, who were once the masters of Uch and Multan.

The hills between Kashmir and the Sutlej are possessed
by Rajput families, and the Muhammadan invasion seems
to have thrust the more warlike Indians, on one side into
the sands of Rajputana and the hills of Bundelkliand, and
on the other into the recesses of the Himalayas. But the
mass of the population is a mixed race called Dogras about
Jammu, and Kanets to the eastward, even as far as the
Jumna and Ganges, and which boasts of some Rajput
blood. There are, however, some other tribes intermixed,
as the Gaddis, who claim to be Kshattriya, and as the
Kohlis, who may be the aborigines, and who resemble in
manners and habits, and perhaps in language, the forest
tribes of Central India. Towards the snowy limits there is
some mixture of Bhutis, and towards Kashmir and in the
towns there is a similar mixture of the people of that valley.

The central tract in the plains stretching from the Jhelum
to Hansi, Hissar, and Panlpat, and lying to the north of
IQiushab and the ancient DIpalpur, is inhabited chiefly
by Jats ; and the particular country of the Sikh people
may be said to lie around Lahore, Amritsar, and even Gujrat
to the north of the Sutlej, and around Bhatinda and Sunam

The
Johiyas
and Lang-
ahs of the
south.

TheDogras
and Kanets
of the
Himalayas.

T^e

Kohlis of
the Himu-
laj-as.

The Jats of
the central
plains

1 The little chiefship of Karauli, between Jaipur and Gwalior, may
also be added. The Raja is admitted by the genealogists to be of
the Yadu or Lunar race, but people sometimes say that his being an
AJiir or Cowherd forms his only relationship to Krishna, the pastoral
Apollo of the Indians.

2 Tod [Rajasihan, i. 118) regards the Johiyas as extinct ; but they '
still flourish as peasants on either bank of the Sutlej, between Kasur
and Bahawalpur : they are now Muhammadans. The Dahia of Tod
(i. 118) are likewise to be found as cultivators and as Muhammadans
on the Lower Sutlej, under the name of Deheh, or Dahur and Duhur ;
and they and many other tribes seem to have yielded on one side to
Bahtor Rajputs, and on the other to Baluchis.

8

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAI-. 1

mixed with
Gujars,
Rajputs,
Pathans,
and others.

Relative
proportions
of some
principal
races.

Kshattri-
yas and
Aroras of
the cities.

The wan-
dering
Changars.

to the south of that river. The one tract is pre-eminently
called Manjha or the middle land, and the other is known
as Malwa, from, it is said, some fancied resemblance in
greenness and fertility to the Central Indian province of
that name. Many other people are, however, intermixed,
as Bhutis and Dogras, mostly to the south and west, and
Rains, Rurs, and others, mostly in the east. Giijars are
everywhere numerous, as are also other Rajputs besides
Bhutis, while Pathans are found in scattered villages and
towns. Among the Pathans those of Kasur have long been
numerous and powerful, and the Rajpiits of Rahon have
a local reputation. Of the gross agricultural population of
this central tract, perhaps somewhat more than four-tenths
may be Jat, and somewhat more than one-tenth Gujar,
while nearly two-tenths may be Rajputs more or less pure,
and less than a tenth claim to be Muhammadans of foreign
origin, although it is highly probable that about a third of
the whole people profess the Musalman faith.^

In every town and city there are, moreover, tribes of
religionists, or soldiers, or traders, or handicraftsmen, and
thus whole divisions of a provincial capital may be peopled
by holy Brahmans ^ or as holy Saiyids, by Afghan or
Bundela soldiers, by Kshattriyas, Aroras, and Banias en-
gaged in trade, by Kashmiri weavers, and by mechanics and
dealers of the many degraded or inferior races of Hindustan.
None of these are, however, so powerful, so united, or so
numerous as to affect the surrounding rural population,
although, after the Jats, the Kshattriyas are perhaps the
most influential and enterprising race in the country.^

Of the wandering houseless races, the Changars are the
most numerous and the best known, and they seem to
deserve notice as being probably the same as the Chinganehs

^ See Appendix II.

2 In the Punjab, and along the Ganges, Brahmans have usually
the appellation of Missar or Mitter (i. e. Mithra) given to them, it not
distinguished as Pandits (i. e. as doctors or men of learning). The
title seems, according to tradition, or to the siurmise of well-informed
native Indians, to have been introduced by the first Muhammadan
invaders, and it may perhaps show that the Brahmans were held to
be worshippers of the sun by the Unitarian iconoclasts.

^ See Appendix III.

CHAP. I

THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

of Turkey, the Russian Tzigans, the German Zigueners, the
Italian Zingaros, the Spanish Gitanos, and the Enghsh
Gypsies, About Delhi the race is called Kanjar, a word
which, in the Punjab, properly implies a fcourtezan dancing
girl.'^

The limits of Race and Religion are not the same, other-
wise the two subjects might have been considered together
with advantage. In Ladakli the people and the dependent
rulers profess Laniaic Buddhism, which is so widely diffused
throughout Central Asia, but the Tibetans of Iskardo, the
Dardus of Gilgit, and the Kiikas and Bambas of the rugged
mountains, are Muhammadans of the Shiah persuasion. The
people of Kashmir, of Kishtwar, of Bhimbar, of Paklili,
and of the hills south and west to the salt range and the
Indus, are mostly Sunni Muhammadans,- as are likewise
the tribes of Peshawar and of the valley of the Indus
southward, and also the inhabitants of Multan, and of the
plains northward as far as Pind-Dadan-Klian, Chiniot, and
Dipalpur. The people of the Himalayas, eastward of Kisht-
war and Bhimbar, are Hindus of the Brahmanical faith, with
some Buddhist colonies to the north, and some Muham-
madan families to the south-west. The Jats of ' Manjha '
and ' Malwa ' are mostly Siklis, but perhaps not one-third
of the whole population between the Jhelum and Jumna
has yet embraced the tenets of Nanak and Gobind, the
other two-thirds being still equally divided between Islam
and Brahmanism.

In every town, excepting perhaps Leh, and in most of
the villages of the Muhammadan districts of Peshawar and
Kashmir, and of the Sikh districts of Manjha and Malwa,
there are always to be found Hindu traders and shopkeepers.
The Kshattriya prevail in the northern towns, and the
Aroras are numerous in the province of Multan. The Kash-
miri Brahmans emulate in intelligence and usefulness the

[^ For the whole question of Indian gipsies the reader is referred to
an article on ' The Indian Origin of the Gipsies in Europe ', by
Mr. A. C. Woolner, which appears in vol. ii of the Journal of the
Punjab Historical Society.']

2 The author learns from his brother, Major A. Cunningham who
has twice visited Kashmir, that the Muhammadans of that valley are
nearly all Shiah, instead of Sunni, as stated in the text. — J. D. C.

The

religions
of the
Sikh
countrj'.
The
Lamaic
Buddliist s
of Ladakh.
The Shiah
!Muliamma-
dans of
Bultee.

The Sunni
Muhamma-
dans of
Kavslunir,
Peshawar,
and

Multan,
The Brah-
manist hill
tribes.

The Siklis
of the cen-
tral plains
mixed
with Brah-
manists
and

Muhamma-
dans.
Hindu
shop-
keepers of
Muhamma-
dan cities.

10

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. 1

Village

population

about Bha-

tinda

purely

Sikh.

The de-
based and
secluded
races, wor-
shippers
of local
gods and
oracular
divinities.

Character-
istics of
race and
religidU.

Maratha Pandits and the Babus of Bengal ; they are a good
deal employed in official business, although the Kshattriya
and the Aroras are the ordinary accountants and farmers
of revenue. In ' Malwa ' alone, that is, about Bhatmda and
Sunam, can the Sikli population be found unmixed, and
there it has passed into a saying, that the priest, the soldier,
the mechanic, tlie shopkeeper, and the ploughman are all
equally Sikli.

There are, moreover, in the Punjab, as throughout India,
several poor and contemned races, to whom Brahmans will
not administer the consolations of religion, and who have
not been sought as converts by the ^Nluhammadans. These
worship village or forest gods, or family progenitors, or they
invoke a stone as typical of the great mother of mankind ;
or some have become acquainted with the writings of the
later Hindu reformers, and regard themselves as inferior
members of the Sikh community. In the remote Himalayas,
again, where neither INIulla, nor Lama, por Brahman, has
yet cared to establish himself, the people are equally without
instructed priests and a determinate faith ; they worship
the Spirit of each lofty peak, they erect temples to the
limitary god of each snow-clad summit, and believe that
from time to time the attendant servitor is inspired to utter
the divine will in oracular sentences, or that when the
image of the Daitya or Titan is borne in solemn procession
on their shoulders, a pressure to the right or left denotes
good or evil fortune.^

The characteristics of race and religion are everywhere
of greater importance than the accidents of position or the
achievements of contemporary genius ; but the influences
of descent and manners, of origin and worship, need not

1 In the Lower Himalayas of the Punjab there are many shrines to
Giiga or Goga, and the poorer classes of the plains likewise reverence
the memorj' of the ancient hero. His birth or appearance is variously
related. One account makes him the chief of Ghazni, and causes lu'ra
to war with his brothers Arjiin anci Surjan. He was slain by them,
but behold ! a rock opened and Guga again sprang forth armed and
mounted. Another account makes him the lord of Durd-Dm-ehra, in
the wastes of Rajwara, and this corresponds in some degree witli
what Tod [Rajasihdn, ii. 447) says of the same champion, who died
fighting against the armies of Mahmud.

CHAP. I

THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

11

be dwelt upon in all their ramifications. The systems of
Buddha, of Brahma, and of Muhammad are extensively
diffused in the Eastern world, and they intimately affect the
daily conduct of millions of men. But, for the most part,
these creeds no longer inspire their votaries with enthusiasm;
the faith of the people is no longer a living principle, but
a social custom, — a rooted, an almost instinctive deference
to what has been the practice of centuries. The Tibetan,
who unhesitatingly believes the Deity to dwell incarnate in
the world, and who grossly thinks he perpetuates a prayer
by the motion of a wheel, and the Hindu, who piously con-
siders his partial gods to delight in forms of stone or clay,
would indeed still resist the uncongenial innovations of
strangers ; but the spirit which erected temples to Sakya
the Seer from the torrid to the frigid zone, or which raised
the Brahmans high above all other Indian races, and which
led them to triumph in poetry and philosophy, is no longer to
be found in its ancient simplicity and vigour. The Buddhist
and the reverer of the Vedas, is indeed each satisfied with his
own chance of a happy immortality, but he is indifferent
about the general reception of truth, and, while he will not
himself be despotically interfered with, he cares not what
may be the fate of others, or what becomes of those who
differ from him. Even the Muhammadan, whose imagina-
tion must not be assisted by any visible similitude, is prone
to invest the dead with the powers of intercessors, and to
make pilgrimages to the graves of departed mortals ; '^ and
we should now look in vain for any general expression of
that feeling which animated the simple Arabian disciple.

Brahman-
ism and
Buddhism
rather
forms than
feelings;

yet

strong to
resist inno-
vation.

Muhamma-

danism,

although

corrupted,

has more of

vitality.

[^ Such a phenomenon is not confined to Islam alone. It would
seem to be a characteristic development in many religions. When
once what one may call the ' human touch ' weakens, and when the
gulf separating the worshipper and the founder of his creed seems
sharply definfed, there is a tendency to interpose some form of media-
tion to bridge such an imaginary gulf. To such a feeling Catholic
Europe owes the introduction of the worship of the Blessed Virgin
and the invocation of countless saints. To such a feeling, also,
Buddhism owes the introduction of the Bodhisattva or Pusas — the
mediators for lost souls. And it will further be found that in
course of time such mediating forces tend to lose their general
character and to become localized tutelary powers. — Ed.]

12

HISTORY OF THE SHvHS

CHAP. I

All are
satisfied
with their
owii faith.

and can-
not be rea-
soned into
Chris-
tianity.

or the hardy Turkoman convert, to plant thrones across
the fairest portion of the ancient hemisphere. It is true
that, in the Muhammadan world, there are still many
zealous individuals, and many mountain and pastoral tribes,
who will take up arms, as well as become passive martyrs,
for their faith, and few will deny that Turk, and Persian,
and Pathan would more readily unite for conscience's sake
under the banner of Muhammad, than Russian, and Swede,
and Spaniard are ever likely to march under one common
' Labarum '. The Musalman feels proudly secure of his
path to salvation ; he will resent the exhortations of those
whom he pities or contemns as wanderers, and, unlike the
Hindu and the Buddhist, he is still actively desirous of
acquiring merit by adding to the number of true believers.
But Buddhist, and Brahmanist, and Muhammadan have
each an instructed body of ministers, and each confides in
an authoritative ritual, or in a revealed law. Their reason
and their hopes are both satisfied, and hence the difficulty
of converting them to the Christian faith by the methods
of the civilized moderns. Our missionaries, earnest and
devoted men, must be content with the cold arguments of
science and criticism ; they must not rouse the feelings, or
appeal to the imagination ; they cannot promise aught
which their hearers were not sure of before ; they cannot
go into the desert to fast, nor retire to the mountain-tops to
pray ; they cannot declare the fulfilment of any fondly
cherished hope of the people, nor, in announcing a great
principle, can they point to the success of the sword and
the visible favour of the Divinity. No austerity of sancti-
tude convinces the multitude, and the Pandit and the Mulla
can each oppose dialectics to dialectics, morality to morality,
and revelation to revelation. Our zealous preachers may
create sects among ourselves, half Quietist and half Epi-
curean, they may persevere in their laudable resolution of
bringing up the orphans of heathen parents, and they may
gain some converts among intelligent inquirers as well as
among the ignorant and the indigent, but it seems hopeless
that they should ever Christianize the Indian and Muham-
madan worlds.^

^ The masses can only be convinced by means repudiated by reason

CHAP. I THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE 13

The observers of the ancient creeds quietly pursue the
even tenor of their way, self satisfied and almost indifferent
about others ; but the Sikhs are converts to a new religion, Sikhism an
the seal of the double dispensation of Brahma and Muham- per^dfng
mad : their enthusiasm is still fresh, and their faith is still principle.
an active and a living principle. They are persuaded that
God himself is present with them, that He supports them
in all their endeavours, and that sooner or later He will
confound their enemies for His own glory. This feeling of
the Sikh people deserves the attention of the English, both
as a civilized nation and as a paramount government.
Those who have heard a follower of Guru Gobind declaim
on the destinies of his race, his eye wild with enthusiasm
and every muscle quivering with excitement, can under-
stand that spirit which impelled the naked Arab against the
mail-clad troops of Rome and Persia, and which led our
own chivalrous and believing forefathers through Europe
to battle for the cross on the shores of Asia. The Sikhs do
not form a numerous sect, yet their strength is not to be
estimated by tens of thousands, but by the unity and
energy of religious fervour and warlike temperament. They
will dare much, and they will endure much, for the mystic
' Khalsa ' or commonwealth ; they are not discouraged by
defeat, and they ardently look forward to the day when
Indians and Arabs and Persians and Turks shall all acknow-
ledge the double mission of Nanak and Gobind Singh.

The characteristics of race are perhaps more deep-seated
and enduring than those of religion ; but, in considering
any people, the results of birth and breeding, of descent

and the instructed intellect of man, and the futility of endeavouring
to convince the learned by argument is exemplified in Martyn's
Persian Controversies, translated by Dr. Lee, in the discussion
carried on between the Christian missionaries at Allahabad and the
Muhammadan Mullas at Lucknow, in Ram Mohan Roy's work on
Deism and the Vedas, and in the published correspondence of the
Tatubodhni Siibha of Calcutta. For an instance of the satisfaction
of the Hindus with their creed, see Moorcroft, Travels, i. 118, where
some Udasis commend him for believing, like them, in a God ! [Col.
Kennedy {Res. Hind. Mythol., p. 141) states that the Brahmans
think little of the Christian missionaries (as propagandists), although
the English have held authority in India for several generations. —
J. D. C]

14

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

The Jats
indus-
trious
and high-
spirited.

The Eaiiis
and some
others
scarcely
inferior as
tillers of
the

ground.
The
peasant
Kajpiits.
The Gujars
a pastoral
people.
Tlie

Baluchls
pastoral
and

predatory.
The Af- "
ghans in-
dustrious,
but turbu-
lent.

and instruction, must be held jointly in view. The Jats
are known in the north and west of India as industrious and
successful tillers of the soil, and as hardy yeomen equally
ready to take up arms and to follow the plough. They
form, perhaps, the finest rural population in India. On the
Jumna their general superiority is apparent, and Bhartpur
bears Avitness to their merits, while on the Sutlej religious
reformation and political ascendancy have each served to
give spirit to their industry, and activity and purpose to
their courage.^ The Rains, the Mails, and some others, are
not inferior to the Jats in laboriousness and sobriety,
although they are so in enterprise and resolution. The
Rajputs are always brave men, and they form, too, a de-
sirable peasantry. The Giijars everywhere prefer pasturage
to the plough, whether ol the Hindu or Muhammadan faith.
The Baluchls do not become careful cultivators even when
long settled in the plains, and the tribes adjoining the hills
are of a disposition turbulent and predatory. They mostly
devote themselves to the rearing of camels, and they tra-
verse Upper India in charge of herds of that useful animal.
The Afghans are good husbandmen when they have been
accustomed to peace in the plains of India, or when they
feel secure in their own valleys, but they are even of a more
turbulent character than the Baluchls, and they are every-
where to be met with as mercenary soldiers. Both races
are, in truth, in their own country little better than free-
booters, and the Muhammadan faith has mainly helped
them to justify their excesses against unbelievers, and to

1 Under the English system of selling the proprietary right in
villages when the old freeholder or former purchaser may be unable
to pay the land tax, the Jats of Upper India are gradually becoming
the possessors of the greater portion of the soil, a fact which the
author first heard on the high authority of Sir. Thomason, the
Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces. It is a common
saying that if a Jat has fifty rupees, he will rather dig a well or buy
a pair of bullocks with the money than spend it on the idle rejoioings
of a marriage. [' Sociall}' the landed classes stand high, and of these
the Jats, numbering nearly five millions, are the most important.
Eoughly speaking, one-half of the Jats are Mahomedan, one-third
Sikh, and one-sixth Hindu. In distribution they are ubicjuitous and
are equally divided over the five divisions of the province.' — Indian
Year Bool; 1915.]

CHAP. I

THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

15

keep them together under a common banner for purposes
of defence or aggression. The Kshattriya and Aroras of the
cities and towns are enterprising as merchants and frugal
as tradesmen. They are the principal financiers and
accountants of the country ; but the ancient military spirit
frequently reappears amongst the once royal ' Kshattriya ',
and they become able governors of provinces and skilful
leaders of armies.^ The industry and mechanical skill of
the stout -limbed prolific Kashmiris are as well known as
their poverty, their tameness of spirit, and their loose
morality. The people of the hills south and east of Kashmir
are not marked by any peculiar and well-determined
character, excepting that the few unmixed Rajpiits possess
the personal courage and the pride of race which distinguish
them elsewhere, and that the Gakhars still cherish the
remembrance of the times when they resisted Babar and
aided Humayun. The Tibetans, while they are careful
cultivators of their diminutive fields rising tier upon tier,
are utterly debased in spirit, and at present they seem
incapable of independence and even of resistance to gross
oppression. The system of polyandry obtains among them,
not as a perverse law, but as a necessary institution. Every
spot of ground within the hills which can be cultivated has
been under the plough for ages ; the number of mouths

1 Hari Singh, a Sikh, and the most enterprising of Ranjit Singh's
generals, was a Kshattriya ; and the best of his governors, Mohkam
Chand and Sawan Mai, were of the same race. The learning of Bolu
Mai, a Khanna Kshattriya, and a follower of the Sikh chief of Ahlu-
walia, excites some little jealousy among the Brahmans of Lahore
and of the JuUundur Doab ; and Chandu Lai, who so long managed
the affairs of the Nizam of Hyderabad, was a Khattri of Northern
India, and greatly encouraged the Sikh mercenaries in that princi-
pality, in opposition to the Arabs and Afghans. The declension of
the Kshattriya from soldiers and sovereigns into traders and shop-
keepers, has a parallel in the history of the Jews. Men of active minds
will always find employment for themselves, and thus we know what
Greeks became under the victorious Romans, and what they are
under the ruling Turks. We likewise know that the vanquished
Moors were the most industrious of the subjects of mediaeval Spain ;
that the Mughals of British India are gradually applying themselves
to the business of exchange, and it is plain that the traffickers as well
as the priests of Saxon England, Frankish Gaul, and Gothic Italy
must have been chiefly of Roman descent.

Tlie Kshat-
triyas and
Aroras
enterpris-
ing but
frugal.

The Kash-
miris skil-
ful, but
tame and
spiritless.

The un-
mixed
Rajpiits.

The Tibe-
tans plod-
ding and
debased.

The
custom
of polyan-
dry one of
necessity.

16 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, i

must remain adapted to the number of acres, and the
proportion is preserved by limiting each proprietary family
to one giver of children. The introduction of Muham-
madanism in the west, by enlarging the views of the people
and promoting emigration, has tended to modify this rule,
and even among the Lamaic Tibetans any casual influx of
wealth, as from trade or other sources, immediately leads
to the formation of separate establishments by the several
members of a house.'^ The wild tribes of Chibs and Buhows
in the hills, the Juns and Kathls, and the Dogras and
Bhutis of the plains, need not be particularly described ;
the idle and predatory habits of some, and the quiet pas-
toral occupations of others, are equallj'^ the result of position
The Juns ^g ^f character. The Juns and Kathls, tall, comely, and
Kathis long-lived races, feed vast herds of camels and black cattle,
pastoral which furnish the towns with the prepared butter of the
peaceful, east, and provide the people themselves with their loved

libations of milk.-
Partial mi- The limits of creeds and races which have been described
trR)es"*iid "^^^* ^^^ ^^ regarded as permanent. Throughout India
prosely- there are constant petty migrations of the agricultural
tisin m population taking place. Political oppression, or droughts,
Causes of ^^ floods cause the inhabitants of a village, or of a district,
migrations, to seek more favoured tracts, and there are always chiefs
and rulers who are ready to welcome industrious emigrants

1 Regarding the polyandry of Ladakh, Moorcroft (Travels, ii. 321,
322) may be referred to, and also the Journal of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal for 1844, p. 202, &e. The effects of the system on bastardy seem
marked, and thus out of 760 people in the little district of Hungrung,
around the junction of the Sutlej and Pittee (or Spiti) rivers, there
were found to be twentj'-six bastards, which gives a proportion of
about one in twenty-nine ; and as few grown-up people admitted
themselves to be illegitimate, the number may even be greater. In
1835 the population of England and Wales was about 14,750,000 and
the number of bastards affiliated (before the new poor law camo into
operation) was 65,475, or 1 in about 226 (Wade's British History,
pp. 1041-55) ; and even should the number so born double those
affiliated, the proportion would still speak against polyandry as it
affects female purity.

2 On milk sustained, and blest with length of days,
The Hippomolgi, peaceful, just, and wise.

Iliad, xiii. Cowper's Translation.

THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

17

and to assign them lands on easy terms. This causes some
fluctuation in the distribution of races, and as in India the
tendency is to a distinction or separation of famiUes, the
number of clans or tribes has become almost infinite.
Within the Sikli dominions the migrations of the Baluchis
up the Indus are not of remote occurrence, while the occu-
pation by the Sindhian Daudputras of the Lower Sutlej
took place within the last hundred years. The migration
of the Dogras from Delhi to Ferozepore, and of the Johiyas
from Marwar to Pakpattan, also on the Sutlej, are historical
rather than traditional, while the hard-working Hindu
Mehtums are still moving, family by family and village by
village, eastward, away from the Ravi and Chenab, and are
insinuating themselves among less industrious but more
warlike tribes.

Although religious wars scarcely take place among the
Buddhists, Brahmanists, and Muhammadans of the present
day, and although religious fervour has almost disappeared
from among the professors at least of the two former
faiths, proselytism is not unknown to any of the three
creeds, and Muhammadanism, as possessing still a strong
vitality within it, will long continue to find converts among
the ignorant and the barbarous. Islamism is extending up
the Indus from Iskardo towards Leh, and is thus encroach-
ing upon the more worn-out Buddhism ; while the limits
of the idolatrous ' Kafirs ', almost bordering on Peshawar,
are daily becoming narrower. To the south and eastward
of Kashmir, Muhammadanism has also had recent triumphs,
and in every large city and in every Musalman principality
in India there is reason to believe that the religion of the
Arabian prophet is gradually gaining ground. In the
Himalayas to the eastward of Kishtwar, the Rajput con-
querors have not carried Brahmanism beyond the lower
valleys ; and into the wilder glens, occupied by the ignorant
worshippers of local divinities, the Buddhists have recently
begun to advance, and Lamas of the red or yellow sects
are now found where none had set foot a generation ago.
Among the forest tribes of India the influence of the Brah-
mans continues to increase, and every Bhil, or Gond, or
Kohli who acquires power or money, desires to be thought

C

Recent mi
gration of
the Balu-
chis up
the Indus,
and of the
Daud-
putras up
the Sutlej.

Migrations
of the
Dogras,
Johiyas,
and Meh-
tums.

Islamism
extending
in Tibet;

and gene-
rally per-
haps in
towns and
cities.
Lamaic
Buddhism
progressive
in some
parts of
the Hima-
layas.
Brahman-
ism like-
wise

extending
in the

18 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS ch.\p. i

snider a Hindu rather than a ' Mlechlia ' ; ^ but, on the other hand,

Fh'^^^K^ the Indian laity has, during the last few hundred years,

B t th largety assumed to itself the functions of the priesthood,

peasantry and although Hinduism may lose no votaries, Gusains and

and me- secular Sadhs usurp the authority of Brahmans in the direc-

Cil3.IllCS

generally tion of the conscience." The Sikhs continue to make con-
are becom- yerts, but chiefly within the limits of their dependent sway,

in^ S6C6ci6rs ^ »/ i. %/ ^

from Brah- for the colossal powcr of the English has arrested the pro-
manism. gress of their arms to the eastward, and has left the Jats of
the Jumna and Ganges to their old idolatry.

^ Half of the principality of Bhopal, in Central India, was founded
on usurpations from the Gonds, who appear to have migrated in force
towards the west about the middle of the seventeenth century, and
to have made themselves supreme in the valley of the Narbada about
Hoshangabad, in spite of the exertions of Aurangzeb, until an Afghan
adventurer attacked them on the decline of the empire, and completely
subdued them. The Afghan converted some of the vanquished to his
own faith, jiartly bj' force and partly by conferring Jagirs, partlj^ to
acquire merit and partly to soothe his conscience, and there are now
several families of Muhammadan Gonds in the possession of little
fiefs on either side of the Narbada. These men have more fully got
over the gross superstition of their race, than the Gonds who have
adopted Hinduism.

[2 The recent spread of the ' Marwari ' traders over the centre, and
to the south and east of India, may also be noticed, for the greater
number of them are Jains. These traffickers of Rajputana seem to
have received a strong mercantile impulse about a hundred years
ago, and their spirit of enterprise gives them at the same time a social
and a religious influence, so that many families of Vaishnava or
Brahmanical traders either incline to Jainism or openly embrace
that faith. Jainism is thus extending in India, and conversion is
rendered the more easy by the similarity of origin and occupation of
these various traders, and by the Quietism and other characteristics
common to the Jains and Vaishnavas. — J. D. C]

. CHAPTER II

OLD INDIAN CREEDS, MODERN REF0R3IS, AND
THE TEACHING OF NANAK, UP TO 1539 a.d.

The Buddhists — The Brahmaus and Kshattriyas — Reaction of
Buddhism on victorious Brahmanism — Latitude of orthodoxy —
Shankar Acharj and Saivism — Monastic orders — Ramanuj and
Vaishnavism — The Doctrine of ' Maya ' — The Muhammadan
conquest — The reciprocal action of Brahmanism and Muhamma-
danism — The successive innovations of Ramanand, C4orakhnath,
Kabir, Chaitan, and Vallabh — The reformation of Nanak.

The condition of India from remote ages to the present India and
tinie, is an episode in the history of the world inferior only i*^ sue-
to the fall of Rome and the establishment of Christianity, masters.
At an early period the Asiatic peninsula, from the southern
' Ghats ' to the Himalayan mountains, would seem to have
been colonized by a warlike subdivision of the Caucasian
race, which spoke a language similar to the ancient Medic
and Persian, and which here and there, near the greater
rivers and the shores of the ocean, formed orderly commu-
nities professing a religion resembling the worship of rp, „ ,
Babylon and Egj^pt — a creed which, under varying types, dhisls.
is still the solace of a large portion of mankind. ' Arya-
varta ', the land of good men or believers, comprised Delhi
and Lahore, Gujrat and Bengal ; but it was on the banks The Brah-
of the Upper Ganges that the latent energies of the people "i^^^^ and
first received an impulse, which produced the peculiar triyas.
civilization of the Brahmans, and made a few heroic
families supreme from Arachosia to the Golden Chersonese.
India illustrates the power of Darius and the greatness of
Alexander, the philosophy of Greece and the religion of
China ; and while Rome was contending with Germans
and.Cimbri, and yielding to Goths and Huns, the Hindus
absorbed, almost without an effort, swarms of Scythic

c2

20 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

barbarians : they dispersed Saeae/ they enrolled Getae
among their most famous tribes,^ and they made others
serve as their valiant defenders .^ India afterwards checked
the victorious career of Islam, but she could not wholly
resist the fierce enthusiasm of the Turkoman hordes ; she
The became one of the most splendid of Muhammadan empires,

madans ^^^ *^^^ character of the Hindu mind has been permanently
altered by the genius of the Arabian prophet. The well-
being of India's industrious millions is now linked with the
The Chris- fate of the foremost nation of the West, and the representa-
tives of Judaean faith and Roman polity will long Avage
a war of principles with the speculative Brahman, the
authoritative Mulla, and the hardy believing Sikh.

Brahinan- r^j^^ Brahmans and their valiant Kshattriyas had a long
ism Strug- '' *'

gling^^^th and arduous contest with that ancient faith of India,

Buddhism ^yhich, as successively modified, became famous as Bud-
becomes *' • 1 J.
elaborated, dliism.* "Wlien Manu wrote, perhaps nine centuries before

1 Vikramajitderivedhistitleof Sakarifromhisexploitsagainstthe
Sacae (Sakae). The race is still perhaps preserved pure in the wilds of
Tartary, between Yarkand and the Mansarawar Lake, where the
Sotpos called Kelmaks (Calmucs) by the Muhammadans, continue
to be dreaded by the people of Tibet. [A dread effectually removed
by the systematic conquest of Eastern Turkestan by the Chinese
during the nineteenth century. — Ed.]

2 The Getae are referred to as the same with the ancient Chinese
■ Yuechi and the modern Jats, but their identity is as j'ct, perhaps,

rather a reasonable conclusion than a logical or critical deduction.

^ The four Agnikula tribes of Kshattriyas or Rajputs are here
alluded to, viz. the Chohans, Solunkees, Powars (or Prumars), and
the Purihars. The unnamed progenitors of these races seem clearly
to have been invaders who sided with the Brahmans in their warfare,
partly with the old Kshattriyas, partly with increasing schismatics,
and partly with invading Graeco-Bactrians, and whose warlike merit,
as well as timely aid and subsequent conformitj^, got them enrolled
as ' fireborn ', in contradistinction to the solar and lunar families.
The Agnikulas are now mainly found in the tract of country extending
from Ujjain to Rewah near Benares, and Mount Abu is asserted to be
the place of their miraculous birth or appearance. Vikramajit, the
champion of Brahmanism, was a Powar according to the common
accounts.

* The relative priority of Brahmanism and Buddhism continues
to be argued and disputed among the learned. The wide diffusion at
one period of Buddhism in India is as certain as the later predominance
of Brahmanism, but the truth seems to be that they are of indepen-
dent origin, and that they existed for a long time contemporaneously ;

CHAP. II OLD INDIAN CREEDS 21

Christ, when Alexander conquered, and even seven hundred its
years afterwards, when the obscure Fahian travelled and achieve-

-' mentsand

the former chiefly in the south-west, and the latter about Oudh and ^^^^^^ ^^'
Tirhut. It is not, however, necessary to suppose, with M. Burnouf,
that Buddhism is purely and originally Indian {Introduction a
VHistoire du Buddhisme Indien, Avertissement i), notwithstanding
the probable derivation of the name from the Sanskrit ' Buddhi ',
intelligence ; or from the ' bo ' or ' bodee ', i. e. the ficus religiosa or
peepul tree. The Brahmanical genius gradually received a develop-
ment which rendered the Hindus proper supreme throughout the
land ; but their superior learning became of help to their antagonists,
and Gautama, himself a Brahman or a Kshattriya, would appear to
have taken advantage of the knowledge of the hierarchy to give a
purer and more scientific form to Buddhism, and thus to become its
great apostle in succeeding times. [The whole subject, however, is
complicated in the extreme ; and it is rendered the more so by the
probability that the same Gautama is the author of the popular
' Nyaya ' system of Philosophy, and that Buddha himself is one form
of the favourite divinity Vishnu : although the orthodox explain
that circumstance by saying the Preserving Power assumed an hereti-
cal character to delude Deodas, king of Benares, who bj^ his virtues
and authority endangered the supremacy of the Gods. (Cf . Kennedy,
Bes. Hind. Mytjiol, p. 248, &c.)— J. D. C] Of the modern faiths,
Saivism perhaps most correctly represents the original Vedic worship,
(Cf. Wilson, As. Res., x\ai. 171, &c., and Vislimi Piirdn, preface, Ixiv.)
Jainism and Vaishnavism are the resultants of the two beliefs in a
Buddhist and Brahmanical dress respectively, while Saktism still
vividly illustrates the old superstition of the masses of the people,
whose ignorant minds quailed before the dread goddess of famine,
pestilence, and death. The most important monument of Buddhism
now remaining is perhaps the ' tope ' or hemisphere, near Bhilsa in
Central India, which it is a disgrace to the English that they partially
destroyed a generation ago in search of imaginary chambers or vessels
containing relics, and are only now about to have delineated, and so
made available to the learned. The numerous bas-reliefs of its singu-
lar stone enclosure still vividly represent the manners as well as the
belief of the India of Asoka, and show that the Tree, the Sun, and the
Stupa (or ' tope ') itself — apparently the type of Meru or the Central
Mount of the World — were, along with the impersonated Buddha,
the principal objects of adoration at that period, and that the country
was then partly peopled by a race of men wearing high caps and short
tunics, so different from the ordinary dress of Hindus. [It is now
usually accepted that by about 600 b. c. Brahmanism was generally
the chief religion of India, and the probable date of the birth of
Gautama (567 B.C.) makes Buddhism the younger of the two religions.
It seems hardly necessary to add that, since the author wrote the
above note, our knowledge of Buddhism in India has been enormously
increased by the careful researches of the Archaeological Department,

22 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, n

studied, there were kingdoms ruled by others than ' Aryas ' ;
and ceremonial Buddhism, with its indistinct apprehensions
of a divinity, had more votaries than the monotheism of
the Vedas, which admitted no similitude more gross than
fire, or air, or the burning sun.^ During this period the
genius of Hinduism became fully developed, and the Brah-
mans rivalled the Greeks in the greatness and the variety
of their triumphs. Epic poems show high imaginative and
descriptive powers, and the Ramayana and Mahabharata ^
still move the feelings and affect the character of the

These liave resulted in the discovery of a very large number of Buddhist
remains which — in great contrast to the iconoclastic vandalism men-
tioned by the author — have been carefully preserved. Collections of
such remains may be seen in many museums in India — there is one
typical collection in the Central Museum in Lahore — and to such
collections and the various descriptive works on the subject the
reader is referred. — Ed.]

^ ' There seem to have been no images and no visible types of the
objects of worship,' says Mr. Elphinstone, in his most useful and judi-
cious History (i. 73), quoting Professor Wilson, Oxford Lectures, and
the Vishnu Purdn ; wliile, with regard to fire, it is to be remembered
that in the Old Testament, and even in the New, it is the principal
symbol of the Holy Spirit. (Strauss, Life of Jesus, 361.) The Vedas,
however, allude to personified energies and attributes, but the mono-
theism of the system is not more affected by the introduction of the
creating Brahma, the destroying Siva, and other minor powers, than
the omnipotence of Jehovah is interfered with by the hierarchies of
the Jewish heaven. Yet, in truth, much has to be learnt with regard
to the Vedas and Vedantism, notwithstanding the invaluable labours
of Colebrooke and others, and the useful commentary or interpreta-
tion of Ram Mohan Roy. ( Asiatic Researches, viii ; Transactions
Royal Asiatic Society, i and ii ; and Ram Mohan Roy on the Vedas.)
The translation of the Vedant Sarin Ward's Hindoos (ii. 175), and
the improved version of Dr. Roer {Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal,
February 1845, No. 108), may be consulted with advantage. If trans-
lators would repeat the Sanskrit terms with expanded meanings in
English, instead of using terms of the scholastic or modern systems
which seem to them to be equivalent, they would materially help
students to understand the real doctrine of the original speculators.

[2 These epics are rarely read in extensp by a modern generation,
owing to a lack of knowledge of Sanskrit and also to their enormous
length and the numerous later interpolations. A literal translation
in English of the Mahabharata was made by Mr. P. C. Roy in 1894.
But it is intolerably lengthy and, for a simple summary of this Indian
epic, the reader is referred to The Great War of India, by Thakur
Rejendra Singh, published in Allahabad in 1915. — Ed.]

CHAP. II OLD INDIAN CREEDS 23

people. Mathematical science was so perfect, and astro-
nomical observation so complete, that the paths of the sun
and moon were accurately measured.^ The philosophy of
the learned few was, perhaps, for the first time, firmly
allied with the theology of the believing many, and Brah-
manism laid down as articles of faith, the unity of God,
the creation of the world, the immortality of the soul, and
the responsibility of man. The remote dwellers upon the
Ganges distinctly made known that future life about which
Moses is silent or obscure, ^ and that unity and omnipotence
of the Creator which were unknown to the polytheism of
the Greek and Roman multitude,^ and to the dualism of the

^ The so-called solar year in common use in India takes no account
of the precession of the equinoxes, but, as a sidereal year, it is almost
exact. The revolution of the points of intersection of the ecliptic
and equator nevertheless appears to have been long known to the
Hindus, and some of their epochs were obviously based on the
calculated period of the phenomenon. (Cf . Mr. Davis's paper in the
As. Res., vol. ii, and Bentley's Astronomy of the Hindoos, pp. 2-6,
88.)

2 One is almost more willing to admit that, in effect, the Jews
generally held Jehovah to be their God only, or a limitary divinity,
than that the wise and instructed Moses (whom Strabo held to be an
Egyptian priest and a Pantheist, as quoted in Volney's Ruins, chap,
xxii, § 9 note) could believe in the perishable nature of the soul ; but
the critical Sadducees nevertheless so interpreted their prophet,
although the Egyptians his masters were held by Herodotus {Euterpe,
cxxiii) to be the first who defended the undying nature of the spirit
of man. Socrates and Plato, with all their longings, could only feel
assured that the soul had more of immortality than aught else.
(Phaedo, Sydenham and Taylor's translation, iv. 324.)

3 The unknown God of the Athenians, Fate, the avenging Nemesis,
and other powers independent of Zeus or Jupiter, show the dissatis-
faction of the ancient mind with the ordinary mythology [yet the
unity of the Godhead was the doctrine of the obscure Orpheus, of
Plato the transcendentalist, and of such practical men as Cicero and
Socrates. — J. D. C] ; and unless modern criticism has detected inter-
polations, perhaps both Bishop Thirlwall {History of Greece, i. 192, &c. )
and Mr. Grote {History of Greece, i. 3 and chap, xvi, part i generally)
have too much disregarded the sense which the pious and admiring
Cowper gave to Homer's occasional mode of using ' theos '. {Odyssey,
xiv with Cowper's note, p. 48, vol. ii, edition of 1802.) [Cf. also the
care of the Greek or the Roman in addressing a deity, and in particular
Zeus or Jupiter, in his particular ' capacity ' most suited to the
occasion, — Ed.]

24 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, n

Mithraic legislators ; while Vyasa perhaps surpassed Plato
in keeping the people tremblingly alive to the punishment
which awaited evil deeds. ^ The immortality of the soul was
indeed encumbered with the doctrine of transmigration, ^
the active virtues were perhaps deemed less meritorious
than bodily austerities and mental abstraction,^ and the
Brahman polity was soon fatally clogged with the dogma

1 Ritter {Ancient Philosophy, ii. 387) labours to excuse Plato for
his ' inattei tion ' to the subject of duty or obligation, on the plea that
the Socratic system did not admit of necessity or of a compulsory
principle. [Nevertheless, Socrates, as represented by Xenophon, may
be considered to have held Worship of the Gods to be a Duty of Man.
(See the Memorabilia, b. iv, c. iii, iv, vi, and vii.) — J. D. C] Bacon
lies open in an inferior degree to the same objection as Plato, of under-
rating the importance of moral philosophy (cf . Hallam's Literature of
Europe, iii. 191, and Macaulay, Edinburgh Review, July 1837, p. 84) ;
and yet a strong sense of duty towards God is essential to the well-
being of society, if not to systems of transcendental or material
philosophy. In the East, however, philosophy has always been more
closely allied to theology than in civilized Greece or modern Europe.
Plato, indeed, arraigns the dead and torments the souls of the wicked
(see for instance Gorgias, Sydenham and Taylor's translation, iv. 451),
and practically among men the doctrine may be effective or sufficient ;
but with the Greek piety is simply justice towards the gods, and a
matter of choice or pleasure on the part of the imperishable human
spirit. (Of. Schleiermacher's Introductions to Plato's Dialogues, p. 181,
&c., and Ritter's Ancient Philosophy, ii. 374.) Nor can it be dis-
tinctly said that Vyasa taught the principle of grateful righteousness
as now understood to be binding on men, and to constitute their duty
and obligation ; and probably the Indian may merely have the advan-
tage of being a theological teacher instead of an ontological speculator.

2 The more zealous Christian writers on Hindu theology seize upon
the doctrine of transmigration as limiting the freedom of the will and
the degree of isolation of the soul, when thus successively manifested
in the world clouded with the imperfection of previous appearances.
A man, it is said, thus becomes subject to the Fate of the Greeks and
Romans. {Ci.y^axAonThe Hindoos,ii; Introductory Remarks, xxviii,
&c. ) But the soul so weighed down with the sins of a former existence
does not seem to differ in an ethical point of view, and as regards our
conduct in the present life, from the soul encumbered with the sin of
Adam. Philosophically, the notions seem equally but modes of
accounting for the existence of evil, or for its sway over men. [See
also note 3, p. 44. — J. D. C.] [Socrates, who inculcated every active
virtue, nevertheless admitted, ' that he who wanted least was nearest
to the Divinity ; for to need nothing was the attribute of God.'
(Memorabilia, b. 1, c. vi, s. 10.) J. D. C.]

CHAP. II

OLD INDIAN CREEDS

25

of inequality among men, and with the institution of a body
of hereditary guardians of religion. ^

The Brahmans succeeded in expelling the Buddhist faith
from the Indian peninsula, and when Shankar Acharj
journeyed and disputed nine hundred years after Christ,
a few learned men, and the inoffensive half-conforming
Jains, 2 alone remained to represent the ' Mlechhas ', the
barbarians or ' gentiles ' of Hinduism. The Kshattriyas
had acquired kingdoms, heathen princes had been subdued
or converted, and the Brahmans, who ever denounced as
prophets rather than preached as missionaries, were power-
less in foreign countries if no royal inquirer welcomed
them, or if no ambitious warrior followed them. Hinduism
had attained its limits, and the victory brought with it the
seeds of decay. The mixture with strangers led to a partial
adoption of their usages, and man's desire for sympathy
ever prompted him to seek an object of worship more

Brahman-
ism vic-
torious
over
Buddhism.

Loses its
unity and
vigour.

^ See Appendix IV, on ' Caste '.

2 The modern Jains frankly admit the connexion of their faith with
that of the Buddhists, and the Jaini traders of Eastern Malwa claim
the ancient ' tope ' near Bhilsa, as virtually a temple of their own
creed. The date of the general recognition of the Jains as a sect is
doubtful, but it is curious that the ' Kosh ', or vocabulary of Aniar
Singh, does not contain the word Jain, although the word ' Jin ' is
enumerated among the names of Mayadevi, the regent goddess of the
material universe, and the mother of Gautama, the Buddhist patri-
arch or prophet. In the Bhagavad, again, Baudh is represented as
the son of Jin, and as about to appear in Kikat Des, or Bihar. (See
Colonel Kennedy, Bes. Hind. Mythol., pp. 243-50.) Amar Singh, the
author of the Sanski'it ' Kosa ', or vocabulary, was himself a Buddhist ;
and he is differently stated to have flourished in the first century
before, or in the fifth after, Christ (Colonel Kennedy, as above, pp. 127,
128), but in Malwa he is traditionally said to have been confuted in
argument by Shankar Acharj, which would place him in the eighth or
ninth century of our era. — J. D. C] [' Jainism is professed by a com-
paratively small sect, and it tends to shade off into ordinary Hindu-
ism. Many Jains employ Brahmans in their domestic worship,
venerate the cow, and often worship in Hindu temples. Jainism and
Buddhism have much in common, and up to recent years Jainism was
believed to be an offshoot of Buddhism. It is now known that it
originated independently of, though at the same time as, Buddhism ;
that is, in the sixth century before Chi'ist.' — Holderness, Peoples and
Problems of India. (See Stevenson, The Heart of Jainism. Oxford
University Press, 1915.) — Ed.]

26 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

nearly allied to himself in nature than the invisible and
passionless divinity.^ The concession of a simple black
stone as a mark of direction to the senses,^ no longer
satisfied the hearts or understandings of the people, and
Shankar Acharj, who could silence the Buddha materialist,
and confute the infidel Charvak,^ was compelled to admit

^ Mr. Elphinstone {History of India, i. 189) observes that Rama
and Krishna, with their human feelings and congenial acts, attracted
more votaries than the gloomy Siva ; and I have somewhere noticed,
I think in the Edinburgh Eevieiv, the truth well enlarged upon, viz. that
the sufferings of Jesus materially aided the growth of Chi'istianity by
enlisting the sympathies of the multitude in favour of a crucified God.
The bitter remark of Xenophanes, that if oxen became religious their
gods wouJd be bovine in form, is indeed most true as expressive of a
general desire among men to make their divinities anthropomorphous.
(Grote, History of Greece, iv. 523, and Thirlwall, History, ii. 136.)

2 Hindu Saivism, or the worship of the Lingam, seems to represent
the compromise which the learned Brahmans made when they en-
deavoured to exalt and purify the superstition of the multitude, who
throughout India continue to this day to see the mark of the near
presence of the Divinity in everything. The Brahmans may thus
have taught the mere fetichist, that when regarding a simple black
stone, they should think of the invisible ruler of the universe ; and
they may have wished to leave the Buddhist image worshijipers
some point of direction for the senses. That the Lingam is typical of
reproductive energy seems wholly a notion of later times, and to be
confined to the few who ingeniously or perversely see recondite
meanings in ordinary similitudes. (Cf. Wilson, Vishnu Purcin,
preface, Ixiv [and Colonel Kennedy (Bes. Hind. Mythol. , pp. 284, 308),
who distinctly says the Lingam and Youi are not held to be typical of
the destructive and reproductive powers ; and that there is nothing
in the Purans to sanction such an opinion. — J. D. G.].) [The latter
part of the author's note, which begs the wTiole question of phallic
worship, is hardly in agreement with modern theory. — Ed.]

3 Professor Wilson (Asiatic Researches, xvi. 18) derives the title of
the Charvak school from a Muni or seer of that name ; but the
Brahmans, at least of Malwa, derive the distinctive name, both of
the teacher and of the system, from Charu, persuasive, excellent,
and VaJc, speech — thus making the school simply the logical or
dialectic, or perhaps sopliistical, as it has become in fact. The
Charvakites are wholly materialist, and in deriving consciousness
from a particular aggregation or condition of the elements of the
body, they seem to have anticipated the physiologist, Dr. Lawrence,
who makes the brain to secrete thought as the liver secretes bile.
The system is also styled the Varhusputya, and the name of Vri-
haspatijthe orthodox Regent of the planet Jupiter, became connected
with Atheism, say the Hindus, owing to the jealousy with which the

CHAP. II OLD INDIAN CREEDS 27

the worship of Virtues and Powers, and to allow images, shankar

as well as formless types, to be enshrined in temples. The ^°^^^J,.

•"^ ^ . methodizes

' self-existent ' needed no longer to be addressed direct, polytheism,

and the orthodox could pay his devotions to the Preserving gAP;^f^^

Vishnu, to the Destroying Siva, to the Regent of the Sun,

to Ganesh, the helper of men, or to the reproductive energy

of nature personified as woman, with every assurance that

his prayers would be heard, and his offerings accepted, by

the Supreme Being.^

The old Brahman worship had been domestic or solitary, Reaction of
and that of the Buddhists public or congregational ; the Jj" 3^,^/^"^
Brahman ascetic separated himself from his fellows, but manism.
the Buddhist hermit became a coenobite, the member of
a community of devotees ; the Brahman reared a family
before he became an anchorite, but the Buddhist vowed
celibacy and renounced most of the pleasures of sense.
These customs of the vanquished had their effect upon the Shankar
conquerors, and Shankar Acharj, in his endeavour to estaWishes
strengthen orthodoxy, enacted the double part of St. Basil ascetic
and Pope Honorius.'^ He established a monastery of Brah- gj^es pre-
eminence
secondary or delegated powers of Heaven saw the degree of virtue to Saivism.
to which man was attaining bj' upright living and a contemplation
of the Divinity ; wherefore Vrihaspati descended to confound the
human understanding by diffusing error. (Cf. Wilson, As. lies., xvii.
308, and Troyer's Dabistdn, ii. 198, note.)

^ The five sects enumerated are still held to represent the most
orthodox varieties of Hinduism, [and of the eighteen Piu'ans, five
only give supremacy to one form of Divinity over others. (Colonel
Kennedy, Res. Hind. Mythol., pp. 203, 204.)— J. D. C]

2 All scholars and inquirers are deeply indebted to Professor Wilson
for the account he has given of the Hindu sects in the sixteenth and
seventeenth volumes of the Asiatic Researches. The works, indeed,
which are abstracted, are in the hands of many people in India,
particularly the Bhagat Mala (or History of the Saints) and its epi-
tomes ; but the advantage is great of being able to study the subject
with the aid of the notes of a deep scholar personally acquainted with
the country. It is only to be regretted that Professor Wilson has not
attempted to trace the progress of opinion or reform among sectaries :
but neither does such a project appear to have occurred to Mr. Ward,
in his elaborate and valuable but piecemeal volumes on the Hindus.
Muhsin Fani, who wrote the Dabistdn, has even less of sequence or of
argument, but the observations and views of an intelligent, although
garrulous and somewhat credulous, Muhammadan, who flourished
nearly two centuries ago, have nevertheless a peculiar value ; and

28

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

Ramanuj
establishes
other
orders,
with

Vishnu as
a tutelary
god, A. D.
1000-1200.

man ascetics ; he converted the soUtary ' Dandi ', with his
staff and waterpot, into one of an order, a monk or friar,
at once coenobitic and mendicant, who lived upon alms
and who practised chastity.^ The order was rendered still
further distinct by the choice of Siva as the truest type of
God, an example which was soon followed ; and, during
the eleventh century, Ramanuj established a fraternity of
Brahmans, named after himself, who adopted some refined
rules of conduct, who saw the Deity in Vishnu, and who
degraded the Supreme Being by attributing to him form
and qualities.- A consequence of the institution of an
order or fraternity is the necessity of attention to its rules,

Capt.Troyer's careful translation has nowrendered the book accessible
to the English public. [Colonel Kennedy, in his valuable Researches,
takes no notice of the modern reformers : and he even says that the
Hindu religion has remained unchanged for three thousand years
(p. 192, &c.) ; meaning, however, it would seem, that the Unity of
the Godhead is still the doctrine of Philosophy, and that Brahma,
Vishnu, and Siva are still the principal divinities of Polytheism. —
J. D. C]

1 Shankar Acharj was a Brahman of the south of India, and
according to Professor Wilson {As. Ees., xvii. 180), he flourished
during the eighth or ninth century : but his date is doubtful, and if,
as is commonly said, Ramanuj was his discijjle and sister's son, he
perhaps lived a century or a century and a half later. He is believed
to have established four muths, or monasteries, or denominations,
headed by the four out of his ten instructed disciples, who faithfully
adhered to his views. The adherents of these four are specially
regarded as ' Dandis ', or, including the representatives of the six
heretical schools, the whole are called ' Dasnames '. (Cf. Wilson,
As. Res., xvii. 169, &c.)

2 Ramanuj is variously stated to have lived some time between
the beginning of the eleventh and the end of the twelfth century.
(Wilson, As. Res., xvi. 28, note.) In Central India he is understood
to have told his uncle that the path which he, Shankar Acharj, had
chosen, was not the right one ; and the nephew accordingly seceded
and established the first four ' sumprdaees ', or congregations, in
opposition to the four muths or orders of his teacher, and at the same
time chose Vishnu as the most suitable type of God. Ramanuj
styled his congregation that of Sri, or Lakshmi. The other three were
successively founded by, first, Madhav ; secondly, by Vishnu Swami
and his better-known follower Vallabh ; and thirdly, by Nimbharak
or Nimbhaditya. These, although all Vaishnavis, called their assem-
blies or schools respectively after Brahma, and Siva, and Sannakadik,
a son of Brahma. (Cf. Wilson, As. Res., xvi. 27, &c.)

CHAP. II

OLD INDIAN CREEDS

29

or to the injunctions of the spiritual superior. The person
of a Brahman had always been held sacred. It was believed
that a pious Buddhist could disengage his soul or attain
to divinity even in this world ; and when Shankar Acharj
rejected some of his chosen disciples for nonconformity or
disobedience, he contributed to centre the growing feelings
of reverence for the teacher solely upon a mortal man ;
and, in a short time, it was considered that all things were
to be abandoned for the sake of the ' Guru ', and that to
him were to be surrendered ' Tan, Man, Dhan ', or body,
mind, and worldly wealth.^ Absolute submission to the
spiritual master readily becomes a lively impression of the
divinity of his mission ; the inward evidences of grace are
too subtle for the understanding of the barbaric convert ;
fixed observances take the place of sentiment, and he
justifies his change of opinion by some material act of
devotion.'- But faith is the usual test of sincerity and
pledge of favour among the sectarians of peaceful and
instructed communities, and the reformers of India soon
began to require such a declaration of mystic belief and
reliance from the seekers of salvation.

Philosophic speculation had kept pace in diversity with
religious usage : learning and wealth, and an extended
intercourse with men, produced the ordinary tendency to-
wards scepticism, and six orthodox schools opposed six
heretical systems, and made devious attempts to acquire
a knowledge of God by logical deductions from the pheno-
mena of nature or of the human mind.^ They disputed
about the reality and the eternity of matter ; about con-
sciousness and understanding ; and about life and the soul,

Spiritual
teachers or
heads of
orders arro-
gate infalli-
biHty.

Scepticism
and heresy
increase.

1 Cf. Wilson, As Res., xvi. 90.

2 The reader will remember the fervent exclamation of Clovis when,
listening after a victory to the story of the passion and death of
Christ, he became a convert to the faith of his wife, and a disciple of
the ancient pastor of Rheims : ' Had I been present at the head of
my valiant Franks, I would have revenged his injuries.' (Gibbon,
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vi. 302.) The Muhammadans
tell precisely the same story of Taimiir and Husain the son of Ali :
' I would have hurried ', said the conquering Tartar, ' from remotest
India, to have prevented or avenged the death of the martyred
Imam.' 3 ggg Appendix V.

30 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

as separate from, or as identical with one another and with

God. The results were, the atheism of some, the belief of

others in a limitary deity, and the more general reception

The dogma of the doctrine of ' Maj^a ' or illusion, which allows sensa-

of Maya ^.j^j^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^^ guide on this side of the grave, but sees
receives a ° & '

moral nothing certain or enduring in the constitution of the

apphca- material world ; a doctrine eagerly adopted by the subse-
quent reformers, who gave it a moral or religious appli-
cation.^
General de- Such was the state of the Hindu faith or polity a thousand
BraLiian- y^^^^ after Christ. The fitness of the original system for
ism. general adoption had been materially impaired by the

gradual recognition of a distinction of race ; the Brahmans
had^solated themselves from the soldiers and the peasants,
and they destroyed their own unanimity by admitting
a virtual plurality of gods, and by giving assemblies of
ascetics a pre-eminence over communities of pious house-
holders. In a short time the gods were regarded as rivals,
and their worshippers as antagonists. The rude KshattriyiJ,
warrior became a politic chief, with objects of his own, and
ready to prefer one hierarchy or one divinity to another ;
while the very latitude of the orthodox worship led
the multitude to doubt the sincerity and the merits of
a body of ministers who no longer harmonized among
themselves.
Early Arab A new people now entered the country, and a new element

incursions hastened the decline of corrupted Hinduism. India had

into India ^

but little but little felt the earlier incursions of the Arabs during the

felt. j]jj,g|. g^j^jj second centuries of the ' Hijri ' ; and when the

Abbasides became caliphs, they were more anxious to con-
solidate their vast empire, already weakened by the separa-
tion of Spain, than to waste their means on distant con-
quests which rebellion might soon dismember. The Arab,
moreover, was no longer a single-minded enthusiastic
soldier, but a selfish and turbulent viceroy ; the original
• impulse given by the prophet to his countrymen had
achieved its limit of conquest, and Muhammadanism re-
quired a new infusion of faith and hardihood to enable it
to triumph over the heathens of Delhi and the Christians
^ See Appendix VI.

CHAP. II

MODERN REFORMS

31

of Constantinople. This awakening spirit was acquired
partly from the mountain Kurds, but chiefly from the
pastoral Turkomans, who, from causes imperfectly under-
stood, were once more impelled upon the fertile and wealthy
south. During the ninth century, these warlike shepherds
began to establish themselves from the Indus to the Black
Sea, and they oppressed and protected the empire of Mu-
hammad, as Goths and Vandals and their own progenitors
had before entered and defended and absorbed the dominions
of Augustus and Trajan. Tughril Beg and Saladin are the
counterparts of Stilicho and Theodorie, and the Mullas and
Saiyids of Bagdad were as anxious for the conversion of
unbelievers as the bishops and deacons of the Greek and
Latin Churches. The migratory barbarians who fell upon
Europe became Christians, and those who plundered Asia
adopted, with perhaps greater ease and ardour, the more
congenial creed of Islam. Their vague unstable notions
yielded to the authority of learning and civilization, and
to the majesty of one omnipotent God, and thus armed with
religion as a motive, and empire as an object, the Turks
precipitated themselves upon India and upon the diminished
provinces of the Byzantine Caesars.

Muhammad crossed the Indus in the year 1001, not long
after Shankar Acharj had vainly endeavoured to arrest the
progress of heresy, and to give .limits to the diversity of
faith which perplexed his countrymen. The Punjab was
permanently occupied, and before the sultan's death,
Kanauj and Gujrat had been overrun. The Ghaznivides
were expelled by the Ghorls about 1183. Bengal was con-
quered by these usurpers, and when the Ibak Turks sup-
planted them in 1206, Hindustan became a separate portion
of the Muhammadan world. During the next hundred and
fifty years the whole of India was subdued ; a continued
influx of Mughals in the thirteenth, and of Afghans in the
fifteenth century, added to their successive authority as
rulers, gradually changed the language and the thoughts
of the vanquished. The Khiljis and Tughlaks and Lodls
were too rude to be inquisitorial bigots ; they had a lawful
option in tribute, and taxation was more profitable, if less
meritorious, than conversion. They adopted as their own

Muham-
madanisiii
receives a
fresh im-
pulse on
the con-
version of
the Turko-
mans.

Muham-
mad in-
vades
India,
A. D. 1001.

Hindustan
becomes a
separate
portion of
the Mu-
hammadan
world
imder the
Ibaks,
A. D. 1206.

32

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. II

And the
conquerors
become
Indianized.

Action and
reaction of
Muham-
madanism
and Brah-
1 nanism.

the country which they had conquered. Numerous mosques
attest their piety and munificence, and the introduction of
the solar instead of the intractable lunar year, proves their
attention to ordinary business and the wants of agriculture.^
The Muhammadans became Indianized ; and in the sixteenth
century the great Akbar conceived the design of establishing
a national government or monarchy which should unite the
elements of the two systems : but political obedience does
not always denote social amalgamation, and the reaction
upon the Muslim mind perhaps increased that intolerance
of Aurangzeb which hastened the ruin of the dynasty.

The influence of a new people, who equalled or surpassed
Kshattriyas in valour, who despised the sanctity of Brah-
mans, and who authoritatively proclaimed the unity of God
and his abhorrence of images, began gradually to operate on
the minds of the multitudes of India, and recalled even the
learned to the simple tenets of the Vedas, which Shankar
Acharj had disregarded. The operation was necessarily
slow, for the imposing system of powers and emanations
had been adapted with much industry to the Jocal or pecu-
liar divinities of tribes and races, and in the lapse of ages
the legislation of Manu had become closely interwoven with
the thoughts and habits of the people. Nor did the proud
distinctions of caste and the reverence shown to Brahmans
fail to attract the notice and the admiration of the barbarous

1 The solar, i. e. really sidereal year, called the ' Shabur San ', or
vulgarly the ' Sur San ', that is, the year of (Arabic) months, was
apparently introduced into the Deccan by Tughlak Shah towards the
middle of the fourteenth century of Christ, or between 1341 and 1344,
and it is still used by the Marathas in all their more important docu-
ments, the dates being inserted in Arabic words written in Hindi
(Marathi) characters. (Cf. Prinsep's Useful Tables, ii. 30, who refers
to a Report by Lieut. -Colonel Jervis, on Weights and Measures.) The
other ' Fasli ', or ' harvest ' years of other parts of India, were not
introduced until the reigns of Akbar and Shah Jahan, and they
mostly continue to this day to be used, even by the English, in revenue
accounts. The commencement of each might, without much violence,
be adapted to the 1st of July of any year of the Christian era, and the
Muhammadans and Hindus could at the same time retain, the former
the Hijri, and the latter the Shak (Saka) and Sambat names of the
months respectively. No greater degree of uniformity or simplicity
is required, and the general predominance of the English would
render a measure so obviously advantageous of easy introduction.

CHAP. II modf:rn reforms :3;j

victors. Shaikhs and Saiyids had an innate hohness assigned
to them, and IMughals and Pathans copied the exclusiveness
of Rajputs. New superstition also emulated old credulity.
' Pirs ' and ' Shahlds ', saints and martyrs, equalled Krishna
and Bhairon in the number of their miracles, and the
Muhammadans almost forgot the unity of God in the
multitude of intercessors whose aid they implored. Thus The popu-
custom jarred with custom, and opinion with opinion, and ij'/^spttlu.l.
while the few always fell back with confidence upon their
revelations, the Koran and Vedas, the public mind became
agitated, and found no sure resting-place with Brahmans or
^luUas, with INIahadev or Muhammad.^

1 Gibbon has shown {History, ii. 356) how the scepticism of learned
Greeks and Romans proved favourable to the growth of Christianity,
and a writer in the Quarterly Review (for June 1846, p. 116) makes
some just observations on the same subject. The cause of the
scepticism is not perhaps sufficiently attributed to the mixture of
the Eastern and Western superstitions, which took place after the
conquests of Alexander, and during the supremacy of Rome.

Similarly, the influence of Muhammadan learning and civilization
in moulding the European mind seems to be underrated in the present
day, although Hallam {Literature of Europe, i. 90, 91, 149, 150, 157,
158, 189, 190) admits our obligations in physical, and even in mental
science ; and a representative of Oxford, the critical yet fanciful
William Gray {Sketch of English Prose Literature, pp. 22, 37), not only
admires the fictions of the East, but confesses their beneficial effect
on the Gothic genius. The Arabs, indeed, were the preservers and
diffusers of that science or knowledge which was brought forth in
Egypt or India, which was reduced to order in Greece and Rome, and
which has been so greatly extended in particular directions by the
moderns of the West. The pre-eminence of the iluhammadan over
the Christian mind was long conspicuous in the metaphysics of the
schoolmen, and it is still apparent in the administrative system of
Spain, in the common terms of astronomical and medicinal science,
and in the popular songs of feudal Europe, wliich ever refer to the
Arabian prophet and to Turks and Saracens, or expatiate on the
actions of the Cid, a Christian hero with a Musalman title.

Whewell {History of Inductive Sciences, i. 22, 276), in demonstrating
that the Arabs did very little, if aught, to advance exact science,
physical or metaphysical, and in likening them to the servant who
had the talent but put it not to use, might yet have excused them on
the plea that the genius of the people was directed to the propagation
of religious truth — to subjecting the Evil Principle to the Good in
Persia, to restoring Monotheism in India, and to the subversion of
gross idolatry in regions of Africa still untrodden by Europeans.
With this view of the English Professor may be contrasted the opinion

D

fore God.

34 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

Rumanand The first result of the conflict was the institution, about

establishes ^j^g Q^d Qf ^j^g fourteenth century, of a comprehensive sect

hensive by Ramanand of Benares, a follower of the tenets of

sect at Be- Ranianuj. Unity of faith or of worship had already been

about destroyed, and the conquest of the country by foreigners

A. D. 1400 ; diminished unity of action among the ministers of religion.

Learning had likcAvise declined, and poetic fancy and family

tradition were allowed to modify the ancient legends of the

' Purans ' or chronicles, and to usurp the authority of the

and Intro- Vedas.^ The heroic Rama was made the object of devotion

i'i^!^;^®™' to this new sect of the ^Middle Ganges, and as the doctrine

worship ; » '

but main- ^^ the innate superiority of Brahmans and Kshattriyas had
tains the been rudely shaken by the Muhammadan ascendancy, Ra-
t?ue*be- '^ nianand seized upon the idea of man's equality before God.
hevers be- He instituted no nice distinctive observances, he admitted
all classes of people as his disciples, and he declared that the
true votary was raised above mere social forms, and became
free or liberated.^ During the same century the learned

of Humboldt, who oniphatically says that the Ai-abs are to be re-
garded as the pi'oper founders of the physical sciences, in the sense
which we are now accustomed to attach to the term. (Kosmos,
Sabine's trans., ii. 212.)

^ Modern criticism is not disposed to allow an ancient date to the
Purans, and doubtless the interpolations are both numerous and
recent, just as the ordinary copies of the rhapsodies of the Rajput
Bhat, or Bard, Chand, contain allusions to dynasties and events
subsequent to Pirtlii Raj and Mahmud. The difficulty lies in separa-
ting the old from the new, and jierhaps also objectors have too much
lost sight of the circumstance that the criticized and less corrupted
Ramayana and Mahabharata are only the chief of the Purans. They
seem needlessly inclined to reject entirely the authority or authenticity
of the conventional Eighteen Chronicles, merely because eulogiums
on modern families have been introduced by successive flatterers.
Nevertheless, the Purans must rather be held to illustrate modes of
thought, than to describe historical events with accuracy. [Colonel
Kennedy {Bes. H ind. Mythol.,j)Y>. 130, 15.3, &c.) regards them mainlj'
as complementary to the Vedas, explaining religious anci moral
doctrines, and containing disciuisitions concerning the illusive nature
of the universe, and not as in any way intended to be historical. —
J. D. C]

2 Cf. Dabistan, ii. 179, and Wilson, As. Res., xvi. 36, &c. Professor
Wilson remarks (ibid., p. 44, and also xvii. 183), that the sects of
Shankar Acharj and Ramanuj included Brahmans only, and indeed
chiefly men of learning of that race. The followers of Ramanand,

CHAP. II

MODERN REFORMS

enthusiast Goraklinath gave popularity, especially in the
Punjab, to the doctrine of the ' Yog ', which belonged more
jjroperly as a theory or practice to the Buddhist faitli, but
which was equally adopted as a philosophic dogma by the
followers of Vyasa and of Sakya. It was, however, held
that in this ^ Kalyug ', or iron age, fallen man was unequal
to so great a penance, or to the attainment of complete
beatitude ; but Gorakli taught that intense mental ab-
straction would etherialize the body of the most lowly, and
gradually unite his spirit with the all-pervading soul of the
world. He chose Siva as the deity who would thus bless
the austere perseverance of his votaries of whatever caste ;
and, not content with the ordinary frontal marks of sects
and persuasions, he distinguished his disciples by boring
their ears, whence they are familiarly known as the ' Kan-
phata ', or ear-torn Jogis.^

or the Vaishnavas, were long violently opposed to the Saivic denomi-
nations ; so much so, according to tradition, that they would not,
on any account, cross the Narbada river, which is held to be pecu-
liarly sacred to Mahadev or Mahesh, but would rather, in performing
a journey, go round by its sources.

Among the people of Central India there is a general persuasion
that the Narbada will one day take the place of the Ganges as the
most holy of streams ; but the origin of the feeling is not clea'-, as
neither is the fact of the consecration of the river to Siva. At Mahe-
shwar, indeed, there is a whirlpool, which, by rounding and polishing
fallen stones, rudely shapes them into resemblances of a Lingam,
and which are as fertile a source of profit to the resident priests as
are the Vaishnava fossil ammonites of a particular part of the
Himalayas, The labours of the whirlpool likewise diffuse a sanctitude
over all the stones of the rocky channel, as expressed in the vernacular
sentence, ' Rehwa ke kunkur sub sunkur suman,' i. e. each stone of
the Narbada (Rehwa) is divine, or equal to Siva.

Maheshwar was the seat of Sahsar Bahu, or of the hundred-handed
Kshattriya king, who was slain by Paras Ram, of the not very far
distant town of Niraawar, opposite Hindia ; a probable occurrence,
which was soon made the type, or the cause, of the destruction of the
ancient warrior race by the Brahmans. The same is declared by the
Siva Puran. (Colonel Kennedy, Res. Hind. Mythol., p. 309, note.) —
J. D. C]

^ Cf. Wilson {As. Res., xvii. 183, &c.) and the Dabistan (Troyer's
translation, i. 123, &c.). In the latter, Muhsin Fani shows some
points of conformity between the Jogis and the Muhammadans,
With regard to Yog, in a scientific point of view, it may be observed
that it corresponds with the state of abstraction or self-consciousness

d8

Gorakh-
nath estab-
lishes a
sect in the
Punjab,

and main-
tains the
equalizing
effect of
religious
penance ;

but causes
further
diversity
by adopt-
ing Siva as
the type of
(iod.

36 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

The Vedas A step was thus made, and faith and abandonment of

and l^oran ^j^g pleasures of life were held to abrogate the distinctions

Kabir, a " of race which had taken so firm a hold on the pride and

disciple of vanity of the rich and powerful. In the next generation,

nand, or about the year 1450, the mysterious weaver Kablr, a

?i°n- ^ " disciple of Ramfmand, assailed at once the worship of idols,

the authority of the Koi'an and Shastras, and the exclusive

and the use of a learned language. He addressed Muhammadans as

mother ^^,gjj ^^ Hindus, he urged them to call upon him, the in-

tongue of ' t> f '

the people visible Kablr, and to strive continually after inward pinity.

iised as an ^^ personified creation or the world as ' Maya ', or as

instru- ^

ment. woman, prolific of deceit and illusion, and thus denounced

But asce- man's weakness or his proneness to evil. Practically Kablr
upheld^ * admitted outward conformity, and leant towards Rama or
Vishnu as the most perfect type of God. Like his prede-
cessors, he erringly gave shape and attributes to the divinity,
and he further limited the application of his doctrines of
reform, by declaring retirement from the world to be de-
sirable, and the ' Sadh ', or pure or perfect man, the passive
or inoffensive votary, to be the living resemblance of the

which raised the soul above mortalitj' or chance, and enabled it to
apprehend the ' true ' and to grasp Plato's ' idea ', or archical form
of the world, and that neither Indians nor Greeks considered man
capable, in his present imperfect condition, of attaining to such a
. degree of ' union with God ' or ' knowledge of the true '. (Cf. Ritter,
Ancient Philosophy, Morrison's translation, ii. 207, .334—6, and Wilson,
As. Bes., xvii. 185.) Were it necessary to pursue the correspondence
firrther, it would be found that Plato's whole system is almost identi-
cal, in its rudiraental characteristics, with the schemes of Kapil and
Patanjal jointly : thus, God and matter are in both eternal ; Mahat,
or intelligence, or the informing spirit of the world, is the same with
vov.f or logos, and so on. With both God, that is ' Poorsh ' in the one
and the Supreme God in the other, woiUd seem to be separate from
the world as appreciable by man. It may further be observed that
the Sankhya system is divided into two schools, independent of that'
of Patanjal, the first of which regards ' Poorsh ' simply as life, depend-
ing for activity upon ' adri.sht ', chance or fate, while the second holds
the term to denote an active and provident ruler, and gives to vitality
a distinct existence. The school of Patanjal differs from this latter,
principally in its terminology and in the mode (Yog) laid down for
attaining bliss — one of the four subdivisions of which mode, viz.
that of stopping the breath, is allowed to be the doctrine of Gorakh,
but is declared to have been followed of old ))y Markand, in a manner
more agreeable to the Vedas, than the practice of the recent Reformer.

CHAP. II

MODERN REFORMS

37

Almighty. The views, however, of Kabir are not very
distinctly laid down or clearly understood ; but the latitude
of usage which he sanctioned, and his employment of a
spoken dialect, have rendered his writings extensively
popular among the lower orders of India. "^

In the beginning of the sixteenth century the reforms of
Ramanand were introduced into Bengal by Chaitan, a
Brahman of Nadia. He converted some Muhammadans,
and admitted all classes as members of his sect. He insisted
upon ' Bliakti ', or faith, as chastening the most impure ;
he allowed marriage and secular occupations ; but his
followers abused the usual injunction of reverence for the
teacher, and some of them held that the Guru was to be
invoked before God.- About the same period Vallabh
Swami, a Brahman of Telingana, gave a further impulse
to the reformation in progress, and he taught that married
teachers were not only admissible as directors of the con-
science, but that the householder was to be preferred, and
that the world was to be enjoyed by both master and

1 Cf . the DaliistaH,u. 184, &c., Wilson, As. Bes., xvi. 53, and Ward's
Hindoos, ill. -lO*). Kabir is an Arabic word, meaning the greatest,
and Professor Wilson doubts whether any such person ever existed,
and considers the Kabir of Muhsin Fani to be the personification of
an idea, or that the title was assumed by a Hindu free-thinker as a
disguise. The name, however, although significant, is now at least
not uncommon, and perhaps the ordinary story that Kabli' was a
foundling, reared by a weaver, and subsequently admitted as a dis-
ciple by Ramanand, is sufficiently probable to justify his identity.
His body is Btated to have been claimed both by the Hindus and
Muhammadans, and Muhsin Fani observes that many Muhammadans
became Bairagis, i. e. ascetics ot tlie modern Vaishnava sect, of
which the followers of Ramanand and Kabir form the principal sub-
divisions. (Dabistdn, ii. 193.) As a further instance of the fusion of
feeling then, and now, going forward, the reply of the Hindu deist,
Akamnath, to the keepers of the Kaba at Mecca may be quoted. He
first scandalized them bj' asking where was the master of the house ;
and he then inquired why the idols had been thrown out. He was
told that the works of men were not to be worshipped ; whereupon
he inquired whether the temple itself was not reared with hands, and
therefore undeserving of respect (Dabistdn, ii. 117).

* For an account of Chaitan and his followers, cf. Wilson, Asiatic
Researches, xvi. 109, &c., and Ward, on The Hindoos, iii. 467, &c. ;
and for some apposite remarks on Bhakti or faith, see Wilson, As
lies., xvii. 312.

Chaitan
preaches
religious
reform ia
Bengal,
A. D. 1500
1550.
Insists
upon the
etlicacy of
faith,

and admits
of secular
occupa-
tions.
Vallabh
extends the
reforma-
tion to the
south.

38

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. 11

and
further
discounte-
nances
celibacy,
about
A. D. 1550.

Recapitu-
lation.

The le-
fornis par-
tial, and
leading to
sectarian-
ism only.

Nanak's
views more
compre-
hensive
and pro-
found.

disciple. This principle was readily adopted by the peace-
ful mercantile classes, and ' Gusains ', as the conductors of
family worship, have acquired a commanding influence over
the industrious Quietists of the country ; but they have
at the same time added to the diversity of the prevailing
idolatry by giving pre-eminence to Bala Gopal, the infant
Krishna, as the very God of the Universe.^

Thus, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, the
Hindu mind was no longer stagnant or retrogressive ; it
had been leavened with Muhammadanism, and changed
and quickened for a new development. Ramanand and
Gorakh had preached religious equality, and Chaitan had
repeated that faith levelled caste. Kablr had denounced
images, and appealed to the people in their own tongue,
and Vallabh had taught that effectual devotion was com-
patible with the ordinary duties of the world. But these
good and able men appear to have been so impressed with
the nothingness of this life, that they deemed the ameliora-
tion of man's social condition to be unworthy of a thought.
They aimed chiefly at emancipation from priestcraft, or
from the grossness of idolatry and polytheism. They formed
pious associations of contented Quietists, or they gave
themselves up to the contemplation of futurity in the hope
of approaching bliss, rather than called upon their fellow
creatures to throw aside every social as well as religious
trammel, and to arise a new people freed from the debasing
corruption of ages. They perfected forms of dissent rather
than planted the germs of nations, and their sects remain
to this day as they left them. It was reserved for Ndnak
to perceive the true principles of reform, and to lay those
broad foundations which enabled his successor Gobind to
fire the minds of his countrymen with a new nationality,
and to give practical effect to the doctrine that the lowest
is equal with the highest, in race as in creed, in political
rights as in religious hopes.

^ See Wilson, Asiatic Researches, xvi. 85, &c. ; and for an account
of the cwresponding Vaishnava sect of Madhav, which has, however,
a leaning to Saivism, see also Wilson, As. Res., xvi. 100. (See also
Appendix VII for some remarks on the Metaphysics of Indian
Ri'formers.)

CHAP. II TEACHING OF NANAK 39

Nanak was born in the year 1469, in the neighbourhood 1469-1539.
of Lahore.^ His father, Kalu, was a Hindu of tlie Bedl ,T ~
subdivision of the once warlike Kshattriyas, and he was, birtii and
perhaps, like most of his race, a petty trader in his native ^arly life,
village.^ Nanak appears to have been naturally of a pious
disposition and of a reflecting mind, and there is reason to
believe that in his youth he made himself familiar with the
popular creeds both of the Muhammadans and Hindus, and
that he gained a general knowledge of the Koran and of
the Brahmanical Shastras.^ His good sense and fervid

1 Nauak is generally said to have been born in Talwandi, a village
on the Ravi above Lahore, which was held by one Rai Bhua of the
Bhutti tribe. (Cf. Malcolm, Sketch of the Sikhs, p. 78, and Forster,
Travels, i. 292-3.) But one manuscript account states that, although
the father of Nanak was of Talwandi, the teacher himself was born in
Kanakatch, about fifteen miles southerly from Lahore, in the house
of his mother's parents, It is indeed not uncommon in the Punjab
for women to choose their own parents' home as the place of their con-
finement, especially of their first child, and the children thus born are
frequently called Nanak (or Nanki, in the feminine), from Nanke,
one's mother's parents. Nanak is thus a name of usual occurrence,
both among Hindus and Muhammadans, of the poor or industrious
classes. The accounts agree as to the year of Nanak's birth, but
differ, while they affect precision, with regard to the day of the
month on which he was born. Thus one narrative gives the 13th, and
another the 18th, of the month Kartik, of the year 1525 of Vikra-
majit, which corresponds with the latter end of 1469 of Clirist.

- In the Star id Mutakharin (Brigg's translation, i. 110) it is stated
that Nanak's father was a grain merchant, and in the Dabistdn
(ii. 247) that Nanak himself was a grain factor. The Sikh accounts
are mostly silent about the occupation of the father, but they repre-
sent the sister of Nanak to have been married to a corn factor, and
state that he was himself placed with his brother-in-law to learn, or
to give aid, in carrying on the business.

3 A manuscript compilation in Persian mentions that Nanak's
first teacher was a Muhammadan. The Siar id M utdkharin (i. 110)
states that Nanak was carefully educated by one Saiyid Hasan, a
neighbour of his father's, who conceived a regard for him, and who was
wealthy but childless. Nanak is further said, in the same book, to
have studied the most approved writings of the Muhammadans.
According to Malcolm {Sketch, p. 14), Nanak is reported, by the
Muhammadans, to have learnt all earthly sciences from Khizar,
i. e. the prophet Elias. The ordinary Muhammadan accounts also
represent Nanak, when a child, to have astonished his teacher by ask-
ing him the hidden import of the fust letter of the alphabet, which
is almost a straight stroke in Persian and Arabic, and which is held

40 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

1469-1539. temper left him disi)leased with the corruptions of the
vulgar faith, and dissatisfied with the indifference of the
learned, or with the refuge which they sought in the spe-
cious abstractions of philosophy ; nor is it improbable that
the homilies of Kablr and Gorakh had fallen upon his
susceptible mind with a powerful and enduring effect.^ In
The meiit al a moment of enthusiasm the ardent inquirer abandoned his
Nanak "^^ °^ home, and strove to attain wisdom by penitent meditation,
by study, and by an enlarged intercoui'se with mankind. -
He travelled, perhaps, beyond the limits of India, he prayed
in solitude, he reflected on the Vedas and on the mission
of Muhammad, and he questioned with equal anxiety the
learned priest and the simple devotee about the will of
God and the path to happiness.^ Plato and Bacon, Des

even vulgarly to denote the unity of God. The reader will remember
that the apocrjrphal gospels state how Christ, before he was twelve
years old, perplexed his instructors, and explained to them the
mystical signihcance of the alphabetical characters. (Strauss, Life
of Jesus, i. 212.)

1 Extracts or selections from the writings of Kabir aj^pear in the
Adi-Grautk, and Kabir is often, and Gorakh sometimes, quoted or
referred to.

2 A chance meeting with some Fakh-s (Malcolm, Sketch, pp. 8, 13)
and the more methodical instructions of a Dervish {Dahistun, ii. 247)
are each referred to as having subdued the mind of Nanak, or as
-havin» given him the impvUse which determined the future course
ot his life. In Malcolm may be seen those stories which please the
multitude, to the effect that although Nanak, when the spirit of God
was upon him, bestowed all the grain in his brothor-indaw's stores
in charity, they were nevertheless always found replenished ; or that
Daulat Khan Lodi,the employer of Nanak's brother-indaw, although
aware that much had really been given away, nevertheless found
everything correct on balancing the accounts of receipts and expendi-
ture.

The Sikh accounts represent Nanak to have met the Emperor
Babar, and to have greatly edified the adventurous sovereign by his
demeanour and conversation, while he perplexed him by saying that
both were kings and were about to found dynasties of ten. 1 have
traced but two allusions to Babar by name, and one by obvious in-
ference, in the Adi-Granlh, viz. in the Asa Rag and TaUang portions,
and these bear reference simply to the destruction of a village, and
to his incursions as a conqueror. Muhsin Fani (DaUstdn, ii. 249)
preserves an idle report that Nanak, being dissatisfied with the
Afghans, called the Mughals into India.

^ Nanak is generally said to have travelled over the whole of India,

CHAP. II

TEACHING OF NANAK

41

Dies, aged
seventy,
A.D. 1539.

Cartes and Alghazali, examined the current philosophic 14G9-1539.
systems of the world, without- finding a sure basis of truth
for the operations of the intellect ; and, similarly, the heart
of the pious Nanak sought hopelessly for a resting-place
amid the conflicting creeds and practices of men. All was
error, he said ; he had read Korans and Purans, but God
he had nowhere found. ^ He returned to his native land, he
threw aside the habit of an ascetic, he became again the
father of his family, and he passed the remainder of his jj^,
long life in calling upon men to worship the One Invisible becomes a
God, to live virtuously', and to be tolerant of the failmgs
of others. The mild demeanour, the earnest piety, and per-
suasive eloquence of Nanak, are ever the themes of praise,
and he died at the age of seventy, leaving behind him many
zealous and admiring disciples.-

to have gone through Persia, and to have visited Mecca (cf. Malcolm,
Sketch, p. IG, and Forster, Travels, 1. 295-G), but the number of years
he employed in wandering, and the date of his final return to his
native province, are alike uncertain. He had several companions,
among whom Mardana, the rababi or harper (or rather a chanter,
and player upon a stringed instrument like a guitar), Lahna, who was
his successor, Bala, a Hindhu Jat, and Ram Das, styled Buddha or
the Ancient, are the most frec[uently referred to. In pictorial repre-
sentations Mardana always accompanies Nanak. When at Mecca,
a story is related that Nanak was found sleeping with his feet towards
the temple, that he v.as angrilj- asked how he dared to dishonoiu- the
house of the Lord, and that he replied, ' Could he turn his feet where
the house of God was not ? ' (Malcolm, Sketch of the Sikhs, p. 159.)
Nanak adopted, sometimes at least, the garb of a Muhammadan
Dervish, and at Multan he visited an assembly of Musalman devotees,
saying he was but as the stream of the Ganges entering the ocean of
holiness. (Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 21, and the Siar ul Mutakharin,
i. 311.)

^ There is current a verse imputed to Nanak, to the effect that —
' Several scriptures and books had he read,
But one (God) ho had not found :
Several Korans and Purans had he read.
But faith he could not put in any.'
The Adi-Granth abounds with passages of a similar tenor, and in the
supplemental portion, called the Ratan Mala, Nanak says, ' Man may
read Vedas and Korans, and reach to a temporary bliss, but without
God salvation is unattainable.'

^ The accounts mostly agree as to the date of Nanak's death, and
they place it in 1596 of Vikramajit, or 1539 of Christ. A Gurmukhi
abstract states precisely that he was a teacher for seven years, five

Nanak's
doctrine

42 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

1469-1539. Nanak combined the excellences of preceding reformers,
'lb ' ■ 1- ^^^ ^^ avoided the more grave errors into which they had
lences of fallen. Instead of the circumscribed divinity, the anthro-
pomorphous God of Ramanand and Kablr, he loftily in-
vokes the Lord as the one, the sole, the timeless being ;
the creator, the self-existent, the incomprehensible, and the
The god- everlasting. He likens the Deity to Truth, which was
before the world began, which is, and which shall endure for
ever, as the ultimate idea or cause of all we know or behold .'^

months, and seven days, and that he died on the 10th of the Hindu
naonth Asauj. Forster {Travels, i. 295) represents that he travelled
for fifteen years. Nanak died at Kartarpui", on the Ravi, about forty
miles above Lahore, where there is a place of worship sacred to him.
Helcf t two sons, Sri Chand, an ascetic, whose name lives as the founder
of the Hindu sect of Udasis, and Lachmi Das, who devoted himself
to pleasure, and of whom nothing particular is known. The Nanak-
putras, or descendants of Nanak, called also Sahibzadas, or sons of
the master, are everywhere reverenced among Sikhs, and if traders,
some privileges are conceded to them by the chiefs of their country.
Muhsin Fani observes (Dabistdn, ii. 253) that the representatives of
Nanak were known as Kartaris, meaning, perhaps, rather that they
were held to be holy or devoted to the service of God, than that they
were simply residents of Kartarpur.

^ See the Adi-Granth in, for instance, the portion called Gowree Bag,
and the prefatory Jiij), or prayer of admonition and remembrance.
Cf. also Wilkins, Asiatic Hesearches, i. 289, &c.

' Akalpurik ', or the Timeless Being, is the ordinary Sikh apiiellation
of God, corresponding idiomatically with the 'Almighty ', in English.
Yet Gobind, in the second Grauth (Hazara Shabd portion), apostro-
phizes Time itself as the only true God, for God was the first and the
last, the being without end, &c.

Milton assigns to time a casual or limited use onlj', and Shake-
tipeare makes it finite :

' For time, though in eternity applied
To motion, measures all things durable
By present, past, and future.'

Paradise Lost, v.

' But thought 's the slave of life, and life, time's fool ;
And time, that takes survey of all the world.
Must have a stop.'

1 Henri/ I V, v. iv.
Three of the modern philosophizing schools of India, viz. a division
of the Sankhyas, the Puraniks, and the Saivas, make Kal,ortime,
one of the twenty-seven, or thirty, or thirty-six component essences
or phenomena of the universe of matter and mind, and thus give it
distinct functions, or a separate existence.

CHAP. II

TEACHING OF NANAK

48

He addresses equally the Mulla and the Pandit, the Dervish
and the SannyasI, and tells them to remember that Lord of
Lords who has seen come and go numberless Muhammads,
and Vishnus, and Sivas.^ He tells them that virtues and
charities, heroic acts and gathered wisdom, are nought of
themselves, that the only knowledge which availeth is the
knowledge of God ; - and then, as if to rebuke those vain
men who saw eternal life in their own act of faith, he
declares that they only can find the Lord on whoni the
Lord looks with favour.^ Yet the extension of grace is
linked with the exercise of our will and the beneficent use
of our faculties. God, said Nanak, places salvation in good
works and uprightness of conduct : the Lord will ask of
man, ' What has he done ? ' * — and the teacher further
required timely repentance of men, saying, ' If not until
the day of reckoning the sinner abaseth himself, punishment
shall overtake him '.^

Nanak adopted the philosophical system of his country-
men, and regarded bliss as the dwelling of the soul with
God after its punitory transmigrations should have ceased.
Life, he says, is as the shadow of the passing bird, but the
soul of man is, as the potter's wheel, ever circling on its
l^ivot.® He makes the same uses of the current language or
notions of the time on other subjects, and thus says, he
who remains bright amid darkness (Anjan), unmoved amid
deceit (Maya), that is, perfect amid temptation, should

1469-1539.

Muham-
niadaiis
and Hindus
equally
called on to
worship
God in
truth.

Faith,
grace, and
good works
all neces-
sary.

Nanak
adopts the
Brahiuani-
cal philo-
sophy ; but
in a popu-
lar sense,
or by way
of illustra-
tion only.

1 A passage of Nanak's in the supplement to the Adi-Granth, after
saying that there have been multitudes of prophets, teachers, and
holy men, concludes thus :

The Lord of Lords is the One God, the Almighty God himself ;
Oh Nanak ! his qualities are beyond comprehension.'

- See the Adi-Granth, towards the end of the portion called Asa.

^ See the Adi-Granth, end of the Asa Rag, and in the supplementary
portion called the Ratan Mala.

* The Adi-Granth, Parbhdti Ra/jni. Cf. Malcolm {Sketch, p. IGl)
and Wilkins (As. Res., i. 289, &c.).

^ See the Nasihat Nama, or admonition of Nanak to Karon, a
fabulous monarch, wluoh, however, is not admitted into the Granth,
perhaps because its vcrsonal or particular ajjplication is not in keeping
with the abstract and general nature of that book. Neither, indeed,
is it certainly known to be Nanak's eom]josition, although it embodies
many of his notions. ^ Adi-Granth, end of the Asa Rag.

tions.

44 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

1469-1539. attain happiness.^ But it would be idle to suppose that he
speculated uiJon being, or upon the material world, after
the manner of Plato or Vyasa ; '■'■ and it would be unreason-
able to condemn him because he preferred the doctrine of
a succession of habiliments, and the possible purification of
the most sinful soul, to the resurrection of the same body,

Nanak ad- and the pains of everlasting fire.^ Nanak also referred

nuts the ^^ the Arabian prophet, and to the Hindu incarnations, not

mission of t f ' >

Muhammad as impostors and the diffusers of evil, but as having truly
th H ^d ^^^^ ^^^^ ^y God to instruct mankind, and he lamented
incarna- that sin should nevertheless prevail. He asserted no special
divinity, although he may possibly have considered himself,
as he came to be considered by others, the successor of
these inspired teachers of his belief, sent to reclaim fallen
mortals of all creeds and countries within the limits of his
knowledge. He rendered his mission applicable to all times
and places, yet he declared himself to be but the slave, the
himible messenger of the Almighty, making use of universal
truth as his sole instrument.* He did not claim for his

^ Adi-GrantJi, in the Siihi and Riuukali portions.

2 See Appendix VIII.

^ The usual objection of the Muhamniadans to the Hindu doctrine
of transmigration is, that the wicked soul of this jiresent world has no
remembrance of its past condition and bygone punishments, and
does not, therefore, bring willi it any inherent incentive to holiness.
The Muhammadans, however, do not show that a knowledge of the
sin of Adam, and consequent corruption of his posterity, is instinctive
to a follower of Christ or to a disciple of their own prophet ; and,
metaphysically, an impartial thinker will perhaps prefer the Bralaman
doctrine of a soul finally scjmrated from the changeable matter of
our senses, to the Egyptian scheme of the resurrection of the cor-
ruptible body, — a notion which seems to have impressed itself on
the Israelites, notwithstanding the silence of Moses, and which re-
sisted for centuries the action of other systems, and which was at
length revived with increased force in connexion with the popular
belief in miracles. See also note 2, p. 24 ante.

* The whole scope of Nanak's teaching is that God is all in all, and
that purity of mind is the first of objects. He urges all men to practise
devotion, and he refers to ])ast prophets and dispensations as being
now of no avail, but he nowhere attributes to himself any superiority
over others. He was a man among men, calling u])on his fellow
creatui'es to live a holy life. (Cf . the Jjabistdn, ii. 241), 250, 25;j ; and
see Wilson, As. Res., xvii. 234, for the expression ' Nanak thy slave
is a freewill offering unto thee '.)

CHAP. 11 TEACHING OF NANAK 45

writings, replete as they were with wisdom and devotion,^ 1469-1539,

the merit of a direct transcription of the words of God ; '

nor did he say that his own preaching required or would be Disclaims

sanctioned by miracles.^ Figlit with no weapon,' said he, j'ol^e'rs "^

' save the word of God ; a holy teacher hath no means save

the purity of his doctrine.' ^ He taught that asceticism dIs-

or abandonment of the world was unnecessary, the pious courages

tisccticism
hermit and the devout householder being equal in the eyes

of the Almighty ; but he did not, like his contemporary
Vallabh, express any invidious preference for married
teachers, although his own example showed that he con-
sidered every one should fulfil the functions of his nature.*
In treating the two prominent external observances of
Hindus and Muhammadans, veneration for the cow and
abhorrence of the hog, he was equally wise and conciliatory, Con-
yielding perhaps something to the prejudices of his educa- cihatory
tion as well as to the gentleness of his disposition. ' The Muham-
rights of strangers,' said he, ' are the one the ox, and the '"avians
other the swine, but " Pirs " and " Gurus " will praise Hindus.
those who partake not of that which hath enjoyed life.' ^

^ The Muhammadan writers are loud in their praises of Nanak's
writings. (Cf. the Star iil Mvtakharin, i. 110, 111, and the Dabistan,
ii. 251, 252.)

With these sober views of the Orientals may be contrasted the
opinion of the European Baron Hiigel, who says (Travels, p. 283)
that the Grant/i is ' a compound of mystical absui'dities '. He admits,
however, that the Sikhs worship one God, abhor images, and reject
caste, at least in theory.

2 See particularly the Sri Rag chapter of the Adi-Granth. In the
Maj Var portion Nanak says to a pretender to miracles, 'Dwell thou
in flame uninjured, remain unharmed amid eternal ice, make blocks
of stone thy food, spurn the solid earth before thee with thy foot,
weigh the heavens in a balance, and then ask thou that Nanak
perform wonders ! '

Strauss (Life of Jesns, ii. 237) points out that Christ censured the
seeking for miracles (John iv. 48), and observes that the apostles in
their letters do not mention miracles at all.

3 Malcolm, Sketch, pp. 20, 21, 165.

* Adi-Granth, particularly the Asa Ragni and Ramkali Bagni. (Cf.
the Dahistdn, ii. 271.)

^ Adi-Granth, Maj chapter. Cf. Malcolm (Sketch, p. 36, note, and
p. 137), where it is said Nanak prohibited swine's flesh ; but, indeed,
the" flesh of the ta7n.e hog had alwaj^s been forbidden to Hindus.
(Manu's Institutes, v. 19.) The Dabistan (ii, 248) states that Nanak

46 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

1469-1539. Thus Nanak extricated his followers from the acciimu-
^^ lated errors of ages, and enjoined upon them devotion of

fully ex- thouoht and excellence of conduct as the first of duties.
tricates his He left them, erect and free, unbiassed in mind and un-
from error, fettered by rules, to become an increasing body of truthful
But his re- worshippers. His reform was in its immediate effect re-
formation ligious and moral only ; believers were regarded as ' Sikhs '
rehgi^om '^ or disciples, not as subjects; and it is neither probable,
and moral nor is it necessary to suppose, that he possessed any clear
°" ^' and sagacious views of social amelioration or of political

Nanak left advancement. He left the progress of his people to the

his Sikh-s operation of time ; for his congregation was too limited,
or disciples ' „ . .„ . , , ■ . ,

without and the state of society too artincial, to render it either

new social requisite or possible for him to become a municipal law-
laws asa. , ,,.,. «,,
separate givcr, to subvert the legislation ot Manu, or to change the

people. immemorial usages of tribes or races.^ His care was rather

prohibited wine and pork, and himself abstained from all flesh : but,
in truth, contradictory passages about food may be quoted, and thus
Ward (The Hindoos, iii. 466) shows that Nanak defended those who
eat flesh, and declared that the infant which drew nurture from its
mother lived virtually upon flesh. The author of the Gur RatnavaU
pursues the idea, in a somewhat trivial manner indeed, by asking
whether man does not take woman to wife, and whether the holiest
of books are not bound with the skins of animals !

The general injunctions of Nanak have sometimes been mis-
interpreted by sectarian followers and learned strangers, to mean
' great chariness of animal life ', almost in a mere ceremonial sense.
(Wilson, As. Bes., xvii. 233.) But the Sikhs have no such feeling,
although the Jains and others carry a pious regard for worms and
flies to a ludicrous extent — a practice which has reacted upon at
least some families of Roman Catholic Christians in India. Those in
Bhopal reject, during Lent, the use of unrefined sugar, an article of
daily consumption, because, in its manufacture, the lives of many
insects are necessarily sacrificed ! [It is curious that the Greeks and
Romans believed the life of the ox to have been held sacred during
the golden age ; and Cicero quotes Aratus, to show that it was onlj'
during the iron age the flesh of cattle began to be eaten. (On the
Nature of the Gods, Francklin's translation, p. 154.) — J. D. C]

^ Malcolm (Sketch, pp. 44, 147) says Nanak made little or no altera-
tion in the civil institutions of the Hindus, and Ward (The Hindoos,
iii. 463) says, the Siklis have no written civil or criminal laws. Simi-
lar observations of dispraise or applause might be made with regard
to the code of the early Christians, and we know the difticulties under
which the apostles laboured, owing to the want of a new declaratory
law, or owing to the scruples and prejudices of their disciples. (Acts

CHAP. II TEACHING OF NANAK 47

to prevent his followers contracting into a sect, and his 1469-1539.
comprehensive principles narrowing into monastic distinc-
tions. This he effected by excluding his son, a meditative But guaid-
and perhaps bigoted ascetic, from the ministry when he ^hp^'^'"^
should himself be no more ; and, as his end approached, narrowing
he is stated to have made a trial of the obedience or merits
of his chosen disciples, and to have preferred the simple
and sincere Lahna. As they journeyed along, the body of
a man was seen lying by the wayside. Nanak said, ' Ye
who trust in me, eat of this food.' All hesitated save Lahna ;
he knelt and uncovered the dead, and touched Avithout
tasting the flesh of man ; but, behold ! the corpse had
disappeared and Nanak was in its place. The Guru em-
braced his faithful follower, saying he was as himself, and
that his spirit would dwell within him.^ The name of Nanak de-
Lahna was changed to Angi-Khud, or Angad, or own body,^ Angad to

and whatever may be the foimdation of the story or the ^^ ^'^ ^^^'

cpssor <is n.
truth of the etymology, it is certain that the Sikhs fully fpachcr of

believe the spirit of Nanak to have been incarnate in each "^t^""-

succeeding Guru.^ Angad was acknowledged as the teacher

XV. 20, 28, 29, and other passages.) The seventh of the articles of
the Church of England, and the nineteenth chapter of the Scottish
Confession of Faith, show the existing perplexity of modern divines,
and, doubtless, it willlong continue to be disputed how far Christians
are amenable to some portions of the Jewish law, and whether Sikhs
should wholly reject the institutions of Manu and the usages of race.
There were Judaizing Christians and there are Brahmanizing Sikhs ;
the swine was a difficulty with one, the cow is a difficulty with the
other ; and yet the greatest obstacle, perliaps, to a complete oblitera-
tion of caste, is the rooted feeling that marriages should properly
take place only between people of the same origin or nation, without
much reference to faith. (Cf . Ward on The Hindoos, iii. 459 ; Malcolm,
Slcetch, p. 157 note ; and Forster's Travels, i. 293, 295, 308.)

^ This story is related by various Punjabi compilers, and it is given
with one of the variations by Dr. Macgregor, in his History of the
Sikhs (i. 48). In the Dnhistan (ii. 268, 269) there is a story of a similar
kind about the successive sacrifice in the four ages of a cow, a horse,
an elephant, and a man. The pious partakers of the flesh of the last
offering were declared to be saved, and the victim himself again
appeared in his bodily shape.

2 Cf. Malcolm, Sketch of tJie Sikhs, p. 24 note. [Angad, however,
is an old Hindu name, and the ambassador of Rama to Ravan was
so called. (Kennedy, Res. Hind. Mythoh, p. 438.)— J. D. C]

^ This belief is an article of faith with the Sikhs. Cf . the Dabistan

4S HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ii

1469-1539. of the Siklis, and Sri Chand, the son of Nanak, justified his
fathers fears, and became the founder of the Hindu sect
of ' Udasis ', a community indifferent to the concerns of
this world.^

(ii. 253, 281). The Guru Har Gobiiid signed himself ' Nanak ' in a
letter to Muhsin Fani, the author of that work.

1 For some account of the Udasis, see Wilson, Asiatic Researches,
xvii. 232. The sect is widelj- diffused ; its members are proud of
their connexion with the Sikhs, and all reverence, and most possess
and use, the Granth of Nanak.

Note. — For manj' stories regarding Nanak himself, which it has
not been thought necessary to introduce into the text or notes, the
curious reader may refer with profit to Malcolm's Sketch, to the
second volume of the Dahistan, and to the first volume of Dr. ilac-
gregor's recently published History.

CHAPTER III

THE SIKH GURrS OR TEACHERS, AND THE

MODIFICATION OF SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND

1539-1716

Guru Angad — Guru Amar Das and the Udasi Sect— Guru Ram Das
— Giiru Arjun — The First Granth and Civil Organization of the
Sikhs — Guru Har Gobind and the Military Ordering of the Sikhs
— Guru Har Rai — Gurii Har Kishan — Guru Tegh Bahadur —
Guru Gobind, and the Political Establishment of the Sikhs —
Banda Bairagi the Temporal Successor of Gobind- — The Dis-
persion of the Sikhs.

Nanak died in 1539, and he was succeeded by the Angad
of his choice, a Kshattriya of the Tihan subdivision of the
race, who himself died in 1552, at Kadiar, near Goindwal,
on the Beas river. Little is related of his ministry, except
that he committed to writing much of what he had heard
about Nanak from the Guru's ancient companion, Bala
Sindhu, as well as some devotional observations of his own,
which were afterwards incorporated in the Granth. But
Angad was true to the principles of his great teacher, and,
not deeming either of his own sons worthy to succeed him,
he bestowed his apostolic blessing upon Amar Das, an
assiduous follower.'^

Amar Das was likewise a Kshattriya, but of the Bhalla
subdivision. He was active in preaching, and successful in
obtaining converts, and it is said that he found an attentive
listener in the tolerant Akbar, The immediate followers of

1539-52,

Angad up-
holds the
broad
principles

of Nanak.

Dies 1552.

Amar Das
succeeds.

1 Angad was born, according to most accounts, in 1561 Sambat, or
A. D. 1504, but according to others in 1.567 (or a. d. 1510). His death
is usually placed in 1609 Sambat (a. d. 1552), but sometimes it is
dated a year earlier, and the Sikh accounts affect a precision as to
days and months which can never gain credence. Forster {Travels,
i. 296) gives 1542, perhaps a misprint for 1552, as the period of his
death.

50

HISTORY or THE SIKHS

CHAP. Ill

1552-74.

Separates
the Sikhs
from the
Udasis.

His views
with regard
to ' Sati '.
Dies 1574.

Ram Das

succeeds

and

establishes

himself at

Amritsar.

Sri Chand, the son of Nanak, had hitherto been regarded
as ahnost equally the disciples of the first teacher with the
direct adherents of Angad ; but Amar Das declared passive
and recluse ' Udasis ' to be wholly separate from active and
domestic ' Sikhs ', and thus finally preserved the infant
church or state from disappearing as one of many sects. ^
In the spirit of Nanak he likewise pronounced that the
' true SatI was she whom grief and not flame consumed,
and that the afflicted should seek consolation with the
Lord ' ; thus mildly discountenancing a perverse custom,
and leading the way to amendment by persuasion rather
than by positive enactment.^ Amar Das died in 1574, after
a ministration of about twenty-two years and a half.^ He
had a son and a daughter, and it is said that his delight
with the uniform filial love and obedience of the latter led
him to prefer her husband before other disciples, and to
bestow upon him his ' Barkat ' or apostolic virtue. The
fond mother, or ambitious woman, is further stated to have
obtained an assurance from the Guru that the succession
should remain with her posterity.

\ Ram Das, the son-in-law of Amar Das, was a Kshattriya
of the Sodhi subdivision, and he was worthy of his master's
choice and of his wife's affection. He is said to have been
held in esteem by Akbar, and to have received from him
a piece of land, within the limits of which he dug a reservoir,
since well known as Amritsar, or the pool of immortality ;(
but the temples and surrounding huts were at first named

^ Malcolm (Sketch, p. 27) says distinctly that Amar Das made this
separation. The Dahistdn (ii. 271) states generally that the Gurus
had effected it, and in the present day some educated Sikhs think
that Arjun first authoritatively laid down the difference between an
Udasi and a genuine follower of Nanak.

- The Adi-Gmnth, in that part of the SuTii chapter which is by
Amar Das. Forster (Travels,!. 309) considers that Nanak prohibited
SatI, and allowed widows to marry ; but Nanak did not make positive
laws of the kind, and perhaps self -sacrifice was not authoritatively
interfered with until first Akbar and Jahangir (Memoirs of Jaliangir,
p. 28), and afterwards the English, endeavoured to put an end to it.

^ The accounts agree as to the date of Amar Das's birth,
placing it in 1566 Sambat, or a. d. 1509. The period of his death,
1631 Sambat, or a. d. 1574, seems likewise certain, although one
places it as late as a. d. 1580.

CHAP. Ill SIKH GURUS ; ARJUN 51

Ramdaspur, from the founder.^ Ram Das is among tlie 1574-81.
most revered of the Gurus, but no precepts of wide applica-
tion, or rules of great practical value or force, are attributed
to him. His own ministry did not extend beyond seven
years, and the slow progress of the faith of Nanak seems
apparent from the statement that at the end of forty -two Dies 1581.
years his successor had not more than double that number
of disciples or instructed followers.^

Arjun succeeded his father in 1581, and the wishes of Arjunsuc-
his mother, the daughter of Amar Das, were thus accom- j^? j , ^"'^
plished.^ Arjiin was perhaps the first who clearly under- grasps the
stood the wide import of the teachings of Nanak, or who xinak
perceived how applicable they were to every state of life
and to every condition of society. He made Amritsar the Makes
proper seat of his followers, the centre which should attract fV""^?^!"
their worldl}' longings for a material bond of union ; and city ' of
the obscure hamlet, with its little pool, has become a popu- ^^'^ Sikks.
lous city and the great place of pilgrimage of the Sikh
people.* Arjun next arranged the various writings of his

1 Malcolm, Sketch, p. 29 ; Forster, Travels, i. 297 ; the Dabistan,
ii. 275. The Sikh accounts state that the possession of Akbar's gift
was disputed by a Bairagi, who claimed the land as the site of an
ancient pool dedicated to Ram Chandra, the tutelary deity of his
order ; but the Sikh Guru said haughtily he was himself the truer
representative of the hero. The Bairagi could produce no proof ;
but Ram Das dug deep into the earth, and displayed to numerous
admirers the ancient steps of the demi-god's reservoir !

2 Such seems to be the meaning of the expression, ' He held holy
converse with eighty-four Sikhs,' iised by Bhai Kanh Singh in a
manuscript compilation of the beginning of this century.

Ram Das's birth is placed in 1581 Sambat, or A. D. 1524, his marriage
in A. D. 1542, the founding of Amritsar in a. d. 1577, and his death
in A. D. 1581.

^ It seems doubtful whether Ram Das had two or three sons,
Pirthi Chand (or Bharut Mai or Dhi Mai), Arjun, and Mahadev, and
also whether Arjun was older or younger than Pirthi Chand. It is
more certain, however, that Pirthi Chand claimed the succession on
the death of his brother, if not on the death of his father, and he was
also indeed accused of endeavouring to poison Arjiin. (Cf. Malcolm,
Sketch, p. 30, and the Dabistcni, ii. 273.) The descendants of Pirthi
Chand are still to be found in the neighbourhood of the Sutlej, espe-
cially at Kot Har Sahai, south of Ferozepore.

* The ordinary Sikh accounts represent Arjun to have taken up
his residence at Amritsar ; but he lived for some time at least at

e2

52 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, iii

1581-1606. predecessors ; ^ lie added to them the best known, or the
Compiles "^ost suitable, compositions of some other religious re-
the Adi- formers of the few preceding centuries, and completing the
whole with a prayer and some exliortations of his own, he
declared the compilation to be pre-eminently the ' Granth '
or Book ; and he gave to his followers their fixed rule of
religious and moral conduct, with an assurance that multi-
tudes even of divine Brahmans had wearied themselves
with reading the Vedas, and had found not the value of an
Reduces oil-seed within them.- The Gurii next reduced to a system-
o^dngsTo ^tic tax the customary offerings of his converts or adherents,
asystema- who, luider his ascendancy, were to be found in everj" city
tithe ^ ^^ ^"<^^ province. The Sikhs were bound by social usage, and
disposed from reverential feelings, to make such presents
to their spiritual guide ; but the agents of Arjun were
spread over the country to demand and receive the contri-
butions of the faithful, which they proceeded to deliver to
the Guru in person at an annual assembly. Thus the Sikhs,
says the almost contemporary Muhsin Fani, became ac-
customed to a regular government.^ Nor was Arjun heed-
and en- jggg Qf other means of acquiring wealth and influence ; he
tr^Tic. " dispatched his followers into foreign countries to be as keen
in traffic as they were zealous in belief, and it is probable
that his transactions as a merchant were extensive, although
confined to the purchase of horses in Turkestan.*

Arjun became famous among pious devotees, and his
biographers dwell on the number of saints and holy men
who were edified by his instructions. .Nor was he unheeded

Taran Taran, which lies between that city and the junction of the
Beas and Sutlej. (Cf. the Dabistan, ii. 275.)

1 Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30. General tradition and most writers attri-
bute the arrangement of the First Granth to Arjun ; but Angad is

. understood to have preserved many observations of Nanak, and
Forster (Travels, i. 297) states that Ram Das compiled the histories
and precepts of his predecessors, and annexed a commentary to the
work. The same author, indeed {Travels, i. 296 note), also contra-
dictorily assigns the compilation to Angad.

2 Adi-Granth, in that portion of the Suhi chapter written by Arjun.
For some account of the Adi, or First Granth, see Appendix T.

3 The Dabistan, ii. 270, &c. Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 80.

* The ordinary Sikh accounts are to this effect. Cf. the Dnhistdn,
ii. 271.

SIKH GUROS ; ARJON

53

by those in high station, for he is said to have refused to
betroth his son to the daughter of Chandu Shah, the finance
administrator of the Lahore province ; ^ and he further
appears to have been sought as a political partisan, and to
have offered up prayers for Khusru, the son of Jahangir,
when in rebellion and in temporary possession of the Punjab.
The Guru was summoned to the emperor's presence, and
fined and imprisoned at the instigation chiefly, it is said,
of Chandu Shah, whose alliance he had rejected, and who
represented him as a man of a dangerous ambition.- Arjun
died in 1606, and his death is believed to have been hastened
by the rigours of his confinement ; but his followers piously
assert that, having obtained leave to bathe in the river
Ravi, he vanished in the shallow stream, to the fear and
wonder of those guarding him.''

^ Cf . Forster, Travels, i. 298. The Sikh accounts represent that the
son of Arjun was mentioned to Chandu as a suitable match for his
daughter, and that Chandu slightingly objected, saying, Ai-jun,
although a man of name and wealth, was still a beggar, or one who
received alms. This was reported to Arjun ; he resented tlie taunt,
and would not be reconciled to the match, notwithstanding the per-
sonal endeavours of Chandu to appease him and bring about the
union.

Shah is a corrupted suffix to names, extensively adopted in India.
It is a Persian word signifying a king, but applied to Muhammadan
Fakirs as Maharaja is used by or towards Hindu devotees. It is also
used to denote a principal merchant, or as a corruption of Sahu or
Sahukar, and it is further used as a name or title, as a corruption of
Sah or Saliai. The Gond converts to Muhammadanism on the
Narbada all add the word Shah to their names.

2 Dabistdn, ii. 272, 273. The Sikh accounts correspond sufficiently
as to the fact of the Guru's a-rraignment, while they arc silent about
his treason. They declare the emperor to have been satisfied of his
sanctity and innocence (generally), and attribute his continued
imprisonment to Chandu's malignity and disobedience of orders.
(Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 32.) Muhsin Fani also states that a Muham-
madan saint of Thanesar was banished by Jahangir for aiding
Khusru with his prayers. {Dabistdn, ii. 273.) The emperor himself
simply states {Memoirs, p. 88) that at Lahore he impaled seven
hundred of the rebels, and on his way to that city he apjiears {Memoirs,
p. 81) to have bestowed a present on Shaikh Nizam of Thanesar ; but
he may have subsec|uently become aware of his hostility.

^ Cf. Malcolm, /S^eicA, p. 33 ; the Dabistdn, ii.2T2-^ ; and Forster,
Travels,!. 298.

A. D. 1553 seems the most probable date of ArjCfti's birth, although

1581-1606

Arjun pro-
vokes the
enmity of
Chandu
Shah.

Becomes a
partisan of
Prince
Khusru in
rebellion.

Iniprisoa-
ment and
death of
Arjun,
1606.

54 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1581-1606. During the ministry of Arjun the principles of Nanak

^J^~. , took a firm hold on the minds of his followers/ and a disciple
Diffusion of . . . . \

Sikhisin. named Gur Das gives a lofty and imagmative view oi the

The writ- mission of that teacher. He regards him as the successor
Gur Das ^^ Vyasa and Muhammad, and as the destined restorer of
Bhullch. purity and sanctity ; the regenerator of a world afflicted
with the increasing wickedness of men, and with the savage
contentions of numerous sects. He declaims against the
bigotry of the Muhammadans and their ready resort to
violence ; he denounces the asceticism of the Hindus, and
he urges all men to abandon their evil ways, to live peace-
fully and virtuously, and to call upon the name of the one
true God to whom Nanak had borne witness. Arjun is
commonly said to have refused to give these writings of
his stern but fervid disciple a place in the Granth, perhaps
as unsuited to the tenor of Nanak's exhortations, which
scarcely condemn or threaten others. The writings of Gur
Das are, indeed, rather figurative descriptions of actual
affairs than simple hymns in praise of God ; but they
deserve attention as expounding Nanak's object of a
gradual fusion of jNIuhainmadans and Hindus into common
The con- observers of a new and a better creed, and as an almost
ceptions of contemporary instance of the conversion of the noble but
come the obscure idea of an individual into the active principle of
moving im- a multitude, and of the gradual investiture of a simple fact
people ° ^ with the gorgeous' mj^hism of memory and imagination.
and his The unpretending Nanak, the deplorer of human frailty
a*^mvt'hical ^^^ t^^ lover of his fellow men, becomes, in the mind of
narrative. Gur Das and of the Sikli people, the first of heavenly
powers and emanations, and the proclaimed instrument of
God for the redemption of the world ; and every hope and
feeling of the Indian races is appealed to in proof or in
illustration of the reality and the splendour of his mission.-

one accoimt places it as late as a. d. 1565. Similarly 1663 Sambat, or
1015 Hijri, or a. d. 1006, seems the most certain date of his death.

^ Muhsin Fani observes {Dahi-itan, ii. 270) that in the time of
Arjijn Sikhs were to be found everywhere throughout the country.

^ The work of Bhai Gur Das BhuUeh, simply known as such, or as
the Gyan Ratnavali (Malcolm, S/cetch, p. 30, note), is much read by
the Sikhs. It consists of forty chapters, and is written in different
kinds of verse. Some extracts may be seen in Appendix XIX, and

CHAP. Ill SIKH GURUS ; HAR GOBIND

55

On the death of Arjun, his brother Pirthi Chand made
some attempts to be recognized as Guru, for the only son
of the deceased teacher was young, and ecclesiastical usage
has everywhere admitted a latitude of succession. But
some suspicion of treachery towards Arjun appears to have
attached to him, and his nephew soon became the acknow-
ledged leader of the Sikhs, although Pirthi Chand himself
continued to retain a few followers, and thus sowed the
first fertile seeds of dissent, or elements of dispute or of
change, which ever increase with the growth of a sect or
a system.^ Har Gobind was not, perhaps, more than eleven
years of age at his father's death, but he was moved by
his followers to resent the enmity of Chandu Shah, and he
is represented either to have procured his condemnation by
the emperor, or to have slain him by open force without
reference to authority.- Whatever may be the truth about
the death of Chandu and the first years of Har Gobind's
ministry, it is certain that, in a short time, he became
a military leader as well as a spiritual teacher. Nanak had
sanctioned or enjoined secular occupations, Arjun carried
the injunction into practice, and the impulse thus given
speedily extended and became general. The temper and
the circumstances of Har Gobind both prompted him to

in Malcolm, Sketch, p. 152, &c. Gur Das was the scribe of Arjun, but
his pride and haughtiness are said to have displeased his master, and
his compositions were refused a place in the sacred book. Time and
reflection — and the Sikhs add a miracle — made him sensible of his
failings and inferiority, and Arjun perceiving his contrition, said he
would include his writings in the Granth. But the final meekness of
Gur Das was such, that he himself declared them to be unworthy of
such association ; whereupon Arjun enjoined that all Sikhs should
nevertheless read them. He describes Arjun (Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30,
note) to have become Guru without any formal investitme or con-
secration by his father, which may further mark the commanding
character of that teacher.

Malcolm {Sketch, p. 32) appears to confound Chandu Shah (or
Dhani Chand) with Gur Das.

^ Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30, and Dabistan, ii. 273. These sectaries
were called Mina, a term commonly used in the Punjab, and which is
expressive of contempt or opprobrium, as stated by Muhsin Fani.
The proneness to sectarianism among the fii'st Christians was noticed
and deprecated by Paul (1 Cor. i. 10-13).

- Cf. Forster, Travels, i. 298.

1606-45.

Har Gobind
becomes
Guru after
a disputed
succession.

Chandu
Shah slain
or put to
death.

Har Gobind
arms the
Sikhs and
becomes a
mihtary
leader.

56

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

1606-45.

The gra-
dual modi-
lication of
Sikhisiu ;

innovation ; he had his father's death to move his feelings,
and in surpassing the example of his parent, even the
jealous dogma of the Hindu law, which aUows the most
lowly to arm in self-defence, may not have been without
its influence on a mind acquainted vrith the precepts of
IManu.^ Arjun trafficked as a merchant, and played his
part as a priest in affairs of policy ; but Har Gobind
grasped a sword, and marched with his devoted followers
among the troojjs of the empire, or boldly led them to
oppose and overcome provincial governors or personal
enemies. Nanak had himself abstained from animal food,
and the prudent Arjun endeavoured to add to his saintly
merit or influence by a similar moderation ; but the ad-
\-enturous Har Gobind became a hunter and an eater of
flesh, and his disciples imitated him in these robust prac-
tices.- The genial disposition of the martial apostle led
liim to rejoice in the companionship of a camp, in the
dangers of war, and in the excitements of the chase, nor is
it improbable that the policy of a temporal chief mingled
with the feelings of an injured son and with the duties of
a religious guide, so as to shape his acts to the ends of his
ambition, although that may not have aimed at more than
a partial independence under the mild supremacy of the
son of Akbar. Har Gobind appears to have admitted
criminals and fugitives among his followers, and where a
principle of antagonism had already arisen, they may lia\e
served him zealously without greatly reforming the practice
of their lives ; and, indeed, they are stated to have believed
that the faithful Sikli Avould pass unquestioned into heaven.^
He had a stable of eight hundred horses ; three hundred
mounted followers were constantly in attendance upon Mm,
and a guard of sixty matchlock-men secured the safety of
his person, had he ever feared or thought of assassination.*
The impulse Avhich he gave to the Sikhs was such as to

1 For this last supposition, see Maleolnij Sketch, pp. 44, 189. There
is perhaps some straining after nicety of reason in the notion, as
Manu's injunction had long become obsolete in such matters, espe-
cially under the Muhammadan supremacy.

2 The Dahistan,u. 248, and Malcolm, S/cctdt, p. 36.

3 The Dahistan, ii. 284, 280. * The Dahistdn, ii. 277.

CHAP, in SIKH GURUS ; HAR GOBIND

57

separate them a long way from all Hindu sects, and after
the time of Har Gobind the ' disciples ' were in little danger
of relapsing into the limited merit or utility of monks
and mendicants.^

Har Gobind became a follower of the Emperor Jahanglr,
and to the end of his life his conduct partook as much of
the military adventurer as of the enthusiastic zealot. He
accompanied the imperial camp to Kashmir, and he is at
one time represented as in holy colloquy with the religious
guide of the Mughal, and at another as involved in diffi-
culties with the emperor about retaining for himself that
money which he should have disbursed to his troops. He
had, too, a multitude of followers, and his passion for the
chase, and fancied independence as a teacher of men, may
have led him to offend against the sylvan laws of the court.
The emperor was displeased, the fine imposed on Arjun had
never been paid, and Har Gobind was placed as a prisoner
on scanty food in the fort of Gwalior. But the faithful
Siklis continued to revere the mysterious virtues or the real
merits of their leader. They flocked to Gwalior, and bowed
themselves before the walls which restrained their perse-
cuted Guru, till at last the prince, moved, perhaps, as much
by superstition as by pity, released him from confinement.^

On the death of Jahanglr in 1628, Har Gobind continued
in the employ of the Muhammadan Government, but he
appears soon to have been led into a course of armed resist-
ance to the imperial officers in the Punjab. A disciple
brought some valuable horses from Turkestan ; they were
seized, as was said, for the emperor, and one was con-
ferred as a gift on the Kazi or Judge of Lahore. The Guru

^ Sec Appendix IX.

2 Cf. the Dabistdn, ii. 273, 274, and Forster, Travels, i. 298, 299.
But the joiu'ney to Kashmir, and the controversy witli Muhammadan
saints or Mullas, are given on the authority of the native chronicles.
Muhsin Fani represents Har Gobind to have been imprisoned for
twelve years, and Forster attributes liis release to tlie intervention
of a Muhammadan leader, vvlio had originally induced liim to submit
to the emperor.

The Emperor Jahanglr, in his Memoirs, gives more tlian one
instance of his credulity and superstitious reverence for reputed
saints and magicians. See particularly his Memoirs, p. 129, &c.,
where his visit to a worker of wonders is narrated.

1606-45.

and com-
plete sepa-
ration of
the Sikhs
from Hindu
dissenters.

HarGobind
falls under
the dis-
l)leasure of
Jahanglr ;

is un-
prisoned,

and re-
leased.

Jahanglr
dies 1628,
and Har
Gobind en-
gages in a
petty war-
fare.

58 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, m

1606-45. recovered this one animal by pretending to purchase it ; the
judge was deceived, and his anger was further roused by the
abduction of, the Sikhs say liis daughter, the Muhammadans
his favourite concubine, who had become enamoured of the
Guru. Other things may have rendered Har Gobind ob-
noxious, and it was resolved to seize him and to disperse
his followers. He was assailed by one Muklilis Khan, but
he defeated the imperial troops near Amritsar, fighting, it
is idly said, with five thousand men against seven thousand.
Afterwards a Sildi, a converted robber, stole two of the
emperor's prime horses from Lahore, and the Guru was
again attacked by the provincial levies, but the detachment
Har Gobind was routed and its leaders slain. Har Gobind now deemed
the^M-astcs ^* prudent to retire for a time to the wastes of Bhatinda,
of Hariana. south of the Sutlcj, where it might be useless or dangerous
to follow him ; but he watched his opportunity and
Keturns to sjjcedily returned to the Punjab, only, however, to become
' engaged in fresh contentions. The mother of one Painda
Ivlian, who had subsequently risen to some local eminence,
had been the nurse of Har Gobind, and the Guru had ever
been liberal to his foster brother. Painda Ivlian was moved
to keep to himself a valuable hawk, belonging to the Guru's
eldest son, which had flown to his house by chance : he
was taxed with the detention of the bird ; he equivocated
before the Guru, and became soon after his avowed enemy.
The presence of Har Gobind seems ever to have raised
a commotion, and Painda Khan was fixed upon as a suitable
Slays in leader to coerce him. He was attacked ; but the warlike
fight one apostle slew the friend of his youth with his own hand, and
Khan, his proved again a victor. In this action a soldier rushed
fiiend. furiously upon the Guru ; but he warded the blow and
laid the man dead at his feet, exclaiming, ' Not so, but thus,
is the sword used ' ; an observation from which the author
of the Dabistdn draws the inference ' that Har Gobind
struck not in anger, but deliberately and to give instruction ;
for the function of a Guru is to teach '.^

1 See the Dabistan, ii. 275 ; but native accounts, Sikh and Muham-
madan, have been mainly followed in narrating the sequence of events.
Compare, however, the Dabistdn, ii. 281, for the seizure of horses
belonging to a disciple of the Guru.

CHAP, in SIKH GURCS ; HAR GOBIND

59

Har Gobind appears to have had other difficulties and
adventures of a similar kind, and occasionally to have been
reduced to great straits ; but the Sikhs always rallied
round him, his religious reputation increased daily, and
immediately before his death he was visited by a famous
saint of the ancient Persian faith. ^ He died in peace in
1645, at Kiratpur on the Sutlej, a place bestowed upon him
by the hill chief of Kahlur, and the veneration of his
followers took the terrible form of self-sacrifice. A Rajput
convert threw himself amid the flames of the funeral pyre,
and walked several paces till he died at the feet of his
master. A Jat disciple did the same, and others, wrought
upon by these examples, were ready to follow, when Har
Rai, the succeeding Guru, interfered and forbade them.-

During the ministry of Har Gobind, the Sikhs increased
greatly in numbers, and the fiscal policy of Arjun, and the
armed system of his son, had already formed them into
a kind of separate state within the empire. The Guru was,
perhaps, not unconscious of his latent influence, when he
played with the credulity or rebuked the vanity of his
Muhammadan friend. ' A Raja of the north ', said he, ' has
sent an ambassador to ask about a place called Delhi, and
the name and parentage of its king. I was astonished that
he had not heard of the commander of the faithful, the lord
of the ascendant, Jahangir.' ^ But during his busy life he

1 The Dabistan, ii. 280.

2 This is related on the authority of the Dahistan, ii. 280, 281. Har
Gobind's death is also given agreeably to the text of the Dahistan as
having occurred on the 3rd Mohurrum, 1055 Hijri, or on the 19th Feb.,
A. D. 1645. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 37, and Forster, Travels, i. 299, give
A. D. 1644 as the exact or probable date, obviously from regarding
1701 Sambat (which Malcolm also quotes) as identical throughout,
instead of for about the first nine months only, with a. d. 1644, an
error which may similarly apply to several conversions of dates in
this history. The manuscript accounts consulted place the Guru's
death variously in a. d. 1637, 1638, and 1639 ; but they lean to the
middle term. All, however, must be too early, as Muhsin Fani
(Dabistdn,n. 281) says he saw Har Gobind in A. D. 1643. Har Gobind's
birth is placed by the native accounts in the early part of 1652 Sambat,
corresponding with the middle of A. D. 1595.

^ See the Dabistan, ii. 276, 277. The friend being Muhsin Fani
himself. The story perhaps shows that the Sikh truly considered
the Muhammadau to be a gossiping and somewhat credulous person.

1606-45.

Death of
Har Gobind
A.D. 1645.

Self-
sacrifice of
disciples
on his pyre.

The body
of Siklis
forms a
separate
estabUsh-
ineiit with-
in the
empire.

Some anec-
dotes of
Har Go-
bind.

60

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. Ill

His philo-
sophical
views.

1606-45. never forgot his genuine character, and always styled him-
self ' Nanak ', in deference to the firm belief of the Siklis,
that the soul of their great teacher animated each of his
successors.^ So far as Har Gobind knew or thought of
philosophy as a science, he fell into the prevailing views of
the period : God, he said, is one, and the world is' an
illusion, an appearance without a reality ; or he would
adopt the more Pantheistic notion, and regard the universe
as composing the one Being. But such reflections did not
occupy his mind or engage his heart, and the rebuke of
a Brahman that if the world was the same as God, he, the
Guru, was one with the ass grazing hard by, provoked a
laugh only from the tolerant Har Gobind.'^ That he thought
conscience and understanding our only divine guides, may
probably be inferred from his reply to one who declared
the marriage of a brother with a sister to be forbidden by
the Almighty. Had God prohibited it, said he, it would be
impossible for man to accomplish it.^ His contempt for
idolatry, and his occasional wide departure from the mild
and conciliatory ways of Nanak, may be judged from the
following anecdote : One of his followers smote the nose
off an image ; the several neighbouring chiefs complamed
to the Guru, who summoned the Sildi to his presence ; the
culprit denied the act, but said ironically, that if the god
bore witness against him, he would die willingly. ' Oh,
fool ! ' said the Rajas, ' how should the god speak ? ' 'It
is plain ', answered the Sikh, ' who is the fool ; if the god
cannot save his own head, how will he avail you ? ' *
Har Rai Giirdit, the eldest son of Har Gobind, had acquired

succeeds as g^ high reputation, but he died before his father, leaving

The dates would rather point to Shah Jahan as the emperor alluded
to than Jahangir, as given parenthetically in the translated text of
the Dubistdn. Jahangir died in A. D. 1028, and Muhsin Fani's acquain-
tance with Har Gobind ajopears not to have taken place till towards
the last years of the Guru's life, or till after A. D. 1640.

1 Cf. the Dabistan, ii. 281. - Cf. the Dahistan,ii. 277, 279, 280.

^ The Dabistan , ii. 280. [Cicero seems to have almost as high an
opinion of the functions of conscience. It points out to us, he says,
without Divine assistance, the difference between virtue and vice.
{Nature of the Gods, Francklih's translation, p. 213.) — J. D. C]

* The Dabistan, ii. 276.

CHAP. Ill

SIKH GURCS ; HAR RAI

61

Becomes a

political

partisan.

two sons, one of whom sncceerled to the apostleship.^ Har 1645-61
Rai, the new Guru, remained at Klratpur for a time, until
the march of troops to reduce the Kahlur Raja to obedience
induced him to remove eastward into the district of Sarmor.^
There he also remained in peace until he was induced, in
1658-9, to take part, of a nature not distinctly laid down,
with Dara Shikoh, in the struggle between him and his
brothers for the empire of India. Dara failed, his adherents
became rebels, and Har Rai had to surrender his elder son
as a hostage. The youth was treated with distinction and
soon released, and the favour of the politic Aurangzeb is
believed to have roused the jealousy of the father.^ But
the end of Har Rai was at hand, and he died at Klratpur in Dies a.d.
the year 1661.* His ministry was mild, yet such as won

^ For some allusions to Gurdit or Gurditta, see the Dabistdn, ii. 281,
282. His memory is yet fondly preserved, and many anecdotes are
current of his personal strength and dexterity. His tomb is at
Klratpur, on the Sutlej, and it has now become a place of pilgrimage.
In connexion with his death, a story is told, which at least serves to
mark the aversion of the Sikh teachers to claim the obedience of the
multitude by an assumption of miraculous powers. Gurditta had
raided a slaughtered cow to life, on the prayer, some say, of a poor
man the owner, and his father was displeased that he should so en-
deavour to glorify himself. Gurditta said that as a life was rec^uired
by God, and as he had withheld one, he would yield his own ; where-
upon he lay down and gave up his spirit. A similar story is told of
Atal Rai, the youngest son of Har Gobind, who had raised the child
of a sorrowing widow to life. His father reproved him, saying,
Gurus should display their powers in purity of doctrine and holiness
of living. The youth, or child as some say, replied as Gurditta had
done, and died. His tomb is in Amritsar, and is likewise a place
deemed sacred.

Gurditta's younger son was named Dhirmal, and his descendants
are still to be found at Kartarpur, in the Jullundur Doab.

^ See the Dahistan, ii. 282. The place meant seems to be Taksal or
Tangsal, near the present British station of Kasauli to the northward
of Ambala.

The important work of Muhsin Fani brings down the history of the
Sikhs to this point only.

^ The Gurii's leaning towards Dara is given on the authority of
native accounts only, but it is highly probable in itself, considering
Dara's personal character and religious principles.

* The authorities mostly agree as to the date of Har Eai's death,
but one'account places it in a. d. 1662. The Guru's birth is differently
placed in 1628 and 1629,

62 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1661-74. for him general respect ; and many of the ' Bhais ', or
brethren, the descendants of the chosen companions of a
Guru, trace their descent to one disciple or otlier distin-
guished by Har Rai.^ Some sects also of Sikhs, who affect
more than ordinary precision, had their origin during the
peaceful supremacy of this Guru.-
Har Ki- Har Rai left two sons, Ram Rai, about fifteen, and Har

ceeds^"*^ Kishan, about six years of age ; but the elder was the off-
1661. spring of a handmaiden, and not of a wife of equal degree,

and Har Rai is further said to have declared the younger
his successor. The disputes between the partisans of the
two brothers ran high, and the decision was at last referred
to the emperor. Aurangzeb may have been willing to allow
the Sikhs to choose their own Guru, as some accounts have
it, but the more cherished tradition relates that, being
struck with the child's instant recognition of the empress
among a number of ladies similarly arrayed, he declared
the right of Har Kishan to be indisputable, and he was
accordingly recognized as head of the Siklis : but before
the infant apostle could leave Delhi, he was attacked with
Dies 1664. small-pox, and died, in 1664, at that place. ^

^ Of these Bhai Bhagtu, the founder of the Kaithal familj% useful
partisans of Lord Lake, but now reduced to comparative insignificance
under the operation of the British system of escheat, was one of the
best known. Dharam Singh, the ancestor of the respectable Bhais
of Bagrian, a place between the Sutlej and Jumna, was likewise a
follower of Har Rai.

Nowadays the title of Bhai is in practice frequentl_v given to any
Sikh of eminent sanctity, whether his ancestor were the companion
of a Guru or not. The Bedls and Sodhls, however, confine themselves
to the distinctive names of their tribes, or the Bedis call themselves
Baba or father, and the Sodhis sometimes arrogate to themselves the
title of Guru, as the representatives of Gobind and Ram Diis.

" Of these sects the Suthris or the Suthra-Shahis are the best known.
Their founder was one Sucha, a Brahman, and they have a st'han or
dera, or place under the walls of the citadel of Lahore. (Cf. Wilson,
As. Res., xvii. 2.3(5.) The name, or designation, means simply the
pure. Another follower of Har Rai was a Khattri trader, named
Fattu, who got the title, or adopted the name of Bhai P'hiru, and who,
according to the belief of some people, became the real founder of
the Udasis.

3 Cf. Malcolm, Shdch, p. 38, and Forster, Travels, i. 299. One
native account places Har Kishan's death in a. d. 1666, but 1664
seems the preferable date. His birth took place in a. d, 1656.

CHAP. Ill SIKH GURUS ; TEGH BAHADUR

63

AVhen Har Kishan was about to expire, he is stated to
have signified that his successor would be found in the
village of Bakala, near Goindwal, on the Beas river. In
this village there were many of Har Gobind's relatives, and
his son, Tegh Bahadur, after many wanderings and a long
sojourn at Patna, on the Ganges, had taken up his residence
at the same place. Ram Rai continued to assert his claims,
but he never formed a large party, and Tegh Bahadur was
generally acknowledged as the leader of the Sildis, The
son of Har Gobind was rejoiced, but he said he was un-
worthy to wear his father's sword, and in a short time his
supremacy and his life were both endangered by the
machinations of Ram Rai, and perhaps by his own sus-
picious proceedings.^ He was summoned to Delhi as a pre-
tender to power and as a disturber of the peace, but he
had found a listener in the chief of Jaipur ; the Rajput
advocated his cause, saying such holy men rather went on
pilgrimages than aspired to sovereignty, and he would take
him with him on his approaching march to Bengal.- Tegh

1 Cf., generally, Malcolm, Sketch, p. 38 ; Forster, Travels, i. 299 ;
and Browne's India Traces, ii. 3, 4. Tegh Bahadur's refusal to wearthe
sword of his father is given, however, on the authority of manuscript
native accounts, which likewise furnish a story, showing the particular
act which led to his recognition as Guru. A follower of the sect , named
Makhan Sah (or Shah), who was passing through Bakala, wished to
make an offering to the Guru of his faith, but he was perplexed by the
number of claimants. His offering was to be 525 rupees in all, but the
amount was known to him alone, and he silently resolved to give a
rupee to each, and to hail him as Gurii who should (from intuition)
claim the remainder. Tegh Bahadur demanded the balance, and so on.

2 Forster and Malcolm, who follow native Indian accounts, both
give Jai Singh as the name of the prince who countenanced Tegh
Bahadur, and who went to Bengal on an expedition ; but one manu-
script account refers to Bir Singh as the friendly chief. Tod {Rdjafi-
thdn, ii. 355) says Ram Singh, the son of the first Jai Singh, went to
Assam, but he is silent about his actions. It is not unusual in India
to talk of eminent men as living, although long since dead, as a Sikh
will now say he is Ranj it Singh's soldier ; and it is probable that R am
Singh was nominally forgotten, owing to the fame of his father, the
' Mirza Raja ', and even that the Sikh chroniclers of the early part of
the last century confounded the first with the second of the name,
their contemporary Sawai Jai Singh, the noted astronomer and patron
of the learned. Malcolm {Sketch, p. 39), who, perhaps, copies Forster
(Travels, i. 299, 300), says Tegh Bahadur was, at this time, imprisoned
for two years.

1664-75.

Tegh Ba-
hadur
succeeds as
ninth Guru,
1664.

Ram Rai
disputes
his claims.

64 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1664-75. Bahadur accompanied the Raja to the eastward. He again

„ , T, , - resided for a time at Patna, but afterwards ioined the arniv,
Tegh Bana- , , . , "' , . . *

diir retires to brmg success, says the chronicler, to the expedition

for a time against the chiefs of Assam. He meditated on the banks
of the Brahmaputra, and he is stated to have convinced the
heart of the Raja of Kamrup, and to have made him a
behever in his mission.^

Tegh Baha- After a time Tegh Bahadur returned to the Punjab, and

dui' re- bought a piece of ground, now known as Makhowal, on the
turns to *= *^ *=

the Punjab, banks of the Sutlej, and close to Ivlratpur, the chosen resi-
dence of his father. But the hostility and the influence of
Ram Rai still pursued him, and the ordinary Sikh accounts
represent him, a pious and innocent instructor of men, as
once more arraigned at Delhi in the character of a criminal ;
but the truth seems to be that Tegh Bahadur followed the
example of his father with unequal footsteps, and that,
Leads a life choosing for his haunts the wastes between Hansi and the
and^^s con- Sutlej, he subsisted himself and his disciples by plunder,
strained to in a way, indeed, that rendered him not unpopular with
J)eM^ ^^ *^^^ peasantry. He is further credibly represented to have
leagued with a Muhammadan zealot, named Adam Hafiz,
and to have levied contributions upon rich Hindus, while
his confederate did the same upon wealthy Musalmans.
They gave a ready asylum to all fugitives, and their power
. interfered with the prosperity of the country ; the imperial
troops marched against them, and they were at last de-
feated and made prisoners. The Muhammadan saint was
banished, but Aurangzeb determined, that the Sikh should
be put to death. ^

When Tegh Bahadur was on his way to Delhi, he sent

for his youthful son, and girding upon him the sword of

Har Gobind, he hailed him as the Gurfx of the Siklis. He

. told him he was himself being led to death, he counselled

him not to leave his body a prey to dogs, and he enjoined

1 These last two clauses are almost wholly on the authoritj' of a
manuscript Gurmukhl summary of Tegh Bahadur's life.

2 The author of the Siar id Mutak'harin (i. 112, 113) mentions these
predatory or insurrectionary proceedings of Tegh Bahadur, and the
ordinary manuscript compilations admit that such charges were
made, but deprecate a belief in them. For Makhowal the Guru is
said to have paid 500 rupees to the Raja of Kahlur.

CHAP. Ill SIKH GURCS : TEGH BAHADUR

65

upon him the necessity and the merit of revenge. At Delhi,
the story continues, he was summoned before the emperor,
and half -insultingly, half - credulously, told to exhibit
miracles in proof of the alleged divinity of his mission.
Tegh Bahadur answered that the duty of man was to pray
to the Lord ; yet he would do one thing, he would write
a charm, and the sword should fall harmless on the neck
around which it was hung. He placed it around his own
neck and inclined ^his head to the executioner : a blow
severed it, to the surprise of a court tinged with superstition,
and upon the paper was found written, ' Sir dia, Sirr na
dia,' — he had given his head but not his secret ; his life
was gone, but his inspiration or apostolic virtue still re-
mained in the world. Such is the narrative of a rude and
wonder-loving people ; yet it is more certain that Tegh
Bahadur was put to death as a rebel in 1675, and that the
stern and bigoted Aurangzeb had the body of the unbeliever
publicly exposed in the streets of Delhi.^

Tegh Bahadur seems to have been of a character hard
and moody, and to have wanted both the genial temper of
his father and the lofty mind of his son. Yet his own
example powerfully aided in making the disciples of Nanak
a martial as well as a devotional people. His reverence for
the sword of his father, and his repeated injunction that
his disciples should obey the bearer of his arrows, show
more of the kingly than of the priestly spirit ; and, indeed,

1664-75.

Tegh
Bahadur
put to
death,
1675.

Tegh Baha-
dur's char-
acter and
influence.

^ All the accounts agree that Tegh Bahadur was ignominiously put
to death. The end of the year a. d. 1675 — as Maugsar is sometimes
given as the month — seems the most certain date of his execution.
His birth is differently placed in a. d. 1612 and 1621. [It was on this
occasion that the famous prophecy on the ultimate sovereignty of the
white race in Delhi is said to have been uttered (though some modern
critics consider it a later invention). 'I see', he said dauntlessly to
the emperor, ' a power rising in the West which will sweep your
empire into the dust.' His body was quartered and hung before the
city gates ; but the Sikhs never forgot his prophetic words. They
have accounted largely for Sikh loyalty to British rule ; and they
were on the lips of the gallant Punjab regiments before Delhi in 1857
when at last they avenged in blood the martyrdom of their leader
(Rawlinson, Indian Historical Studies, p. 177, and Macauliffe, vol. i.
Preface, pp. xiii-xviii and vol. iv, 381). The story is related by two
Sikh authors. — Ed.]

66

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

1675-1708.

The title
'True
king ' ap-
plied to the
Gurus.

Gobind
succeeds
to the
apostle-
ship, 1675.

about this time the Sikh Gurus came to talk of themselves,
and to be regarded by their followers as ' Sachcha Pad-
shahs', or as ' veritable kings ', meaning, perhaps, that they
governed by just influence and not by the force of arms, or
that they guided men to salvation, while others controlled
their worldly actions. But the expression could be adapted
to any circumstances, and its mystic application seems to
have preyed upon and perplexed the minds of the Mughal
princes, while it illustrates the assertion of an intelligent
Muhammadan writer, that Tegh Bahadur, being at the head
of many thousand men, aspired to sovereign power.^

When Tegh Bahadur was put to death, his only son was
in his fifteenth year. The violent end and the last injunction
of the martyr Guru made a deep impression on the mind
of Gobind, and in brooding over his own loss and the fallen
condition of his country, he became the irreconcilable foe
of the Muliammadan name, and conceived the noble idea
of moulding the vanquished Hindus into a new and aspiring
people. But Gobind was yet young, the government was
suspicious of his followers, and among the Sikhs themselves
there were parties inimical to the son of Tegh Bahadur.
His friends were therefore satisfied that the mutilated body
of the departed Gurii was recovered by the zeal and dex-
terity of some humble disciples,- and that the son himself
performed the funeral rites so essential to the welfare of the
living and the peace of the^ead. Gobind was placed in

^ Saiyid Ghulam Husain, the author of the Siar ul Mutalcharin
(1. 112), is the writer referred to.

Browne, in his India Tracts (ii. 2, 3), and who uses a compilation,
attributes Aurangzeb's resolution to put Tegh Bahadiu- to death, to
his assumption of the character of a ' true king ', and to his use of the
title of ' Bahadur ', expressive of valour, birth, and dignity. The
Giiru, in the narrative referred to, disavows all claim to miraculous
powers. For some remarks on the term ' Sachcha Padshah ', see
Appendix XIII.

Tegh Bahadur's objections to wear his father's sword, and hia
injunction to reverence his arrows, that is, to heed what the bearer
of them should say, are given on native authority.

2 Certain men of the unclean and despised caste of Sweepers were
dispatched to Delhi to bring away the dispersed limbs of Tegh Baha,-
dur, and it is said they partly owed their success to the exertions of
that Makhan Shah, who had been the first to hail the deceased as Guru.

CHAP. Ill

SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND

67

retirement amid the lower hills on either side of the Jumna,
and for a series of years he occupied himself in hunting the
tiger and wild boar, in acquiring a knowledge of the Persian
language, and in storing his mind with those ancient legends
which describe the mythic glories of his race.^

In this obscurity Gobind remained perhaps twenty
years ; ^ but his youthful promise gathered round him the
disciples of Nanak, he was acknowledged as the head of the
Sikhs, the adherents of Ram Rai declined into a sect of
dissenters, and the neighbouring chiefs became impressed
with a high sense of the Guru's superiority and a vague
dread of his ambition. But Gobind ever dwelt upon the
fate of his father, and the oppressive bigotry of Aurangzeb ;
study and reflection had enlarged his mind, experience of
the world had matured his judgement, and, under the
mixed impulse of avenging his own and his country's
wrongs, he resolved upon awakening his followers to a new
life, and upon giving precision and aim to the broad and
general institutions of Nanak. In the heart of a powerful
empire he set himself to the task of subverting it, and
from the midst of social degradation and religious cor-
ruption, he called up simplicity of manners, singleness
of purpose, and enthusiasm of desire.^

1675-1708.

But lives in
retirement
for several
years.

Gobind's
character
becomes
developed.

He resolves
on modify-
ing the
system of
Nanak, and
on combat-
ing the Mu-
hammadan
faith and
power.

Gobind's
views and
motives ;

^ The accounts mostly agree as to this seclusion and occupation of
Gobind during his early manhood ; but Forster [Travels, i. 301) and
also some Gurmukhi accounts, state that he was taken to Patna in
the first instance, and that he lived there for some time before he
retired to the Srinagar hills.

2 The period is nowhere definitely given by English or Indian
writers ; but from a comparison of dates and circumstances, it seems
probable that Gobind did not take upon himself a new and special
character as a teacher of men until about the thirty-fifth year, or
Tintil the year 1695 of Christ. A Sikh author, indeed, quoted by
Malcolm {Sketch, p. 186, note) makes Gobind's reforms date from
A. D. 1696 ; but contradictorily one or more of Gobind's sayings or
writings are made to date about the same period from the south of
India, whither he proceeded only just before his death.

^ The ordinary accounts represent Gobind, as they represent his
grandfather, to have been mainly moved to wage war against Muham-
madans by a desire of avenging the death of his parent. It would be
unreasonable to deny to Gobind the merit of other motives likewise ;
but, doubtless, the fierce feeling in question strongly impelled him

F2

68 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1675-1708. Gobind was equally bold, systematic, and sanguine ;
but it is not necessary to suppose him either an unscru-
pulous impostor or a self-deluded enthusiast. He thought
that the minds of men might be -wrought upon to great
purposes, he deplored the corruption of the world, he
resented the tyranny which endangered his own life, and
he believed the time had come for another teacher to arouse
the latent energies of the human will. His memory was
filled with the deeds of primaeval seers and heroes ; his
imagination dwelt on successive dispensations for the
instruction of the world, and his mind was not perhaps
untinged with a superstitious belief in his own earthly
and mode destiny.^ In an extant and authentic composition,- he
of present- traces his mortal descent to ancient kings, and he extols
mission. the piety of his immediate parents which rendered them
acceptable to God. But his own unembodied soul, he says,
reposed in bliss, wrapt in meditation, and it murmured
that it should appear on earth even as the chosen messenger
of the Lord — ^the inheritor of the spirit of Nanak, trans-

in the prosecution of his lofty and comprehensive design. The senti-
ment is indeed common to all times and places : it is as common in
the present Indian as it was in the ancient European world ; and
even the ' most Christian of poets ' has used it without rebuke to
justify the anger of a shade in Hades, and his own sympathy as a
mortal man yet dwelling in the world :

' Oh guide beloved !
His violent death yet unavenged, said I,
By any who are partners in his shame
Made him contemptuous ; therefore, as I think.
He passed me speechless by, and'doing so
Hath made me more compassionate his fate.'

Dante, Hell, xxix. Gary's translation.
^ The persuasion of being moved by something more than the mere
human will and reason, does not necessarily imply delusion or in-
sanity in the ordinary sense of the term, and the belief is everywhere
traceable as one of the phenomena of ' mind ', both in the creation
of the poet and in the recorded experience of actual life. Thus the
reader will remember the ' unaccustomed spirit ' of Romeo, and the
' rebuked genius ' of Macbeth, as well as the ' star ' of Napoleon ;
and he will call to mind the ' martial transports ' of Ajax infused by
Neptune, as well as the ' daemon ' of Socrates and the ' inspiration '
of the holy men of Israel.

2 The Vichitr Natal; or Wondrous Tale, which forms a portion of
the Daswin Padshah ka Granth, or Book of the Tenth King.

CHAP. Ill

SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND

69

mitted to him as one lamp imparts its flame to another.^
He describes how the ' Daityas ' had been vainly sent to
reprove the wickedness of man, and how the succeeding
' Devtas ' procured worship for themselves as Siva and
Brahma and Vishnu. How the Siddhs had established
divers sects, how Gorakhnath and Ramanand introduced
other modes, and how Muhammad had required men to
repeat his own name when beseeching the Almighty. Each
perversely, continues Gobind, established ways of his own
and misled the world, but he himself had come to declare
a perfect faith, to extend virtue, and to destroy evil. Thus,
he said, had he been manifested, but he was only as other
men, the servant of the supreme, a beholder of the wonders
of creation, and whosoever worshipped him as the Lord
should assuredly burn in everlasting flame. The practices
of Muhammadans and Hindus he declared to be of no avail,
the reading of Korans and Purans was all in vain, and the
votaries of idols and the worshippers of the dead could
never attain to bliss. God, he said, was not to be found
in texts or in modes, but in humility and sincerity.^

Such is Gobind's mode of presenting his mission ; but
his followers have extended the allegory, and have variously
given an earthly close to his celestial vision. He is stated
to have performed the most austere devotions at the fane
of the goddess-mother of mankind on the summit of the
hill named Naina, and to have asked how in the olden times

1675-1708

The

religions of
the world
held to be
corrupt,
and a new
dispensa-
tion to
have been
vouchsafed .

The legend

regarding

Gobind's

refonna

tion of the

sect of

Nanak.

1 The reader will contrast what Virgil says of the shade of Rome's
' great emperor ', with the devoted Quietism of the Indian reformer :

' There mighty Caesar waits his vital hour.
Impatient for the world, and grasps his promised power.'

Aeneid, vi.
He will also call to mind the sentiment of Milton, which the more
ardent Gobind has greatly heightened.

' He asked, but all the heavenly quire stood mute,
And silence was in heaven : on man's behalf.
Patron or intercessor none appeared.'
Until Christ himself said —

' Account me man, I for his sake will leave
Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee
Freely put off.' — Paradise Lost, iii.

2 Cf. the extracts given by Malcolm from the Vichitr Natak {Sketch,
p. 173, &c.)

70 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1675-1708. the heroic Arjun transpierced multitudes with an arrow.
He was told that by prayer and sacrifice the power had been
attained. He invited from Benares a Brahman of great
fame for piety and for power over the unseen world. He
himself carefully consulted the Vedas, and he called upon
his numerous disciples to aid in the awful ceremony he was
about to perform. Before all he makes successful trial of
the virtue of the magician, and an ample altar is laboriously
prepared for the Horn, or burnt offering. He is told
that the goddess will appear to him, an armed shade, and
that, undaunted, he should hail her and ask for fortune.
The Guru, terror-struck, could but advance his sword, as
if in salutation to the dread appearance. The goddess
touched it in token of acceptance, and a divine weapon,
an axe of iron, was seen amid the flames. The sign was
, declared to be propitious, but fear had rendered the sacrifice

incomplete, and Gobind must die himself, or devote to
death one dear to him, to ensure the triumph of his faith.
The Guru smiled sadly ; he said he had yet much to accom-
plish in this world, and that his fathers spirit Avas still
unappeased. He looked towards his children, but maternal
affection withdrew them : twenty-five disciples then
sprang forward and declared their readiness to perish ;
one was gladdened by being chosen, and the fates were
satisfied.^
The prill- Gobind is next represented to have again assembled
'^'^'''Vdh ^^^^ followers, and made known to them the great objects
Gobind. of his mission. A new faith had been declared, and hence-
The _ forth the ' Khalsa ', the saved or liberated,- should alone

* ■ prevail. God must be worshipped in truthfulness and
useless. sincerity, but no material resemblance must degrade the
God is one. Omnipotent ; the Lord could only be beheld by the eye

^ This legend is given with several variations, and one may be seen
in Malcolm {Sketch, p. 53, note) and another in Macgregor's History
of the Sikhs (i. 71). Perhaps the true origin of the myth is to be
found in Gobind's reputed vision during sleep of the great goddess.
(Malcolm, p. 187.) The occurrence is placed in the year a. d. 1696.
(Malcolm, Sketch, p. 86.)

2 Khalsa, or Khalisa, is of Arabic derivation, and has such original
or secondary meanings as pure, special, free, &c. It is commonly
used in India to denote the immediate territories of any chief or state

CHAP. Ill SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND 71

of faith in the general body of the IQialsa.^ All, he said, 1675-1708.

must become as one; the lowest were equal with the .„„

' ^ All men are

highest ; caste must be forgotten ; they must accept the equal.

' Pahul ' or initiation from him,^ and the four races must Idola^try to

be con-
eat as one out of one vessel. The Turks must be destroyed, temned,

and the graves of those called saints neglected. The ways ^^,
of the Hindus must be abandoned, their temples viewed danism
as holy and their rivers looked upon as sacred ; the Brah- destroyed.
man's thread must be broken ; by means of the Khalsa
alone could salvation be attained. They must surrender
themselves wholly to their faith and to him their guide.
Their words must be ' Kritnash, Kulnash, Dharmnash,
Karmnash,' the forsaking of occupation and family, of
belief and ceremonies. ' Do thus,' said Gobind, ' and the
world is yours.' ^ Many Brahman and Kshattriya followers
murmured, but the contemned races rejoiced ; they re-
minded Gobind of their devotion and services, and asked
that they also should be allowed to bathe in the sacred pool,
and offer up prayers in the temple of Amritsar. The mur-
murings of the twice-born increased, and many took their
departure, but Gobind exclaimed that the lowly should be
raised, and that hereafter the despised should dwell next
to himself.* Gobind then poured water into a vessel and

as distinguished from the lands of tributaries and feudal followers.
Khalsa can thus be held either to denote the kingdom of Gobind, or
that the Sikhs are the chosen people.

^ This assurance is given in the Rehet Nameh, or Rule of Life of
Gobind, which, however, is not included in the Granth. In the same
composition he says, or is held to have said, that the believer who
wishes to see the Guru shall behold him in the Khalsa.

Those who object to such similitudes, or to such struggles of the
mind after precision, should remember that Abelard likened the
Trinity to a syllogism with its three terms ; and that Wallis, with
admitted orthodoxy, compared the Godhead to a mathematical cube
with its three dimensions. (Bayle's Dictionary, art. ' Abelard '.)

^ Pahul (pronounced nearly as Fowl), means literally a gate, a door,
and thence initiation. The word may have the same origin as the
Greek itiXr].

3 The text gives the substance and usually the very words of the
numerous accounts to the same purport. (Of. also Malcolm, Sketch,
pp. 148, 151.)

* Churhas, or men of the Sweeper caste, brought away the remains
of Tegh Bahadur from Delhi, as has been mentioned {ante, p. 66, note).
Many of that despised, but not oppressed race, have adopted the

72 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1675-1708. stirred it with the sacrificial axe, or with the sword ren-

"^^ dered divine by the touch of the goddess. His wife passed

by, as it were by chance, bearing confections of five kinds :

he hailed the omen as propitious, for the coming of woman

denoted an offspring to the Klialsa numerous as the leaves

The Pahul of the forest. He mingled the sugars with the water, and

tion^of th *^^^ sprinkled a portion of it upon five faithful disciples,

sect, of a Brahman, a Kshattriya, and three Sudras. He hailed

Singhs. them as ' Singhs ', and declared them to be the Khalsa.

He himself received from them the ' Pahul ' of his faith,

and became Gobind Singh, saying, that hereafter, when-

Sikh faith in the Punjab, and they are commonly known as Rangh-
rheta Sikhs. Eangghar is a term applied to the Rajputs about Delhi
who have become Muhammadans ; but in Malwa the predatory
Hindu Rajputs are similarly styled, perhaps from Rank, a poor man,
in opposition to Rana, one of high degree. Ranghrheta seems thus
rather a diminutive of Rangghar than a derivative of rang (colour) as
commonly understood. The Ranglirheta Sikhs are sometimes styled
Mazhabi, or of the (Muhammadan) faith, from the circumstance that
the converts from Islam are so called, and that many Sweepers
throughout India have become Muhammadans.

[These Mazhabis in the past have proved themselves, and are at the
present time, extremely good soldiers. The Pioneer regiments —
23rd, 32nd, 34th — into which they are recruited have a proud
record of service in many campaigns. Mr. Candler, in an article in
Blackwood's Magazine, September 1909, observes : ' The general
reluctance of the low-caste Hindu to elevate himself by becoming
a Sikh may perhaps be explained by the historical exception of
the Mazhabis. These Sikhs, the descendants of converts from the
despised Sweeper caste, were welcomed by the Khalsa at a time when
they were engaged in a desperate struggle with the forces of Islam.
But when theSikhs dominated the Punjab they found that the equality
their religion promised them existed in theory rather than in fact.
They occupied much the same position among the Jat and Khalsa
descended Sikhs as their ancestors, the Sweepers, enjoyed among
Hindus. They were debarred from all privileges and were, at one
time, excluded from the army.'

According to the Census Report of 1912 the Mazhabi population
now numbers 21,691. ' They have taken to husbandry and have been
declared as a separate agricultiu-al tribe in the districts of Gujran-
wala and Lyallpur.' {Census Report, 1912.) — Ed.]

In allusion to the design of inspiring the Hindus with a new life,
Gobind is reported to have said that he ' would teach the sparrow to
strike the eagle '. (See Malcolm, Sketch, p. 74, where it is used with
reference to Aurangzeb, but the saying is attributed to Gobind under
various circumstances by different authors.)

CHAP. Ill SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND 73

ever five Sikhs should be assembled together, there he also 1675-1708.
would be present.^ '

Gobind thus abolished social distinctions,^ and took away The visible
from his followers each ancient solace of superstition ; but of sj^j^'q^
he felt that he must engage the heart as well as satisfy the Singhs.
reason, and that he must give the Sikhs some common
bonds of union which should remind the weak of their new
life, and add fervour to the devotion of the sincere. They
should have one form of initiation, he said, the sprinkling Lustration
of water by five of the faithful ; ^ they should worship the R^^^gnce
One Invisible God ; they should honour the memory of for Nanak.
Nanak and of his transanimate successors ;* their watchword
should be, Hail Gurii ! ^ but they should revere and bow to The excla-
nought visible save the Granth, the book of their belief.^ Hail Guru!

^ The Brahman novitiate is stated to have been an inhabitant of
the Deccan, and the Kshattriya of the Punjab ; one Sudra, a Jhin-
war (Kahar), was of Jaganath, the second, a Jat, was of Hastinapur,
and the third, a Chhimba or cloth printer, was of Dwarka in Gujrat.

For the declaration about five Sikhs forming a congregation, or
about the assembly of five men ensuring the presence or the grace of
the Guru, cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 186. [Five is also the number of
the necessary attributes of the true follower of Gobind Singh,
viz. Kes, Khanda, Kangha, Kara, Kach — long hair, dagger, comb,
bangle, breeches. — Ed.]

Gobind had originally the cognomen, or titular name, of ' Rai ',
one in common use among Hindus, and largely adopted under the
variation of ' Rao ' by the military Marathas ; but on declaring the
comprehensive nature of his reform, the Guru adopted for himself
and followers the distinctive appellation of ' Singh ', meaning literally
a lion, and metaphorically a champion or warrior. It is the most
common of the distinctive names in use among Rajpiits, and it is now
the invariable termination of every proper name among the disciples
of Gobind. It is sometimes used alone, as Khan is used among the
Muhammadans, to denote pre-eminence. Thus Sikh chiefs would
talk of Ranjit Singh, as ordinary Sikhs will talk of their own immedi-
ate leaders, as the ' Singh Sahib ', almost equivalent to ' Sir King',
or ' Sir Knight ', in English. Strangers likewise often address any
Sikh respectfully as ' Singhji '.

2 See Appendix X. ^ See Appendix XI.

* The use of the word ' transanimate ' may perhaps be allowed.
The Sikh belief in the descent of the individual spirit of Nanak upon
each of his successors, is compared by Gobind in the Vichitr Natak
to the imparting of flame from one lamp to another.

^ See Appendix XII.

* Obeisance to the Orant}i alone is inculcated in the Rabat Nama

74

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

1675-1708.

Unshorn
locks ; the
title of
Singh;
and devo-
tion to
arms.

The cha-
racter and
condition of
the Mughal
empire
when Go-
bind re-
solved to
assail it.

They should bathe, from time to time, in the pool of
Amritsar ; their locks should remain unshorn ; they should
all name themselves ' Singhs ', or soldiers, and of material
things they should devote their finite energies to steel alone>
Arms should dignify their person ; they should be ever
waging war, and great would be his merit who fought in
the van, who slew an enemy, and who despaired not although
overcome. He cut off the three sects of dissenters from all
intercourse : the Dhirmalis, who had laboured to destroy
Arjun ; the Ram Rais, who had compassed the death of
his father ; and the Masandis, who had resisted his own
authority. He denounced the ' shaven ', meaning, perhaps,
all Muhammadans and Hindus ; and for no reason which
bears clearly on the worldly scope of his mission, he held up
to reprobation those slaves of a perverse custom, who
impiously take the lives of their infant daughters .^

Gobind had achieved one victory, he had made himself
master of the imagination of his followers ; but a more
laborious task remained, the destruction of the empire of
unbelieving oppressors. He had established the Khalsa,
the theocracy of Singhs, in the midst of Hindu delusion and
Muhammadan error ; he had confounded PIrs and MuUas,
Sadhs and Pandits, but he had yet to vanquish the armies
of a great emperor, and to subdue the multitudes whose
faith he impugned. The design of Gobind may seem wild
and senseless to those accustomed to consider the firm sway
and regular policy of ancient Rome, and who daily witness
the power and resources of the well-ordered governments
of modern Europe. But the extensive empires of the East,
as of semi-barbarism in the West, have never been based
on the sober convictions of a numerous people ; they have
been mere dynasties of single tribes, rendered triumphant
by the rapid development of warlike energy, and by the
comprehensive genius of eminent leaders. Race has suc-
ceeded race in dominion, and what Cyrus did with his
Persians and Charlemagne with his Franks, Babar began

or Rule of Life of Gobind, and he endeavoured to guard against being
himself madfe an object of future idolatry, by denouncing (in the
Vichitr Natak) all who should regard him as a god.
1 See Appendix XIII. ^ ggg Appendix XIV.

CHAP. Ill SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND 75

and Akbar completed with a few Tartars their personal 1675-1708.

followers. The Mughals had even a less firm hold of empire
than the Achaemenides or the Carlovingians ; the devoted
clansmen of Babar were not numerous, his son was driven
from his throne, and Akbar became the master of India as Akbar.
much by political sagacity, and the generous sympathy of
his nature, as by military enterprise and the courage of his
partisans. He perceived the want of the times, and his
commanding genius enabled him to reconcile the conflicting
interests and prejudices of Muhammadans and Hindus, of
Rajputs, Turks, and Pathans. At the end of fifty years he
left his heir a broad and well-regulated dominion ; yet one
son of Jahanglr contested the empire with his father, and
Shah Jahan first saw his children waging war with one
another for the possession of the crown which he himself
still wore, and at length became the prisoner of the ablest
and most successful of the combatants. Aurangzeb ever Aurangzeb.
feared the influence of his own example : his temper was
cold ; his policy towards Muhammadans was one of sus-
picion, while his bigotry and persecutions rendered hiin
hateful to his Hindu subjects. In his old age his wearied
spirit could find no solace ; no tribe of brave and confiding
men gathered round him : yet his vigorous intellect kept
him an emperor to the last, and the hollowness of his sv/ay •
was not apparent to the careless observer until he was laid
in his grave. The empire of the Mughals wanted political
fusion, and its fair degree of administrative order and
subordination was vitiated by the doubt which hung about
the succession.' It comprised a number of petty states
which rendered an unwilling obedience to the sovereign
power ; it was also studded over with feudal retainers, and
all these hereditary princes and mercenary ' Jagirdars ' were

^ Notwithstanding this defect, the English themselves have yet to
do much before they can establish a system which shall last so long
and work so well as Akbar's organization of Pargana Chaudris and
Qanungos, who may be likened to hereditary county sheriffs, and
registers of landed property and holdings. The objectionable heredi-
tary law was modified in practice by the adoption of the most able
or the most upright as the representative of the family. [A somewhat
pessimistic statement viewing the way in which modern administra-
tors have dealt with the land c^uestion. — Ed.]

76

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

1675-1708. ever ready to resist, or to pervert, the measures of the central
government. They considered then, as they do now, that
a monarch exercised sway for his own interests only, with-
out reference to the general welfare of the country ; no
public opinion of an intelligent people systematically
governed controlled them, and applause always awaited
the successful aspirant to power. Akbar did something to
remove this antagonism between the rulers and the ruled,
but his successors were less wise than himself, and religious
discontent was soon added to the love of political inde-
pendence. The southern portions of India, too, were at
this time recent conquests, and Aurangzeb had been long
absent,^ hopelessly endeavouring to consolidate his sway in
that distant quarter. The Himalayas had scarcely been
penetrated by the Mughals, except in the direction of
Kashmir, and rebellion might rear its head almost unheeded
amid their wild recesses. Lastly, during this period, Sivajl
had roused the slumbering spirit of the Maratha tribes. He
had converted rude herdsmen into successful soldiers, and
had become a territorial chief in the very neighbourhood of
the emperor. Gobind added religious fervour to warlike
temper, and his design of founding a kingdom of Jats upon
the waning glories of Aurangzeb's dominion does not
appear to have been idly conceived or rashly undertaken.

Yet it is not easy to place the actions of Gobind in due
order, or to understand the particular object of each of his
proceedings. He is stated by a credible Muhammadan
author to have organized his followers into troops and bands,
and to have placed them under the command of trust-
worthy disciples.- He appears to have entertained a body
of Pathans, who are everyn^here the soldiers of fortune,^
and it is certain that he established two or three forts along

[^ A reference to the conquest by Aurangzeb of the kingdom of
Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687). From 1681 to his death in 1707
the Emperor was almost incessantly engaged in a series of campaigns
against these kingdoms and the rising power of the Marathas. —
Ed.]

2 Siar ul Mutakharin, i. 113.

^ The Maratha histories .show that Sivaji likewise hired bands of
Pathans, who had lost service in the declining kingdom of Bijapur.
(Grant Duff, Hist, of the Marathas, i. 165.)

Sivajl the
Maratha.

Guru
Gobind.

Gobind's
plans of
active op-
position,
(about)
1695.

CHAP. Ill

SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND

77

the skirts of the hills between the Sutlej and Jumna. He
had a post at Paunta in the Kirda vale near Nahan, a place
long afterwards the scene of a severe struggle between the
Gurkhas and the English. He had likewise a retreat at
Anandpur-Makhowal, which had been established by his
father,^ and a third at Chamkaur, fairly in the plains and
lower down the Sutlej than the chosen haunt of Tegh
Bahadur. He had thus got strongholds which secured him
against any attempts of his hill neighbours, and he would
next seem to have endeavoured to mix himself up with the
affairs of these half-independent chiefs, and to obtain a
commanding influence over them, so as by degrees to esta-
blish a virtual principality amid mountain fastnesses to
serve as the basis of his operations against the Mughal
government. As a religious teacher he drew contributions
and procured followers from all parts of India, but as a
leader he perceived the necessity of a military pivot, and as
a rebel he was not insensible to the value of a secure retreat.
Gobind has himself described the several actions in which
he was engaged, either as a principal or as an ally.^ His
pictures are animated ; they are of some value as historical
records, and their sequence seems more probable than that
of any other narrative. His first contest was with his old
friend the chief of Nahan, aided by the Raja of Hindur, to
whom he had given offence, and by the mercenary Pathans
in his own service, who claimed arrears of pay, and who may
have hoped to satisfy all demands by the destruction of
Gobind and the plunder of his establishments. But the
Guru was victorious, some of the Pathan leaders fell, and
Gobind slew the young warrior, Hari Chand of Nalagarh,

1 Anandpur is situated close to Makhowal. The first name was
given by Gobind to his own particular residence at Makhowal, as
distinguished from the abode of his father, and it signified the place
of happiness. A knoll , with a seat upon it, is here pointed out, whence
it is said Gobind was wont to discharge an arrow a coss and a quarter
— about a mile and two-thirds English, the Punjabi coss being small.

2 Namely, in the Vichitr Natak, already quoted as a portion of
the Second Granth. The Guru Bilas, by Sukha Singh, corroborates
Gobind's account, and adds many details. Malcolm {Sketch, p. 58, &c.)
may be referred to for translations of some portions of the Vichitr
Natak bearing on the period, but Malcolm's own general narrative of
the events is obviously contradictory and inaccurate.

1675-1708.

His mili-
tary posts ;

and leagues
with the
chiefs of the
Lower
Himalayas,

His influ-
ence as a
religious
teacher.

Gobind
quarrels
with the
Rajas of
Nahan and
Nalagarh,

78 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1675-1708. with his own hand. The Guru nevertheless deemed it

Aids the prudent to move to the Sutlej ; he strengthened Anandpur,

Eaja of and became the ally of Bhim Chand of Kuhlur, who was in

^h*^" h^"!^ resistance to the imperial authorities of Kot Kangra. The

against the Muhammadan commander was joined by various hill chiefs,

imperial j^^^ jj^ ^j^^ gj^^j j^g ^g^g routed, and BhIm Chand's rebellion

seemed justified by success. A period of rest ensued, during

which, says Gobind, he punished such of his followers as

were lukewarm or disorderly. But the aid which he rendered

to the chief of Kuhlur was not forgotten, and a body of

Muhammadan troops made an unsuccessful attack upon his

position. Again an imperial commander took the field,

partly to coerce Gobind, and partly to reduce the hill rajas,

who, profiting by the example of Bhim Chand, had refused

to pay their usual tribute. A desultory warfare ensued ;

some attempts at accommodation were made by the hill

chiefs, but these were broken off, and the expedition ended

in the rout of the Muhammadans.

^Gobind's The success of Gobind, for all was attributed to him,

proceedings caused the Muhammadans some anxiety, and his designs

suspicions appear likewise to have alarmed the hill chiefs, for they

°h'*f 1 ^*^^dly claimed the imperial aid against one who announced

cause the himself as the True King. Aurangzeb directed the governors

emperor ^f Lahore and Sirhind to march against the Guru, and it was

some '^

anxiety, rumoured that the emperor's son, Bahadur Shah, would

i7m"*^^ himself take the field in their support.^ Gobind was sur-

P , .' , rounded at Anandpur by the forces of the empire. His own

ducedto resolution was equal to any emergency, but numbers of

straits at j, jg followers deserted him . He cursed them in this world and
Anandpur.

in the world to come, and others who wavered he caused to

renounce their faith, and then dismissed them with igno-

1 Malcolm (Sketch, p. 60, note) says that this allusion would place
the warfare in a. d. 1701, as Bahadur Shah was at that time sent
from the Deccan towardsKabul. Some Sikh traditions, indeed,, repre-
sent Gobind as having gained the goodwill of, or as they put it, as
having shown favour to, Bahadur Shah ; and Gobind himself, in the
Vichitr Natak, says that a son of the emperor came to suppress the
disturbances, but no name is given. Neither does Mr. Elphinstone
(History, ii. 545) specify Bahadur Shah ; and, indeed, he merely
seems to conjecture that a prince of the blood, who was sent to put
down disturbances near Multan, was really employed against the
Sikhs near Sirhind.

CHAP. Ill SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND 79

miny. But his difficulties increased, desertions continued 1675-1708.

to take place, and at last he found himself at the head of no

more than forty devoted followers. His mother, his wives, His

and his two youngest children effected their escape to gsd^p^g^.'^but

Sirhind, but the boys were there betrayed to the Muhamma- are subse-

dans and put to death.^ The faithful forty said they were ^"^^"^"[1?"*

ready to die with their priest and king, and they prayed him

to recall his curse upon their weaker-hearted brethren, and

to restore to them the hope of salvation. Gobind said that

his wrath would not endure. But he still clung to temporal

success ; the fort of Chamkaur remained in his possession, He himself

and he fled during the night and reached the place in safety. Q^amkaur.

At Chamkaur Gobind was again besieged.- He was called qqJjjjj^]^
upon to surrender his person and to renounce his faith, but escapes
Ajit Singh, his son, indignantly silenced the bearer of the ^^am^^*^^"^"
message. The troops pressed upon the Siklis ; the Guru 1705-6.
was himself everywhere present, but his two surviving sons
fell before his eyes, and his little band was nearly destroyed.
He at last resolved upon escape, and taking advantage of
a dark night, he threaded his way to the outskirts of the
camp, but there he was recognized and stopped by two
Pathans. These men, it is said, had in former times received
kindness at the hands of the GurQ, and they now assisted
him in reaching the town of Bahlolpur, where he trusted his
person to a third follower of Islam, one PIr Muhammad,
with whom it is further said the Guru had once studied the
Koran. Here he ate food from Muhammadans, and declared
that such might be done by Sikhs under pressing circum-
stances. He further disguised himself in the blue dress of
a Musalman Dervish, and speedily reached the wastes of
Bhatinda. His disciples again rallied round him, and he Success-
succeeded in repulsing his pursuers at a place since called u'^'^^^g^g^s

at Muktsar;

1 The most detailed account of this murder of Gobind's children
is given in Browne's India Tracts, ii. 6, 7.

2 At Chamkaur, in one of the towers of the small brick fort, is still
shown the tomb of a distinguished warrior, a Sikh of the Sweeper
caste, named Jiwan Singh, who fell during the siege. The bastion
itself is known as that of the Martyr. A temple now stands where
Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, the eldest sons of Gobind, are reputed
to have fallen.

Gobind's defeat and flight are placed by the Sikhs in a.d. 1705-6.

80 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, m

1675-1708. ' Muktsar ', or the Pool of Salvation. He continued his

~~, ' flight to Dam-Dama, or the Breathing Place, half way
at Dam- between Hansi and Ferozepore ; the imperial authorities
Darna, thought his strength sufficiently broken, and they did not
Bhatinda. follow him further into a parched and barren country.
Gobind At Dam-Dama Gobind remained for some time, and he

composes occupied himself in composing the supplemental Granth,
Natak. ' the Book of the Tenth King', to rouse the energies and
sustain the hopes of the faithful. This comprises the
Vichitr Natak, or ' Wondrous Tale ', the only historical
portion of either Granth, and which he concludes by a hymn
in praise of God, who had ever assisted him. He would, he
says, make known in al^othe^ book the things which he had
himself accomplished, the glories of the Lord which he had
witnessed, and his recollections or visions of his antecedent
existence. All he had done, he said, had been done with the
aid of the Almighty ; and to ' Loh ', or the mysterious
Summoned virtue of iron, he attributed his preservation. While thus
zJb to^his^ living in retirement, messengers arrived to summon him to
presence, the emperor's presence ; but Gobind replied to Aurangzeb
in a series of parables admonitory of kings, partly in which,
and partly in a letter which accompanied them, he remon-
strates rather than humbles himself. He denounces the
wrath of God upon the monarch, rather than deprecates the
Eeplies to imperial anger against himself ; he tells the emperor that
peroT^n a ^^ P*^*^ "^ trust in him, and that the ' Khalsa ' will avenge
denuncia- him. He refers to Nanak's religious reform, and he briefly
tory strain. ^Uudes to the death of Arjun and of Tegh Bahadur. He
describes his own wrongs and his childless condition. He
was, as one without earthly link, patiently awaiting death,
and fearing none but the sole Emperor, the King of Kings.
Nor, said he, are the prayers of the poor ineffectual ; and
on the day of reckoning it would be seen how the emperor
would justify his manifold cruelties and oppressions. The
Guru was again desired to repair to Aurangzeb's presence,
and he really appears to have proceeded to the south some
time before the aged monarch was removed by death .^

1 In this narrative of Gobind' s warlike actions, reference has been
mainly had to the Vichitr Natak of the Guru, to the Guru BiUs of
Sukha Singh, and to the ordinary modern compilations in Persian and

CHAP. Ill SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND 81

Aurangzeb died in the beginning of 1707, and his eldest 1675-1708.

son, Bahadur Shah, hastened from Kabul to secure the ~. ~

Aurangzeb
succession. He vanquished and slew one brother near Agra, dies, and

and, marching to the south, he defeated a second, Kam- j?,*^,'*'^^^

° Shah suc-

bakhsh, who died of his wounds. Wliile engaged in this ceeds, a.d.

last campaign, Bahadur Shah summoned Gobind to his ■'^^*^'^-

camp. The Guru went ; he was treated with respect, and Crobmd

^ t- ' proceeds to

he received a military command in the valley of the Goda- the south
vari. The emperor perhaps thought that the leader of of India.
insurrectionary Jats might be usefully employed in opposing inters the
rebellious Marathas, and Gobind perhaps saw in the imperial service.
service a ready way of disarming suspicion and of re-
organizing his followers.^ At Dam-Dama he had again
denounced evil upon all who should thenceforward desert
him ; in the south he selected the daring Banda as an
instrument, and the Sikhs speedily reappeared in over-
whelming force upon the banks of the Sutlej . But Gobind's
race was run, and he was not himself fated to achieve aught
more in person. He had engaged the services of an Afghan,
half-adventurer, half-merchant, and he had procured from
him a considerable number of horses.^ The merchant, or
servant, pleaded his own necessities, and urged the payment

Gurmukhi; transcripts, imperfect apparently, of some of which
latter have been put into English by Dr. Macgregor {History of the
Sikhs, pp. 79-99).

^ The Sikh writers seem unanimous in giving to their great teacher
a military command in the Deccan, while some recent Muhammadan
compilers assert that he died at Patna. But the liberal conduct of
Bahadur Shah is confirmed by the contemporary historian, Khafi
Khan, who states that he received rank in the Mughal army (see
Elphinstone, Hist, of Iiidia, ii. 566 note), and it is in a degree cor-
roborated by the undoubted fact of the Gurii's death on the banks of
the Godavari. The traditions preserved at Nader give Kartik, 1765
(Sambat), or towards the end of a. d. 1703, as the date of Gobind's
arrival at that place.

^ It would be curious to trace how far India was colonized in the
intervals of great invasions by petty Afghan and Turkoman leaders,
who defrayed their first or occasional expenses by the sale of horses.
Tradition represents that both the destroyer of Manikiala in the
Punjab, and the founder of Bhatnair in Hariana, were emigrants so
circumstanced ; and Amir Khan, the recent Indian adventurer, was
similarly reduced to sell his steeds for food. {Memoirs of Amir
Khan, p. 16.)

6

82

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. Ill

1675-1708.

Gobind
wounded
by
assassins.

and dies,
~A.D. 1708,
declaring
his mission
to be ful-
filled, and
the Khalsa
to be com-
mitted to
God.

of large sums due to him. Impatient with delay, he used an
angry gesture, and his mutterings of violence provoked
Gobind to strike him dead. The body of the slain Pa than
was removed and buried, and his family seemed reconciled
to the fate of its head. But his sons nursed their revenge,
and awaited an opportunity of fulfilling it. They succeeded
in stealing upon the Guru's retirement, and stabbed him
mortally when asleep or unguarded. Gobind sprang up
and the assassins were seized ; but a sardonic smile played
upon their features, and they justified their act of retribu-
tion. The Guru heard : he remembered the fate of their
father, and he perhaps called to mind his own unavenged
parent. He said to the youths that they had done well, and
he directed that they should be released uninjured.^ The
expiring Guru was childless, and the assembled disciples
asked in sorrow who should inspire them with truth and
lead them to victory when he was no more. Gobind bade
them be of good cheer ; the appointed Ten had indeed ful-
filled their mission, but he was about to deliver the Khalsa
to God, the never-dying. ' He who wishes to behold the
Guru, let him search the Granth of Nanak. The Guru will
dwell with the Klialsa ; be firm and be faithful : wherever
five Siklis are gathered together there will I also be present.' ^

1 All the common accounts narrate the death of Gobind as given in
the text, but with slight differences of detail, while some add that the
widow of the slain Pathan continually urged her sons to seek revenge.
Many accounts, and especially those by Muhammadans, likewise
represent Gobind to have become deranged in his mind, and a story
told by some Sikh writers gives a degree of countenance to such a
belief. They say that the heart of the Guru inclined towards the
youths whose father he had slain, that he was wont to play simple
games of skill with them, and that he took opportunities of incul-
cating upon them the merit of revenge, as if he was himself weary of
life, and wished to fall by their hands. The Star ul Mvtakharin
(i. 114) simply says that Gobind died of grief on account of the loss
of his children. (Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 70, &c. ; and Elphinstone,
History, ii. 564.) The accounts now furnished by the priests of the
temple at Nader, represent the one assassin of the Guru to have been
the grandson of the Painda Khan, slain by Har Gobind, and they do
not give him any further cause of quarrel with Gobind himself.

2 Such is the usual account given of the Gurii's dying injunctions ;
and the belief that Gobind consummated the mission or dispensation
of Nanaks eeras to have been agreeable to the feelings of the times,

CHAP. Ill SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND 83

Gobind was killed in 1708, at Nader, on the banks of the 1675-1708

Godavari.^ He was in his forty-eighth year, and if it be Qo^jj^d's

thought by any that his obscure end belied the promise of endun-

his whole life, it should be remembered that— llSs not

4 rr.1 I, 1 r fruitless.

The hand oi man

Is but a tardy servant of the brain,

And follows, with its leaden diligence.

The fiery steps of fancy '; ^

that when Muhammad was a fugitive from Mecca, ' the
lance of an Arab might have changed the history of the
world '; ^ and that the Achilles of poetry, the reflexion of
truth, left Troy untaken. The lord of the Myrmidons,
destined to a short life and immortal glory, met an end
almost as base as that which he dreaded when struggling
with Simois and Scamander ; and the heroic Richard, of
eastern and western fame, whose whole soul was bent upon
the deliverance of Jerusalem, veiled his face in shame and

while it now forms a main article of faith. The mother, and one wife
of Gobind, are represented to have survived him some years ; but
each, when dying, declared the Guriiship to rest in the general body
of the Khalsa, and not in any one mortal ; and hence the Sikhs do not
give such a designation even to the most revered of their holy men,
their highest religious title being ' Bhai ', literally ' brother ', but
corresponding in significance with the English term ' elder'.

1 Gobind is stated to have been born in the month of Poh, 1718
(Sambat), which may be the end of a. d. 1661 or beginning of 1662,
and all accounts agree in placing his death about the middle of 1765
(Sambat), or towards the end of a. d. 1708.

At Nader there is a large religious establishment, partly supported
by the produce of landed estates, partly by voluntary contributions,
and partly by sums levied annually, agreeably to the mode organized
by Arjun. The principal of the establishment dispatches a person to
show his requisition to the faithful, and all give according to their
means. Thus the common horsemen in the employ of Bhopal give
a rupee and a qiiarter each a year, besides offerings on occasions of
pilgrimage.

Ranjit Singh sent considerable sums to Nader, but the buildings
commenced with the means which he provided have not been com-
pleted.

Nader is also called Apchalanagar, and in Southern and Central
India it is termed pre-eminently ' the Gurudwara ', that is, ' the house
of the Gurus '.

2 8ir Marmaduke MaxuxU, a dramatic poem. Act iv, scene 6.
^ Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ix. 285.

g2

84

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. Ill

1708-16.

Anew

character
impressed
upon the
reformed
Hindus :

sorrow that God's holy city should be left in the possession
of infidels : he would not behold that which he could not
redeem, and he descended from the Mount to retire to
captivity and a premature grave.^ Success is thus not
always the measure of greatness. The last apostle of the
Sikhs did not live to see his own ends accomplished, but he
effectually roused the dormant energies of a vanquished
people, and filled them with a lofty although fitful longing
for social freedom and national ascendancy, the proper
adjuncts of that purity of worship which had been preached
by Nanak. Gobind saw what was yet vital, and he
relumed it with Promethean fire. A li\ang spirit possesses
the whole Sikh people, and the impress of Gobind has not
only elevated and altered the constitution of their minds,
but has operated materially and given amplitude to their
physical frames. The features and external form of a whole
people have been modified, and a Sikh chief is not more
distinguishable by his stately person and free and manly
bearing, than a minister of his faith is by a lofty thoughtful-
ness of look, which marks the fervour of his soul, and his
persuasion of the near presence of the Divinity.^ Notwith-
standing these changes it has been usual to regard the Siklis
as essentially Hindu, and they doubtless are so in language
and everyday customs, for Gobind did not fetter his

^ For this story of the lion-like king, see Gibbon {Decline and Fall,
xi. 143). See also Turner's comparison of the characters of Achilles
and Richard {History of England, p. 300), and Hallam's assent to its
superior justness relatively to his own parallel of the Cid and the
English hero {Middle Ages, iii. 482).

2 This physical change has been noticed by Sir Alexander Burnes
{Travels,!. 285, and ii. 39), by Elphinstone {History of India, ii. 564),
and it also slightly struck Malcolm {Sketch, p. 129). Similarly a change
of aspect, as well as of dress, &c., may be observed in the descendants
of such members of Hindu families as became Muhammadans one or
two cent\iries ago, and whose personal appearance may yet be readily
compared with that of their undoubted Brahmanical cousins in many
parts of Malwa and Upper India. That Prichard {Physical History of
Mankind, i. 183 and i. 191) notices no such change in the features,
although he does in the characters, of the Hottentots and Esquimaux
who have been converted to Christianity, may either show that the
attention of our observers and inquirers has not been directed to
the subject, or that the savages in question have embraced a new
faith with little of living ardour and absorbing enthusiasm.

CHAP. Ill

SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND

85

although
not fully
apparent to
strangers,
if so to
Indians.

disciples with political systems or codes of municipal laws ; 1708-16,
yet, in religious faith and worldly aspirations, they are
wholly different from other Indians, and they are bound
together by a community of inward sentiment and of out-
ward object unknown elsewhere. But the misapprehension
need not surprise the public nor condemn our scholars,^
when it is remembered that the learned of Greece and Rome
misunderstood the spirit of those humble men who obtained
a new life by baptism. Tacitus and Suetonius regarded the
early Christians as a mere Jewish sect, they failed to per-
ceive the fundamental difference, and to appreciate the
latent energy and real excellence, of that doctrine, which has
added dignity and purity to modern civilization.^

1 The author alludes chiefly to Professor H. H. Wilson, whose
learning and industry are doing so much for Indian history. (See
Asiatic Researches, xvii. 237, 238 ; and continuation of Mill's History,
vii. 101, 102.) Malcolm holds similar views in one place {Sketch,
pp. 144, 148, 150), but somewhat contradicts himself in another
{Sketch, p. 43). With these opinions, however, may be compared the
more correct views of Elphinstone {History of India, ii. 562, 564) and
Sir Alexander Burnes {Travels, i. 284, 285), and also Major Browne's
observation {India Tracts, ii. 4) that the Sikh doctrine bore the same
relation to the Hindu as the Protestant does to the Romish.

2 See the Annals of Tacittis, Murphy's translation (book xv, sect. 44,
note 15). Tacitus calls Christianity a dangerous superstition, and
regards its professors as moved by ' a sullen hatred of the whole
human race ' — the Judaic characteristic of the period. Suetonius
talks of the Jews raising disturbances in the reign of Claudius, at the
instigation of ' one Chrestus', thus evidently mistaking the whole of
the facts, and further making a Latin name, genuine indeed, but
misapplied, of the Greek term for anointed.

Again, the obscure historian, Vopiscus, preserves a letter, written
by the Emperor Hadrian, in which the Christians are confounded with
the adorers of Serapis, and in which the bishops are said to be espe-
cially devoted to the worship of that strange god, who was introduced
into Egypt by the Ptolemies (Waddington, History of the Church,
p. 37) ; and even Eusebius himself did not properly distinguish
between Christians and the Essenic Therapeutae (Strauss, Life of
Jesus, i. 294), although the latter formed essentially a mere sect, or
order, affecting asceticism and mystery.

It is proper to add that Mr. Newman quotes the descriptions of
Tacitus and others as referring really to Christians and not to Jews
{On the Development of Christian Doctrine, p. 205, &c.). He may be
right, but the grounds of his dissent from the views of preceding
scholars are not given.

86

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. Ill

1708-16.

Banda suc-
ceeds
Gobind as
a temporal
leader.

Proceeds to
the north,
and cap-
tures
Sirhind,
1709-10.

The em-
peror
marches
towards
Lahore.

Banda, the chosen disciple of Gobind, was a native of the

south of India, and an ascetic of the Bairagi order ; ^ and
the extent of the deceased Guru's preparations and means
will be best understood from the narrative of the career of
his followers, when his own commanding spirit was no more.
The Siklis gathered in numbers round Banda when he
reached the north-west, bearing with him the arrows of
Gobind as the pledge of victory. Banda put to flight the
Mughal authorities in the neighbourhood of Sirhind, and
then attacked, defeated, and sIcav the governor of the pro-
vince. Sirhind was plundered, and the Hindu betrayer and
Musalman destroyer of Gobind' s children were themselves
put to death by the avenging Siklis.^ Banda next established
a stronghold below tlie hills of Sirmiir,^ he occupied the
country between the Sutlej and Jumna, and he laid waste
the district of Saharanpur.*

Bahadur Shah, the emperor, had subdued his rebellious
brother Kambakhsh, he had come to terms with the
Marathas, and he was desirous of reducing the princes of
Rajputana to their old dependence, when he heard of the
defeat of his troops and the sack of his city by the hitherto
unknown Banda.^ He hastened towards the Punjab, and

1 Some accounts represent Banda to have been a native of Northern
India, and the writer, followed by Major Browne (India Tracts, ii. 9),
says he was born in the Jullundur Doab.

'Banda' signifies the slave, and Sariip Chand, the author of the
Gur-Ratndvall, states that the Bairagi took the name or title when
he met Gobind in the south, and found that the powers of his tutelary
god Vishnu were ineffectual in the presence of the Gurii. Thence-
forward, he said, he would be the slave of Gobind.

2 For several particulars, true or fanciful, relating to the capture of
Sirhind, see Browne, India Tracts, ii. 9, 10. See also Elphinstone,
History of India, ii. 565, 566. Wazlr Khan was clearly the name of
the governor, and not Faujdar Khan, as mentioned by Malcolm
(Sketch, pp. 77, 78). AVazir Khan was indeed the ' Faujdar ', or mili-
tary commander in the province, and the word is as often used as a
proper name as to denote an office.

^ This was at Mukhlispur, near Sadowra, which lies north-east from
Ambala, and it appears to be the ' Lohgarh ', that is, the iron or
strong fort, of the Siar ul Mutakharin (i. 115).

* Forster, Travels, i. 304.

^ Cf. Elphinstone, History of India, ii. 561, and Forster, Travels, i.
304. This was in a. d. 1709-10.

CHAP. Ill

BANDA

87

he did not pause to enter his capital after his southern
successes ; but in the meantime his generals had defeated
a body of Sildis near Panipat, and Banda was surrounded in
his new stronghold. A zealous convert, disguised like his
leader, allowed himself to be captured during a sally of the
besieged, and Banda withdrew with all his followers.^ After
some successful skirmishes he established himself near
Jammu in the hills north of Lahore, and laid the fairest
part of the Punjab under contribution. Bahadur Shah had
by this time advanced to Lahore in person, and he died
there in the month of February, 1712.-

The death of the emperor brought on another contest for
the throne. His eldest son, Jahandar Shah, retained power
for a year, but in February 1713 he was defeated and put
to death by his nephew Farrukhslyar. These commotions
were favourable to the Sikhs ; they again became united
and formidable, and they built for themselves a considerable
fort, named Gurdaspur, between the Beas and Ravi.' The
viceroy of Lahore marched against Banda, but he was
defeated in a pitched battle, and the Sikhs sent forward a
party towards Sirhind, the governor of which, Bayazid KJian,
advanced to oppose them. A fanatic crept under his tent
and mortally wounded him ; the Muhammadans dispersed,
but the city does not seem to have fallen a second time a
prey to the exulting Sikhs.* The emperor now ordered
Abdus Samad Klian, the governor of Kashmir, a Tiirani noble
and a skilful general, to assume the command in the Punjab,
and he sent to his aid some chosen troops from the eastward.
Abdus Samad Khan brought with him some thousands of
his own warlike countrymen, and as soon as he was in

1708-16.

But Banda
is in the
meantime
driven to-
wards
Jammu.

Bahadur
Shah dies
at Lahore,
1712.

Jahandar
Shah slain
by Far-
rukhslyar,
who
becomes
emperor,
1713.

The Sikhs
reappear
under Ban-
da, and the
province of
Sirhind is
plundered.

1 Cf . Elphinstone, History, 11. 566, and Forster, Travels, i. 305. The
zeal of the devotee was applauded without being pardoned by the
emperor.

2 Cf. the Siar ul Mutakharin, i. 109, 112.

' Gurdaspur is near Kalanaur, where Akbar was saluted as em-
peror, and it appears to be the Lohgarh of the ordinary accounts
followed by Forster, Malcolm, and others. It now contains a mona-
stery of Sarsut Brahmans, who have adopted many of the Sikh modes
and tenets.

* Some accounts nevertheless represent Banda to have again
possessed himself of Sirhind.

88 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, hi

1708-16. possession of a train of artillery he left Lahore, and falling
upon the Sikh army he defeated it, after a fierce resistance
on the part of Banda. The success was followed up, and
Banda retreated from post to post, fighting valiantly and
inflicting heavy losses on his victors ; but he was at length
Banda compelled to shelter himself in the fort of Gurdaspur. He
reduced ^ ^^^ closely besieged ; nothing could be conveyed to him
and taken from without ; and after consuming all his provisions, and
a^dTtig- ^^t^i^g horses, asses, and even the forbidden ox, he was
reduced to submit.^ Some of the Sikhs were put to death,
and their heads were borne on pikes before Banda and others
as they were marched to Delhi with all the signs of ignominy
usual with bigots, and common among barbarous or half-
civilized conquerors, 2 A hundred Siklis were put to death
daily, contending among themselves for priority of martyr-
dom, and on the eighth day Banda himself was arraigned
before his judges. A Muhammadan noble asked the ascetic
from conviction, how one of his knowledge and imder-
standing could commit crimes which would dash him into
hell ; but Banda answered that he had been as a mere
scourge in the hands of God for the chastisement of the
wicked, and that he was now receiving the meed of his own
crimes against the Almighty. His son was placed upon his
knees, a knife was put into his hands, and he was required
to take the life of his child. He did so, silent and unmoved ;
death^t ° ^^^ ^^^ flesh was then torn with red-hot pincers, and amid
Delhi. these torments he expired, his dark soul, say the Muhamma-
dans, winging its way to the regions of .the damned.^

1 Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, pp. 79, 80; Forster, Travels, i. 306 and note ;
and the Siar ulMutdkharin, 1. 116, 117. The ordinary accounts make
the Sikh army amount to 35,000 men (Forster says 20,000) ; they also
detain Abdus Samad a year at Lahore before he undertook anything,
and they bring down all the hill chiefs to his aid, both of which circum-
stances are probable enough.

2 Siar ulMutdkharin,i.ll8, 120. Elphinstone {History, \i. 574, 575),
quoting the contemporary Khafi Khan, says the prisoners amounted
to 740. The Siar ul Mutdkharin relates how the old mother of
Bayazld Khan killed the assassin of her son, by letting fall a stone
on his head, as he and the other prisoners were being led through the
streets of Lahore.

3 Malcolm {Sketch, p. 82), who quotes the Siar ulMutdkharin. The
defeat and death of Banda are placed by the Siar ul Mutdkharin

CH.^p. in SIKHISM: RECAPITULATION

89

The memory of Banda is not held in much esteem by the
Sikhs ; he appears to have been of a gloomy disposition, and
he was obeyed as an energetic and daring leader, without
being able to engage the personal sympathies of his followers.
He did not perhaps comprehend the general nature of
Nanak's and Gobind's reforms ; the spirit of sectarianism
possessed him, and he endeavoured to introduce changes
into the modes and practices enjoined by these teachers,
Avhich should be more in accordance with his own ascetic
and Hindu notions. These unwise innovations and restric-
tions were resisted by the more zealous Sikhs, and they may
have caused the memory of an able and enterprising leader
to be generally neglected.^

After the death of Banda an active persecution was kept
up against the Sikhs, whose losses in battle had been great
and depressing. All who could be seized had to suffer death,
or to renounce their faith. A price, indeed, was put upon
their heads, and so vigorously were the measures of prudence,
or of vengeance, followed up, that many conformed to Hindu-
ism ; others abandoned the outward signs of their belief,
and the more sincere had to seek a refuge among the recesses
of the hills, or in the woods to the south of the Sutlej. The
Sikhs were scarcely again heard of in history for the period
of a generation.^

Thus, at the end of two centuries, had the Sikh faith
become established as a prevailing sentiment and guiding
principle to work its way in the world. Nanak disengaged
his little society of worshippers from Hindu idolatry and

(i. 109), by Orme {History, ii. 22), and apparently by Elphinstone
{History, ii. 564), in the year A. D. 1716 ; but Forster {Travels, i.
306 note) has the date 1714.

1 Cf . Malcolm, Sketch, pp. 83, 84. But Banda is sometimes styled
Guru by Indians, as in the Siar ul Mutdkharin (i. 114), and there is
still an order of half -conformist Sikhs which regards him as its founder.
Banda, it is reported, wished to establish a sect of his own, saying
that of Gobind could not endure ; and he is further declared to have
wished to change the exclamation or salutation, ' Wah Guru ke
Fateh ! ' which had been used or ordained by Gobind, into ' Fateh
Dharam!' and ' Fateh Darsan ! ' (Victory to faith ! Victory to the
sect ! ). Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, pp. 83, 84.

2 Cf. Forster {Travels, i. 312, 313), and Browne {Iridia Tracts,
ii. 13), and also Malcolm {Sketch, pp. 85, 86).

1708-16.

The views

of Banda

confined

and his

memory

not

revered.

The Sikhs
generally
much de-
pressed
after the
death of
Banda.

Recapitu-
lation.

Nanak.

90

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. Ill

Amar Das.

Arjun.

Har Go-
bind.

Gobind
Siiigh.

1708-1716. Muhammadan superstition, and placed them free on a broad
basis of religious and moral purity ; Amar Das preserved
the infant community from declining into a sect of quietists
or ascetics , Arjiin gave his increasing followers a written
rule of conduct and a civil organization ; Har Gobind added
the use of arms and a military system ; and Gobind Singh
bestowed upon them a distinct political existence, and
inspired them with the desire of being socially free and
nationally independent. No further legislation was re-
quired ; a firm persuasion had been elaborated, and a vague
feeling had acquired consistence as an active principle.
The operation of this faith become a fact, is only now in
progress, and the fruit it may yet bear cannot be foreseen.
Sikhism arose where fallen anS corrupt Brahmanical doc-
trines were most strongly acted on by the vital and spreading
Muhammadan belief. It has now come into contact with
the civilization and Cliristianity of Europe, and the result
can only be known to a distant posterity.^

1 There are also elements of change within Sikhism itself, and dis-
sent is everywhere a source of weakness and decay, although some-
times it denotes a temporary increase of strength and energy. Sikh
sects, at least of quietists, are already numerous, although the great
development of the tenets of Guru Gobind has thrown other denomina-
tions into the shade. Thus the prominent division into ' Khulasa ',
meaning ' of Nanak ', and ' Khalsa ', meaning ' of Gobind ', which is
noticed by Forster {Travels, i. 309), is no longer in force. The former
term, Khulasa, is almost indeed unknown in the present day, while
all claim membership with the Khalsa. Nevertheless, the peaceful
Sikhs of the first teacher are still to be everywhere met with in the
cities of India, although the warlike Singhs of the tenth king have
become predominant in the Punjab, and have scattered themselves
as soldiers from Kabul to the south of India.

Note. — The reader is referred to Appendices I, II, III, and IV
for some account of the Granths of the Sikhs, for some illustrations
of principles and practices taken from the writings of the Gurvis, and
for abstracts of certain letters attributed to Nanak and Gobind, and
which are descriptive of some views and modes of the Sikh people.
Appendix V may also be referred to for a list of some Sikh sects or
denominations.

CHAPTER IV

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SIKH INDEPENDENCE
1716-64

Decline of the Mughal Empire — Gradual reappearance of the Sikhs —
The Sikhs coerced by Mir Mannu, and persecuted by Taimiir the
son of Ahmad Shah — The Army of the ' Khalsa ' and the State
of the ' Khalsa ' proclaimed to be substantive Powers — Adina
Beg Khan and the Marathas under Raghuba — Ahmad Shah's
incursions and victories — The provinces of Sirhind and Lahore
possessed in sovereignty by the Sikhs — The political organization
of the Sikhs as a feudal confederacy — The Order of Akalis.

AuRANGZEB w^as the last of the race of Taimur who pos-
sessed a genius for command, and in governing a large empire
of incoherent parts and conflicting principles, his weak suc-
cessors had to lean upon the doubtful loyalty of selfish and
jealous ministers, and to prolong a nominal rule by opposing
insurrectionary subjects to rebellious dependents. Within
a generation Muhammadan adventurers had established
separate dominations in Bengal, Lucknow, and Hyderabad ;
the Maratha Peshwa had startled the Muslims of India by
suddenly appearing in arms before the imperial city,^ and
the stern usurping Nadir had scornfully hailed the long
descended Muhammad Shah as a brother Turk in the heart
of his blood-stained capital. ^ The Afghan colonists of
Rohilkhand and the Hindu Jats of Bhartpur had raised
themselves to importance as substantive powers,^ and when

1 This was in a. d. 1737, when Bajl Rao, the Peshwa, made an
incursion from Agra towards Delhi. (See Elphinstone, History, ii. 609,
and Grant Duff, History of the Mahrattas, i. 533, 534.)

2 See Nadir Shah's letter to his son, relating his successful invasion
of India. (Asiatic Researches, x. 545, 546.)

^ A valuable account of the Rohillas may be found in Forster's
Travels (i. 115, &c.), and the public is indebted to the Oriental Trans-
lation Committee of London for the memoirs of Hafiz Rahmat Khan,
one of the most eminent of their leaders.

The Jats of Bhartpur and Dholpur, and of Hathras and other minor
places, deserve a separate history.

1716-38.

The
Mughal
empire
rapidlj' de-
clines.
Nadir
Shah, the
Marathas,
&c.

92

HISTORY OF THE SIIOIS

CHAP. IV

1716-38.

The weak-
ness of the
Muham-
niadan go-
verimient
favourable
to the
Sikhs,
1716-38.

The Sikhs
kept to-
gether by
the fervour
of their be-
hef.

The Sikhs
form bands
of plunder-
ers,
1738-9.

the Persian conqueror departed with the spoils of Delhi/
the government was weaker, and society was more dis-
organized, than when the fugitive Babar entered India in
search of a throne worthy of his lineage and his personal
merits.

These commotions were favourable to the reappearance
of a depressed sect ; but the delegated rule of Abdus Samad
in Lahore was vigorous, and, both under him and his weaker
successor,^ the Sikhs comported themselves as peaceful
subjects in their villages, or lurked in woods and valleys to
obtain a precarious livelihood as robbers.^ The tenets of
Nanak and Gobind had nevertheless taken root in the hearts
of the people ; the peasant and the mechanic nursed their
faith in secret, and the more ardent clung to the hope of
ample revenge and speedy victory. The departed Guru had
declared himself the last of the prophets ; the believers were
without a temporal guide, and rude untutored men, accus-
tomed to defer to their teacher as divine, were left to work
their way to greatness, without an ordained method, and
without any other bond of union than the sincerity of their
common faith. The progress of the new religion, and the
ascendancy of its votaries, had thus been trusted to the
pregnancy of the truths announced, and to the fitness of
the Indian mind for their reception. The general acknow-
ledgement of the most simple and comprehensive principle
is sometimes uncertain, and is usually slow and irregular,
and this fact should be held in view in considering the
history of the Sikhs from the death of Gobind to the present
time.

During the invasion of Nadir Shah, the Sikhs collected
in small bands, and plundered both the stragglers of the
Persian army and the wealthy inhabitants who fled towards
the hills on the first appearance of the conqueror, or when
the massacre at Delhi became generally known.* The

1 [These included the famous peacock throne of Shah Jahan and
the celebrated Koh-i-Nur. The subsequent history of the latter is too
well known to need repetition. — Ed.]

2 He was likewise the son of the conqueror of Banda. His name
was Zakariya Khan, and his title Khan Bahadur.

3 Cf. Forster's Travels,!. 313, and Browne's lyidia Tracts, ii. 13.

* Browne, India Tracts,u. 13, 14. Nadir acquired from the Mughal

CHAP. IV

THE SIKHS REAPPEAR

93

impunity which attended these efforts encouraged them to
bolder attempts, and they began to visit Amritsar openly
instead of in secrecy and disguise. The Sikla horseman, says
a Muhammadan author, might be seen riding at full gallop
to pay his devotions at that holy shrine. Some might be
slain, and some might be captured, but none were ever
known to abjure their creed, when thus taken on their way
to that sacred place. ^ Some Sikhs next succeeded in estab-
lishing a small fort at Dalhwal on the Ravi, and they were
unknown or disregarded, until considerable numbers
assembled and proceeded to levy contributions around
Eminabad, which lies to the north of Lahore. The marauders
were attacked, but the detachment of troops was repulsed
and its leader slain. A larger force pursued and defeated
them ; many prisoners were brought to Lahore, and the
scene of their execution is now known as ' Shahid Ganj ', or
the place of martyrs.^ It is further marked by the tomb of
Bhai Taru Singh, who was required to cut his hair and to
renounce his faith ; but the old companion of Guru Gobind
would yield neither his conscience nor the symbol of his con-
viction, and his real or pretended answer is preserved to the
present day. The hair, the scalp, and the skull, said he,
have a mutual connexion ; the head of man is linked with
life, and /«ewas prepared to yield his breath with cheerfulness.
The viceroyalty of Lahore was about this time contested
between the two sons of Zakariya Khan, the successor of
Abdus Samad, who defeated Banda. The younger. Shah
Nawaz Khan, displaced the elder, and to strengthen himself

emperor the provinces of Sindh and Kabul, and four districts of the
province of Lahore, lying near the Jhelum river.

Zakariya Khan, son of Abdul Samad, was viceroy of Lahore at
the time.

The defeat of the Delhi sovereign, and Nadir's entry into the
capital, took place on the 13th of February and early in March, 1739,
respectively, but were not known in London until the 1st of October,
so slow were the communications, and of so little importance was
Delhi to Englishmen, three generations ago. (Wade's Chronological
British History, p. 417.)

^ The author is quoted, but not named by Malcolm, Sketch, p. 88.

2 Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 13 ; Malcolm, Sketch, p. 86 ; and
Murray's Ranjit Singh, by Prinsep, p. 4. Yahya Khan, the elder son
of Zakariya Khan, was governor of the Punjab at the time.

1738-46.

Establish
a fort at
Dalhwal on
the Ravi :

but are at
last dis-
persed,
(about)
1745-6.

Ahmad
Shah's first
invasion of
India,
1747-8.

94 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, iv

1747-8. in his usurpation, he opened a correspondence with Ahmad

Shah Abdali, who became master of Afghanistan on the

assassination of Nadir Shah, in June 1747. The Durrani

king soon collected round his standard numbers of the hardy

tribes of Central Asia, who delight in distant inroads and

successful rapine. He necessarily looked to India as the

most productive field of conquest or incursion, and he could

cloak his ambition under the double pretext of the tendered

allegiance of the governor of Lahore, and of the favourable

reception at Delhi of Ms enemy, Nadir Shah's fugitive

governor of Kabul. ^ Alimad Shah crossed the Indus : but

the usurping viceroy of Lahore had been taunted with his

treason; generosity prevailed over policy, and he resolved

upon opposing the advance of the Afghans. He was defeated,

and the Abdali became master of the Punjab. The Shah

pursued his march to Sirhind, where he was met by the

Retires Wazir of the declining empire. Some desultory skirmishing

hind and is ^^^^ ^^^ more decisive action took place, but the result of

-harassed bj' the whole was SO unfavourable to the invader that he pre-

the Sikhs, cipitately recrossed the Punjab, and gave an opportunity

1748. to the watchful Sikhs of harassing his rear and of gaining

confidence in their own prowess. The minister of Delhi was

killed by a cannon ball during the short campaign, but the

MirMannu gallantry and the services of his son, Mir Mannu, had been

fu^p"°?^ °^ conspicuous, and he became the viceroy of Lahore and

Multan, under the title of Muln-ul-mulk.^

MirMannu The new governor was a man of vigour and ability, but

rules vigor- j^jg object was rather to advance his .own interests than to
ously, and "' . . « , .

employs serve the emperor ; and m the admmistration of his pro-

KauraMal yinces he could trust to no feelings save those which he

and Adina „ . • , -r^ • i- • T • i i

Beg Khan, personally inspired. He judiciously retamed the services

1748. Qf t^Q experienced men, Kaura Mai and Adina Beg Khan,

the one as his immediate deputy, and the other as the

manager of the Jullundur Doab. Both had dealt skilfully

^ Cf . Murray's Ranjit Singh, by Prinsep, p. 9, and Browne, hidia
Tracts, ii. 15. Nasir Khan, the governor, hesitated about marrying
his daughter to Ahmad Shah, one of another race, as well as about
rendering obedience to him as sovereign. Cf., however, Elphinstone
(Accountof Kahul,i\.2%5), who makes no mention of these particulars.

2 Cf. Elphinstone, Kabul, \i. 285, 286, and Murray's Eanjlt Singh,
pp. 6-8.

CHAP. IV

ARMY OF THE KHALSA

95

for the times with the insurrectionary Sikhs, who continued
to press themselves more and more on the attention of their
unloyal governors.^ During the invasion of Ahmad Shah
they had thrown up a fort close to Amritsar, called the
Ram Rauni, and one of their most able leaders had arisen,
Jassa Singh Kalal, a brewer or distiller, who boldly pro-
claimed the birth of a new power in the state — the ' Dal '
of the ' Khalsa ', or army of the theocracy of ' Singhs '.^
As soon as Mir Mannu had established his authority, he
marched against the insurgents, captured their fort, dis-
persed their troops, and took measures for the general
preservation of good order." His plans were interrupted by
the rumoured approach of a second Afghan invasion ; he
marched to the Chenab to repel the danger, and he dispatched
agents to the Durrani camp to avert it by promises and
concessions. Ahmad Shah's own rule was scarcely consoli-
dated, he respected the ability of the youth who had
checked him at Sirhind, and he retired across the Indus on
the stipulation that the revenues of four fruitful districts
should be paid to him as they had been paid to Nadir Shah,
from whom he pretended to derive his title.*

Mir Mannu gained applause at Delhi for the success of his
measures, but his ambition was justly dreaded by the Wazir
Safdar Jang, who knew his own designs on Oudh, and felt
that the example would not be lost on the son of his pre-

1 Kaura Mai was himself a follower of Nanak, without having
adopted the tenets of Gobind. (Forster, Travels, i. 314.) Adina Beg
Khan was appointed manager of the Jullundur Doab by Zakariya
Khan, with orders to coerce the Sikhs after Nadir Shah's retirement.
(Browne, India Tracts, ii. 14.)

2 Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 16, who gives Charsa Singh, Tuka
Singh, and liirwar Singh, as the confederates of Jassa Kalal.

^ Both Kaura Mai and Adina Beg, but especially the former, the
one from predilection, and the other from policy, are understood to
have dissuaded Mir Mannu from proceeding to extremities against the
Sikhs. Cf. Browne, Tracts, ii. 16, and Forster, Travels, i. 314, 315,
327, 328, which latter, however, justly observes, that Mannu had
objects in view of greater moment to himself than the suppression of
an infant sect.

* The Afghans state that Mir Mannu also became the Shah's tribu-
tary for the whole of the Punjab, and, doubtless, he promised anything
to get the invader away and to be left alone. (Cf. Elphinstone, Kabul,
ii. 286, and Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 9, 10.)

1748.

But the
Sikhs re-
appear, and
Jassa Singh
Kalal pro-
claims the
existence of
the ' Dal '
or army of
the Khalsa.
Mannu dis-
perses the
Sikhs, and
comes to
terms with
Almiad
Shiih, who
had again
crossed the
Indus, end
of 1748.

Mir Mannu
breaks with
Delhi by
resisting
his super-
cession in
Multan ;

96 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, iv

1749-52. decessor. It was proposed to reduce his power by conferring
the province of Multan on Shah Nawaz Khan, whom Mir
Mannu himself had supplanted in Lahore ; ^ but Mannu
had an accurate knowledge of the imperial power and of
his own resources, and he sent his deputy, Kaura Mai, to
resist the new governor. Shah Nawaz Klian was defeated
and slain, and the elated viceroy conferred the title of
Maharaja on his successful follower.^ This virtual inde-
pendence of Delhi, and the suppression of Sikli disturbances,
emboldened Mannu to persevere in his probably original
design, and to withliold the promised tribute from Ahmad
and with- Shah. A pretence of demanding it was made, and the
holds tn- payment of all arrears was offered, but neither party felt that
Ahmad the Other could be trusted, and the Afghan king marched

Shah, who towards Lahore. Mannu made a show of meeting him on

crosses the *'

Indus for the frontier, but finally he took up an entrenched position

the third under the walls of the city. Had he remained on the defen-

time, *'

1749-51. sive the Abdali might probably have been foiled, but, after

Abdali a four months' beleaguer, he was tempted to risk an action.
L^or^e Kaura Mai was killed ; Adlna Beg scarcely exerted himself ;
1752, Mannu saw that a prolonged contest would be ruinous, and

Mannu -^ he prudently retired to the citadel and gave in his adhesion
but retains to the conqueror. The Shah was satisfied with the surrender
eovemor of ^^ ^ considerable treasure and with the annexation of Lahore
the Punjab, and Multan to his dominions. He expressed his admiration
April 175... ^£ Mannu's spirit as a leader, and efficiency as a manager,
and he continued him as his own delegate in the new acquisi-
tions. The Shah took measures to bring Kashmir also under
his sway, and then retired towards his native country.^
The Sikhs This second capture of Lahore by strangers necessarily

gradually weakened the administration of the province, and the Sikhs,
increase in f j '

strength; ever ready to rise, again became troublesome ; but Adlna

Beg found it advisable at the time to do away with the

1 Hayatulla Khan, the younger son of Zakariya Khan, is stated in
local Multan chronicles to have held that province when Nadir Shah
entered Siad, in 1739-40, to fairly settle and subdue it, and to have
then tendered his allegiance to the Persian conqueror, from whom he
received the title of Shah Nawaz Khan.

2 Cf . Murray's Ranjit Singh, p. 10.

3 Cf. Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 288, and Murray's Ranjit Singh,
pp. 10, 13.

CH.U'. IV

JASSA THE CARPENTER

hi

suspicions which attached to his inaction at Laliore, and to
the belief that he temporized with insurgent peasantry for
purposes of his own. He was required to bring tlie Sikhs
to order, for they had virtually possessed themselves of the
country lying between Amritsar and the hills. He fell
suddenly upon them during a day of festival at Makliowal,
and gave them a total defeat. But his object was still to be
thought their friend, and he came to an understanding with
them that their payment of their own rents should be nomi-
nal or limited, and their exactions from others moderate or
systematic. He took also many of them into his pay ; one
of the number being Jassa Singh, a carpenter, who after-
wards became a chief of consideration.^

Mir Mannu died a few months after the re-establishment
of his authority as the deputy of a new master.^ His widow
succeeded in procuring the acknowledgement of his infant
son as viceroy under her own guardianship, and she en-
deavoured to stand equally well with the court of Delhi and
with the Durrani king. She professed submission to both,
and she betrothed her daughter to Ghazi-ud-din, the grand-
son of the first Nizam of the Deccan, who had supplanted
the viceroy of Oudh as the minister of the enfeebled empire
of India.^ But the Wazir wished to recover a province for
his sovereign, as well as to obtain a bride for himself. He
proceeded to Lahore and removed his enraged mother-in-
law ; and the Punjab remained for a time under the nominal
rule of Adlna Beg Khan, until Alimad Shah again marched
and made it his own. The Durrani king passed through
Lahore in the winter of 1755-6, leaving his son Taimur under
the tutelage of a chief, named Jahan Khan, as governor.
The Shah likewise annexed Sirhind to his territories, and
although he extended his pardon to Ghazi-ud-dln personally,
he did not return to Kandahar until he had plundered Delhi

^ Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 17, and Malcolm, Sketch, p. 82.

2 Forster (Travels, i. 315) and Malcolm {Sketch, p. 92), say 1752.
Browne (Tracts, ii. 18) gives the Hijri year, 1165, which corresponds
with A. D. 1751, 1752. Murray (Ranjlt Singh, p. 13) simply says
Mannu did not long survive his submission, but Elphinstone ( Kabul,
ii. 288) gives 1756 as the date of the viceroy's death.

^ The original name of Ghazi-ud-din was Shahab-ud-din, cor-
rupted into Sahoodeen and Shaodeen by the Marathas.

1752-6.

but are de-
feated by
Adina Beg,
who never-
theless
gives them
favourable
terms, a.d.
1752.

Jassa the
carpenter.

Mir Mannu
dies, and
Lahore is
reannexed
to Delhi,
end of
1752.

Ahmad
Shah's
fourth in-
vasion.
Prince Tai-
mur, go-
vernor of
the Punjab,
and Najib
ud-daula
placed at

98

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. IV

1756-8.

the head of
the Delhi
army,
1755-6.

Taiinur
expels the
Sikhs from
Amritsar.

But the
Afghans
- eventually
retire, and
the Sikhs
occupy
Lahore
and coin
money,
1756-8.

and Mathura, and placed Najib-ud-daula, a Rohilla leader,
near the person of the Wazlr's puppet king, as the titular
commander of the forces of the Delhi empire, and as the
eflieient representative of Abdali interests.^

Prince Taimur's first object was to thoroughly disperse
the insurgent Sikhs, and to punish Adina Beg for the support
which he had given to the Delhi minister in recovering
Lahore. Jassa, the carpenter, had restored the Ram Rauni
of Amritsar ; that place was accordingly attacked, the fort
was levelled, the buildings were demolished, and the sacred
reservoir was filled with the ruins. Adina Beg would not
trust the prince, and retired to the hills, secretly aiding and
encouraging the Sikhs in their desire for revenge. They
assembled in great numbers, for the faith of Gobind was
the living conviction of hardy single-minded villagers,
rather than the ceremonial belief of busy citizens, with
thoughts diverted bj^ the opposing interests and conven-
tional usages of artificial society. The country around La-
hore swarmed with horsemen ; the prince and his guardian
were wearied with their cumbrous efforts to scatter them,
and they found it prudent to retire towards the Chenab.
Lahore was temporarily occupied by the triumphant Sikhs,
and the same Jassa Singh, who had proclaimed the ' Khalsa '
to be a state and to possess an army, now gave it another
• symbol of substantive power. He used the mint of the
Mughals to strike a rupee bearing the inscription, ' Coined
by the grace of the " Khalsa " in the country of Ahmad,
conquered by Jassa the Kalal.' ^

1 Cf. Forster, TrawZs,i.316,317; Browne, Tracts, ii. 48 ; Malcolm,
Sketch, pp. 92, 94 ; Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 288, 289 ; and Murray,
Ranjit Singh, pp. 14, 15.

During the nominal viceroyalty of Mir Mannu's widow, one Bikari
Khan played a conspicuous part as her deputy. He was finally put
to death by the lady as one who designed to supplant her authority ;
but he was, nevertheless, supposed to have been her paramour.
(Cf. Browne, ii. 18, and Murray, p. 14.) The gilt mosque at Lahore
was built by this Bikari Khan.

2 Cf . Browne, Tracts, ii. 19 ; Malcolm, Sketch, p. 93, &c. ; Elphin-
stone, Kabul, ii. 289 ; and Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 15.

Elphinstone, using Afghan accounts, says Adina Beg defeated a
body of Taimur troops ; and Murray, using apparently the accounts of
Punjab Muhammadans, omits the occupation of Lahore by the Sikha.

THE SIKHS COIN MONEY

99

The Delhi minister had about this time called in the
Marjlthas to enable him to expel Najlb-ud-daula, who, by
liis own address and power, and as the agent of Ahmad Shah
Abdali, had become paramount in the imperial councils.
Ghazi-ud-dln easily induced Ragliuba, the Peshwa's
brother, to advance ; Delhi was occupied by the Marathas,
and Najib-ud-daula escaped with difficulty. Adina Beg
found the Sikhs less willing to defer to him than he had
hoped ; they were, moreover, not powerful enough to
enable him to govern the Punjab unaided, and he accordingly
invited the Marathas to extend their arms to the Indus.
He had also a body of Sikh followers, and he marched from
the Jumna in company with Raghuba. Ahmad Shah's
governor of Sirhind was expelled, but AdIna Beg's Sikli
allies incensed the Marathas by anticipating them in the
])lunder of the town, which, after two generations of rapine,
they considered as peculiarly their right. The Sikhs eva-
cuated Lahore, and the several Afghan garrisons retired and
left the Marathas masters of Multan and of Attock, as well
as of the capital itself. Adlna Beg became the governor of
the Punjab, but his vision of complete independence was
arrested by death, and a few months after he had established
his authority he was laid in his grave. ^ The Marathas
seemed to see all India at their feet, and they concerted
witli Ghazi-ud-din a scheme pleasing to both, the reduction
of Oudh and the expulsion of the Rohillas.^ But the loss of
the Punjab brought Ahmad Shah a second time to the
banks of the Jumna, and dissipated for ever the Maratha
dreams of supremacy.^

The Durrani king marched from Baluchistan up the
Indus to Peshawar, and thence across the Punjab. His
presence caused Multan and Lahore to be evacuated by the
Marathas, and his approach induced the Wazir Ghazi-ud-
din to take the life of the emperor, while the young prince,

1 Cf . Browne, India Tracts,ii. 19, 20 ; Forster, Travels, i. 317, 318 ;
Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 290 ; and Grant Duff, History of the Mara-
thas, ii. 132. Adina Beg appears to have died before the end of 1758.

2 Cf . Elphinstone, History of India, ii. 669, 670.

^ Najib-ud-daula, and the Rohillas likewise, urged Ahmad to
return, when they saw their villages set on flames by the Marathas.
(Elphinstone, India, ii. 670, and Browne, Tracts, ii. 20.)

H2

1758-61.

The Jlarfi-
thas at
Delhi, 1758.

Maratha
aid against
the Afghans
sought by
Adlna Beg
Khan.

Eaghuba
enters La-
hore, and
appoints
Acuna Beg
viceroy of
the Punjab,
May 1758.
Adlna Beg
dies, end of
1758.

Ahmad
Shah's fifth
expedition,
1759-61.

100 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, iv

1760-1. afterwards Shah Alam, was absent endeavouring to gain
strength by an alliance with the English, the new masters
of Bengal. The Maratha commanders, Sindhia and Holkar,

Delhi occu- were separately overpowered ; the Afghan king occupied

pied by the jjgUij ^nd then advanced towards the Ganges to engage

Afghans, ' o o »

but after- Shuja-ud-daula, of Oudh, in the general confederacy against

wards ^-j^g southern Hindus, who were about to make an effort for

by the the final extinction of the Muhammadan rule. A new

?7fin '^^^^' commander, untried in the northern wars, but accompanied

by the Peshwa's heir and by all the Maratha chiefs of name,

was advancing from Poona, confident in his fortune and in

his superior numbers. Sedasheo Rao easily expelled the

Afghan detachment from Delhi, while the main body was

occupied in the Doab, and he vainly talked of proclaiming

The Mara- young Wiswas Rao to be the paramount of India. But

thas signal- Ahmad Shah gained his great victory of Panlpat in the

at Panlpat, beginning of 1761, and both the influence of the Peshwa

and expel- among his own people, and the power of the Marathas in
led tempo- ,^. , _ . , , , „ ... .^. „ „

rarilyfrom Hindustan, received a blow, trom which neither lully re-
Upper covered, and which, indirectly, aided the accomplishment
Jan., 1761. of their desires by almost unheeded foreigners.^

The Afghan king returned to Kabul immediately after

the battle, leaving deputies in Sirhind and Lahore,- and the

Sikhs only appeared, during this campaign, as predatory

The Sikhs bands hovering round the Durrani army ; but the absence

"t"^^ d ■ ^^ ^^^ regular government gave them additional strength,

the open and they became not only masters of their own villages, but

country. began to erect forts for the purpose of keeping stranger

communities in check. Among others Charat Singh, the

grandfather of Ranjit Singh, established a stronghold of

the kind in his wife's village of Gujrnauli (or Gujranwala),

to the northward of Lahore. The Durrani governor, or his

deputy, Kliwaja Obed, went to reduce it in the beginning

1 Browne, Itidia Tracts, ii. 20, 21 ; Elphinstone, History of India,
ii. 670, &c. ; and Murray, Ran jit Singh, pp. 17, 20.

Elphinstone says the Maratha leader only delayed to proclaim
Wiswas the paramount of Hindustan until the Durranis should be
driven across the Indus. See also Grant DufiE, History of the Marathas,
ii. 142 and note.

2 Baland Khan in Lahore, and Zain Khan in Sirhind, according to
Browne, India Tracts, ii. 21, 23.

CHAP. IV THE AFGHANS AND MARATHAS

101

of 1762/ and the Siklis assembled for its relief. The Afghan
was repulsed, he left his baggage to be plundered, and fled
to shut himself up within the walls of Lahore.- The governor
of Sirhind held his ground better, for he was assisted by an
active Muhammadan leader of the country, Hinghan Khan
of Maler Kotla ; but the Siklis resented this hostility of an
Indian Pathan as they did the treason of a Hindu religionist
of Jindiala, who wore a sword like themselves, and yet
adhered to Ahmad Shah, The ' army of the Khalsa '
asseinbled at Aniritsar, the faithful performed their ablu-
tions in the restored pool, and perhaps the first regular
' Gurumatta ', or diet for conclave, was held on this occasion.
The possessions of Hinghan Khan were ravaged, and
Jindiala was invested, preparatory to attempts of greater
moment.^

But the restless Alimad Shah was again at hand. This
prince, the very ideal of the Afghan genius, hardy and
enterprising, fitted for conquest, yet incapable of empire,
seemed but to exist for the sake of losing and recovering
provinces. He reached Lahore towards the end of 1762,
and the Siklis retired to the south of the Sutlej, perhaps
with some design of joining their brethren who were watching
Sirhind, and of overpowering Zain Ivlian the governor,
before they should be engaged with Ahmad Shah himself ;
but in two long and rapid marches from Lahore, by way of
Ludhiana, the king came up with the Siklis when they were
about to enter into action with his lieutenant. He gave
them a total defeat, and the iVIuhammadans were as active
in the pursuit as they had been ardent in the attack. The
Sikhs are variously reported to have lost from twelve to
twenty-five thousand men, and the rout is still familiarly

1761-2.

Gujraiiwala
success-
fully defen-
ded by
Charat
Singh, and
the Durra-
nis con-
fined to
Lahore,
1761-2.
The Siklis
assemble
at -:Vmrit-
sar, and
ravage the
country on
either side
of the
Sutlej.
Ahmad
Shah"s
sixth inva-
sion, 1762.

The ' Ghu-
lu Ghara ',
or great de-
feat of the
Siklis near
Ludhiana,
Feb. 1762.

^ Murray {Ranjlt Singh, p. 21) makes Khwaja Obed the governor,
and he may have succeeded or represented Balaud Khan, whom
other accounts show to have occasionally resided at Rohtas. Gui-
ranwala is the more common, if less ancient, form of the name of the
village attacked. It was also the place of Ranjlt Singh's birth, and
is now a fair-sized and thriving town. (Cf. Munshi Shahamat All's
Sikhs and Afghans, p. 51.)

2 Murray, Ranjlt Siwjh, pp. 22, 23.

^ Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 22, 23 ; and Murray, Ranjlt Sinyh,
p. 23.

102

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. IV

1762-3.

Alha Singh
of Patiala.

Kabuli Mai
governor of
Lahore.

Ahmad
Shah re-
tires after
committing
various ex-
cesses, end
of 1762.

The Sikhs
continue to
increa.se in
strength.

Kaaur
plundered.

The

Afghans
defeated,
Doc. 1763.

known as the ' Ghulu Ghara ', or great disaster.^ Allia
Singh, the founder of the present family of Patiala, was
among the prisoners, -but his manly deportment pleased
the warlike king, and the conqueror may not have been
insensible to the policy of widening the diiference between
a Malwa and a Mdnjha Singh. He was declared a raja of
the state and dismissed with honour. The Shah had an
interview at Sirhind Avith his ally or dependent, Najlb-ud-
daula ; he made a Hindu, named Kabuli Mai, his governor
of Lahore, and then hastened towards Kandahar to suppress
an insurrection in that distant quarter ; but he first gratified
his own resentment, and indulged the savage bigotry of his
followers, by destroying the renewed temples of Amritsar,
by polluting the pool with slaughtered cows, by encasing
numerous pyramids with the heads of decapitated Siklis,
and by cleansing the walls of desecrated mosques with the
blood of his infidel enemies. ^

The Siklis were not cast down ; they received daily
accessions to their numbers ; a vague feeling that they
were a people had arisen among them ; all were bent on
revenge, and their leaders were ambitious of dominion and
of fame. Their first efforts were directed against the Pathan
colony of Kasur, which j)lace they took and plundered, and
they then fell upon and .slew their old enemy Hinghan Khan
of Maler Kotla. They next marched towards Sirhind, and
the court of Delhi was incapable of raising an arm in support
of Muhammadanism. Zain Ivlian, the Afghan governor,
gave battle to the true or probable nujnber of 40,000 Siklis
in the month of December 1763, but he was defeated and
slain, and the plains of Sirhind, from the Sutlej to the
Jumna, were occupied by the victors without further ojipo-
sition. Tradition still describes how the Sikhs dispersed
as soon as the battle Avas won, and how, riding day and
night, each horseman would throw his belt and scabbard,
his articles of dress and accoutrement, until he was almost

^ The scene of the fight lay between Gujerwal and Bcrnala, perhaps
twenty miles south from Ludhiana. Hinghan Khan, of Maler Kotla,
seems to have guided the Shah. Cf . Browne, Tracts, ii. 23 ; Forster,
Travels, i. 310 ; and Murray, Ranjlt Siiujh, pp. 23, 25. The action
appears to have been fought in February 1762.

^ Cf. Forster, Travels, i. 32U ; and Murraj% Raujlt Siiu/h, p. 25.

CHAP. IV

INCREASE OF SIKH POWER

103

naked, into successive villages, to mark them as his. Sirhind
itself was totally destroyed, and the feeling still lingers
which makes it meritorious to carry away a brick from the
place which witnessed the death of the mother and children
of Gobind Singh. The impulse of victory swept the Siklis
across the Jumna, and their presence in Saharanpur recalled
Najib-ud-daula from his contests with the Jats, under
Suraj Mai, to protect his own principality, and he found it
prudent to use negotiation as well as force, to induce the
invaders to retire. ^

Najib-ud-daula was successful against the Jats, and Stiraj
Mai was killed in fight ; but the wazir, or regent, was him-
self besieged in Delhi, in 1764, by the son of the deceased
chief, and the heir of Bhartpur was aided by a large body of
Sikhs, as well as of Marathas more accustomed to defy the
imperial power .^ The loss of Sirhind had brought Ahmad
Shah a seventh time across the Indus, and the danger of
Najib-ud-daula led him onwards to the neighbourhood of
the Jumna ; but the siege of Delhi being raised — partly
through the mediation or the defection of the IMaratha chief,
Holkar, and the Shah having perhaps rebellions to suppress
in his native provinces, hastened back without making any
effective attempt to recover Sirhind. He was content with
acknowledging Alha Singh of Patiala as governor of the
province on his part, that chief having opportunely pro-
cured the town itself in exchange from the descendant of
an old companion of the Guru's, to whom the confederates
had assigned it. The Sikh accounts do not allow that the
Shah retired unmolested, but describe a long and arduous
contest in the vicinity of Amritsar, wiiich ended without
either party being able to claim a victoiy, although it
precipitated the already hurried retirement of the Afghans.
The Siklis found little difficulty in ejecting Kabuli Mai, the
governor of Lahore, and the whole country, from the
Jhelum to the Sutlej, was partitioned among chiefs and

^ Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 21, and Murray, JiaiijitSitifjh, pp. 26,
27. Some accounts represent the Sikhs to have also become tempo-
rarily possessed of Lahore at this period.

^ Cf. Browne, Traces, ii. 24. Sikh tradition still preserves the names
•of the chiefs who plundered the vegetable market at Delhi on this
occasion.

1763-4.

Sirhind
taken and
destroyed,
and the
province
pemia-
nently oc-
cupied bv
the Sikhs.

The Sikhs
aid the Jats
of Bhart-
pur in
besieging
Delhi, 1764.

Ahmad
Shah's
seventh ex-
pedition
and speed J'
retirement.

Tlie Sikhs
become
masters of
Lahore.

104 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, iv

1764. their followers, as the plains of Sirhind had been divided in

the year previous. Numerous mosques were demolished,
and Afghans in chains were made to wash the foundations
A general ^ith the blood of hogs. The chiefs then assembled at
held at Am- Amritsar, and proclaimed their own sway and the preva-
ritsar, and lence of their faith, by striking a coin with an inscription to
established th^ effect that Guru Gobind had received from Nanak
a-s a ruhng ' Deg, Tegh, and Fath ', or Grace, Power, and Rapid

■ Victory.^

The Sikhs The Sikhs were not interfered with for two years, and the

intlTa poll- ^'lort interval was employed in ascertaining their actual

tical sys- possessions, and in determining their mutual relations in

^"^' their unaccustomed condition of liberty and power. Every

Sikh was free, and each was a substantive member of the

commonwealth ; but their means, their abilities, and their

opportunities were various and unequal, and it was soon

found that all could not lead, and that there were even then

which maj' masters as well as servants. Their system naturally re-

theocratic solved itself into a theocratic confederate feudalism, with

confederate all the confusion and uncertainty attendant upon a triple

alliance of the kind in a society half-barbarous. God was

their helper and only judge, community of faith or object

was their moving principle, and warlike array, the devotion

to steel of Gobind, was their material instrument. Year bj'

year the ' Sarbat Khalsa ', or whole Sikli people, met once

at least at Amritsar, on the occasion of the festival of the

1 Cf. Browne, India Tracts,n. 25, 27 ; For^ter, Travels,!. 321, 323 ;
Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 296, 297? and Murray, Ranjtt Singh, pp. 26, 27.

The rupees struck were called ' Gobindshahi ', and the use of the
emperor's name was rejected (Browne, Tracts, \\. 28), although exist-
ing coins show that it was afterwards occasionally inserted by petty
chiefs. On most coins struck by Ranjit Singh is the inscription,
' Deg, tegh, wa fath, wa nasrat be darang
Yaft az Nanak Gurii Gobind Singh ',
that is, literally, ' Grace, power, and victory, victoj-y without
pause. Guru Gobind Singh obtained from Nanak.' For some observa-
tions on the words Deg, and Tegh, and Fath, see Appendices IX and
XII. Browne {Tracts, ii. Introd. vii) gives no typical import to ' Deg ',
and therefore leaves it meaningless ; but he is perliaps more prudent
than Col. Sleeman, who writes of ' the sword, the 2^ot victory, and
conquest being quickly found', &c. &c. (See Eamhles of an Indian
Official, ii. 233, note.)

CHAP. IV INDEPENDENCE OF THE SIKHS 105

mythological Rama, when the cessation of tiic periodical 1764.
rains rendered military operations practicable. It was
perhaps hoped that the performance of religious duties, and
the awe inspired by so holy a place, might cause selfishness
to yield to a regard for the general welfare, and the assembly
of chiefs was termed a ' Guriimatta ', to denote that, in Their Gu-
conformity with Gobind's injunction, they sought wisdom rumattas,
and unanimity of counsel from their teacher and the book
of his word.^ The leaders who thus piously met, owned no
subjection to one another, and they were imperfectly obeyed
by the majority of their followers ; but the obvious feudal, or
military notion of a chain of dependence, was acknowledged
as the law, and the federate chiefs partitioned their joint
conquests equally among themselves, and divided their
respective shares in the same manner among their own
leaders of bands, while these again subdivided their portions
among their own dependents, agreeably to the general
custom of subinfeudation.^ This positive or understood
rule was not, however, always applicable to actual condi-
tions, for the Sikhs were in part of their possessions ' earth -

1 ' Mat ' means understanding, and ' Matta ' counsel or wisdom.
Hence Gurumatta becomes, literally, ' the advice of the Guru.'

Malcolm (Sketch, p. 52) considers, and Browne (Tracts, ii. vii) leaves
it to be implied, that Gobind directed the assemblage of Gurumatta ;
but there is no authority for believing that he ordained any formal
or particular institution, although, doubtless, the general scope of
his injunctions, and the peculiar political circumstances of the times,
gave additional force to the practice of holding diets or conclaves —
a practice common to mankind everywhere, and systematized in
India from time immemorial. Cf. Forster, Travels, i. 328, &c., for
some observations on the transient Sikh government of the time,
and on the more enduring characteristics of the people. See also
Malcolm, Sketch, p. 120, for the ceremonial forms of a Gurumatta.

- Cf. Mui-ray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 33-7. From tracts of country
which the Sikhs subdued but did not occupy, ' Rakhi ' (literally,
protection money) was regularly levied. The Rakhi varied in amount
from perhaps a fifth to a half of the rental or government share of the
produce. It corresponded with the Maratha ' Chowt ', or fourth, and
both terms meant ' blackmail ', or, in a higher sense, tribtite. Cf.
Browne, India Tracts, ii. viii,and Murray, Eanjtt Singh, p. 32. The
subdivisions of property were sometimes so minute that two, or three,
or ten Sikhs might become co-partners in the rental of one village, or
in the house tax of one street of a town, while the fact that jurisdiction
accompanied such right increased the confusion.

106 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, iv

1764. born ', or many held lands in which the mere withdrawal of

a central authority had left theni wholly independent of
control. In theory such men were neither the subjects nor
the retainers of any feudal chief, and they could transfer
their services to whom they pleased, or they could them-
selves become leaders, and acquire new lands for their own
The system use in the name of the Khalsa or commonwealth.^ It would
vised, or ^e idle to call an everchanging state of alliance and depen-
knowingl}' dence by the name of a constitution, and we must look for
and there- ^^^^ existence of the faint outline of a system, among the
fore incoin- emancipated Sikhs, rather in the dictates of our common
temporary, ^lature, than in the enactments of assemblies, or in the
injxinctions of their religious guides. It was soon apparent
that the strong were ever ready to make themselves obeyed,
and ever anxious to appropriate all within their power, and
that unity of creed or of race nowhere deters men from
preying upon one another. A full persuasion of God's grace
was nevertheless present to the mind of a Sikli, and every
member of that faith continues to defer to the mystic
Khalsa ; but it requires the touch of genius, or the operation
of peculiar circumstances, to give direction and complete
effect to the enthusiastic belief of a nmltitude.
The con- The confederacies into which the Sikhs resolved them-

called l\Iis- selves have been usually recorded as twelve in number,
als. .and the term used to denote such a union was the Arabic

word ' Misal ', alike or equal.- Each Misal obeyed or
followed a ' Sirdar ', that is, simply, a chief or leader ; but
so general a title was as applicable to the head of a small
band as to the commander of a large host of the free and
equal ' Singhs ' of the system. The confederacies did not
all exist in their full strength at the same time, but one
' Misal ' gave birth to another ; for the federative principle
, necessarily pervaded the union, and an aspiring chief could

1 Hallam shows that the Anglo-Saxon freeholder had a similar
latitude of ehoiee with regard to a lord or superior. (Middle Ages,
Supplemental Notes, p. 210.)

2 Notwithstanding this usual derivation of the term, it may be
remembered that the Arabic term ' Musluhut ' (spelt with another s
than that in ' misal' ) means armed men and warlike people. 'Misal',
moreover, means, in India, a lile of pajDers, or indeed anything serried
or placed in ranks.

CHAP. IV CONFEDERACIES OF THE SIKHS 107

separate himself from his immediate party, to form, perhaps, 1764.

a greater one of his own. The Misals were again distin- '^^jj^jj,
guished by titles derived from the name, the village, the names and
district, or the progenitor of the first or most eminent chief, P^' -^^
or from some peculiarity of custom or of leadership. Thus,
of the twelve : (1) the Bhangls were so called from the
real or fancied fondness of its members for the use of an
intoxicating drug ; ^ (2) the Nishdnias followed the standard
bearers of the united army ; (3) the Shahids and Nihangs
were headed by the descendants of honoured martyrs and
zealots ; (4) the Rdmgarhias took their name from the
Ram Rauni, or Fortalice of God, at Amritsar, enlarged into
Ramgarh, or Fort of the Lord, by Jassa the Carpenter ;
(5) the Nakkais arose in a tract of country to the south of
Lahore so-called ; (6) the Ahluwalias derived their title
from the village in which Jassa, who first proclaimed the
existence of the army of the new theocracy, had helped his
father to distil spirits ; (7) the Ghanais or Kanhayds ; (8)
the Feizalapurias or Singhpurias ; (9) the Sukerchiikias,
and (10), perhaps, the Dallehivalas, were similarly so deno-
minated from the villages of their chiefs ; (11) the Krora
Singhias took the name of their third leader, but they were
sometimes called Punjgurhias, from the village of their first
chief ; and (12) the Phi'dkids went back to the common
ancestor of Alha Singh and other Sirdars of his family .-

1 Bhang is a product of the hemp plant, and it is to the Sikhs what
opium is to Rajputs, and strong liquor to Europeans. Its qualities
are abused to an extent prejudicial to the health and understanding.

^ Capt. Murray (Ranjlt Singh, pp. 29, &c.) seems to have been the
first who perceived and jjointed out the Sikh system of ' Misals '.
Neither the organization nor the term is mentioned specifically bj'
Forster, or Browne, or Malcolm, and at first Sir David Ochterlony
considered and acted as if ' misal ' meant tribe or race, instead of
party or confederacy. (Sir D. Ochterlony to the Government of
India, December 30, 1809.) The succession to the leadership of the
Krora Singhia confederacy may be mentioned as an instance of the
uncertainty and irregularity natural to the system of ' Misals ', and
indeed to all jjowers in process of change or development. The founder
was succeeded by his nephew, but that nephew left his authority to
Ki'ora Singh, a petty personal follower, who again bequeathed the
command to Baghel Singh, his own menial servant. The reader will
remember the parallel instance of Alfteghin and Sebekteghin, and it
is cm'ious that Mr. Macaulay notices a similar kind of descent among

108

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. IV

1764.

The rela-
tive pre-
eminence of
the ]Misals
or con-
federacies.

The origi-
nal and
acquired
possessions
of the
Misals.

Of the Misals, all save that of Phulkia arose in the Punjab
or to the north of the Sutlej, and they were termed Mdnjha
Singhs, from the name of the country around Lahore, and
in contradistinction to the Mdlwd Singhs, so called from the
general appellation of the districts lying between Sirhind
and Sirsa. The Feizulapurias, the Ahluwalias, and the
Ramgarhias, were the first who arose to distinction in
Manjha, but the Bhangis soon became so predominant as
almost to be supreme ; they were succeeded to some extent
in this pre-eminence by the Ghanais, an offshoot of the
Feizulapurias, until all fell before Ranjit Singh and the
Sukerchukias. In Malwa the Phiilkias always admitted
the superior merit of the Patiala branch ; this dignity was
confirmed by Ahmad Shah's bestowal of a title on Alha
Singh, and the real strength of the confederacy made it
perhaps inferior to the Bhangis alone. The Nishanias and
Shahids scarcely formed Misals in the conventional meaning
of the term, but complementary bodies set apart and
honoured by all for particular reasons.^ The Nakkais never
achieved a high power or name, and the Dallehwalas and
Krora Singhias, an offshoot of the Feizulapurias, acquired
nearly all their possessions by the capture of Sirhind ; and
although the last obtained a great reputation, it never
became predominant over others.

The native possessions of the Bhangis extended north,
from their cities of Lahore and Amritsar to the Jhelum, and
then down that river. The Ghanais dwelt between Amritsar
and the hills. The Sukerchukias lived south of the Bhangis,
between the Chenab and Ravi. The Nakkais held along the
Ravi, south-west of Lahore. The Feizulapurias possessed
tracts along the right bank of the Beas and of the Sutlej,
below its junction. The Ahluwalias similarly occupied the

the English admirals of the seventeenth century, viz. from chief to
cabin-boy, in the cases of Myngs, Narborough, and )Shovel [History
of Englaiid, i. 306).

^ Perhaps Capt. Murray is scarcely warranted in making the Nisha-
nias and Shahids regular Misals. Other bodies, especially to the west-
ward of the Jhelum, might, with equal reason, have been held to
represent separate confederacies. Capt. Murray, indeed, in such
matters of detail, merely expresses the local opinions of the neighbour-
hood of the Sutlej.

CHAP. IV CONFEDERACIES OF THE SIKHS

109

left bank of the former river. The Dallehwalas possessed
themselves of the right bank of the Upper Sutlej, and the
Ramgarhias lay in between these last two, but towards the
hills. The Krora Singhias also held lands in the Jullundur
Doab. The Phulkias were native to the country about
Sunam and Bhatinda, to the south of the Sutlej, and the
Shahlds and Nishanias do not seem to have possessed any
villages which they did not hold by conquest ; and thus
these two Misals, along with those of Manjha, who captured
Sirhind, viz. the Bhangis, the Ahluwalias, the Dallehwalas,
the Ramgarhias, and the Krora Singhias, divided among
themselves the plains lying south of the Sutlej and under
the hills from Ferozepore to Karnal, leaving to their allies,
the Phulkias, the lands between Sirhind and Delhi, which
adjoined their own possessions in Malwa.'^

The number of horsemen which the Siklis could muster
have been variously estimated from seventy thousand to
four times that amount, and the relative strength of each
confederacy is equally a subject of doubt. ^ All that is
certain is the great superiority of the Bhangis, and the low
position of the Nakkais and Sukerchukias. The first could
jjerhaps assemble 20,000 men, in its widely scattered posses-
sions, and the last about a tenth of that number ; and the
most moderate estimate of the total force of the nation may
likewise be assumed to be the truest. All the Siklis were
horsemen, and among a half-barbarous people dwelling on
plains, or in action with undisciplined forces, cavalry must
ever be the most formidable arm. The Siklis speedily
became famous for the effective use of the matchlock when
mounted, and this skill is said to have descended to them

1764.

The gross
forces of
the Sikhs,
and the
relative
strength of
the Misals.

^ Dr. Macgregor, in his History of the Sikhs (i. 28, &c.), gives an
abstract of some of the ordinary accounts of a few of the Misals.

* Forster, in 1783 {Travels, i. 333), said the Sikh forces were esti-
mated at 300,000, but might be taken at 200,000. Browne [Tracts,
Illustrative Map) about the same period enumerates 73,000 horsemen
and 25,000 foot. Twenty years afterwards Col. Francklin said, in one
work {Life of Shah Alam, note, p. 75), that the Sikhs mustered
248,000 cavalry, and in another book {Life of George Thomas, p. 68
note) that they could not lead into action more than 64,000. George
Thomas himself estimated their strength at 60,000 horse and 5,000
foot. [Life, by Francklin, p. 274.)

110 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, iv

1764. . from their ancestors, in whose hands the bow was a fatal

weapon. Infantry were almost solely used to garrison forts,

or a man followed a misal on foot, until plunder gave him

a horse or the means of buying one. Cannon was not used

by the early Sikhs, and its introduction was very gradual,

for its possession implies wealth, or an organization both

civil and military.^

Besides the regular confederacies, with their moderate

degree of subordination, there was a body of men who

threw off all subjection to earthly governors, and who

peculiarly represented the religious element of Sildiism.

The order These were the ' Akalis ', the immortals, or rather the

of Akahs. gQidigj-g Qf God, who, with their blue dress and bracelets of

steel, claimed for themselves a direct institution by Gobind

Theirorigin Singh. The Guru had called upon njen to sacrifice every-

and prin- ^j^i^o- for their faith, to leave their homes and to follow the

ciples of " '

action. profession of arms ; but he and all his predecessors had

likewise denounced the inert asceticism of the Hindu sects,

and thus the fanatical feeling of a Sikli took a destructive

turn. The Akalis formed themselves in their struggle to

reconcile warlike activity with the relinquishment of the

world. The meek and humble were satisfied with the

assiduous performance of menial offices in temples, but the

fierce enthusiasm of others prompted them to act from time

•to time as the armed guardians of Amritsar, or suddenly to

go where blind impulse might lead them, and to win their

daily bread, even single-handed, at the point of the sword. ^

^ George Thomas, giving the supposed status of a.d. 1800, says the
Sikhs had 40 pieces of field artillery. {Life, by Francklin, p. 274.)

2 Cf. Malcolm (Sketch, p. 116), who repeats, and apparently ac-
quiesces in, the opinion, that the Akalis were instituted as an order
by Guru Gobind. There is not, however, any writing of Gobind's on
. record, which shows that he wished the Sikh faith to be represented
by mere zealots, and it seems clear that the class of men arose as
stated in the text.

So strong is the feeling that a Sikh should work, or have an occupa-
tion, that one who abandons the world, and is not of a warlike turn,
will still employ himself in some way for the benefit of the community.
Thus the author once found an Akali repairing, or rather making,
a road, among precipitous ravines, from the plain of the Sutlej to the
petty town of Kiratpur. He avoided intercourse with the world
generally. He was highly esteemed by the people, who left food and

cii.^. IV THE AKALIS 111

They also took upon themselves something of the authority 1764.
of censors, and, although no leader appears to have fallen
by their hands for defection to the Ivlialsa, they inspired
awe as well as respect, and would sometimes plunder those
who had offended them or had injured the commonwealth.
The passions of the Akalis had full play until Ranjit Singh
became supreme, and it cost that able and resolute chief
much time and trouble, at once to suppress them, and to
preserve his own reputation with the people.

clothing at particular places for him, and his earnest persevering
character had made an evident impression on a Hindu shepherd boy,
who had adopted part of the Akali dress, and spoke with awe of the
devotee.

CHAPTER V

FROM THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE SIKHS TO
THE ASCENDANCY OF RANJIT SINGH AND
THE ALLIANCE WITH THE ENGLISH
1765—1808-9

Ahmad Shah's last Invasion of India — The Pre-eminence of the
BhangI Confederacy among the Sikhs — Taimiir Shah's Expedi-
tions— The Phulkia Sikhs in Hariana — Zabita Khan — The
Kanhaya Confederacy paramount among the Sikhs — Mahan
Singh Sukerchukia becomes conspicuous — Shah Zaman's In-
vasions and Ranjit Singh's rise — The Marathas under Sindhia
Predominant in Northern India — General Perron and George
Thomas — Alliances of the Marathas and Sikhs — Intercourse of
the English with the Sikhs — Lord Lake's Campaigns against
Sindhia and Holkar — First Treaty of the English with the Sikhs —
Preparations against a French Invasion of India — Treaty of
Alliance with Ranjit Singh, and of Protection with Cis-Sutlej
Sikh Chiefs.

1767 The Sikhs had mastered the upper plains from Karnal

The Sikhs and Hansl to the banks of the Jhelum. The necessity of

hurried into m^jQj^ ^y^g no longer paramount, and rude untaught men

Ahmad are ever prone to give the rein to their passions, and to

Shah's final prefer their own interests to the welfare of the community.

A.D. 1767. Some dwelt on real or fancied injuries, and thought the

time had come for ample vengeance ; others were moved

by local associations to grasp at neighbouring towns and

districts ; and the truer Sikli alone at once resolved to

extend his faith, and to add to the general domain of the

lOialsa, by complete conquest or by the imposition of

tribute. \Vlien thus about to arise, after their short repose,

refreshed and variously inclined, they were again awed into

unanimity by the final descent of Ahmad Shah. That

monarch, whose activity and power declined with increase

of years and the progress of disease, made yet another

attempt to recover the Punjab, the most fertile of his

CH.\P. V

AHMAD SHAH DURRANI

113

provinces. He crossed the Indus in 1767, but he avoided
Lahore and advanced no farther than the Sutlej. He en-
deavoured to conciliate when he could no longer overcome,
and he bestowed the title of Maharaja, and the office of
military commander in Sirhind, upon the warlike Amar
Singh, who had succeeded his grandfather as chief of
Patiala, oroftheMalwa Siklis. He likewise saw a promising
ally in the Rajput chief of Katotch, and he made him his
deputy in the JuUundur Doab and adjoining hills. His
measures were interrupted by the defection of his own troops ;
twelve thousand men marched back towards Kabul, and
the Shah found it prudent to follow them. He was harassed
in his retreat, and he had scarcely crossed the Indus before
Sher Shah's mountain stronghold of Rohtas was blockaded
by the Sukerchukias, under the grandfather of Ranjit Singh,
aided by a detachment of the neighbouring BhangI con-
federacy. The place fell in 1768, and the Bhangis almost
immediately afterwards occupied the country as far as
Rawalpindi and tlue vale of IQianpur, the Gakhars showing
but little of that ancient hardihood which distinguished
them in their contests with invading Mughals.^

The Bhangis, under Hari Singh, next marched towards
Multan, but they were met by the Muhammadan Daudpu-
tras, who had niigi'ated from Sind on learning Nadir Shah's
intention of transplanting them to Ghazni, and had esta-
blished the principality now known as Bhawalpur.^ The

1 Forster, Travels, i. 323 ; Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 297 ; Murray,
Ranjit Singh, p. 27 ; Moorcroft, Travels, i. 127 ; and manuscript
accounts consulted by the author.

2 When Nadir Shah proceeded to establish his authority in Sindh,
he found the ancestor of the Bhawalpur family a man of reputation
in his native district of Shikarpur. The Shah made him the deputy
of the upper third of the province ; but, becoming suspicious of the
whole clan, he resolved on removing it to Ghazni. The tribe then
migrated up the Sutlej, and seized lands by force. The Daudputras
are so called from Daud (David), the first of the family who acquired
a name. They fabulously trace their origin to ithe Caliph Abbas ;
but they may be regarded as Sindian Baluchis, or as Baluchis
changed by a long residence in Sind. In establishing themselves
on the Sutlej, they reduced the remains of the ancient Langahs and
Johiyas to fiurther insignificance ; but they introduced the Sindian
system of canals of irrigation, and both banks of the river below Pak-
pattan bear witness to their original industry and love of agriculture.

1767-8.

Amar
Singh of
Patiala,
and the
Rajput
chief of
Katotch,
appointed
to com-
mand
under the
Abdali.

Ahmad
Shah re-
tires.
Rohtas
taken by
the Sikhs,
1768.

The Sikhs
ravage the
Lower
Punjab ;

114

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. V

1770.

and enter
into terms
with Bha-
walpur ;

threaten
Kashmir,

and press
Najib-ud-
daula on
the Jumna
and Ganges,
1770.

.Ihanda
Singh of
the BhangI
iMisal pre-
eminent
1770.
.lammu
rendered
tributary.

Kasur re-
duced to
submission,

andMultan

occupied,

1772.

Jhanda
Singh as-
sassinated

chief, Mobarik Ivlian, after a parley with Hari Singh,
arranged that the neutral town of Pakpattan, held by a
Musalnian saint of eminence, should be the common
boundary. Hari Singh then swept towards Dera Ghazi
Khan and the Indus, and while thus employed, his feudatory
of Gujrat, who had recently taken Rawalpindi, made an
attempt to penetrate into Kashmir by the ordinary road,
but was repulsed with loss. On the Jumna, and in the great
Doab, the old NajTb-ud-daula was so hard pressed by Rai
Singh Bhangi, who emulated him as a paternal governor in
his neighbouring town and district of Jagadhri, and by
Baghel Singh Krora Singhia, that he proposed to the
Marathas a joint expedition against these new lords. His
death, in 1770, put an end to the plan, for his succeeding
son had other views, and encouraged the Sikhs as useful
allies upon an emergency.^

Hari Singh Bhangi died, and he was succeeded by Jhanda
Singh, who carried the power of the Misal to its height. He
rendered Jammu tributary, and the place was then of con-
siderable importance, for the repeated Afghan invasions,
and the continued insurrections of the Siklis, had driven the
transit trade of the plains to the circuitous but safe route of
the hills ; and the character of the Rajpiit chief, Ranjit Deo,
was such as gave confidence to traders, and induced them
to flock to his capital for protection. The Pathans of Kasur
were next rendered tributary, and Jhanda Singh then
deputed his lieutenant, Mujja Singh, against Multan ; but
that leader was repulsed and slain by the united forces of
the joint Afghan governors and of the Bhawalpur chief.
Next year, or in 1772, these joint managers quarrelled, and
as one of them asked the assistance of Jhanda Singh, that
unscrupulous leader was enabled to possess himself of the
citadel. On his return to the northward, he found that a
rival claimant of the Jammu chiefship had obtained the aid
of Charat Singh Sukerchukia, and of Jai Singh, the rising
leader of the Kanhaya Misal. Charat Singh was killed by
the bursting of his own matchlock, and Jai Singh was then
so base as to procure the assassination of Jhanda Singh.

^ The memoirs of the Bhawalpur family, and manuscript Sikh
histories. Cf. also Forster, Travels, i. 148.

CHAP.v BHANGI MISAL PRE-EMINENT 115

Being satisfied with the removal of this powerful chief, the 1772-4.

KanliayS. left the Jammu claimant to prosecute his cause . j^j

alone, and entered into a league with the old Jassa Singh Singh

Ahluwalia, for the expulsion of the other Jassa Singh the J'^^']'^'*^'^'

Carpenter, who had rendered Ahmad Shah's nominal deputy, j^i singh

Ghamand Chand of Katotch, and other Rajputs of the hills, Kanhaya

his tributaries. The Ramgarhia Jassa Singh was at last singhKalnl

beaten, and he retired to the wastes of Hariana to live by expel Jassa

plunder. At this time, or about 1774, died the Muhammadan ^gj arpen-

governor of Kangra. He had contrived to maintain himself

in independence, or in reserved subjection to Delhi or Kabul,

although the rising chief of Katotch had long desired to

possess so famous a stronghold. Jai Singh Kanhaya was ^,.

Ivanffra
prevailed on to assist him, and the place fell ; but the Sikh fails to the

chose to keep it to himself, and the possession of the imperial {'^^^"^^7^

fort aided him in his usurpation of Jassa Singh's authority 1774.

over the surrounding Rajas and Thjlkurs.^

In the south of the Punjab the Bhangi Sikhs continued Taimur

predominant ; they seem to have possessed the strong fort k^|,ui j.^.

of Mankera as well as Multan,- and to have levied exactions covers Mul-

from Kalabagh downwards. They made an attempt to *^"' ^ '^^^•

carry Shujabad, a place built by the Afghans on losing

Mvdtan, but seem to have failed. Taimur Shah, who succeeded

his father in 1773, was at last induced or enabled to cross

the Indus, but his views were directed towards Sind,

Bhawalpur, and the Lower Punjab, and he seems to have

had no thought of a reconquest of Lahore. In the course of

1777-8, two detachments of the Kabul army unsuccessfully

endeavoured to dislodge the Sikhs from Multan, but in the

season of 1778-9 the Shah marched in person against the

place. Ghanda Singh, the new leader of the BhangTs, was

embroiled with other Sikh chiefs, and his lieutenant surren- t, -j^-j.

dered the citadel after a show of resistance. Taimur Shah Shah dies,

leaving the

^ The memoirs of the Bhawalpur chief and manuscript Sikh Sikhs
accounts. Cf. Murray, Banjit Singh, p. 38, &c. ; and Forster, Travels, "^fi^^^rs of
i. 283, 286, 336.

Ranjit Deo, of Jammu, died in a. d. 1770.

Charat Singh was killed accidentally, and Jhanda Singh was
assassinated, in 1774,

Harl Singh Bhang! appears to have been killed in battle with Amar
Singh of Patiala, about 1770.

12

116 • HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, v

1773-93. reigned until 1793, but he was fully occupied with Sindian,
th U jer Kfishmlri, and Uzbeg rebellions ; the Sikhs were even un-
Punjab a.s molested in their possession of Rawalpindi, and their pre-
t^'^'^k^ms <l^tory horse traversed the plains of Chach up to the walls

of Attock.^

The Phul- In the direction of Ilariana and Delhi, the young Amar

kias master gj(^g}i phuikia began systematically to extend and con-

1768-78.' solidate his authority. He acquired Sirsa and Fatehabad,

his territories marched with those of BIkaner andBhawalpur,

and his feudatories of Jind and Kaithal possessed the open

countiy around Hansi and Rohtak. He was recalled to his

capital of Patiala bj^ a final effort of the Delhi court to re-

An expedi- establish its authoritj^ in the province of Sirhind. An army,

tion sent headed by the minister of the day, and by Farkhimda Buklit,

from Delhi "^ ./ ' ..

against the one of the imperial family, marched m the season 1779-80.

Malwu Karnal was recovered ; some payments were promised :

1779-80. and the eminent Ki'ora-Singhia leader, Baghel Singh,

tendered his submission. Dehsu Singh, of Kaithal, was

seized and heavily mulcted, and the army approached

Patiala. Amar Singh promised fealty and tribute, and

Baghel Singh seemed sincere in his mediation ; but suddenly

it was learnt that a large body of Sildis had marched from

Succeeds in Lahore, and the Mughal troops retired with precipitation

part only. ^^ Panlpat, not without a suspicion that the cupidity of the

minister had been gratified with Sikh gold, and had induced

Amar him to betray his master's interests. Amar Singh died in

PaUala^ 1781, leaving a minor son of imbecile mind. Two years

dies, 1781. afterwards a famine desolated Hariana ; the people perished

or sought other homes ; Sirsa was deserted, and a large

tract of country passed at the time from under regular sway,

. and could not afterwards be recovered by the Sikhs."

Khan, son In the Doab of the Ganges and Jumna, the Sikhs rather

of Najib- subsidized Zabita Khan, the son of Naiib-ud-daula, than

ud-daula,

aided in his i Me^oirg of the Bhawalpur chief, and other manuscript hiptories.
Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 28, and Forster, Travels, i. 324 ; Elphin-
stone (Kabul, ii. 303) makes 1781, and not 1779, the date of the re-
• covery of Multan from the Sikhs.

2 Manuscript histories, and Mr. Ross Bell's report of 1836, on the
Bhattiana boundary. Cf . Francklin, Shah Alam, pp. 86, 90, and Shah
Nawaz Khan's Epitome of Indian History, called Mirrit-i-Aftdb
Nimm.

CHAP. V

THE SIKHS ON THE GANGES

117

became his delerential allies. That chief had designs,
perhaps, upon the titular ministry of the empire, and having
obtained a partial success over the imperial troops, he pro-
ceeded, in 1776, towards Delhi, with the intention of laying
siege to the city. But when the time for action arrived he
mistrusted his power ; the emperor, on his part, did not care
to provoke him too far ; a compromise was effected, and
he was confirmed in his possession of Saharanpur. On this
occasion Zabita Ivlian was accompanied by a body of Sikhs,
and he was so desirous of conciliating them, that he is
credibly said to have adopted their dress, to have received
the Pahul, or initiatory rite, and to have taken the new
name of Dharam Singh. ^

Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, when compelled to fly to the
Punjab by the Kanhaya and Ahluwalia confederacies, Avas
aided by Amar Singh Phulkia in establishing himself in the
country near Hissar, whence he proceeded to levy exactions
up to the walls of Delhi. In 1781 a body of Phulkia and
other Sikhs marched down the Doab, but they were success-
fully attacked under the walls of Meerut by the imperial
commander Mirza Shaft Beg, and Gajpat Singh of Jind was
taken jirisoner. Nevertheless, in 1783, Baghel Singh and
other commanders were strong enough to propose crossing
the Ganges, but they were deterred by the watchfulness of
the Oudh troops on the opposite bank. • The destructive
famine already alluded to seems to have compelled Jassa
Singh to move into the Doab, and, in 1785, Rohilkhand was
entered by the confederates and plundered as far as Chan-
dosi, which is within forty miles of Bareilly. At this period
Zabita Khan was almost confined to the walls of his fort
of Ghausgarh, and the hill raja of Garhwal, whose ancestor
had received Dara as a refugee in defiance of Aurangzeb, had
been rendered tributary, equally with all his brother Rajpiits,
in the lower hills westward to the Chenab. The Siklis were
l)redominant from the frontiers of Oudh to the Indus, and
the traveller Forster amusingly describes the alarm caused
to a little chief and his people by the appearance of tzvo Sikh
horsemen under the walls of their fort, and the assiduous

^ Cf. Forster, Travels, i. 325 ; Browne, India Tracts, 11. 29 ; and
I'rancklin, Shah Ataiii,, p. 72.

1781-5.

designs on
the minis-
try b}^ the
8ikhs, 1776.

The

ravages of
the Sikhs
in the Doab
and llohil-
khand
under Ba-
ghel Singh
Krora
Singhia,
1781-5.
The Sikhs
tlefeatod at
Meerut,
1783.

A.D. 1785.

The Raj-
puts of the
Lower Hi-
malayas
rendered
tributary.

118

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. V

1784-92.

Jai Singh
Kaiiha3'a
pre-emi-
nent,
1784-5.

Rise of
Jlahan
Singh 8u-
kerchukia.

The Kan-
hayas re-
duced,
1785-6.

Jassa the
Carj)enter "
restored,
andKangra
made over
to Sansar
Chand of
Katotch.

Mahan
Singh pre-
eminent
among the
Sikhs,
1785-92.

Mahan
Sinjjh dies,
1792.

services and respectful attention wliich tlie like number of
troopers met with from the local authorities of Garhwal, and
from the assembled wayfarers at a place of public reception.^
In the Punjab itself Jai Singh Kanhaya continued to
retain a paramount influence. He had taken Mahan Singh,
the son of Charat Singh Sukerchukm, vmder his jirotection,
and he aided the young chief in capturing Russulnaggar on
the Chenab, from a Muhammadan family. Mahan Singh's
reputation continued to increase, and, about 1784-5, he
so far threw off his dependence upon Jai Singh as to inter-
fere in the affairs of Jammu on his own account. His
interference is understood to have ended in the plunder of
the place ; but the wealth he had obtained and the inde-
pendence he had shown both roused the anger of Jai Singh,
who rudely repelled Mahan Singh's apologies and offers of
atonement, and the spirit of the young chief being fired, he
went away resolved to appeal to arms. He sent to Jassa
Singli Ramgarhia, and that leader was glad of an opportunity
of recovering his lost possessions. He joined Mahan Singh,
and easily procured the aid of Sansar Chand, the grandson
of Ghamand Chand of Katotch. The Kanliayas were
attacked and defeated ; Gurbaldish Singh, the eldest son
of Jai Singh, was killed, and the spirit of the old man was
effectually humbled by this double sorrow. Jassa Singh
was restored to his territories, and Sansar Chand obtained
the fort of Kangra, which his father and grandfather had
been so desirous of possessing. INIahan Singh now became
the most influential chief in the P*unjab, and he gladly
assented to the proposition of Sudda Kour, the widow of
Jai Singh's son, that the alliance of the two families should
be cemented by the union of her infant daughter with
Ranjlt Singh, the only son of Mahan Singh, and who was
born to him about 1780. Mahan Singh next proceeded to
attack Gujrat, the old Bhangi chief of which, Gujar Singh,
his father's confederate, died in 1791 ; but he was himself
taken ill during the siege, and expired in the beginning. of
the following year at the early age of twenty-seven.^

1 Forster, Travels,!. 228, 229, 202, 326 and note. Cf. also Fraucklin,
Shah Alum, pp. 93, 94, and the Persian o\)\iomG Mirrit-i-A^tah Numa.

2 Manuscript histories and chronicles. Cf. Forster, Travels,i. 288;

CHAP. V

SHAH ZAMAN

lid

Shah Zaman succeeded to the throne of Kabul in the
year 1793, and his mind seems always to have been filled
with idle hopes of an Indian empire. In the end of 1795 he
moved to Hassan Abdal, and sent forward a party which is
said to have recovered the fort of Rohtas ; but the exposed
state of his western dominions induced htm to return to
Kabul. The rumours of another Durrani invasion do not
seem to have been unli ceded by the princes of Upper India,
then pressed by the Marathas and the English. Ghulam
Muhammad, the defeated usurper of Rohilkhand, crossed
the Punjab in 1795-6, with the view of inducing Shah
Zaman to prosecute his designs, and he was followed by
agents on the part of Asaf-ud-daula of Oudh, partly to
counteract, perhaps, the presumed machinations of his
enemy, but mainly to urge upon his majesty that all
Muhammadans would gladly hail him as a deliverer. The
Shah reached Lahore, in the beginning of 1797, with thirty
thousand men, and he endeavoured to conciliate the Siklis
and to render his visionary supremacy an agreeable burden.
Several chiefs jomed him, but the proceedings of his brother
Mahmud recalled him before he had time to make any
progress in settling the country, even had the Sikhs been
disposed to submit without a struggle ; but the Sikhs were
perhaps less dismayed than the beaten Marathas and the
ill-informed English. The latter lamented, with the Wazlr
of Oudli, the danger to which his dominions were exposed ;
they prudently cantoned a force at Anupshahr in the Doab,
and their apprehensions led them to depute a mission to
Teheran, with the view of instigating the Shah of Persia to
invade the Afghan territories. Shah Zaman renewed his
invasion in 1798 ; a body of five thousand men, sent far
in advance, was attacked and dispersed on the Jhelum, but
he entered Lahore without opposition, and renewed his
measures of mixed conciliation and threat. He found an

Murray, Eanjit Singh, pp. 42, 48 ; and Moorcroft, Travels, i. 127.
The date of 1785-6,for the reduction of the Kanhayas and the restora-
tion of Jassa Singh, &c., is preferred to 1782, which is given by
Murray, partly because the expedition to Rohilkhand took place in
1785, as related by Forster (Travels, i. 326 note), and Jassa Singh is
generally admitted to have been engaged in it, being then in banish-
ment.

1793-7.

Shah Za-
man suc-
ceeds to the
throne of
Kabul,
1793.

Invited to
enter India
by the Ro-
hillas and
the Wazii'
of Oudh,
1795-6.

Shah Za-
man at
Lahore,
1797.

The Shahs
second
march to
Lahore,
1798-9.

120 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, v

1798-9. able leader, but doubtful partisan, in Nizam-ud-din Khan,

a Pathan of Kasur, who had acquired a high local reputation,

and he was employed to coerce such of the Siklis, including

the youthful Ranjit Singh, as pertinaciously kept aloof.

Tliey distrusted the Shah's honour ; but Nizam-ud-dIn

distrusted the permanence of his power, and he prudently

forbore to proceed to extremities against neighbours to

whom he might soon be left a prey. Some resultless

skirmishing took place, but the designs of Mahmud, who

had obtained the support of Persia, again withdrew the

ill-fated king to the west, and he quitted Lahore in the

Kanjit beginning of 1799. During this second invasion the charac-

^nig uses ^^^ ^^ Ranjit Singh seems to have impressed itself, not only

eminence, on other Sikh leaders, but on the Durrani Shah. He coveted

Lahore, which was associated in the minds of men with the

possession of power, and, as the king was unable to cross his

hea%y artillery over the flooded Jhelum, he made it known

to the aspiring chief that their transmission would be an

acceptable service. As manj' pieces of cannon as could be

and obtains readily extricated were sent after the Shah, and Ranjit Singh

Lahore*" procured what he wanted, a royal investiture of the capital

from the of the Punjab. Thenceforward the history of the Sildis

kiiitj^^"l799 S'r^^ually centres in their great Maharaja ; but the revival

of the Maratha power in Upj^er India, and the appearance

of the English on the scene, require that the narrative of

his achievements should be somewhat interrupted.^

1785-8. The abilities of Madliagi Sindhia restored the power of

of The Ma- ^^^^ Maratlias in Northern India, and the discipline of his

ratlias regular brigades seemed to place his administration on a

under

^ Elj^hinstone {Kdhul,'n. 308) states that Shah Zamau was exhorted
to undertake his exj^edition of 1795 by a refugee prince of Delhi,
and encouraged in it by Tipu Sultan. The journey of Ghulam
Muhammad, the defeated Rohilla chief, and the mission of the Wazir
of Oudh, are given on the authority of the Bhawalpur family annals,
and from the same som-ce may be added an interchange of deputa-
tions on the j^art of Shah Zaman and Sindhia, the envo3'S, as in the
other instance, having passed through Bhawalpm* town. A suspicion
of the .complicity of Asaf-ud-daula, of Lucknow, does not seem to
have occurred to the English historians, who rather dilate on the
exertions made by their government to protect their pledged ally
from the northern invaders. Nevertheless, the statements of the
Bhawalpur chronicles on the subject seem in every way credible.

CHAP. V SINDHIA TAKES DELHI 121

lirra and lasting basis. He mastered Agra in 1785, and was 1785-97.

made deputy vicegerent of the empire by the titular emperor, j,. „ . .
Shah Alam. He entered at tlie same time into an engage- Upper
ment with the confederate Sikli chiefs, to the effect that of all I"aia,178o.
their joint conquests on either side of the Jumna, he should Smdhia's
have two-thirds and the ' Ivhalsa ' the remainder.^ This with the
alliance was considered to clearly point at the kingdom of S'^hs.
Oudh, which the English were bound to defend, and perhaps
to affect the authority of Delhi, which they wished to see
strong ; but the schemes of the Maratha were for a time
interrupted by the Rohilla Ghulam Kadir. This chief suc-
ceeded his father, Zabita lOian, in 1785, and had contrived,
by an adventurous step, to become the master of the
emperor's person a little more than a year afterwards.
He was led on from one excess to another, till at last, in Ghulam
1788, he put out the eyes of his unfortunate sovereign, j^j-^j^^jg
plundered the palace in search of imaginary treasures, and Shah Alaia,
declared an unheeded youth to be the successor of Akbar ' '
and Aurangzeb. These proceedings facilitated Sindhia's sindhia
views, nor was his supremacy unwelcome in Delhi after the 'J^^^?''^
atrocities of Ghulam Kadir and the savage Afghans. His curbs the
regular administration soon curbed the predatory Siklis, ^}P^'
and instead of being received as allies they found that they
would merely be tolerated as dependants or as servants.
Rai Singh, the patriarchal chief of Jagadliri, was retained for
the time as farmer of considerable districts in thcDoab, and,
during ten years, three expeditions of exaction were directed
against Patiala and other states in the province of Sirhind.
Patiala was managed with some degree of prudence by
Nanu Mai, the Hindu Diwan of the deceased Amar Singh ;
but he seems to have trusted for military support to Baghel
Singh, the leader of the Krora Singhias, who contrived to
maintain a large body of horse, partly as a judicious media-
tor, and partly by helping Patiala in levying contributions
on weaker brethren, in aid of the Mughal and Maratha
demands, which could neither be readily met nor prudently
resisted."^

General Perron succeeded his countryman, De Boigne, in

^ Browne, India Tracts, 11. 29.

2 Manuscript accounts. Cf. Franckliu, Shah Alum, pp. 179-85.

122

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. V

1787-97.

General

Perron

appointed

Siadliia"s

deputy in

Northern

India,

1797.

Sindhia's
and Per-
ron's views
crossed by
Holkar and
George
Thomas,

1787-97.

George

Thomas

estabUshes

the command of Daulat Rao Sindhia's largest regular force,
in the year 1797, and he was soon after appointed the
INIaharaja's deputy in Northern India. His ambition sur-
passed liis powers ; but his plans were nevertheless sys-
tematic, and he might have temporarily extended his own,
or the Maratha, authority to Lahore, had not Sindhia's
influence been endangered by Holkar, and had not Perron's
own purposes been crossed by the hostility and success of
the adventurer George Thomas.^ This Englishman was bred
to the sea, but an eccentricity of character, or a restless love
of change, caused him to desert from a vessel of war at
Madras in 1781-2, and to take military service with the
petty chiefs of that presidency. He wandered to the north
of India, and in 1787 he was employed by the well-known
Begum Samru,2 and soon rose high in favour with that lady.
In six years he became dissatisfied, and entered the service
of Appa Kliande Rao, one of Sindhia's principal officers,
and under whom De Boigne had formed his first regiments.
AV^hile in the JNIaratha employ, Thomas defeated a party of
Sikhs at Karnal, and he performed various other services ;
but seeing the distracted state of the country, he formed the
not impracticable scheme of establishing a separate authority
of his own. He repaired the crumbling walls of the once
important Hansi,he assembled soldiers about him, cast guns,

1 [For an excellent sketch of the life of this adventurer see the
article 'A Free Lance from Tipperary' in Strangers within the Gates,
by G. Festing. Edinburgh and London, 1914. — Ed.]

- [This remarkable woman, whose origin is wrapped in mystery,
was said to have been a dancing-girl in Delhi. She subsequently
married ' Somru ', a European adventm'er, who had entered the
service of the Emperor and had received the Jagir of Sardhana, a few
miles from Delhi. ' Somru ' — whose real name was Reinhard — was
a man of the foulest antecedents, and among his other exploits he had
been principally concerned in the miu^dcr of the English prisoners at
Patna in 1763. Upon her husband's death the Begum succeeded to
his estate and to the leadership of the disreputable band of cut-
throats who formed his army. After the battle of Assaye she sub-
mitted to the English, embraced Cluristianity about 1781, and was
jjublicly embraced by Lord Lake, to the great horror of the spectators.
She ended her days in great sanctity, and was buried in the Roman
Catholic Cathedral at Sardhana which she herself had built. See
also Sleeman, Rambles and Recollections, ed. V. A. Smith, chap. 75,
Oxford University Press, 1915. — Ed.]

CHAP. V PERRON AND GEORGE THOMAS

123

and deliberately proceeded to acquire territory. Perron was
apprehensive of his power — the more so, perhaps, as Thomas
was encouraged by Holkar, and supported by Lakwa Dada
and other Marathas, who entertained a great jealousy of the
French commandant. '^

In 1799 Thomas invested the town of Jind, belonging to
Bhag Singh, of the Phulkia confederacy. The old chief,
Baghel Singh Krora Singhia, and the Amazonian sister of
the imbecile Raja of Patiala, relieved the place, but they
were repulsed when they attacked Thomas on his retreat to
Hansi. In 1800 Thomas took Fatehabad, which had been
deserted during the famine of 1783, and subsequently
occupied by the predatory Bhattis of Hariana, then rising
into local repute, notwithstanding the efforts of the Patiala
chief, who, however, affected to consider them as his
subjects, and gave them some aid against Thomas. Patiala
was the next object of Thomas's ambition, and he was en-
couraged by the temporary secession of the sister of the
chief ; but the aged Tara Singh, of the Dallehwala con-
federacy, interfered, and Thomas had to act with caution.
He obtained, nevertheless, a partial success over Tara Singh,
he received the submission of the Pathans of Maler Kotla,
and he was welcomed as a deliverer by the converted Muham-
madans of Raikot, who had held Ludhiana for some time,
and all of whom were equally jealous of the Sikhs. At this
time Sahib Singh, a Bedl of the race of Nanak, pretended
to religious inspiration, and, having collected a large force^
he invested Ludhiana, took the town of Maler Kotla, and
called on the English adventurer to obey him as the true
representative of the Sikli prophet. But Sahib Singh could
not long impose even on his countrymen, and he had to
retire across the Sutlej. Thomas's situation was not greatly
improved by the absence of the Bedl, for the combination
against him was general, and he retired from the neighbour-
hood of Ludhiana towards his stronghold of Hansi. He
again took the field, and attacked Safidon, an old town
belonging to the chief of Jind. He was repulsed, but the

^ Francklin, Life oj George Thomas, pp. 1, 79, 107, &c., and Major
Smith, Account of Regular Corps in the Service of Indian Princes,
p. 118, &c.

1798-1800.

himself at

Hansi,

1798,

and en-
gages in
hostilities
with the
Sikhs,1799.

Thomas
inarches
f owards
Ludhiana,
IbOO.

Opjiosed by
Sahib Singh
Bedl.

Ketires to
Hansi, but
afterwards
masters
Safidon,
near Delhi.

124 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, v

1801-3. place not appearing tenable, it was evacuated, and he
obtained possession of it. At this time he is said to have
had ten battahons and sixty guns, and to have possessed a
territory yielding about 450,000 rupees, two-thirds, of which
he held by right of seizure, and one-third as a Maratha

Thomas feudatory ; but he had rejected all Perron's overtures with

rejects Per- suspicion, and Perron was resolved to crush him. Thomas

ron's over- '■ '

turesand was thus forced to come to terms with the Siklis, and he

resorts to ^yighed it to appear that he had engaged them on his side

against Perron ; but they were really desirous of getting

rid of one who plainly designed their ruin, or at least their

subjection, and the alacrity of Patiala in the Maratha service

induced a promise, on the part of the French commander,

of the restitution of the conquests of Amar Singh in Hariana.

After twice beating back Perron's troops at points sixty

Surrenders miles distant, Thomas was comiaelled to surrender in the

1802 "°"' beginning of 1802, and he retired into the British provinces,

where he died in the course of the same year.'^

thas under Perron had thus far succeeded. His lieutenant, by name

Perron Bourquin, made a progress through the Cis-Sutlej states to

amonsTh ^^^ contributions, and the commander himself dreamt of

Sikhs of a dominion reaching to the Afghan hills, and of becoming

180^-3 ^^ independent of Sindhia as that chief was of the Peshwa.^

Perron ^^^ formed an engagement with Ranjit Singh for a joint

forms an expedition to the Indus, and for a partition of the country

w th R south of Lahore ; ^ but Holkar had given a rude shock to

jit Singh. Sindhia's power, and Perron had long evaded a compliance

Is dis- with the Maharaja's urgent calls for troops to aid him where

trusted by support was most essential. Sindhia became involved Avith

the English, and the interested hesitation of Perron was

^ See generally Francklin, Life of George Thoiimn, and Major Smith,
Account of Beguhr Corps in IndianStates,-p.2l, &c. The Sikh accounts
attribute many exploits to the sister of the Raja of Patiala, and among
them an expedition into the hill territory of Nahan, the state from
which Patiala wrested the vale of Pinjaur, with its hanging gardens,
not, however, without the aid of Bourquin, the deputy of Perron.

2 Malcolm {Sketch, p. 106) considers that Perron could easily have
reduced the Sikhs, and mastered the Punjab.

^ This alliance is given on the authority of a representation made
to the Resident at Delhi, agreeably to his letter to Sir David Ochter-
lony of July 5, 1814.

CHAP. V THE SIKHS AND THE ENGLISH

125

punished by his supersession. He was not able, or he did
not try, to recover his authority by vigorous military
operations ; he knew he had committed himself, and he
effected his escape from the suspicious Marathas to the
safety and repose of the British territories, which were then
about to be extended by the victories of Delhi and Laswari,
of Assaye and Argaon.^

In the beginning of the eighteenth century the agents of
the infant company of English merchants were vexatiously
detained at the imperial court by the insurrection of the
Sikhs under Banda, and the discreet ' factors ', who were
petitioning for some trading privileges, perhaps witnessed
the heroic death of the national Singhs, the soldiers of the
' Ivlialsa ', without comprehending the spirit evoked by
the genius of Gobind, and without dreaming of the broad
fabric of empire about to be reared on their own patient
labours. 2 Forty years afterwards, the merchant Omichand

1 Cf. Major Smith, Account of Regular Corps hi Indian States,
p. 31, &c.

- See Orme, History, ii. 22, &c., and Mill, Wilson's edition, iii. 34, &c.
The mission was two years at Delhi, dm-ing 1715, 1716, 1717, and
the genuine patriotism of Mr. Hamilton, the surgeon of the deputation,
mainly contributed to procure the cession of thirty-seven villages
near Calcutta, and the exemption from duty of goods protected by
English passes. This latter privilege was a tiu-ning-point in the history
of the English in India, for it gave an impulse to trade, which vastly
increased the importance of British subjects, if it added little to the
profits of the associated merchants. [It may be added that a dispute
about the issue of those passes brought about an open rupture between
the East India Company and Mir Kasim, Nawab of Bengal, in 1763.
The latter was utterly defeated at the Battle of Bunar in 1764 and,
as one of the terms of peace in the following year — the year of Clive's
return to India — the Diwani (fiscal administration) of Bengal, Bihar
and Orissa was granted by the Emperor Shah Alam to the Company,
in return for a yearly payment of 26 lakhs, while the Nawab, the
successor of Mir Kasim, was deprived of all power and pensioned. —
Ed.]

In the Granth of Guru Gobind there are at least four allusions to
Europeans, the last referring specially to an Englishman. First, in
the AkdlStut, Europeans are enumerated among the tribes inhabiting
India ; second and third, in the Kalki chapters of the 24 Autars,
apparently in praise of the systematic modes of Europeans ; and
fourth, in the Persian Hikayat>f, where both a European and an
Englishman appear as champions for the hand of a royal damsel,
to be vanquished, of course, by the hero of the tale.

1803.

Flees to
theEngUsh,
then at war
with the
Marathas,
1803.

First inter-
course of
the English
with the
Sikhs.
The

mission to
Farrukh-
siyar de-
l-ained by
the cam-
paign
against
Banda,
1715-17.

126

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

1757-88.

Clive and

Omichand.

1757.

^^'arren
Hastings
tries to
guardOudh
against the
8iklLS,1784.
The Sikhs
ask English
aid agaiast
the ^lara-
thfis, 17<S8.

Earh- Eng-
lish esti-
mates of
theSiklis.

Col.
Francklin.

The travel-
Ii'T For.ster.

played a conspicuous part in the revolution which was
crowned by the battle of Plassey ; but the sectarian Sikh,
the worldly votary of Nanak, who used religion as a garb
of outward decorum, was outwitted by the audacious false-
hood of Clive ; he quailed before the stern scorn of the
English conqueror, and he perished the victim of his own
base avarice.^ In 1784 the progress of the genuine Siklis at-
tracted the notice of Hastings, and he seems to have thought
that the presence of a British agent at the court of Delhi
might help to deter them from molesting the Wazir of Oudh.-
But the Siklis had learnt to dread others as well as to be a
cause of fear, and shortly afterwards they asked the British
Resident to enter into a defensive alliance against the
Marathas, and to accept the services of thirty thousand
horsemen, who had posted themselves near Delhi to watch
the motions of Sindhia.^ The English had then a slight
knowledge of a new and distant people, and an estimate,
two generations old, may provoke a smile from the protectors
of Lahore. ' The Siklis ', says Col. Francklin, ' are in their
persons tall, . . . their aspect is ferocious, and their eyes
piercing ; . . . they resemble the Arabs of the Euphrates,
but they speak the language of the Afghans ; . . . their
collected army amounts to 250,000 men, a terrific force,
yet from want of union not much to be dreaded.' * The
judicious and observing Forster put some confidence in
similar statements of their vast array, but he estimated more
surely than any other early writer the real character of
the Sikhs, and the remark of 1783, that an able chief would
probably attain to absolute power on the ruins of the rude
commonwealth, and become the terror of his neighbours,
has been amply borne out by the career of Ranjit Singh.^

^ That Omichand was a Sikh is given on the authority of Forster,
Travels, i. 337. That he died of a broken heart is doubted by Pro-
fessor Wilson. (Mill, India, iii 192 note, ed. 1840.)

2 Browne, Itidia Tracts, ii. 29, 30 ; and Francklin, Shah Alam,
pp. 115, 116.

^ Auber, Rise and Progress of the British Power in India, ii. 26, 27.
The chief who made the overtures was Dulcha Singh of Rudaur on
the Jumna, who afterwards entered Sindhia's service. Cf. Francklin,
Shah Alam, p. 78 note. * Francklin, Shah Alam, pp. 75, 77, 78.

^ Forster's Travels, ii. 340. See also p. 324, where he saj's the Sikhs

CHAP. V LORD LAKES CAMPAIGNS 127

The battle of Delhi ^ was fought on the 11th September, 180S-5.

1803, and five thousand Sikhs swelled an army which the 4.;].},^,^
speedy capture of Allgarh had taken by surprise.^ The posed to
Marathas were overthrown, and the Sikhs dispersed ; but ^°J^^ ^^^'^
the latter soon afterwards tendered their allegiance to the 1803.
British commander. Among the more important chiefs The Sikhs
whose alliance or whose occasional services were accepted tender tlieir
were Bhai Lai Singh of Kaithal, who had witnessed the allegiance
success of Lord Lake, Bhag Singh, the patriarchal chief of E^gj-gij
Jind, and, after a time, Bhanga Singh the savage master The chiefs
of Thanesar.^ The victory of Laswari was won within two of Jmd and
months, and the Maratha power seemed to be annihilated
in Northern India. The old blind emperor Shah Alam Shah Alam
was again flattered with the semblance of kingly power, ^jaratlla"
his pride was soothed by the demeanour of the conqueror, thraldom.
and, as the Mughal name was still imposing, the feelings of
the free but loyal soldier were doubtless gratified by the
bestowal of a title which declared an English nobleman to
be ' the sword of the state ' of the great Tamerlane.*

The enterprising Jaswant Rao Holkar had by this time The Eng-
determined on the invasion of Upper India, and the retreat ,|fit\i^Ho^l.
of Col. Monson ^ buoyed him up with hopes of victory kar,1804-5.

had raised in the Punjab a solid structure of religion. The remark of
the historian Robertson may also be quoted as apposite, and with the
greater reason as prominence has lately been given to it in the House
of Commons on the occasion of thanking the army for its services
during the Sikh campaign of 1848-9. He says that the enterprising
commercial spirit of the English, and the martial ardovir of the Sikhs,
who possess the energy natural to men in the earlier stages of society,
can hardly fail to lead sooner or later to open hostility. {Disquisition
Concerning Ancient India, note iv, sect. 1, written in 1789-90.)

^ [For an interesting discussion as to the exact site of this battle,
the result of which was the occupation of Delhi by the English and the
placing of the Emperor Shah Alam under their protection, the reader
is referred to an article by Sir Edward Maclagan, in the Journal of the
Punjab Historical Society, vol. iii.- — Ed.]

2 Major Smith, Account of Regular Corps in Indian States, p. 34.

^ Manuscript memoranda of personal inquiries.

* Mill, History of British India, Wilson's ed., vi. 510.

^ [He had made a rash advance into Holkar's territory in July 1804,
to unite with another English force under Col. Murray. Lack of
supplies caused him][to retreat, and he only reached Agra at the end
of August, after losing the major part of his army. However, he
took his revenge at Dig, as that victory was mainly his work. — Ed.]

128

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. V

1805.

The Sikhs
mostly side
with the
f^ngUsh
and render
good ser-
vice.

Holkar
retires to-
wards the
Sutlej,
1805.

Delays at
Patiala.

Halts at
Amritsar,
but fails in
gaining
over Ran-
jlt Singh.

and dominion. Delhi was invested, and the Doab was filled
with troops ; but the successful defence of the capital by Sir
David Ochterlony, and the reverse of Dig, drove the great
marauder back into Rajputana. During these operations
a British detachment, under Col. Burn, was hard pressed
at Shamll, near Saharanpur, and the opportune assistance
of Lai Singh of Kaithal and Bhag Singh of Jind contributed
to its ultimate relief.^ The same Sikh chiefs deserved and
received the thanks of Lord Lake for attacking and killing
one Ika Rao, a Maratha commander who had taken up a
position between Delhi and Panlpat ; but others were dis-
posed to adhere to their sometime allies, and Sher Singh of
Buriya fell in action with Col. Burn, and the conduct
of Gurdit Singh of Ladwa induced the British general to
deprive him of his villages in the Doab, and of the town of
Karnal.^

In 1805 Holkar and Amir Klian again moved northward,
and proclaimed that they would be joined by the Siklis, and
even by the Afghans ; but the rapid movements of Lord Lake
converted their advance into a retreat or a flight. They
delayed some time at Patiala, and they did not fail to make
a pecuniary profit out of the differences then existing be-
tween the imbecile Raja and his wife ; ^ but when the
English army reached the neiglibourhood of Karnal, Holkar
continued his retreat towards the north, levying contribu-
tions where he could, but without being joined by any of
the Sikh chiefs of the Cis-Sutlej states. In the Punjab
itself he is represented to have induced some to adopt his
cause, but Ranjit Singh long kept aloof, and when at last
he met Holkar at Amritsar, the astute young chief wanted

^ Manuscrijit memoranda. Both this aid in 1804, and the opposi-
tion of the Sikhs at Delhi, in 1803, seem to have escaped the notice
of English observers, or to have been thought undeserving of record
by English historians. (Mill, History, vi. 503, 592, ed. 1840.)

^ Manuscript memoranda of written documents and of personal
inquiries.

^ Amir Khan, in his Memoirs (p. 276), says characteristically, that
Holkar remarked to him, on observing the silly differences between
the Raja and the Rani, ' God has assuredly sent us these two pigeons
to pluck ; do you espouse the cause of the one, while I take up with
the other.'

CHAP. V TREATY WITH ENGLISH OF 1806 129

aid in reducing the Pathans of Kasur before he would give 1803-8.

the Marathas any assistance against the English. Amir

Ivhan would wish it to be believed, that he was unwilling

to be a party to an attack upon good Muhanimadans, and

it is certain that the perplexed Jaswant Rao talked of .

hurrying on to Peshawar ; but Lord Lake was in force on comes to

the banks of the Beas, the political demands of the British ^?_^"^ ^*{^

commander were moderate, and, on the 24th December, and

1805, an arrangement was come to, which allowed Holkar marches to
. 7 ^ , -, , . , the south,

to return quietly to Central India.^ 1805-6.

Lord Lake was joined on his advance by the two chiefs. Friendly
Lai Singh and Bhag Singh, whose services have already been ^^^^^^^jig]^
mentioned, and at Patiala he was welcomed by the weak with the
and inoffensive Sahib Singh, who presented the keys of q-H^j*
his citadel, and expatiated on his devotion to the British 1803-8.'
Government. Bhag Singh was the maternal uncle of
Ranjit Singh, and his services were not unimportant in
determining that calculating leader to avoid an encounter
with disciplined battalions and a trained artillery. Ranjit
Singh is believed to have visited the British camp in disguise,
that he might himself witness the military array of a leader
who had successively vanquished both Sindhia and Holkar,^
and he was, moreover, too acute to see any permanent
advantage in linking his fortunes with those of men reduced
to the condition of fugitives. Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, the
grand-nephew of Jassa Singh Kalal, and the chosen com-
panion of the future Maharaja, was the medium of inter-
course, and an arrangement was soon entered into with Formal en-
' Sardars ' Ranjit Singh and Fateh Singh jointly, which f^eredhito
provided that Holkar should be compelled to retire from with Ranjit
Amritsar, and that so long as the two chiefs conducted p'J^i^^"
themselves as friends the English Government would never Singh Ahlu-
form any plans for the seizure of their territories.^ Lord Yme'
Lake entered into a friendly correspondence with Sansar rp^^^ g
Chand, of Kat5tch, who was imitating Ranjit Singh by lish corre-
bringing the petty hill chiefs under subjection ; but no g^aj?^'

1 Of. Amir Khan, Memoirs, pp. 275, 285 ; and Murray, Ranjit Singh,
p. 57, &c.

2 See Moorcroft, Travels, i. 102.

^ See the treaty itself. Appendix XXIII.

K

130 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, v

1804. engagement was entered into, and the British commander

~ \ returned to the provinces by the road of Ambala and

Chand of ^^ ., , ^ "^

Katotch. Karnal/

The Sikhs The connexion of Lord Lake with many of the Sikli chiefs

<^f SLrhind Qf giriiind had been intimate, and the services of some had

virtuaUy been opportune and valuable. Immediately after the battle

dependants of DeUii, Bhag Singh of Jind was upheld in a jagir which he

lishby ^ possessed near that city, and in 1804 another estate "vfras

Lord Lake, conferred jointly on him and his friend Lai Singh of Kaithal.

In 1806 these leaders were further rewarded with life

gTants, yielding about £11,000 a year, and Lord Lake was

understood to be willing to give them the districts of

Hansi and Hissar on the same terms ; but these almost

desert tracts were objected to as unprofitable. Other petty

chiefs received rewards corresponding with their services,

and all were assured that they should continue to enjoy

the territorial possessions which they held at the time of

British interference without being liable to the payment of

But the tribute. These declarations or arrangements were made

connexion

not regu- when the policy of Lord Wellesley was suffering under con-

larly de- demnation ; the reign of the English was to be limited by
clared, or ^, ^ ^ f . , % . , ^ . ^.

made bind- the Jumna, a formal treaty with Jaipur was abrogated, the

inginforai. relations of the Indian Go vernment with Bhartpur were left

doubtful, and, although nothing was made known to the

- Sikli chiefs of Sirhind, their connexion with the English

came virtually to an end, so far as regarded the reciprocal

benefits of alliance.^

Retrospect It is now necessary to return to.Ranjit Singh, whose

with refer- authority had gradually become predominant among the

Ranjit Sikh people. His first object was to master Lahore from

Singh'srise. the incapable chiefs of the Bhangi confederacy who possessed

^ The public records show that a newswriter was maintained for
some time in Katotch, and the correspondence about Sansar Chand
leaves the impression that Ranjit Singh could never wholly forget
the Raja's original superiority, nor the English divest themselves of
a feeling that he was independent of Lahore.

2 The original grants to Jind, Kaithal, and others, and also similar
papers of assurance, are carefullj' preserved by the several families ;
and the various English documents show that Bhag Singh, of Jind,
was always regarded with much kindliness by Lord Lake, Sir John
Malcolm, and Sir David Ochterlony.

CHAP. V ASCENDANCY OF RANJiT SINGH

131

it, and before Shah Zaman had been many months gone,
effect was given to his grant by a dexterous mixture of
force and artifice. Ranjit Singh made Lahore his capital,
and, with the aid of the Kanhayas (or Ghani) confederacy,
he easily reduced the whole of the Bhangis to submission,
although they were aided by Nizam-ud-din Iflaan of Kasur.
In 1801-2 the Pathan had to repent his rashness ; his strong-
holds were difficult of capture, but he found it prudent to
become a feudatory, and to send his best men to follow a
new master. After this success Ranjit Singh went to bathe
in the holy pool of Taran Taran, and, meeting with Fateh
Singh Ahluwalia, he conceived a friendship for him, as
has been mentioned, and went through a formal exchange
of turbans, symbolical of brotherhood. During 1802 the
allies took Amritsar from the widow of the last BhangI
leader of note, and, of their joint spoil, it fell to the share
of the master of the other capital of the Sikh country. In
1803 Sansar Chand, of Katotch, in prosecution of his
schemes of aggrandizement, made two attempts to occupy
portions of the fertile Doab of JuUundur, but he was re-
pulsed by Ranjit Singh and his confederate. In 1804
Sansar Chand again quitted his hills, and captured Hoshiar-
pur and Bajwara ; but Ranjit Singh's approach once more
compelled him to retreat, and he soon afterwards became
involved with the Gurklias, a new people in search of an
empire which should comprise the whole range of Himalayas.^

1799-1804.

Eanjit
Singh mas-
ters La-
hore, 1799.

Reduces
the BhangI
Misal and
thePathans
of Kasur,
1801-2.

Allies him-
self with
Fateh
Singh
Ahluwalia.

Ranjit
Singh ac-
quires Am-
ritsar,1802;

and con-
fines San-
sar Chand
to the hills,
1803-4,
who be-
comes in-
volved
with the
Gurkhas.

1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 51, 55.

Capt. Murray, the political agent at Ambala, and Capt. Wade, the
political agent at Ludhiana, each wrote a narrative of the life of
Ranjit Singh, and that of the former was printed in 1834, with a few
corrections and additions, and some notes, by Mr. Thoby Prinsep,
secretary to the Indian Gqvernment. The author has not seen
Capt. Wade's report, or narrative, but he believes that it, even in a
greater degree than Capt. Mm-ray's, was founded on personal recol-
lections and on oral report, rather than on contemporary English
documents, which reflected the opinions of the times, and which
existed in sufficient abundance after 1803 especially. The two narra-
tives in question were, indeed, mainly prepared from accounts drawn
up by intelligent Indians, at the requisition of the English functiona-
ries, and of these the chronicles of Buta Shah, a Muhammadan, and
Sohan Lai, a Hindu, are the best known, and may be had for purchase
The inquiries of Capt. Wade, in especial, were extensive, and to both

K2

132

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. V

1803-5.

Shah Za-
man de-
posed by
Shah Mah-
mud and
theDurrani
empire
weakened :

wherefore
Ranjit
Singh pro-
ceeds to the
south-west
of the Pun-
jab, 1805.

Returns to
the north
on Holkar's
approach,
1805.

A Sikh _

Guru-

matta, or

national

council,

held;

In little more than a year after Shah Zaman quitted the
Punjab, he was deposed and blinded by his brother Mahmud,
who was in his turn supplanted by a third brother, Shah
Shuja, in the j^ear 1803. These revolutions hastened the
fall of the exotic empire of Alimad Shah, and Ranjit Singh
was not slow to try his arms against the weakened Durrani
governors of districts and provinces. In 1804^5 he marched
to the westward ; he received homage and presents from
the INIuhammadans of Jhang and Sahiwal, and Muzaffar
Khan of Multan, successfully deprecated an attack by rich
offerings. Ranjit Singh had felt his way and was satisfied ;
he returned to Lahore, celebrated the festival of the Holi
in his capital, and then went to bathe in the Ganges at
Hardwar, or to observe personally the aspect of affairs to
the eastward of the Punjab. Towards the close of 1805 he
made another western inroad, and added weight to the
fetters already imposed on the proprietor of Jhang ; but
the approach of Holkar and Amir Khan recalled, first
Fateh Singh, and afterwards himself, to the proper city of
the whole Sikh people. The danger seemed imminent, for
a famed leader of the dominant Marathas was desirous of
bringing down an Afghan host, and the English army, exact
in discipline, and representing a power of unknown views
and resources, had reached the neighbourhood of Amritsar.'^

A formal council was held by the Siklis, but a portion
only of their leaders were present . The singleness of purpose,
the confident belief in the aid of God, which had animated
mechanics and shepherds to resent persecution, and to
triumph over Ahmad Shah, no longer possessed the minds
of their descendants, born to comparative power and
affluence, and who, like rude and ignorant men broken
loose from all law, gave the rein to their grosser passions.

officers the public is indebted for the preservation of a continuous
narrative of Ranjit Singh's actions.

The latter portion of the present chapter, and also chapters VI
and VII, follow very closely the author's narratives of the British
connexion with the Sikhs, drawn up for Government, a [literary] use
which he trusts may be made, without any impropriety, of an un-
printed paper of his own writing.

^ See Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 325; and Miuray, Ranjit Singh,
pp. 56, 57.

CHAP. V ASCENDANCY OF RANJlT SINGH 133

Their ambition was personal and their desire was for 1805.

worldly enjoyment. The genuine spirit of Sikliism had , . , .

again sought the dwelling of the peasant to reproduce itself confederate

in another form ; the rude system of mixed independence p^'^'^i^j

and confederacy was unsuited to an extended dominion ; cayed and

it had served its ends of immediate agglomeration, and the ^^^'^I'^ss,

' Misals ' were in effect dissolved. The mass of the people

remained satisfied with their village freedom, to which

taxation and inquisition were unknown ; but the petty

chiefs and their paid followers, to whom their faith was

the mere expression of a conventional custom, were anxious

for predatory licence, and for additions to their temporal

power. Some were willing to join the English, others were

ready to link their fortunes with the Marathas, and all had

become jealous of Ranilt Singh, who alone was desirous of andasingle

, , . , . , , , , temporal

excludmg the stranger invaders, as the great obstacles to authority

his own ambition of founding a military monarchy which ^\''*^Vf'''y .

, , ■ , . -. admittedin

should ensure to the people the congenial occupation oi the person

conquest. In truth, Ranjit Singh laboured, with more or °f E^njit
less of intelligent design, to give unity and coherence to
diverse atoms and scattered elements ; to mould the in-
creasing Sikh nation into a well-ordered state or common-
wealth, as Gobind had developed a sect into a people, and
had given application and purpose to the general institutions
of Nanak.^

Holkar retired, and Ranjit Singh, as has been mentioned, Ranjit
entered into a vague but friendly alliance with the British jJJ^ /n the
Government. Towards the close of the same year he was affairs of
invited to interfere in a quarrel between the chief of Nabha of Sirhind
and the Raja of Patiala, and it would be curious to trace 1806.
whether the English authorities had first refused to mediate
in the dispute in consequence of the repeated instructions
to avoid all connexion with powers beyond the Jumna.
Ranjit Singh crossed the Sutlej, and took Ludhiana from Takes
the declining Muhammadan family which had sought the f^^'^"^'
protection of the adventurer George Thomas. The place
was bestowed upon his uncle, Bhag Singh of Jind, and as

1 Malcolm {Sketch, pp. 106, 107) remarks on the want of unanimity
among the Sikhs at the time of Lord Lake's expedition. Cf . Murray,
Ranjit Singh, pp. 57, 58.

134

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. V

1806.

and

receives
offerings
from Pati-
ala.

Sansar
Chand and
the Gur-
khas, 1805,

Sansar
Chand and
his con-
federate of
Nalagarh
driven to
the north
of the Sut-
4ej, 1805;

and the
Gurkhas
invest
Kangra.

both Jaswant Singh of Nabha, whom he had gone to aid,
and Sahib Singh of Patiala, whom he had gone to coerce,
were glad to be rid of his destructive arbitration, he retired
with the present of a piece of artillery and some treasure,
and went towards the hills of Kangra, partly that he might
pay his superstitious devotions at the natural flames of
Juala Mukhi.i

At this time the unscrupulous ambition of Sansar Chand
of Katotch had brought him into fatal collision with the
Gurldias. That able chief might have given life to a con-
federacy against the common enemies of all the old mountain
principalities, who were already levying tribute in Garhwal :
but Sansar Chand in his desire for supremacy had reduced
the chief of Kahlijr, or Belaspur, to the desperate expedient
of throwing himself on the support of the Nepal commander.
Amar Singh Thappa gladly advanced, and, notwithstanding
the gallant resistance offered by the young chief of Nalagarh,
Sansar Chand's coadjutor in his own aggressions, the
Gurkha authority was introduced between the Sutlej and
Jumna before the end of 1805, during which year Amar
Singh crossed the former river and laid siege to Kangra.
At the period of Ranjit Singh's visit to Juala Mukhi, Sansar
Chand was willing to obtain his aid ; but, as the fort was
strong and the sacrifices required considerable, he was
induced to trust to his own resources, and no arrangement
was then come to for the expulsion of the new enemy.^

1 See Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 59, 60. The letter of Sir Charles
Metcalfe to Government, of June 17, 1809, shows that Ranjit Singh
was not strong enough at the time in question, 1806, to interfere,
by open force, in the affairs of the Malwa Sikhs, and the letters of
Sir David Ochterlony, of February 14, March 7, 1809 and July 30,
1811, show that the English engagements of 1805, with the Patiala
and other chiefs, were virtually at an end, so far as regarded the
reciprocal benefits of alliance.

2 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 60; and Moorcroft, Travels,!. 127, &c.

Sansar Chand attributed his overthrow by the Gurkhas to his dis-
missal of his old Rajput troops and employment of Afghans, at the
instigation of the fugitive Rohilla chief, Ghulam Muhammad, who
had sought an asylum with him.

The Gurkhas crossed the Jumna to aid the chief of Nahan against
his subjects, and they crossed the Sutlej to aid one Rajput prince
against another — ^paths always open to new and united races. Refe-

CHAP. V ASCENDANCY OF RANJiT SINGH

135

In 1807 Ranjit Singh first directed his attention to
Kasur, which was again rebelHous, and the relative inde-
pendence of which caused him disquietude, although its
able chief, Nizam-ud-dm, had been dead for some time ;
nor was he, perhaps, without a feeling that the reduction of
a large colony of Pathans, and the annexation of the mytho-
logical rival of Lahore, would add to his own merit and
importance. The place was invested by Ranjit Singh, and
by Jodh Singh Ramgarhia, the son of his father's old ally,
Jassa the Carpenter. Want of unity weakened the resistance
of the then chief, Kutb-ud-dln, and at the end of a month
he surrendered at discretion, and received a tract of land on
the opposite side of the Sutlej for his maintenance. Ranjit
Singh afterwards proceeded towards Multan, and succeeded
in capturing the walled town ; but the citadel resisted such
efforts as he was able to make, and he was perhaps glad that
the payment of a sum of money enabled him to retire with
credit ; he was, nevertheless, unwilling to admit his failure,
and, in the communications which he then held with the
Nawab of Bahawalpur, the ready improver of opportunities
endeavoured to impress that chief with the belief that a
regard for him alone had caused the Afghan governor to be
left in possession of his stronghold.^

During the same year, 1807, Ranjit Singh took into his
employ a Kshattriya, named Mohkam Chand, an able man,
who fully justified the confidence reposed in him. With this
new servant in his train he proceeded to interfere in the
dissensions between the Raja of Patiala and his intriguing
wife, which were as lucrative to the master of Lahore as they
had before been to Holkar and Amir Khan. The Rani
wished to force from the weak husband a large assignment
for the support of her infant son, and she tempted Ranjit
Singh, by the offer of a necklace of diamonds and a piece of
brass ordnance, to espouse her cause. He crossed the Sutlej,
and decreed to the boy a maintenance of 50,000 rupees
per annum. He then attacked Naraingarh, between Ambala

1807.

Ranjit
Singh ex-
pels the
Pathan
chief of Ka-
sur, 1807 ;

and partial-
ly succeeds
against
Multan.

Ranjit
Singh em-
ploys
Mohkam
Chand,
1807.

Crosses the
Sutlej for
the second
time ;

rences in public records show that the latter river was crossed in
A. D. 1805.

^ Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 60, 61, and the manuscript memoirs of
the Bahawalpur family.

136

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. V

1808-9.

and returas

to seize the

territories

of the

deceased

Dallewala

chief.

The Sikhs
of Sirhind
become ap-
prehensive
of Ranjit
Singh.

British
protection
asked,
1808;

but not

distinctly
acceded.

Whereupon
the chiefs
repair to
Ranjit
Singh.

and the hiUs, and held by a family of Rajputs, but he only
secured it after a repulse and a heavy loss. Tara Singh, the
old chief of the Dallehwala confederacy, who was with the
Lahore force on this occasion, died before Naraingarh, and
Ranjit Singh hastened back to secure his possessions in the
Jullundur Doab. The widow of the aged leader equalled
the sister of the Raja of Patiala in spirit, and she is
described to have girded up her garments, and to have
fought, sword in hand, on the battered walls of the fort
of Rahon.^

In the beginning of 1808 various places in the Upper
Punjab were taken from their independent Sikh proprietors,
and brought under the direct management of the new
kingdom of Lahore, and Mohkam Chand was at the same
time employed in effecting a settlement of the territories
which had been seized on the left bank of the Sutlej. But
Ranjit Singh's systematic aggressions had begun to excite
fear in the minds of the Sikhs of Sirhind, and a formal
deputation, consisting of the chiefs of JTnd and Kaithal,
and the Diwan, or minister, of Patiala, proceeded to Delhi,
in March 1808, to ask for British protection. The communi-
cations of the English Government Avith the chiefs of the
Cis-Sutlej states had not been altogether broken off, and the
Governor-General had at this time assured the Muhammadan
Khan of Kunjpura, near Karnal,^ that he need be under no
apprehensions with regard to his hereditary possessions,
while the petty Sikh chief of Sikri had performed some
services which were deemed worthy of" a pension.^ But the
deputies of the collective states could obtain no positive
assurances from the British authorities at Delhi, although
they were led to hope that, in the hour of need, they would
not be deserted. This was scarcely sufficient to save them
from loss, and perhaps from ruin ; and, as Ranjit Singh
had sent messengers to calm their apprehensions, and to
urge them to join his camp, they left DeUii for the purpose

1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 61, 63. The gun obtained by
Ranjit Singh from Patiala on this occasion was named Karri Khan,
and was captured by the English during the campaign of 1845-6.

2 In a document dated 18th January, 1808.

3 III. Clerk of Ambala to the agent at Delhi, 19th May, 1837.

CHAP. V BRITISH POLICY IN 1808 137

of making their own terms with the acknowledged Raja of 1808-9.

Lahore.^

The Governor-General of 1805,^ who dissolved or depre- The under-

cated treaties with princes beyond the Jumna, and declared stood de-

^ ^ signs of the

that river to be the limit of British dominion, had no French on

personal knowledge of the hopes and fears with which the ^^'^1% ^,
^ * ^ . „ „ modify the

mvasions of Shah Zaman agitated the minds of men for policy of

the period of three or four years ; and had the Sikhs of j^'' Enghsh
Sirhind sought protection from Lord Cornwallis, they would the Sikhs,
doubtless have received a decisive answer in the negative. 1808-9.
But the reply of encouragement given in the beginning of
1808 was prompted by renewed danger ; and the belief
that the French, the Turkish, and the Persian emperors
meditated the subjugation of India led another new Gover-
nor-General to seek alliances, not only beyond the Jumna,
but beyond the Indus.^ The designs or the desires of Napo-
leon appeared to render a defensive alliance with the Afghans
and with the Sikhs imperative ; Mr. Elphinstone was
deputed to the court of Shah Shuja, and in September 1808
Mr. Metcalfe was sent on a mission to Ranjit Singh for the
purpose of bringing about the desired confederation.* The The chiefs
chiefs of Patiala, Jind. and Kaithal were also verbally °^^J,i
assured that they had become dependent princes of the under
British Government ; for the progress of Ranjit Singh ^ndrdosL'
seemed to render the interposition of some friendly aUiance
states, between his military domination and the peace- ^^"^^ „ut
ful sway of the English, a measure of prudence and Singh.
foresight.^

1 See Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 64, 65.

2 [Lord Cornwallis had been sent out in 1805 with strict orders to
pursue a pacific and economizing policy, as the Directors were alarmed
at the expense of the wars waged by his predecessor — Lord Wellesley.
But Cornwallis died two months after his arrival, and was temporarily
succeeded by Sir G. Barlow. — Ed.]

^ Mr. Auber {Rise and Progress of the British Power in India, ii.
461), notices the triple alliance which threatened Hindustan. [Lord
Minto had arrived as Governor-General in 1807. — Ed.]

* [Col. Malcolm was dispatched on a similar mission to Persia at
the same time, and concluded a treaty (1809) which did away with
the possibility of French interference in that quarter. — Ed.]

5 Government to Sir David Ochteriony, 14th Nov., 1808. Cf.
Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 65, 66.

138 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, v

1808-9. Mr. Metcalfe was received by Ranjit Singh at his newly

Mr Met- conquered town of Kasiir, but the chief affected to consider

calfe sent himself as the head of the whole Sikh people, and to regard

as envoy to ^j-^g possession of Lahore as giving him an additional claim

1808-9.' to supremacy over Sirhind. Pie did not, perhaps, see that

Aversion a French invasion would be ruinous to his interests ; he

of Ranjit rather feared the colossal power on his borders, and he
Smeh to a ^ '

restrictive resented the intention of confining him to the Sutlej.^ He

{v^^}?' (f "'^ suddenly broke off negotiations, and made his third inroad

expedition to the south of the Sutlej. He seized Farldkot and Ambala,

across the levied exactions in Maler Kotla and Thanesar, and entered
Sutlej.

into a symbolical brotherhood or alliance witli the Raja of

Patiala. The British envoy remonstrated against these

virtual acts of hostility, and he remained on the banks of

the Sutlej until Ranjit Singh recrossed that river.^

British The proceedings of tlie ruler of I/ahore determined the

troops Governor-General, if doubtful before, to advance a detach-
moved to _, . r lo ■

the Sutlej, ment of troops to the Sutlej, to support Mr. Metcalfe m

1809. his negotiations, and to effectually confine Ranjit Singh to

the northward of that river.^ Provision would also be thus

made, it was said, for possible warlike operations of a more

extensive character, and the British frontier would be

covered by a confederacy of friendly chiefs, instead of

threatened by a hostile military government. A body of

troops was accordingly moved across the Jumna in January

1809, under the command of Sir David Ochterlony. The

General advanced, by way of Buriya and Patiala, towards

Ludhiana ; he was welcomed by all the Sirhind chiefs, save

Jodh Singh Kalsia, the nominal head of tJie Krora-Singhia

confederacy : but during his march he was not without

apprehensions that Ranjit Singh might openly break with

his government, and, after an intervniew with certain

agents whom that chief had sent to him with the view

of opening a double negotiation, he made a detour and

1 Moorcroft ascertained (Trave is, i. 94) that Ranjit Singh had serious
thoughts of appealing to the sword, so unpalatable was English inter-
ference. The well-known Fakir Uziz-ud-din was one of the two
persons who dissuaded him from war.

2 Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 66.

3 Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 14th Nov. and 29th Dec.,
1808.

CHAP. V BRITISH POLICY IN 1808 139

a halt, in order to be near his supplies should hostilities 1809.
take place.^

Ranjit Singh was somewhat discomposed by the near The views
presence of a British force, but he continued to evade com- {jsh become
pliance with the propositions of the envoy, and he complained somewhat
that Mr. Metcalfe was needlessly reserved about his acquisi- ^^^ Raniit
tions on the south banks of the Sutlej, with regard to which Singh still
the Government had only declared that the restoration of ^e*^p^to^the
his last conquests, and the absolute withdrawal of his troops north of the
to the northward of tlie river, must form the indispensable Sutlej.
basis of further negotiations. ^ Affairs were in this way
when intelligence from Europe induced the Governor-
Gen.eral to believe that Napoleon must abandon his designs
upon India, or at least so far suspend them as to render
defensive precautions unnecessary.^ It was therefore made
known that the object of the English Government had
become limited to the security of the country south of the
Sutlej from the encroachments of Ranjifc Singh ; for that,
independent of the possible approach of a European enemy,
it ' was considered advisable on other grounds to afford
protection to the southern Siklis. Ranjit Singh nuist still,
nevertheless, withdraw his troops to the right bank of the
Sutlej, his last usurpations must also be restored, but the

^ Sir David Ochterlony to Government, 20th Jan., and 4th, 9th,
and 14th Feb., 1809, with Government to Sir David Ochterlony, of
13th March, 1809. Government by no means approved of what Sir
David Ochterlony had done, and he, feeling aggrieved, virtually
tendered his resignation of his command. (Sir David Ochterlony
to Government, 19th April, 1809.)

2 Sir David Ochterlony to Government, 14th Feb., 1809, and
Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 30th July, 1809. Lieut.-Col.
Lawrence {Adventures in the Punjab, p. 131, note g) makes Sir Charles
Metcalfe sufficiently communicative on this occasion with regard to
other territories, for he is declared to have told the Maharaja that
by a compliance with the then demands of the English, he would
ensure their neutrality with respect to encroachments elsewhere.

3 Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 30th J'&n., 1809. [Pro-
bably the altered relations between Napoleon and Turkey were the
main cause of this. The Franco-Turkish alliance of 1807 had come
to an end with the deposition of Mustapha IV and accession of
Mahmud II — July 1808 — and the improved relations of England and
Turkey led to the signature by the latter powers of the Treaty of the
Dardanelles (January 1809). — Ed.]

140 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, v

1809. restitution of iiis first conquests would not be insisted on ;

while, to remove all cause of suspicion, the detachment under
Sir David Ochterlony could fall back from Ludhiana to
Karnal, and take up its permanent position at the latter
place. ^ But the British commander represented the advan-
tage of keeping the force where it was ; his Government
assented to its detention, at least for a time, and Ludhiana
thus continued uninterruptedly to form a station for British
troops.^
Ranjit In the beginning of February 1809, Sir David Ochterlony

M* • '^^^ issued a proclamation declaring the Cis-Sutlej states to
be under British protection, and that any aggressions of the
Chief of Lahore would be resisted with arms.^ Ranjit Singh
then perceived that the British authorities were in earnest,
and the fear struck him that the still independent leaders of
the Punjab might likewise tender their allegiance and have
it accepted. All chance of empire would thus be lost, and
he prudently made up his mind without further delay. He
withdrew his troops as required, he relinquished his last
acquisitions, and at Amritsar, on the 25th April, 1809, the
and enters now single Chief of I^ahore signed a treaty which left him
into a for- ^j^^ master of the tracts he had originally occupied to the
25th April' south of the Sutlej, but confined his ambition for the future
1809. ^^ ^j^g north and westward of that river.*

The terms The Sikh, and the few included Hindu and Muhammadan
pendence chiefs, between the Sutlej and Jumna, having been taken
and of under British protection, it became necessary to define the
prmiacvTn terms on which they were secured from foreign danger.
Sirhind. Sir David Ochterlony observed,^ that wlien the chiefs first
sought protection, their jealousy of the English would have
yielded to their fears of Ranjit Singh, and they would have
agreed to any conditions proposed, including a regular
tribute. But their first overtures had been rejected, and

^ Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 30th Jan., 6th Feb., and
13th March, 1809.

2 Sir David Ochterlony to Government, 6th May, 1809, and
Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 13th June, 1809.

3 See Appendix XXIV.

* See the treaty itself, Appendix XXV. Cf . Murray, Ranjit Singh,
pp. 67, 68.
5 Sir David Ochterlony to Government, 17th March, 1809.

CHAP. V

THE TREATY OF 1809

141

the mission to Laliore had taught them to regard their
defence as a secondary object, and to think that English
apprehensions of remote foreigners had saved Ihem from tlie
arbiter of tlve Punjab. Protection, indeed, had become no
longer a matter of choice ; they must have accepted it, or
they would have been treated as enemies.^ Wherefore, con-
tinued Sir David, the chiefs expected that the protection
would be gratuitous. The Government, on its part, was
inclined to be liberal to its new dependants, and finally a
proclamation was issued on the 3rd May, 1809, guaranteeing
the chiefs of ' Sirhind and Malwa ' against the power of
Ranjit Singh, leaving them absolute in their own territories
exempting them from tribute, but requiring assistance in
time of war, and making some minor provisions which need
not be recapitulated.^

No sooner were the chiefs relieved of their fears of Ranjit
Singh, than the more turbulent began to prey upon one
another, or upon their weaker neighbours ; and, although
the Governor- General had not wished them to consider
themselves as in absolute subjection to the British power,^
Mr. Metcalfe pointed out * that it was necessary to declare
the chiefs to be protected singly against one another, as well
as collectively against Ranjit Singh ; for, if such a degree
of security were not guaranteed, the oppressed would
necessarily have recourse to the only other person who
could use coercion with effect, viz. to the Raja of Lahore
The justness of these views was admitted, and, on the
22nd August, 1811, a second proclamation was issued,
warning the chiefs against attempts at usurpation, and re-
assuring them of independence and of protection against
Ranjit Singh.^ Nevertheless, encroachments did not at

1 See also Government to Resident at Delhi, 26th Dec, 1808.
Baron Hiigel (Travels, p. 279) likewise attributes the interference of
the English, in part at least, to selfishness, but with him the motive
was the petty desire of benefiting by escheats, which the dissipated
character of the chiefs was likely to render sjieedy and numerous !
This appetite for morsels of territory, however, really arose at a sub-
sequent date, and did not move the English in 1809.

2 See Appendix XXVI.

2 Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 10th April, 1809.

* Mr. Metcalfe to Government, 17th June, 1809.

^ See the proclamation. Appendix XXVII. ,

1809.

Sir David
Ochter-
lony

shows that
the Eiighsh
regarded
themselves
alone in
offering
protection.

The rela-
tions of the
protected
chiefs
among
themselves.

142 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, v

1809-18. once cease, and the Jodh Singh Kalsia, who avoided giving
in his adhesion to the British Government on the advance
of Sir David Ochterlony, required to iiave troops sent
against liim in 1818 to compel the surrender of tracts which
he had forcibly seized.^

The history of the southern or Malwa Sikhs need not be

continued, although it presents many points of interest

to the general reader, as well as to the student and to those

Perplexi- concerned in the administration of India. The British

British functionaries soon became involved in intricate questions

authorities about interference between equal chiefs, and between chiefs

theTiahu ^^*^ their confederates or dependants ; they laboured to

of supre- reconcile the Hindu laws of inlieritance with the varied

the^on^a- ^ustoms of different races, and with the alleged family

tion of in- usages of peasants suddenly become princes. They had to

ternational (jecjjjg on questions of escheat, and being strongly impressed

with the superiority of British municipal rule, and with the

undoubted claim of the paramount to some benefit in return

for the protection it afforded, they strove to prove that

collateral heirs had a limited right only, and that exemption

from tribute necessarily implied an enlarged liability to

confiscation. They had to define the common boundary

of the Sikh states and of Bi-itish rule, and they were prone

to show, after the manner of Ranjit Singh, that the present

possession of a principal town gave a right to all the villages

which had ever been attached to it as the seat of a local

authority, and that all waste lands belonged to the supreme

power, although the dependant might have last possessed

them in sovereignty and intermediately brought them under

the jilough. They had to exercise a paramount municipal

control, and in the surrender of criminals, and in the demand

^ Resident at Delhi to Agent at Anibala, 27th Oct., 1818, mulcting
the chief in the military expenses incurred, 65,000 rupees. The head
of the family, Jodii Singh, had recently returned with Ranjit Singh's
army from the capture of Multan, and he was always treated with
consideration by the Maharaja ; and, bearing in mind the different
views taken by dependent Sikhs and governing English, of rights of
succession, he had fair grounds of dissatisfaction. He claimed to be
the head of the ' Krora Singhia ' ilisal, and to be the heir of all child-
less feudatories. The British Government, however, made itself the
valid or efficient head of the confederacy.

CHAP. V

THE PROTECTED SIKHS

143

for compensation for property stolen from British subjects,
the original arbitrary nature of the decisions enforced has
not yet been entirely replaced by rules of reciprocity. But
the government of a large empire will always be open to
obloquy, and liable to misconception, from the acts of offi-
cious and ill-judging servants, who think that they best
serve the complicated interests of their own rulers by lessen-
ing the material power of others, and that any advantage
they may seem to have gained for the state they obey will
surely promote their own objects. Nor, in such matters,
are servants alone to blame, and the whole system of internal
government in India requires to be remodelled and made
the subject of a legislation at once wise, considerate, and
comprehensive. In the Sikh states ignorance has been the
main cause of mistakes and heart-burnings, and in 1818
Sir David Ochterlony frankly owned to the Marquis of
Hastings^ that his proclamation of 1809 had been based on
an erroneous idea. He thought that a few great chiefs only
existed between the Sutlej and Jumna, and that on them
would devolve the maintenance of order ; whereas he found
that the dissolution of the ' Misals ', faulty as was their
formation, had almost thrown the Sildis back upon the
indi\ idual independence of the times of Alimad Shah. Both
in considering the relation of the chiefs to one another, and
their relation collectively to the British Government, too
little regard was perhaps had to the peculiar circumstances
of the Sikh people. They were in a state of progression
among races as barbarous as themselves, when suddenly
the colossal power of England arrested them, and required
the exercise of political moderation and the practice of a
just morality from men ignorant alike of despotic control
and of regulated freedom.^

1809-18.

Sir David
Ochter-
lony's
frank
admission
of the false
basis of his
original
poliey.

^ In a private commiinication, dated 17th May, 1818.

2 In the Sikh States on either side of the Sutlej, the British Govern-
ment was long fortunate in being represented by such men as Capt
Miuray and Mr. Clerk, Sir David Ochterlony, and Lieut. -Col. Wade —
so different from one another, and yet so useful to one common
purpose of good for the English power. These men, by their personal
character or influence, added to the general reputation of their
countrymen, and they gave adaptation and flexibility to the rigid
unsympathizing nature of a foreign and civilized supremacy. Sir

144 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chaf. v

1809-18. David Ochterlony will long live in the memory of the people of
Northern India as one of the greatest of the conquering English chiefs;
and he was among the very last of the British leaders who endeared
himself both to the army which followed him and to the princes who
bowed before the colossal power of his race.

Nevertheless, the best of subordinate authorities, immersed in
details and occupied with local affairs, are, liable to be biassed by
views which promise immediate and special advantage. They can
seldom be more than upright or dexterous administrators, and they
can still more rarely be men whose minds have been enlarged by
study and reflexion as well as by actual experience of the world.
Thus the ablest but too often resemble merely the practical man of
the moment ; while the supreme authority, especially when absent
from his councillors and intent upon some great undertaking, is of
necessity dependent mainly upon the local representatives of the
Government, whose notions must inevitably be partial or one-sided,
, for good, indeed, as well as for evil. The author has thus, even during
his short service, seen many reasons to be thankful that there is a
remote deliberative or corrective body, which can survey things
through an atmosphere cleared of mists, and which can judge of
measiu-es with reference both to the universal principles of justice
and statesmanship, and to their particular bearing on the English
supremacy in India, which should be characterized by certainty and
consistency of operation, and tempered by a spirit of forbearance
and adaptation.

CHAPTER VI

FROM THE SUPREMACY OF RANJiT SINGH TO
THE REDUCTION OF MULTAN, KASHMIR, AND
PESHAWAR

1809—1823-4

Mutual distrust of Ranjit Singh and the English gradually removed — •
Ranjit Singh and the Gurkhas — Ranjit Singh and the ex-kings
of Kabul — Ranjit Singh and Fateh Khan, the Kabul Wazlr —
Ranjit Singh and Shah Shuja each fail against Kashmir — Fateh
Khan put to death — Ranjit Singh captures Multan, overruns
Peshawar, occupies Kashmir, and annexes the ' Derajat ' of the
Indus to his dominions — The Afghans defeated, and Peshawar
brought regularly under tribute — Death of Muhammad Azim
Khan of Kabul, and of Sansar Chand of Katotch — Ranjit Singh's
power consolidated — Shah Shuja's expedition of 1818-21 — Appa
Sahib of Nagpur — The traveller Moorcroft — ^Ranjit Singh's
Government — The Sikh Army — The Sikhs and other military
tribes — French officers — Ranjit Singh's family — Ranjit Singh's
failings and Sikh vices — Ranjit Singh's personal favourites and
trusted servants.

A TREATY of peace and friendship was thus formed
between Ranjit Singh and the English Government ; but
confidence is a plant of slow growth, and doubt and suspicion
are not always removed by formal protestations. Wliile
arrangements were pending with the Maharaja, the British
authorities were assured that he had made propositions to
Sindhia ; ^ agents from Gwalior, from Holkar, and from
Amir IChan,^ continued to show themselves for years at
Lahore, and their masters long dwelt on the hope that the
tribes of the Punjab and of the Deccan might yet be united
against the stranger conquerors. It was further believed
by the English rulers that Ranjit Singh was anxiously trying
to induce the Sikhs of Sirhind to throw off their allegiance,

* Resident at Delhi to Sir David Ochterlony, 28th June, 1809.
^ Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 15th Oct., 1809 ; 5th, 6th,
and 7th Dec , 1809 ; and 5th and 30th Jan., and 22nd Aug., 1810.

1809.

The
English
suspicious
of Ranjit
Singh, not-
withstand-
ing their
joint
treaty ;

146 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1809-11. and to join him and Holkar against their protectors.^ Other
special instances might also be quoted, and Sir David
Ochterlony even thought it prudent to lay in supplies and

and Kanjit. to throw up defensive lines at Ludhiana.^ Ranjit Singh had

Singh likewise his suspicions, but they were necessarily expressed
equally j- ' ./ j i

doubtful on in ambiguous terms, and were rather to be deduced from his
his part : ^^.^g g^j^^j correspondence, and from a consideration of his
position, than to be looked for in overt statements or remon-
but distrust strances. By degrees the apprehensions of the two govern-
gradually ixients mutually vanished, and, while Raniit Singh felt he
vanishes on *' j o

either side, could freely exercise his ambition beyond the Sutlej, the

English were persuaded he would not embroil himself with
its restless allies in the south, so long as he had occupation
elsewhere. In 1811 presents were exchanged between the
Governor-General and the Maharaja,^ and during the
following year Sir David Ochterlony became his guest at
the marriage of his son, Kharak Singh,* and from that period
until within a year of the late war, the rumours of a Sikh
invasion served to amuse the idle and to alarm the credulous,
without causing uneasiness to the British viceroy.
Ranjit On the departure of Mr. Metcalfe, the first care of Ranjit

Singh ac- Singh was to strengthen both his frontier post of Phillaur
quires » » t-

Kangra, opposite Ludhiana, and Gobindgarh the citadel of Amritsar,
and con- which he had begun to build as soon as he got possession of
Gurkhas to the religious capital of his people.^ He was invited, almost
th^M^ti^^ at the same time, by Sansar Chand of Katotch, to aid in
1809. ' resisting the Gurklias, who were still pressing their long-
continued siege of Kangra, and who had effectually dispelled
the Rajput prince's dreams of a supremacy reaching from
the Jumna to the Jhelum. The stronghold was offered to
the Sikh ruler as the price of his assistance, but Sansar Chand
hoped, in the meantime, to gain admittance himself, by

^ Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 5th Jan., 1810.

2 Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 31st Dec, 1809, and 7th Sept.,
1810.

^ A carriage was at this time sent to Lahore. See, further, Resident
of Delhi to Sir D. Ochterlony, 25th Feb., 1811, and Sir D. Ochterlony
to Government, 15th Nov., 1811.

* Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 18th July, 1811, and 23rd
Jan., 1812.

^ Of. Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 76.

CHAP. VI DISTRUST OF RANJiT SINGH

147

showing to the Gurkhas the futility of resisting Ranjit Singh,
and by promising to surrender the fort to the Nepal com-
mander, if allowed to withdraw his family. The Maharaja
saw through the schemes of Sansar Chand, and he made the
son of his ally a prisoner, while he dexterously cajoled the
Khatmandii general, Amar Singh Thappa, who proposed
a joint warfare against the Rajpiit mountaineers, and to
take, or receive, in the meantime, the fort of Kangra as
part of the Gurkha share of the general spoil. The Sikhs
got possession of the place by suddenly demanding admit-
tance as the expected relief. Sansar Chand was foiled, and
Am.ar Singh retreated across the Sutlej, loudly exclaiming
that he had been grossly duped.^ The active Nepalese
commander soon put down some disorders which had
arisen in his rear, but the disgrace of his failure before
Kangra rankled in his mind, and he made preparations for
another expedition against it. He proposed to Sir David
Ochterlony a joint march to the Indus, and a separate
appropriation of the plains and the hills ; ^ and Ranjit
Singh, ignorant alike of English moderation and of inter-
national law, became apprehensive lest the allies of Nepal
should be glad of a pretext for coercing one who had so
unwillingly acceded to their limitation of his ambition. He
made known that he was desirous of meeting Amar Singh
Thappa on his own ground ; and the reply of the Governor-
General that he might not only himself cross the Sutlej to
chastise the invading Gurklias in the hills, but that, if they
descended into the plains of Sirhind, he would receive
English assistance, gave him another proof that the river
of the treaty was really to be an impassable barrier. He
had got the assurance he wanted, and he talked no more of
carrying his horsemen into mountain recesses.^ But Amar
Singh long brooded over his reverse, and tried in various
ways to induce the British authorities to join him in assailing

^ Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 76, 77. Ther Maharaja told Capt. Wade
that the Gurkhas wanted to share Kashmir with him, but that he
thought it best-to keep them out of the Punjab altogether. (Capt.
Wade to Government, 25th May, 1831.)

2 Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 16th and 30th Dec., 1809.

3 SirD. Ochterlony to Government, 12th Sept., 1811, and Govern-
ment to Sir D. Ochterlony, 4th Oct. and 22nd Nov., 1811.

Ii2

1809.

The Gur-
khas urge
the English
to effect a
joint con-
quest of the
Punjab,
1809.

But Ranjit
Singh told
he may
cross the
Sutlej to
resist the
Nepal
leader,
1811.

Amar
Singh
Thappa
again
presses an
alliance
against the
Sikhs,1813.

148 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1811-15. the Punjab. The treaty with Nepal, he would say, made all
strangers the mutual friends or enemies of the two govern-
ments, and Ranjit Singh had wantonly attacked the Gurkha
possessions in Katotch. Besides, he would argue, to advance
is the safest policy, and what could have brought the English
to the Sutlej but the intention of going beyond it ? ^ The
Ween the ^^P^^ ^^^ ^^ 1814! followed, and the English became the
English neighbours of the Siklis in the hills as well as in the plains,
r°*^kh 1 ^^^ ^^^ Gurkhas, instead of grasping Kashmir, trembled for
1814^15.'' their homes in Khatmandu. Ranjit Singh was not then
Sansar asked to give his assistance, but Sansar Chand was directly
K^rfh^ called upon by the English representative to attack the
Ranjit ' Gurklias and their allies, — a hasty requisition, which
Singh and produced a remonstrance from the Maharaja, and an
English. admission, on the part of Sir David Ochterlony, that his
supremacy was not questioned ; while the experienced
Hindu chief had forborne to commit himself with either
state, by promising much and doing little.^
ShahShuja Ranjit Singh felt secure on the Upper Sutlej, but a new
ffom Af- danger assailed him in the beginning of 1810, and again set
ghanistan, him to work to dive to the bottom of British counsels.
Mr. Elphinstone had scarcely concluded a treaty with Shah
Shuja against the Persians and French, before that prince
was driven out of his kingdom by the brother whom he had
himself supplanted, and who had placed his affairs in the
hands of the able minister, Fateh IQian. The Maharaja was

^ Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 20th December, 1813.

2 Government to Sir D. Ochterlony, 1st and 20th Oct., 1814.
Resident at Delhi to Sir D. Ochterlony, 11th Oct., 1814, and Sir
David's letter to Ranjit Singh, dated 29th Nov., 1814.

During the war of 1814 Sir David Ochterlony sometimes almost
despaired of success ; and, amid his vexations, he once at least re-
corded his opinion that the Sepoys of the Indian army were unequal
to such mountain warfare as was being waged. (Sir D. Ochterlony
to Government, 22nd Dec, 1814.) The most active and useful ally
of the English during the war was Raja Ram Saran of Hindur
(or Nalagarh), the descendant of the Hari Chand slain by Guru
Gobind, and who was himself the ready coadjutor of Sansar Chand in
many aggressions upon others, as well as in resistance to the Gurkhas.
The venerable chief was still alive in 1846, and he continued to talk
with admiration of Sir David Ochterlony and his 'eighteen pounders',
and to expatiate upon the aid he himself rendered in dragging them
up the steeps of the Himalayas.

1809-10.

CHAP, VI RANJIT SINGH AND GURKHAS

149

at Wazirabad, sequestering that place from the family of
a deceased Sildi chief, when he heard of Shah Shuja's progress
to the eastward with vague hopes of procuring assistance
from one friendly power or another. Ranjit Singh remem-
bered the use he had himself made of Shah Zaman's grant
of Lahore, he feared the whole Punjab might similarly be
surrendered to the English in return for a few battalions,
and he desired to keep a representative of imperial power
within his own grasp.^ He amused the ex-king with the
offer of co-operation in the recovery of Multan and Kashmir,
and he said he would himself proceed to meet the Shah to
save him further journeying towards Hindustan.^ They
saw one another at Sahiwal, but no determinate arrange-
ment was come to, for some prospects of success dawned
upon the Shall, and he felt reason to distrust Ranjit Singh's
sincerity.^ The conferences were broken off ; but the
Maharaja hastened, while there was yet an appearance of
union, to demand the surrender of Multan for himself in the
name of the king. The great gun called 'Zamzam',* or the
' BhangI Top ', was brought from Lahore to batter the walls
of the citadel : but all his efforts were in vain, and he retired,
foiled, in the month of April, with no more than 180,000
rupees to soothe his mortified vanity. The Governor,
Muzaffar KJian, was by this time in correspondence with
the British viceroy in Calcutta, and Ranjit Singh feared
that a tender of allegiance might not only be made but
accepted.^ He therefore proposed to Sir David Ochterlony
that the two ' allied powers ' should march against Multan
and divide the conquest equally.^ It was surmised that he

1 Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 10th and 30th Dec., 1809.

2 Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 7th, 10th, 17th, and 30th
Dec., 1809, and 30th Jan., 1810.

^ Shah Shuja's ' Autobiography ', chap, xxii, published in the
Calcutta Monthly Journal for 1839. The original was undoubtedly
revised, if not really written, by the Shah.

* [Known to all the world as 'Kim's' gun, it now reposes in its last
resting-place outside the Central Museum in Lahore. — Ed.]

^ Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 29th March and 23rd May,
1810. In the latter it is stated that 250,000 rupees were paid, and
the sum of 180,000 is given on Capt. Murray's authority, {Life of
Banjit Singh, p. 81.)

^ SirD. OchterlonytoGovernmpnt, 23rd July and 13th Aug., 1810.

1809-10.

Ranjit
Singh's
suspicions
and plans.

The Maha-
raja meets
the Shah,
but no
arrange-
ment come
to, 1810.

Ranjit
Singh at-
tempts
Multan,
but fails,
Feb.-April,
1810;

and pro-
poses to the
English a
joint ex-
pedition
against it.

150 HISTORY OF THE SIIOIS chap, vi

1810-12. wanted the siege train of the English, but he may likewise
have wished to know whether the Sutlej was to be as good
a boundary in the south as in the north. He was told
reprovingly that the English committed aggressions upon
no one, but otherwise the tenor of the correspondence was
, such as to lead him to believe that he would not be inter-
fered with in his designs upon Multan.^
Shah Shah Shuja proceeded towards Attock after his interview

PesMwar ^'^"i^h Ranjit Singh, and having procured some aid from the
andJMultan rebellious brother of the Goyernor of Kashmir, he crossed

campaign, ^j^^ Indus, and. in March 1810, made himself master of

and subse- ' '

quent im- Peshawar. He retained possession of the place for about

prisonment gj^^ months, when he was compelled to retreat southward by
in Kashmir, '■ *^

1810-12. the Wazir s brother, Muhammad Azim Khan. He made an

attempt to gain over the Governor of Multan, but he was

refused admittance within its walls, and was barely treated

with courtesy, even when he encamped a few miles distant.

He again moved northward, and, as the enemies of Mahmud

were numerous, he succeeded in mastering Peshawar a

second time, after two actions, one a reverse and the other

a victory. But those who had aided him became suspicious

that he was in secret league with Fateh KHian the Wazir,

or, like Ranjit Singh, they wished to possess his person ;

and, in the course of 1812, he was seized in Peshawar by

Jahan Dad Khan, Governor of Attock. and removed, first

to that fort, and afterwards to Kashmir, where he remained

as a prisoner for more than twelve months. ^

After the failure before Multan, Ranjit Singh and his

minister, Mohkam Chand, were employed in bringing more

fully under subjection various Sikh and Muhammadan

chiefs in the plains, and also the hill Rajas of Bhimbar,

^ Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 29th March and 17th Sept.,
1810, and Government to Sir D. Ochterlony, 25th Sept., 1840.
(Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 80, 81.)

2 Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 10th Jan. and 26th Feb.,
1810, and 27th April, 1812. Shah Shuja's 'Autobiography ', chaps,
xxiii-xxv, in the Calcutta Monthly Journal for 1839, and Murray,
Banjit Singh, pp. 79, 87, 92.

Shah Shuja's second appearance before Multan in 1810-11 is
given mainly on Capt. Murray's authority, and the attempt is not
mentioned in the Shah's memoirs, although it is admitted that he
went into the Derajat of the Indus, i.e. to Dera Ismail Khan, &c.

ATTEMPT ON MULTAN

151

Rajaori, and other places. In the month of February 1811,
the Maharaja had reached the salt mines between the Jhelum
and Indus, and hearing that Shah Mahmud had crossed the
latter river, he moved in force to Rawalpindi, and sent to
ascertain his intentions. The Shah had already deputed
agents to state that his object was to punish or overawe the
Governor of Kashmir, who had sided with his brother. Shah
Shuja, then in the neighbourhood of Multan ; and the two
princes being satisfied, they had a meeting of ceremony
before the Maharaja returned to Lahore, to renew his con-
fiscation of lands held by the many petty chiefs who had
achieved independence or sovereignty while the country
was without a general controlling power, but who now fell
unresistingly before the systematic activity of the young
Maharaja.^

In the year 1811, the blind Shah Zaman crossed the
Punjab, and was visited by Ranjit Singh. He took up his
residence in Lahore for a time, and deputed his son Eunus
to Ludhiana, where he was received with attention by
Sir David Ochterlony ; but as the prince perceived that
he was not a welcome guest, his fatlier quitted Ranjit Singh's
city, and became a wanderer for a time in Central Asia.^
In the following year the families of the two ex-kings took
up their abode at Lahore, and as the Maharaja was preparing
to bring the hill chiefs south of Kashmir under his power,
with a view to the reduction of the valley itself, and as he
always endeavoured to make success more complete or more
easy by appearing to labour in the cause of others, he pro-

1811-12.

Ranjit
Singh
meets Shah
Mahmud,
1811.

The bhnd
Shah Za-
man repairs
for a time
to Lahore,
1811.

The family
of Shah
Shuja
repairs to
Lahore,
1812.

1 Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 83, &c. The principal of the chiefs
whose territories were usurped was Budh Singh, of the Singhpuria
or Feizulapuria Misal. See also Sir D. Ochterlony to Government,
15th Oct., 1811.

2 Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 87. The visit of the prince was considered
very embarrassing with reference to Ranjit Singh ; for Shah Shuja
might follow, and he was one who claimed British aid under the treaty
of 1809. It was regretted that the ' obligations of political necessity
should supersede the dictates of compassion ' ; it was argued that
the treaty referred to defence against the French, and not against
a brother ; and the loyal-hearted Sir David Ochterlony was chidden
for the reception he gave to the distressed Shahzada. (Government
to Sir D. Ochterlony, 19th Jan., 1811, and the correspondence
generally of Dec. 1810 and Jan. 1811.)

152 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1812-13. fessed to the wife of Shah Shuja that he would release her

" husband and replace Kashmir under the Shah's sway ; but

Ranjit he hoped the gratitude of the distressed lady would make

?.l"^ii^^^ the great diamond, Koh-i-nur, the reward of his chivalrous

the Shah's ° , , , . ,

name for labours when they should be crowned with success. His

purposes of principal obiect was doubtless the possession of the Shah's

his own. r r J „,. ,..

person, and when, after his preliminary successes against

the hill chiefs, including the capture of Jammu by his newly

married son, Kharak Singh, he heard, towards the end of

Ranjit 1812, that Fateh Khan the Kabul Wazir had crossed the

meets Indus with the design of marching against Kashmir, he

Fateh sought an interview with him, and said he would assist in

Kabui bringing to punishment both the rebel, who detained the

Wazir, king's brother, and likewise the Governor of Multan, who
1812 •

' had refused obedience to Mahmud. Fateh Khan had been

equally desirous of an interview, for he felt that he could not
and a joint take Kashmir if opposed by Ranjit Singh, and he readily
agaii^r^*' promised anything to facilitate his immediate object. The
Kashmir re- Maharaja and the Wazir each hoped to use the other as a
solved on. ^qq]^ y^^ ^j^g success of neither was complete. Kashmir was
Fateh occupied in February 1813 ; but Fateh Khan outstripped

Khan out- ^j^g Sikhs under Mohkam Chand, and he maintained that
Sikhs, and as he alone had achieved the conquest, the Maharaja could
holds the not share in the spoils. The only advantage which accrued
Mahmud to Ranjit Singh was the possession of Shah Shuja's person,
1813. for the ill-fated king was allowed by Fateh Klian to go

Shah Shuja whither he pleased, and he preferred joining the Sikh army,
jomsRanjit ^hich he accompanied to Lahore, to- becoming virtually
acquires a prisoner In Kabul. ^ Rut the Maharaja's expedients did
Attock; j)ot entirely fail him, and as the rebel Governor of Attock
was alarmed by the success of Shah Mahmiid's party in
Kashmir, he was easily persuaded to yield the fort to Ranjit
Singh. This unlooked-for stroke incensed Fateh Klian, who
accused the Maharaja of barefaced treachery, and endea-
voured further to intimidate him by pretending to make
while Moh- overtures to Shah Shuja ; but the Maharaja felt confident
kam Chand of his strength, and a battle was fought on the 13th July,

QGIGEttS tllG

Wazi!-^ in ^ Murray, Banjit Singh, pp. 92, 95 ; Sir D. Ochterlony to Govern-

a pitched ^ent, 4th March, 1813; and Shah Shuja's 'Autobiography',
battle. chap. xxv.

CHAP. VI RANJIT SINGH AND FATEH KHAN 153

1813, near Attock, in Avhich the Kabul Wazir, and his
brother Dost Muhammad Khan, were defeated by Mohkam
' Chand and the Sikhs. ^

Ranjit Singh was equally desirous of detaining Shah
Shuja in Lahore, and of securing the great diamond which
had adorned the throne of the Mughals. The king evaded
a compliance with all demands for a time, and rejected even
the actual offer of moderate sums of money ; but at last
the Maharaja visited the Shah in person, mutual friendship
was declared, an exchange of turbans took place, the diamond
was surrendered, 2 and the king received the assignment of
a jaglr in the Punjab for his maintenance, and a promise
of aid in recovering Kabul. Ranjit Singh then moved
towards the Indus to watch the proceedings of Fateh Khan,
who was gradually consolidating the power of Mahmud,
and he required Shah Shuja to join him, perhaps with some
design of making an attempt on Kashmir ; but Fateh Khan
was likewise watchful, the season was advanced, and the
Maharaja suddenly returned. Shah Shuja followed slowly,
and on the way he was plundered of many valuables, by
ordinary robbers, as the Sikhs said, but by the Siklis
themselves, as the Shah believed. The inferior agents of
Ranjit Singh may not have been very scrupulous, but the
Shah had traitors in his own household, and the high officer
who had been sent to conduct Mr. Elphinstone to Peshawar,
embezzled much of the Shah's property when misfortune
overtook him. This Mir Abdul Hassan had originally in-
formed the Sikh chief of the safety of the Koh-i-nur and
other valuables, he plotted when in Lahore to make it
appear the king was in league witli the Governor of Kashmir,
and he finally threw difficulties in the way of the escape of

1813-14.

Ranjit.
Singh ob-
tains the
Koh-i-nur
diamond,
1813-14 ;

and pro-
mises aid
to Shah
Shuja.

Makes a
movement,
towards the
Indus.

Shah Shu-
ja's dis-
tresses.

' Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 95, 100; Sir D. Ochterlony to
Government, 1st July, 1813.

2 M\irra,j, Ranjit Singh, ji.dQ, &c.; Shah Shuja's 'Autobiography',
chap. XXV ; Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 16th and 23rd April,
1813, and to the Resident at Delhi, 15th Oct., 1813. The Shah's own
account of the methods practised to get possession of the diamond
is more favourable than Capt. Murray's to Ranjit Singh. The Shah
wanted a jagir of 100,000 rujjees, and one of 50,000 was assigned to
him ; but effect to the assignment was never given, nor perhaps
expected.

154

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VI

1814-16.

The flight of
his family
from La-
hore to
Ludhiana,
1814;

April,1815;

and his own
escape to
Kishtwar.

Fails
against
Kashmir,
and retires
to Ludhi-
ana, 1816.

Ranjit

Singh
attempts
Kashmir
and is re-
pulsed,
1814.

his master's family from the Sikh capital. The flight of the
Begums to lAidhiana was at last effected in December 1814 ;
for Shah Shuja perceived the design of the Maharaja to
detain him a prisoner, and to make use of his name for
purposes of his own. A few months afterwards the Shah
himself escaped to the hills ; he was joined by some Sikhs
discontented with Ranjit Singh, and he was aided by the
chief of Kishtwar in an attack upon Kashmir. He penetrated
into the valley, but he had to retreat, and, after residing
for some time longer with his simple, but zealous, mountain
host, he marched through Kulu, crossed the Sutlej, and
joined his family at Ludhiana in September 1816.^ His
presence on the frontier was regarded as embarrassing by
the British Government, which desired that he should be
urged to retire to Karnal or Saharanpur, and Sir David
Ochterlony was further discretionally authorized to tell
Ranjit Singh that the ex-king of Kabul was not a welcome
guest within the limits of Hindustan. Nevertheless the
annual sum of 18,000 rupees, which had been assigned for
the support of his family, was raised to 50,000 on his
arrival, and personally he was treated with becoming
respect and consideration.^

Shah Shuja thus slipped from the hands of the Maharaja,
and no use could be made of his name in further attempts
upon Kashmir; but Ranjit Singh continued as anxious as
ever to obtain possession of the valley, although the Governor
had, in the meantime, put himself in communication with
the English.^ The chiefs south of the PIr Panjal range
having been brought under subjection, military operations
were commenced towards the middle of the year 1814.
Sickness detained the experienced Mohkam Chand at the
capital, but he Avarned the Maharaja of the difficulties which
would beset him as soon as the rains set in, and he almost

1 Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 102, 103; Shah Shuja's 'Autobio-
graphy ', chaps. XXV, xxvi.

2 Government to Sir D. Ochterlony, 2nd and 20th Aug., 1815,
and 14th, 21st, and 28th Sept., 1816. The Wafa Begam had before
been told that the Shah's family had no claims to British protection
or intervention. (Government to Resident at Delhi^ 19th Dec, 1812,
and Ist July, 1813.)

3 Government to Sir D. Ochterlony, 29th Oct. and 23rd Nov., 1813.

CHAP. VI EXPEDITION AGAINST KASHMIR

155

urged the postponement of the expedition. But the neces-
sary arrangements had been completed, and the approach
was made in two columns. The more advanced division
surmounted the lofty barrier, a detachment of the Afghan
force was repulsed, and the town of Supain was attacked ;
but the assault failed, and the Sikhs retired to the mountain
passes. Muhammad Azim Khan, the Governor, then fell
on the main body of Ranjit Singh, which had been long in
view on the skirts of the valley, and compelled the Maharaja
to retreat with precipitation. The rainj'^ season had fairly
set in, the army became disorganized, a brave chief, Mit'h
Singh Behrania, was slain, and Ranjit Singh reached his
capital almost alone about the middle of August. The
advanced detachment was spared by Muhammad Azim
Khan, out of regard, he said, for Mohkam Chand, the grand-
father of its commander ; and as doubtless the aspiring
brother of the WazTr Fateh Khan had views of his own amid
the struggles then going on for power, he may have thought
it prudent to improve every opportunity to the advantage
of his own reputation.^

The efforts made during the expedition to Kashmir had
been great, and the Maharaja took some time to reorganize
his means. Towards the middle of 1815 he sent detachments
of troops to levy exactions around Multan, but he himself
remained at Adinanagar, busy with internal arrangements,
and perhaps intent upon the war then in progress between
the British and the Nepalese, which, for a period of six
months, was scarcely worthy of the F^nglish name. The
end of the same year was employed in again reducing the
Muhammadan tribes south-east of Kashmir, who had
thrown off their allegiance during the retreat of the Sikhs.
In the beginning of 1816 the refractory hill Raja of Niirpur
sought poverty and an asylum in the British dominions,
rather than resign his territories and accept a maintenance.
The Muhammadan chiefship of Jhang was next finally con-
fiscated, and Leiah, a dependency of Dera Ismail Khan, was
laid under contribution. Ilch on the Chenab, the seat of

1815-16.

Various
chiefs in
the hills,
and various
places to-
wards the
Indus, re-
duced,
1815-16.

1 Murray, Ranpt Sinrjh, pp. 104, 108, and Sir D. Ochterlony to
Government, 13th Aug., 1814. Diwan Mohkam Chand died soon
after Ranjit Singh's return.

156 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1816-18. families of Saiyids, was temporarily occupied by Fateh
Singh Ahluwalia, and the possessions of Jodli Singh Ram-
garhia, lately deceased, the son of Jassa, the Carpenter (the
confederate of the Maharaja's father), were seized and
annexed to the territories of the Lahore government.
Sansar Chand was honoured and alarmed by a visit from
his old ally, and the year 1816 terminated with the Maha-
raja's triumphant return to Amritsar.^
Eanjit The northern plains and lower hills of the Punjab had

f"^^^M^^ been fairly reduced to obedience and order, and RanjTt
tan, 1818. Singh's territories were bounded on the south and west by
the real or nominal dependencies of Kabul, but the Maha-
raja's meditated attacks upon them were postponed for a
. year by impaired health. His first object was Multan, and
early in 1818 an army marched to attack it, under the
nominal command of his son, Kharak Singh, the titular
reducer of Jammu. To ask what were the Maharaja's
reasons for attacking Multan would be futile ; he thought
the Sikhs had as good a right as the Afghans to take what
they could, and the actual possessor of Multan had rather
asserted his own independence than faithfully served the
heirs of Ahmad Shah, A large sum of money was demanded
and refused. In the course of Februarj'^, the city was m
possession of the Sikhs, but the fort held out until the begin-
ning of June, and chance had then some share in its capture.
An Akali, named Sadhu Singh, went forth to do battle for
the ' Khalsa ', and the very suddenness of the onset of his
small band led to success The Sikhs, seeing the impres-
sion thus strangely made, arose together, carried the out-
work, and found an easy entry through the breaches of a
four months' batter. Muzaffar Khan, the governor, and
two of his sons, were slain in the assault, and two others
were made prisoners. A considerable booty fell to the share
of the soldiery, but when the army reached Lahore, the
Maharaja directed that the plunder should be restored.
He may have felt some pride that his commands were not
altogether unheeded, but he complained that they were not
so i3roductive as he had expected.^

1 Cf. Murray, RanjU Singh, pp. 108, 111.

^ The place fell on the 2nd June, 1818. See Murray, RanjU Singh,

CHAP. VI FATEH KHAN PUT TO DEATH 157

During the same year, 1818, Fateh Khan, the Kabul 1818.
Wazir, was put to death by Kamran, the son of Mahmud,
the nommal ruler. He had gone to Herat to repel an attack Khan,
of the Persians, and he was accompanied by his brother, 5-^^""°^
Dost Mulianimad, who again had among his followers a to death
Sikh chief, Jai Singh Atariwala, who had left the Punjab in 1818.
displeasure. Fateh Khan was successful, and applause was
freely bestowed upon his measures ; but he wished to place
Herat, then held by a member of Ahmad Shah's family,
within his own gTasp, and Dost Muhammad and his Sikh
ally were employed to eject and despoil the prince-governor.
Dost Muhammad effected his purposes somewhat rudely,
the person of a royal lady was touched in the eagerness of
the riflers to secure her jewels, and Kamran made this affront
offered to a sister a pretext for getting rid of the man who
from the stay had become the tyrant of his family. Fateh
Khan was first blinded and then murdered ; and the crime
saved Herat, indeed, to Ahmad Shah's heirs, but deprived
them for a time, and now perhaps for ever, of the rest of
his possessions. Muhammad Azim Klian hastened from
Kashmir, which he left in charge of Jabbar lOian, another
of the many brothers. He at first thought of reinstating Muham-
Shah Shuja, but he at last proclaimed Shah Ayub as king, "lad Azim
and in a few months he was master of Peshawar and Ghazni, gi^aii Ayub.
of Kabul and Kandahar. This change of rulers favoured,
if it did not justify, the views of Ranjit Singh, and towards Ranjit
the end of 1818 he crossed the Indus and entered Peshawar, Singh
which was evacuated on his approach. But it did not peshawar
suit his purposes, at the time, to endeavour to retain the
district ; he garrisoned Kliairabad, which lies on the right
bank of the river, so as to command the passage for the

p. 114, &c. The Maharaja told Mr. Moorcroft that he had got very
little of the booty he attempted to recover. (Moorcroft, Travels,
i. 102.) Muhammad Muzaffar Khan, the governor, had held Multan
from the time of the expulsion of the Siklis of the Bhangi 'Misal', in
1779. In 1807 he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and, although he
returned in two years, he left the nominal control of affairs with his
son, Sarafraz Khan. On the last approach of Ranjit Singh, the old
man refused, according to the Bahawalpur annals, to send his family
to the south of the Sutlej, as on other occasions of siege ; but whether
he did so in the confidence, or in the despair, of a successful resistance
is not clear.

158 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1818-19. future, and then retired, placing Jahan Dad Khan, his old

hch h ^^^y ^^ Attock, in possession of Peshawar itself, to hold it as

makes over he could by his own means. The Barakzai governor, Yar

^-^j^}u- Muhammad Klian, returned as soon as Rani It Singh had
Dad Khan, •* ^

1818. gone, and the powerless Jahan Dad made no attempt to

defend his gift.^
Ranjit Ranjit Singh's thoughts were now directed towards the

tent upon annexation of Kashmir, the garrison of which had been re-
Kashmir, duced by the withdrawal of some good troops by Muhammad
Azim Ivhan ; but the proceedings of Desa Singh Majithia
and Sansar Chand for a moment changed his designs upon
others into fears for himself. These chiefs were employed on
an expedition in the hills to collect the tribute due to the
Delayed by Maharaia ; and the Raia of Kahlixr, who held territories

SLQISCUSSIOII

with the on both sides of the Sutlej, ventured to resist the demands
English, made. Sansar Chand rejoiced in this opportunity of revenge

1819. upon the friend of the Gurkhas ; the river was crossed, but
the British authorities were prompt, and a detachment of
troops stood ready to oppose force to force. Ranjit Singh
directed the immediate recall of his men, and he desired
Sirdar Desa Singh to go in jjerson, and offer his apologies
to the English agent.^ This alarm being over, the Maharaja
proceeded with his preparations against Kashmir, the troops
occupying which had, in the meantime, been reinforced by

" a detachment from Kabul. The Brahman, Diwan Chand,
who had exercised the real command at Multan, was placed
in advance, the Prince Kharak Singh headed a supporting
column, and Ranjit Singh himself remained behind with a
reserve and for the purpose of expediting the transit of the
various munitions of war. The choice of the Sikh cavalry
marched on foot over the mountains along with the infantry
But finally soldiers, and they dragged with them a few light guns ; the
annexes the passes were scaled on the 5th July 1819, but Jabbar Klian

1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 117, 120; Shah Shuja's 'Auto-
biography ', chap, xxvii ; and Munshi Mohan Lai, Life of Dost
Muhammad, i. 99, 104.

Capt. Murray (p. 131) places the defection of Jai Singh of Atari
in the year 1822 ; but cf. also Mr. Masson, Travels, iii. 21, 32, in
support of the earlier date assigned.

2 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 121, 122, and Moorcroft, Travels,
1 10, for the duration of the Maharaja's displeasure with Desa Singh.

CHAP. VI KASHMIR ANNEXED 159

was found ready to receive them. The Afghans repulsed 1819-20.

the invaders, and mastered two guns ; but they did not , . , .
improve their success, and the ralhed Siklis again attacked nions,1819.
them, and won an almost bloodless victory.^

A few months after Kashmir had been added to the The Dera-
Lahore dominions, Ranjit Singh moved in person to the indus an-
south of the Punjab; and Dera Ghazi Khan on the Indus, nexed to
another dependency of Kabul, was seized by the victorious 1819-20
Siklis. The Nawab of Bahawalpur, who held lands under
Ranjit Singh in the fork of the Indus and Chenab, had two
years before made a successful attack on the Dm-rani chief
of the place, and it was now transferred to him in form,
although his Cis-Sutlej possessions had virtually, but not
formally, been taken under British protection in the year
1815, and he had thus become, in a measure, independent
of the Maharaja's power.^ During the year 1820 partial
attempts were made to reduce the turbulent Muhammadan
tribes to the south-west of Kashmir, and, in 1821, Ranjit
Singh proceeded to complete his conquests on the Central
Indus by the reduction of Dera Ismail Khan. The strong
fort of Mankera, situated between the two westernmost
rivers of the Punjab, was held out for a time by Hafiz
Ahmad Khan, the father of the titular governor, who
scarcely owned a nominal subjection to Kabul ; but the
promise of honourable terms induced him to surrender
before the end of the year, and the country on the right bank
of the Indus, including Dera Ismail Khan, was left to him
as a feudatory of Lahore.^

Muhammad Azim had succeeded to the power of his Muham-

brother, Fateh Khan, and, being desirous of keeping Ranjit ^^ ^^™

Singh to the left bank of the Indus, he moved to Peshawar sirous of

in the year 1822, accompanied by Jai Singh, the fugitive ^curing

1818-21;'
^ Cf. Mxirray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 122-4.

2 Government to Superintendent Ambala, 15th Jan., 1815, and
Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 23rd July, 1815. Cf. Murray,
Ranjit Singh, p. 124. The Bahawalpur Memoirs state that Ranjit
Singh came down the Sutlej as far as Pakpattan, with the view of
seizing Bahawalpur, but that a show of resistance having been made,
and some presents offered, the Maharaja moved westward.

3 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 129, 130, and Sir A. Burnes' Kabul,
p. 92.

160 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1822-3. Sikli chief, with the intention of attacking Kliairabad

opposite Attock. Other matters caused him hastily to

retrace his steps, but his proceedings liad brought the

from which Maharaja to the westward, who sent to Yar Muliammad

Singh de- I^^an, the governor of Peshawar, and demanded tribute.

mandsand This leader, who apprehended the designs of his brother,

trfbule^ Muhammad Azim lOian, almost as much as he dreaded

1822. Ranjit Singh, made an offering of some valuable horses.^

The Maharaja was satisfied and withdrew perhaps the

more readily, as some differences had arisen with the British

authorities regarding the right to a place named Whadni,

to the south of the Sutlej, which had been transferred by

Ranjit Singh to his intriguing and ambitious mother-in-law,

But the Sada Kaur, in the year 1808. The lady was regarded by the

P^9^^'^"^°'^ English agents as being the independent representative of

interfered the interests of the Kanliaya (or Ghani) confederacy of Siklis

with by a qjj ffigij- side of the river, and therefore as having a right to

discussion '^

with the their protection. But Ranjit Singh had quarrelled with and

^"Slish imprisoned his mother-in-law, and had taken possession of

mother-in- the fort of Whadni. It was resolved to eject him by force,

law, and a and a detachment of troops marched from Ludhiana and

Whadni restored the authority of the captive widow. Ranjit Singh

1822. prudently made no attempt to resist the British agent, but

he was not without apprehensions that his occupation of

the place would be construed into a breach of the treaty,

and he busied himself with defensive preparations. A

friendly letter from the superior authorities at Delhi relieved

him of his fears, and allowed him to prosecute his designs

against Peshawar without further interruption.^

1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 134-7.

2 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 134, where the proceedings are given
very briefly, and scarcely with accuracy. Capt. Murray's and Capt.
Ross's letters to the Resident at Delhi, from Feb. to Sept. 1822, give
details, and other information is obtainable from the letters of
Sir D. Ochterlony to Capt. Ross, dated 7th Nov., 1821, and of the
Governor-General's Agent at Delhi to Capt. Murray, of 22nd June,
and to Government of the 23rd Aug. 1822 ; and from those of Govern-
ment to the Governor-General's Agent, 24th April, 13th July, and
18th Oct., 1822. On this occasion the Akali Phula Singh is reported
by Capt. Murray to have offered to retake Whadni single-handed, and
Ranjit Singh to have commissioned him to embody a thousand of his
brethren. Sir Claude Wade [Narrative oj Personal Services, -p. 10 note)

CHAP. VI MARCH AGAINST PESHAWAR

IGl

Muhammad Azim Kiian disapproved of the presentation
of horses to Ranjit Singh by Yar Muhammad lOian, and
he repaired to Peshawar in January 1823. Yar Muhammad
fled into the Usufzal hills rather than meet his brother, and
the province seemed lost to one branch of th^ numerous
family ; but the chief of the Siklis was at hand, resolved to
assert his equality of right or his superiority of power. The
Indus was forded on the 13th March, the guns being carried
across on elephants. The territory of the Khattaks bordering
the river was occupied, and at Akora the Maharaja received
and pardoned the fugitive Jai Singh Atariwala. A religious
war had been preached, and twenty thousand men, ot the
Kliattak and Usufzai tribes, had been assembled by their
priests and devotees to fight for their faith against the un-
believing invaders. This body of men was posted on and
around heights near Noshahra, but on the left bank of the
Kabul river, while Muhammad AzIm Khan, distrustful of
his influence over the independent militia, and of the fidelity
of his brothers, occupied a position higher up on the right
bank of the stream. Ranjit Singh detached a force to keep
the Wazir in check, and crossed the river to attack the
armed peasantry. The Sikli ' Akalis ' at once rushed upon
the Muhammadan ' Ghazis ', but Phiila Singh, the wild
leader of the fanatics of Amritsar, was slain, and his horse-
men made no impression on masses of footmen advantage-
ously posted. The Afghans then exultingly advanced, and
threw the drilled infantry of the Lahore ruler into confusion.
They were checked by the fire of the rallying battalions,
and by the play of the artillery drawn up on the opposite
bank of the river, and at length Ranjit Singh's personal
exertions with his cavalry converted the check into a victory.
The brave and believing mountaineers reassembled after
their rout, and next day they were willing to renew the
fight under their ' PIrzada ', Muhammad Akbar ; but the
Kabul WazIr had fled with precipitation, and they were
without countenance or support. Peshawar was sacked,
and the country plundered up to the Miaibar Pass ; but

represents Sir Charles Metcalfe to have considered the proceedings
of the English with regard to Whadni as unwarranted — for with the
domestic concerns of the Maharaja they had no political concern.

M

182R.

The Sikhs

march

against

Peshawar,

1823.

The batde
of Noshah-
ra, 14th
March,
1823.

Peshawar
reduced,
but left as

162 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1823-4. the hostile spirit of the population rendered the province
adepen- ^^ difficult retention, and the prudent Maharaja gladly
dency with accepted Yar Muhammad's tender of submission. Muham-
hiunmad "^^^ Azim Khan died shortly afterwards, and with him
Khan. expired all show of unanimity among the bands of brothers
Death of who possessed the three capitals of Peshawar, Kabul, and
mad^im Kandahar ; while Shah Mahmud and his son Kamran
Khan, exercised a precarious authority in Herat, and Shah Ayub,
1823. ^Yio had been proclaimed titular monarch of Afghanistan,

remained a cipher in his chief city.^

Ranjifc Towards the end of the year 1823, Ranjit Singh marched

hiswavTo- ^^ *^^ south-west corner of his territories, to reduce refrac-

wards tory Muhammadan Jagirdars, and to create an impression

1823-4 ^^ ^'^ power on the frontiers of Sind — to tribute from the

Amirs of which country he had already ad^'anced some

claims.^ He likewise pretended to regard Shikarpur as a

usurpation of the Talpur dynasty ; but his plans were not

yet matured, and he returned to his capital to learn of the

death of Sansar Chand. He gave his consent to the succes-

' Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 137, &c. ; Moorcroft, Travels,n. 333,
334 ; and Masson, Journeys,ui. 58-60. Ranjit Singh told Capt. Wade
that, of his disciplined troops, his Gurkhas alone stood firm under
the assault of the Muhammadans. (Capt. Wade to Resident at Delhi,
3rd April, 1839.)

The fanatic, Phiila Singh, already referred to in the preceding note,
was a man of some notoriety. In 1809 he attacked Sir Charles
Metcalfe's camp, and afterwards the party of a British officer em-
ployed in surveying the Cis-Sutlej states. In 1814-15 he fortified
himself in Abohar (between Ferozepore and Bhatnair), since con-
strued into a British possession (Capt. Murray to Agent, Delhi,
15th May, 1823); and in 1820 ho told Mi-. Moorcroft that he was
dissatisfied with Ranjit Singh, that he was ready to join the English,
and that, indeed, he would carry fire and sword wherever Mr. Moor-
croft might desire. [Travels, i. 110.)

With regard to Dost Muhammad Khan, it is well known, and Mr.
Masson [Journeys, iii. 59, 60) and Munshi Mohan Lai [Life nj Dost
Muhammad, i. 127, 128) both show the extent to which he was an
intriguer on this occasion. This circumstance was subsequently lost
sight of by the British negotiators and the British public, and Sikh
and Afghan leaders were regarded as essentially antagonistic, instead
of as ready to coalesce for their selfish ends under any of several
probable contingencies.

2 Capt. Murray to the Governor-General's Agent, Delhi, 15th Dec.
1825, and Capt. Wade to the same, 7th Aug. 1823.

CH.VP; VI

DEATH OF S.\NSAR CHAND

163

sion of the son of a chief whose power once surpassed his
own, and the Prince Kliarak Singh exclianged turbans, in
token of brotherhood, with tlie heir of tributary Katotch.'^

RanjTt Singli liad now brought under his sway the three
Muhammadan provinces of Kashmir, Multan, and Pesha-
war : he was supreme in the hills and plains of the Punjab
proper ; the mass of his dominion had been acquired ; and
although his designs on Ladakh and Sind were obvious,
a pause in the narrative of his actions may conveniently
take place, for the purpose of relating other matters neces-
sary to a right understanding of his character, and which
intimately bear on the general history of the country.

Shah Shuja reached Ludliiana, as has been mentioned,
in the year 1816, and secured for himself an honoured
repose : but his thoughts were intent on Kabul and Kanda-
har ; he disliked the British notion that he had tamely
sought an asylum, and he wished to be regarded as a prince
in distress, seeking for aid to enable him to recover his
crown. He had hopes held out to him by the Amirs of Sind
when hard pressed, perhaps, by Fateh Klian, and he con-
ceived that an invasion of Afghanistan might be successfully
prosecuted from the southward. He made offers of advan-
tage to the English, but he was told that they had no concern
with the affairs of strangers, and desired to live in peace with
all their neighbours. He was thus casting about for means
when Fateh Klian was murdered, and the tenders of alle-
giance which he received from' Muhammad Azim Klian at
once induced him to quit Ludhiana. He left that place in
October 1818 ; with the aid of the Nawab of Bahawalpur,
he mastered Dera Ghazi Khan ; he sent his son Timur to
occupy Shikarpur, and he proceeded in person towards
Peshawar, to become, as he believed, the king of the Durranis.
But Muhammad AzIm Klian had, in the meantime, seen fit to
proclaim himself the Wazir of Ayiib, and Shah Shuja, hard
pressed, sought safety among some friendly clans in the Kliai-
bar hills. He was driven thence at the end of two months,
and had scarcely entered Shikarpur when Muhammad

^ Murray, i?anjf<^zn^A, p. 141. For an interesting account of Sansar
Chand, his family, and his country, see Moorcroft, Travels,!. 126-46.

M 2

1824.

Sansiir
Chand of
Katotch
dies, end of
1824.

Ranjit
Singh's
power con-
soHdated,
and the
mass of his
dominion
acquired.

Miscellane-
ous trans-
actions.
Shah Shu-
ja's

expedition
against
Shikarpur
and Pesha-
war, 1818-
21.

164 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS ch.vp. vi

1821-2. Azim Ivlian's api)roach compelled him to retire. He went

first to Khairpur, and afterwards to Hyderabad, and, having

procured some money from the Sindians, he returned and

recovered Shikarpur, where he resided for a j^ear. But

Muhammad AzIm Khan again approached, the Hyderabad

chiefs pretended that the Shah was plotting to bring in the

English, and their money was this time paid for his expul-

TheShah sion. The ex-king, finding his position untenable, retired

returns to through Rajputana to Delhi, and eventually took up his

1821; ' residence a second time at I.udhiana, in June 1821. His

and is brother, the blind Shah Zaman, after visiting Persia, and

followed bj- perhaps Arabia, arrived at the same place about the same

man wlio time and nearly by the same road. Shah Shuja's stipend

takes up had all along been drawn by his family, represented by the

at\he°same ^^^^ ^^^ faithful Wafa Begum, and an allowance, first of

place. 18,000, and afterwards of 24,000 rupees a year, was assigned

for the support of Shah Zaman, when he also became a

petitioner to the English Government.^

Appa In the year 1820, Ajjpa Sahib, the deposed Raja of the

Ka'ja o/^ Maratha kingdom of Nagpur, escaped from the custody of

Nagpur, the British authorities and repaired to Amritsar. He would

18^0--. seem to have had the command of large sums of money, and

he endeavoured to engage Ranjit Singh in his cause ; but the

Maharaja had been told the fugitive was the violent enemy of

his English allies, and he ordered him to quit his territories.

The chief took up his abode for a time in Sansar Chand's

principality of Katotch, and while there he would appear

Ilis idle to have entered into some idle schemes with Prince Haidar,

schemes ^ gQ^ ^f ghah Zaman, for the subjugation of India south and
with the JO

son of Shah east of the Sutlej. The Durrani was to be monarch of the
Zaman. whole, from Delhi to Cape Comorin ; but the Maratha was

1 Cf. Shah Shuja's 'Autobiography', chaps, xxvii, xxviii, xxix, in
the Calcutta Monthly Journaliov 1839, and the BaJiawalpur Family
Annals (Manuscript). Capt. Murray {History of Ranjit Singh,
p. 103) merely states that Shah Shuja made an unsuccessful attempt
to recover his throne; but the following letters may be referred to
in support of all that is included in the paragraph : Government to
Resident, Delhi, 10th May and 7th June 1817 ; Capt. Murray to
Resident, Delhi, 22nd Sept. and 10th Oct. 1818, and 1st April 1825;
and Capt. Murray to Sir D. Ochterlony, 29th April, 30th June, and
27tli Aug. 1821.

CHAP. VI

APPA SAHIB of NAGPUR

165

to be Wazir of the empire, and to hold the Deccan as a
dependent sovereign. The Punjab was not inehided ; but
it did not transpire that either Ranjit Singh, or Sansar
Chand, or the two ex-kings of Kabul, were privy to the
design, and, as soon as the circumstance became known,
Sansar Chand compelled his guest to proceed elsewhere.
Appa Sahib repaired, in 1822, to Mandi, which lies between
Kangra and the Sutlej ; but he wandered to Amritsar
about 1828, and only finally quitted the country during the
following year, to find an asylum with the Raja of Jodhpur.
That state had become an English dependency, and the
ex-Raja's surrender was required ; but the strong objections
of the Rajpiit induced the Government to be satisfied with
a promise of his safe custody, and he died almost forgotten
in the year 1840.i

As has been men+ioned, the Raja BIr Singh, of Nurpur, in
the hills, had been dispossessed of his chiefship in the year
1816. He sought refuge to the south of the Sutlej, and
immediately made proposals to Shah Shuja, who had just
reached Ludhiana, to enter into a combination against
Ranjit Singh. The Maharaja had not altogether despised
similar tenders of allegiance from various discontented
chiefs, when the Shah was his prisoner-guest in Lahore ; he
remembered the treaty between the Shah and the English,
and he knew how readily dethroned kings might be made
use of by the ambitious. He wished to ascertain the views
of the English authorities, but he veiled his suspicions of
tliem in terms of apprehension of the Nurpur Raja. His
troops, he said, were absent in the neighbourhood of Multan,
and Bir Singh might cross the Sutlej and raise disturbances.
The reception of emissaries by Shah Shuja was then dis-
countenanced, and the residence of the exiled Raja at
Ludhiana was discouraged ; but Ranjit Singh was told
that his right to attempt the recovery of his chiefship was
admitted, although he would not be allowed to organize the

^ Cf. Murray, Eaiijlt iSinrjh, p. 120; Moorcroft, Travels, i. 109;
and the quasi-official authority, the Benr/aland AgraGazeitecr for 1841,
184:2 (articles ' Nagpiu- ' and ' Jodhpur '). Sec alwo Capt. Murray,
letters to Resident at Delhi, 21tli Nov. and 22nd Dec. 1821, the
13th Jan. 1822, and 10th June 1824 ; and likewise Capt. Wade to
Resident at Delhi, 15th March 1828.

1822.

The petty
ex-chief of
Nurpur
causes Ran-
jit Singh
some
anxiety
owing to
his resort
to the
English.

166 HISTORY OF' THE SIKHS chap, vi

1819-20. means of doing so within the British Umits. The Maharaja
seemed satisfied that Lahore would be safe while he was
absent in the south or west, and he said no more.^
The travel- In the year 1819 the able and adventurous traveller,
croft in the ^looreroft, left the plains of India in the hope of reaching
Punjab, Yarkand and Bukhara. In the hills of the Puniab he
experienced difficulties, and he was induced to repair to
Lahore to wait upon Ranjit Singh. He was honourably
received, and any lurking suspicions of his own designs, or
of the views of his Government, were soon dispelled. The
INIaharaja conversed with frankness of the events of his life ;
he showed the traveller his bands of horsemen and battalions
of infantry, and encouraged him to visit any part of the
capital without hesitation, and at his own leisure. Mr.
INIoorcroft's medical skill and general knowledge, his candid
manner and personal activity, produced an impression
favourable to himself and advantageous to his countrymen ;
but his proposition that British meichandise should be
admitted into the Punjab at a fixed scale of duties was
received with evasion. The Maharaja's revenues might be
affected, it was said, and his principal officers, whose advice
Mas necessary, were absent on distant expeditions. Every
facility was afforded to Mr. Moorcroft in prosecuting his
journey, and it was arranged that, if he could not reach
Yarkand from Tibet, he might proceed through Kashmir
to Kabul and Bukliara, the route which it was eventually
found necessary to pursue. Mr. Moorcroft reached Ladakli
in safety, and in 1821 he became possessed of a letter from
the Russian minister. Prince Nesselrode, recommending a
merchant to the good offices of RanjTt Singh and assuring
him that the traders of the Punjab would be well received
in the Russian dominions — for the emperor was himself a
benign ruler, he earnestly desired the prosperity of other
countries, and he was especially the well-wisher of that

^ The public correspondence generallj^ of 181(3-17 has here been
eferred to, and especially the letter of Government to Resident
at Delhi, dated 11th April 1817. In 1826 BIr Singh made another
attempt to recover his principality ; but he was seized and imjnisoned.
(Murray, Ranjit Siwjh, p. 145, and Caijt. Murray to Resident at
Delhi, 25th Feb. 1827.) He was subsequently released, and was
alive, but unheeded, in 1811.

CHAP. VI RANJlT SINGH'S GOVERNMENT 167

reigned over by the King of the Sikiis. The person recom- 1821.
mended had died on his way southward from Russia ; and
it appeared that, six years previously, he had been the
bearer of similar communications for the Maharaja of
Lahore, and the Raja of Ladakli.'^

Ranjit Singh now possessed a broad dominion, and an Kanjit
instructed intellect might have rejoiced in the opportunity ^g^i-gj
afforded for wise legislation, and for consolidating aggre- system of
gated provinces into one harmonious empire. But such a n°g^™and
task neither suited the Maharaja's genius nor that of the view of his
Sikli nation; nor is it, perhaps, agreeable to the constitution n^eans and
of any political society, that its limits shall be fixed, or that as leader of
the pervading spirit of a people shall rest, until its expansive ^^^ Sikhs.
force is destroyed and becomes obnoxious to change and
decay. Ranjit Singh grasped the more obvious characteris-
tics of the impulse given by Nanak and Gobind ; he dex-
terously turned them to the purposes of his own material
ambition, and he appeared to be an absolute monarch in the
midst of willing and obedient subjects. But he knew that
he merely directed into a particular channel a power which
he could neither destroy nor control, and that, to prevent
the Siklis turning upon himself, or contending with one
another, he must regularly engage them in conquest and
remote warfare. The first political system of the emancipated
Sildis had crumbled to pieces, partly through its own defects,
partly owing to its contact with a well-ordered and civilized
goverimient, and partly in consequence of the ascendancy
of one superior mind. The ' Misals ' had vanished, or were
only represented by Ahluwalia and Patiala (or Phulkia),
the one depending on the personal friendship of Ranjit Singh
for its chief, and the other upheld in separate portions by
the expediency of the English. But Ranjit Singh never
thought his own or the Sikli sway was to be confined to the
Punjab, and his only wish was to lead armies as far as faith
in the Khalsa and confidence in his skill would take brave
and believing men. He troubled himself not at all with the
theory or the pracLical niceties of administration, and he

1 Moorcroft, Traveld, i. 99, 103 ; and see also pp. 383, 387, with
respect to a previous letter to Raujit Singh.

168 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

]821. would rather have added a province to liis rule than have

" received the assurances of his English neighbours that he

legislated with discrimination in commercial affairs and
with a just regard for the amelioration of his ignorant and
fanatical subjects of various persuasions. He took from
the land as much as it could readily yield, and he took from
merchants as much as they could profitably give ; he put
down open marauding ; the Sikli peasantry enjoyed a light
assessment ; no local officer dared to oppress a member of
the Khalsa ; and if elsewhere the farmers of revenue were
resisted in their tyrannical proceedings, they were more
likely to be changed than to be supported by battalions.
He did not ordinarily punish men who took redress into
their own hands, for which, indeed, his subordinates were
prej^ared, and which they guarded against as they could.
The whole wealth and the whole energies of the people
were devoted to war, and to the preparation of military
means and equipment. The system is that common to all
feudal governments, and it gives much scope to individual
ambition, and tends to produce independence of character.
It suited the mass of the Sikh population ; they had ample
em])loyment, they loved contention, and they were pleased
that city after city admitted the supremacy of the Khalsa
and enabled them to enrich their families. But Ranjit Singh
never arrogated to himself the title or the powers of despot
or tyrant. He was assiduous in his devotions ; he honoured
men of reputed sanctity, and enabled them to practise an
enlarged charity ; he attributed every success to the favour
of God, and he styled himself and people collectively the
' Khalsa ', or conmionwealth of Gobind. Wliether in walk-
ing barefooted to make his obeisance to a collateral repre-
sentative of his prophets, or in rewarding a soldier distin-
guished by that symbol of his faith, a long and ample beard,
or in restraining the excesses of the fanatical Akalis, or in
beating an army and acquiring a province, his own name
and his own motives were kept carefully concealed, and
everything was done for the sake of the Guru, for the
advantage of the Ivlialsa, and in the name of the Lord.^

1 Ranjit Singli, in wi-iting or in talking of his government, always
used the term ' Khalsa '. On his seal he wrotej as any Sikh usually
writes, his name, with the prefix ' Akal Sahai ', that is, for instance.

THE SIKH ARMY

169

In the year 1822 the French Generals, V^entura and
Allard, reached Lahore by way of Persia and Afghanistan,
and, after some little hesitation, they were employed and
treated with distinction.^ It has been usual to attribute the
superiority of the Sildi army to the labours of these two
officers, and of their subsequent coadjutors, the Generals
Court and Avitabile ; but, in truth, the Sikli owes his excel-
lence as a soldier to his own hardiliood of character, to that

' God the helper, Ranj it Singh ' — an inscription strongly resembling
the ' God with us ' of the Commonwealth of England. Professor
Wilson {Journal Royal Asiatic Society, No. xvii, p. 51) thus seems
scarcely justified in saying that Ranj it Singh deposed Nanak and
Gobind, and the supreme ruler of the universe, and held himself to
be the impersonation of the Khalsa !

With respect to the abstract excellence or moderation, or the
practical efficiency or suitableness of the Sikh government, opinions
will always differ, as they will about all other governments. It is not
simjily an unmeaning truism to say that the Sikh government suited
the Sikhs well, for such a degree of fitness is one of the ends of all
governments of ruling classes, and the adaptation has thus a degree of
positive merit. In judging of individuals, moreover, the extent and
the peculiarities of the civilization of their times should be remembered,
and the present condition of the Punjab shows a combination of the
characteristics of rising mediaeval Europe and of the decaying
Byzantine emi^ire — semi-barbarous in either light, but possessed at
once of a native youthful vigour, and of an extraneous knowledge of
many of the arts which adorn life in the most advanced stages of
society.

The fact, again, that a city like Amritsar is the creation of the Sikhs
at once refutes many charges of oppression or misgovernment, and
Col. Francklin only repeats the general opinion of the time when he
says (Life of Shah Alain, p. 77) that the lands under Sikh rule were
cultivated with great assiduity. Mr. Masson could hear of no com-
plaints in Multan (Journeys, i. 30, 398), and. although Moorcroft
notices the depressed condition of the Kashmiris (Travels, i. 123) he
does not notice the circumstance of a grievous famine having occurred
shortly before his visit, which drove thousands of the people to the
plains of India, and he forgets that the valley had been under the
sway of Afghan adventurers for many years, tlie severity of whose
rule is noticed by Forster (Travels, ii. 2(5, &c.). The ancestors of the
numerous families of Kashmiri Brahmans, now settled in Delhi,
Lucknow, &c., were likewise refugees from Afghan oppression ; and
it is curious that the consolidation of Ranj it Singh's jjower should
have induced several of these families to repair to the Punjab, and
even to retui-n to their original country. This, notwithstanding the
Hinduism of the Sikh faith, is still somewhat in favour of Sikh rule.

^ MuiTay, Ranjlt Sinrjh, p. 131, &c.

1822.

The Sikh
army.

Arrival of
French
officers at
Lahore,
1822.

170

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VI

1822

Excel-
lences of
the Sikhs
as soldiers.

Character-
istics of
Rajputs
and
Pathans,

of Mara-
thas,

and of
Gurkhas.

spirit of adaptation which disstinguishes every new people,
and to that feeling of a common interest and destiny im-
planted in him by his great teachers. The Rajputs and
Pathans are valiant and high-minded warriors : but their
pride and their courage are personal only, and concern them
as men of ancient family and noble lineage ; they will do
nothing unworthy of their birth, but they are indifferent to
the political advancement of their race. The efforts of the
Marathas, in emancipating themselves from a foreign yoke,
were neither guided nor strengthened by any distinct hope
or desire. They became free, but knew not how to remain
independent, and they allowed a crafty Brahman ^ to turn
their aimless aspirations to his own profit, and to found a
dynasty of ' Peshwas ' on the achievements of unlettered
Sudras. Ambitious soldiers took a further advantage of the
spirit called up by Sivajl, but as it was not sustained by any
pervading religious principle of action, a few generations saw
the race yield to the expiring efforts of Muhammadanism,
and the Marathas owe their present position, as rulers, to
the intervention of European strangers. The genuine
Maratha can scarcely be said to exist, and the two hundred
thousand spearmen of the last century are once more
shepherds and tillers of the ground. Similar remarks apply
to the Gurklias, that other Indian people which has risen to
greatness m latter times by its own innate power, unminglcd
with religious hope. They became masters, but no peculiar

1 [The reference is to Nana Farnavis, who became Prime Minister
of the Peshwa in 1775 and who died in 1800, having exercised an
extraordinary influence over Maratha politics during his years of
ascendancy. ' He had consistently been opposed to the political
progress of the English as subversive of Maratha power, and he
objected to the employment of foreign troops under any conditions ;
but he was faithful to his political engagements, and his devotion to
the maintenance of the honour of his own nation is attested by the
respect of all his contemijoraries. The faithless materials with which
he had to deal at the close of his life threw him into intrigues and
combinations for his own preservation which would otherwise have
been avoided and left him at liberty to continue the able administra-
tion he had conducted for twenty-five years ' (Meadows Taylor).
On the occasion of his death the English Resident at Poona wrote :
' With him has departed all the wisdom and moderation of the
Maratha Government.' See Grant Duff, History of the Maratlids,
ed. 182G, p. 188.— Ed.]

CHAP. VI THE SIKH ARMY 171

institution formed the landmark of tlieir thoughts, and the 1822.
vitahty of the original impulse seems fast waning before the
superstition of an ignorant priesthood and the turbulence
of a feudal nobility. The difference between these races and
the fifth tribe of Indian warriors will be at once apparent.
The Sikh looks before him only, the ductility of his youthful
intellect readily receives the most useful impression, or takes
the most advantageous form, and religious faith is ever
present to sustain him under any adversity, and to assure
him of an ultimate triumph.

The Rajput and Pathan will fight as Pirthi Raj and Aversion
Jenghiz Khan waged war ; they will ride on horses in n^jiitaiy
tumultuous array, and they will wield a sword and spear tribes of
with individual dexterity : but neither of these cavaliers will reliiar*^
deign to stand in regular ranks and to handle the musket of discipline,
the infantry soldier, although the Muhammadan has always with the
been a brave and skilful server of heavy cannon. The of*tlwGur-
Maratha is equally averse to the European system of warfare, khas, and
and the less stiffened Gurkha has only had the power or the of^the ^
opportunity of forming battalions of footmen, unsupported Muham-
by an active cavalry and a trained artillery. The early "'^'i^"^-
force of the Siklis was composed of horsemen, but they seem forces oriL'i-
intuitively to have adopted the new and formidable match- nally com-
lock of recent times, instead of their ancestral bows, and the {^grsenien
spear common to every nation. Mr. Forster noticed this armed with
peculiarity in 1783, and the advantage it gave in desultory "q^^
warfare.^ In 1805, Sir John Malcolm did not think the Sikli Notices of
was better mounted than the Maratha ; ^ but, in 1810, Sir the Sikh
David Ochterlony considered that, in the confidence of Forster
untried strength, his great native courage would show him 1783 ;
more formidable than a follower of Sindhia or Holkar, and by Mal-
readily lead him to face a battery of well-served guns.^ The ^ ' '
peculiar arm of the contending nations of the last century Ochtedo-
passed into a proverb, and the phrase, the Maratha spear, ny, 1810.
the Afghan sword, the Sikli matchlock, and the English Character-
cannon, is still of common repetition ; nor does it gratify of dinp|en(
the pride of the present masters of India to hear their races, in-
success attributed ratlier to the number and excellence of £"„ii"h

1 Forster, Travels,!. 332. 2 Malcolm, Sketch of the Sikhs, pp. 150, 151.
^ Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 1st Dec. 1810.

172 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS ch.vp. vi

1822. their artillery, than to that dauntless courage and firm

~ ; array which have enabled the humble footmen to win most

-1 iiG 2GnGrjil

importance of those distant victories which add glory to the English

given to name. Nevertheless it has always been the obiect of rival

a/rtillorv bv

thelndians powers to obtain a numerous artillery ; the battalions of

aeon- De Boigne would never separate themselves from their
the victo- cannon, and the presence of that formidable arm is yet,
ries of the perhaps, essential to the full confidence of the British
l''^'!'"'- Sepoy.i

Singh Ranjit Singh said that, in 1805, he went to see the order

labours to of Lord Lake's army,^ and it is known that in 1809 he
discipline • admired and praised the discipline of Mr. Metcalfe's small
escort, which repulsed the sudden onset of a body of en-
raged Akalis.^ He began, after that period, to give his
attention to the formation of regular infantry, and in 1812
Sir David Ochterlony saw two regiments of Sikhs, besides
several of Hindustanis, drilled by men who had resigned or

^ This feeling is well known to all who have had any experience of
Indian troops. A gunner is a pi'ouder man than a mufeketeer : when
battalions are mutinous, they will not allow strangers to approach
their guns, and the best-dispositioned regiments will scarcely leave
them in the rear to go into action unencumbered, an instance of which
happened in Perron's warfare with George Thomas, (Major Smith,
Regular Corps in Indian Employ, p. 24.)

The ranks of the British Army are indeed filled with Rajputs and
■ Pathans so called, and also with Brahmans ; but nearly all are from
the jjrovinces of the Upper Ganges, the inhabitants of which have
become greatly modified in character by complete conquest and
mixture with strangers ; and, while they retain some of the distin-
guishing marks of their races, they are, as'soldiers, the merest mer-
cenaries, and do not possess the ardent and restless feeling, or that
spirit of clanship, which chai-acterize the more genuine descendants
of Kshattriyas and Afghans. The remarks in the text thus refer
especially to the Pathans of Rohilkliand and Hariana and similar
scattered colonies, and to the yeomanry and little proprietors of
Rajputana. [Much of this is of coiu-se incorrect and refers to the
pre-Mutiny conditions of the Army. With the exception of a few
mountain batteries the artillery is now entirely in the hands of
Briti.sh troops. The Brahman element in the Army has also been
greatly reduced. At the present time 63 per cent, of the efficient
fighting forces of the Indian Army came from the Punjab. — Ed.]

^ Moorcroft, Travels, i. 102. [The fact of this visit having been
made is also borne out by a passage in the Diary of L. Sohan Lai.
The latter was Com't Vakil to Ranjit Singh. — Ed.]

^ Murray, Banjit Singh, p. 08.

CHAP. VI

THE SIKH ARMY

173

deserted the British service.^ The next year the Maharaja
talked of raising twenty-five battalions,^ and his confldenee
in discipline was increased by the resistance which the
Gurkhas offered to the British arms. He enlisted people
of that nation, but his attention was chiefly given to the
instruction of his own countrymen, and in 1820 Mr. Moor-
croft noticed with approbation the appearance of the Sikli
foot-soldier.^ Ranjit Singh had not got his people to resign
their customary weapons and order of battle without some
trouble. He encouraged them by good pay, by personal
attention to their drill and equipment, and by himself
wearing the strange dress, and going through the formal
exercise.* The old chiefs disliked the innovation, and Desa
Singh Majlthia, the father of the present mechanic and
disciplinarian Lahna Singh, assured the companions of
Mr. Moorcroft that Multtin and Peshawar and Kashmir
had all been won by the free Khalsa cavalier.^ By degrees
the infantry service came to be preferred, and, before
Ranjit Singh died, he saw it regarded as the proper warlike
array of his people. Nor did they give their heart to the
musket alone, but were perhaps more readily brought to
serve guns than to stand in even ranks as footmen.

Such was the state of change of the Sikh army, and such
were the views of Ranjit Singh, when Generals AUard and
Ventura obtained service in the Pimjab. They were fortu-

1 Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 27th Feb. 1812.

2 Sir D. Ochterlony to C4overnraent, 4th March 1813.

2 Moorcroft, Travels, i. 98. There were at that time, as there are
still, Gurkhas in the service of Lahore.

* The author owes this anecdote to Munshi Shahamat All, other-
wise favourably known to the public by his book on the Sikhs and
Afghans.

^ Moorcroft, Travels, i. 98. Ranjit Singh usually required his
feudatories to provide for constant service, a horseman for every
500 rupees which they held in land, besides being ready with other
fighting-men on an emergency. TMs proportion left the Jagirdar
one-half only of his estate untaxed, as an efficient horseman cost
about 250 rupees annually. The Turks (Ranke, Ottoman Emjnre,
ed. 184.3, Introd., p. 5) required a horseman for the first 3,000 aspers,
or 50 dollars, or say 125 rupees, and an additional one for every other
5,000 aspers, or 208 rupees. In England, in the seventeenth century,
a horseman was assessed on every five hundred pounds of income.
(Macaulay, History of England, i. 291.)

1820.

and at
length fully
succeeds
in making
the Sikhs
regular in-
fantry and
artillery
soldiers.

European
discipline
introduced
into the

174

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

1820.

Punjab
before the
arrival of
French
officers ;
whose ser-
vices were
yet. of value
to Eanjit
Singh, and
honourable
to them-
selves.

Ranjit

Singh's
marriages
and family
relations.

nate in having an excellent material to work with, and, like
skilful officers, they made a good use of their means and
opportunities. They gave a moderate degree of precision
and completeness to a system already introduced ; but
their labours are more conspicuous in French words of
command, in treble ranks, and in sqviares salient with guns,
than in the ardent courage, the alert obedience, and the
long endurance of fatigue, which distinguished the Sikli
horsemen sixty years ago, and which pre-eminently charac-
terize the Sikh footman of the present day among the other
soldiers of India.^ Neither did Generals Ventura and AUard,
Court and Avitabile, ever assume to themselves the merit
of having created the Sikh army, and perhaps their ability
and independence of character added more to the general
belief in European superiority, than all their instructions
to the real efficiency of the Siklis as soldiers.

Wlien a boy, Ranjit Singh was betrothed, as has been
related, to Mehtab Kaur, the daughter of Gurbaklish Singh,
the young heir of the Kanhaya (or Ghani) chiefship, who

^ For notices of this endurance of fatigue, see Forster, Travels, 1.
332, 333 ; Malcolm, Sl-etch, p. 141 ; Mr. Masson, Journeys, i. 433 ;
and Col. Steinbach, Punjab, pp. 63, 64.

Tlie general constitution of a Sikh regiment was a commandant and
adjutant, with subordinate officers to each company. The men were
paid by deputies of the ' Bakshi ', or paj^master ; but the rolls were
checked by ' Mutasaddis ', or clerks, who daily noted down whether
the men were absent or present. To each regiment at least one
' Grantlii ', or reader of the scriptures, was attached, who, when not
paid by the government, was sure of being supported by the men.
The Granth was usually deposited near the ' jhanda ', or flag, which
belonged to the regiment, and which represented its head-quarters.
Light tents and beasts of burden were allowed in fixed proportions
to each battalion, and the state also provided two cooks, or rather
bakers, for each companj', who baked the men's cakes after they had
themselves kneaded them, or who, in some instances, provided un-
leavened loaves for those of their own or an inferior race. In canton-
ments the Sikh soldiers lived to some extent in barracks, and not
each man in a separate hut, a custom which should be introduced
into the British service. [The barrack system has been introduced.
The whole organization of the Sikh army under Eanjit Singh is of
much interest. Quite recently some research has been initiated and
is still in progress upon the Sikh records in the Secretariat at Lahore.
The result of this, as far as it concerns the army, will be found in the
Appendix, section XXXIX. — Ed.J

CHAP. VI

RANJIT SINGH- S FAMILY

175

fell in battle with his father Mahan Singh. Sada Kaur,
the mother of the girl, possessed a high spirit and was ambi-
tious of power, and, on the death of the Kanhaya leader,
Jai Singh, about 1793, her influence in the affairs of the con-
federacy became paramount. She encouraged her young
son-in-law to set aside the authority of his own widow
mother, and at the age of seventeen the future Maharaja
is not only said to have taken upon himself the management
of his affairs, but to have had his mother put to death as an
adultress. The support of Sada Kaur was of great use to
Ranjit Singh in the beginning of his career, and the co-
operation of the Kanliaya Misal mainly enabled him to
master I-ahore and Amritsar. Her hope seems to have been
that, as the grandmother of the chosen heir of Ranjit Singh,
and as a chieftainess in her own right, she would be able to
exercise a commanding influence in the affairs of the Siklis ;
but her daughter was childless, and Ranjit Singh himself
was equally able and wary. In 1807 it was understood that
Mehtab Kaur was pregnant, and it is believed that she was
really delivered of a daughter ; but, on Ranjit Singh's
return from an expedition, he was presented with two boys
as his offspring. The Maharaja doubted ; and perhaps he
always gave credence to the report that Sher Singh was
the son of a carpenter, and Tara Singh the child of a weaver,
yet they continued to be brought up under the care of their
reputed grandmother, as if their parentage had been ad-
mitted. But Sada Kaur perceived that she could obtain
no power in the names of the children, and the disappointed
woman addressed the English authorities in 1810, and
denounced her son-in-law as having usurped her rights, and
as resolved on war with his new allies. Her communications
received some attention, but she was unable to organize an
insurrection, and she became in a manner reconciled to her
position. In 1820, Sher Singh was virtually adopted by the
Maharaja, with the apparent object of finally setting aside
the power of his mother-in-law. She was required to assign
half of the lands of the Kanhaya chiefship for the main-
tenance of the youth ; but she refused, and she was in
consequence seized and imprisoned, and her whole posses-
sions confiscated. The little estate of ^Miadni, to the south

1807-20.

His wifp,
Mehtrtb
Kaur, and
mother-in-
law, Sada
Kaur.

Sher Singh
and Tura
Singh, the
declared
sons of
Mehtab
Kaur, not
fully recog-
nized, 1807,

Sada

Kaur's

vexation of

spirit and

hostile

views,

1810.

176 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vi

1802-21. of the Sutlej, was however restored to her through British

intervention, as has already been mentioned.^
Kharak Ranjit Singh was also betrothed, when a boy, to the

t"K nit" flfiwghter of Ivliazan Singh, a chief of the Nakkais con-
Singh by fedcracy, and by her he had a son in the year 1802, who was

another named Ivliarak Singh, and brought up as his heir The

wife, lb02. ^ ^ & I-

youth was married, in the year 1812, to the daughter of a

Kanhaya leader, and the nuptials were celebrated amid

many rejoicings. In 1816 the Maharaja placed the mother

under some degree of restraint owing to her mismanagement

of the estates assigned for the maintenance of the prince, and

he endeavoured to rouse the spirit of his son to exertion and

enterprise ; but he was of a weak and indolent character,

Nau Nihai and the attempt was vain. In the year 1 821 a son was born

Singh born iq Ivliarak Singh, and the child, Nau Nihal Singh, soon

Singh,l82l. came to be regarded as the heir of the Punjab.^

Ranjit Sucli were the domestic relations of Ranjit Singh, but he

Singh's per- shared largely in the opprobrium heaped upon his country-

sonalhcen- ° ^- K • ,-4. ^ i • \

tiousness men as the practisers of every immorality, and he is not

and intern- only represented to have frequently indulged in strong drink,

connexwn" but to have occasionally outraged decency by appearing in

with the public inebriated, and surrounded with courtesans.^ In

v^^uely his earlier days one of these women, named Mohra, obtained

attributed a great ascendancy over him, and, in 1811, he caused coins

of the Sikh* or medals to be struck bearing her name ; but it would be

people. idle to regard Ranjit Singh as an habitual drunkard or as

one greatly devoted to sensual pleasures ; and it would be

equally unreasonable to believe the mass of the Sikh people

as wholly lost to shame, and as revellers in every vice which

disgraces humanity. Doubtless the sense of personal honour

and of female purity is less high among the rude and ignorant

of every age, than among the informed and the civilized ;

and when the whole peasantry of a country suddenly attain

to power and wealth, and are freed from many of the

restraints of society, an unusual proportion will necessarily

1 Cf . Murray, Eanjit Singli, pp. 46-51, 63, 127, 128, 134, 135. See
also Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 1st and 10th Dec. 1810, and
p. 160 of this volume.

2 Cf. Murray, Banjit Singh, pp. 48, 53, 90, 91, 112, 129.

3 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Siwjli, p. 85.

CHAP. VI RANJTT SINGH'S FAILINGS 177

resign themselves to the seductions of pleasure, and freely 1802-21.
give way to their most depraved appetites. But such ex-
cesses are nevertheless exceptional to the general usage, and
those who vilify the Sikhs at one time, and describe their
long and rapid marches at another, should remember the
contradiction, and reflect that what common-sense and the
better feelings of our nature have always condemned, can
never be the ordinary practice of a nation. The armed
defenders of a country cannot be kept under the same degree
of moral restraint as ordinary citizens, with quiet habits,
fixed abodes, and watchful pastors, and it is illogical to
apply the character of a few dissolute chiefs and licentious
soldiers to the thousands of hardy peasants and industrious
mechanics, and even generally to that body of brave and
banded men which furnishes the most obvious examples of
degradation.^ The husbandman of the Punjab, as of other
provinces in Upper India, is confined to his cakes of millet
or wheat and to a draught of water from the well ; the
soldier fares not much better, and neither indulge in strong
liquors, except upon occasions of rejoicing. The indolent
man of wealth or station, or the more idle religious fanatic,
may seek excitement, or a refuge from the vacancy of his
mind;, in drugs and drink ; but expensiveness of diet is
rather a Muhammadan than an Indian characteristic, and
the Europeans carry their potations and the pleasures of
the table to an excess unknown to the Turk and Persian,
and which greatly scandalize the frugal Hindu.^

^ Col. Steinbach {Punjab, pp. 76, 77) admits general simplicity of
diet, but he also makes some revolting practices universal. Capt.
Murray (Ranjit Singh, p. 85) and llr. Masson (Journeys, i. 435) are
likewise somewhat sweeping in their condemnations, and even Mr.
Elphinstone {History of India, ii. 5G5) makes the charge of culpable
devotion to sensual pleasures very comprehensive. The morals, or
the manners, of a people, however, should not be deduced from a few
examples of profligacy ; but the Indians equally exaggerate with
regard to Europeans, and, in pictorial or pantomimic pieces, they
usually represent Englishmen drinking and swearing in the society
of courtesans, and as equally prompt to use their weapons with or
without a reason.

2 Forster {Travels, i. 333) notices the temperance of the Sikhs, and
their forbearance from many enervating sensual pleasures, and he
quotes, he thinks. Col. Polier to a similar effect. Malcolm {Sketch,

N

178

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

cnAi'. VI

1802-21.

E an jit
Singh's fa-
vourites.

Khushal
Singh, a
Brahman,
1811-20.

The Raj-
puts of
.Ityiimu,
1820.

Yet Ranjit Singh not only yielded more than was becom-
ing to the promptings of his appetites, but, like all despots
and solitary authorities, he laid himself open to the charge
of extravagant partiality and favouritism. He had placed
himself in some degree in opposition to the whole Sikh
people ; the free followers of Gobind could not be the
observant slaves of an equal member of the Idialsa, and he
sought for strangers whose applause would be more ready
if less sincere, and in whom he could repose some confidence
as the creatures of his favour. The first who thus rose to
distinction was lOiushal Singh, a Brahman from near
Saharanpur, who enlisted in one of the first raised regiments,
and next became a runner or footman on the Maharaja's
establishment. He attracted Ranjit Singh's notice, and was
made Jamadar of the De\Tii, or master of the entry, about
the year 1811. His brother seemed likely to supplant him,
but his refusal to become a Sikli favoured lOiushal Singh's
continuance in power, until both yielded to the Jammu
Rajpiits in the year 1820. Gulab Singh, the eldest of three
sons, claimed that his grandfather was the brother of the
well-known Ranjit Deo ; but the family was perhaps ille
gitimate, and had become impoverished, and Gulab Singh
took service as a horseman in a band commanded by
Jamadar Idiushal Singh. He sent for his second brother,
Dhian Singh, and then, again like the reigning favourite,
they both became running footmen under Ranjit Singh's
eye. Their joint assiduity, ^nd the graceful bearing of the
younger man, again attracted the Maharaja's notice, and
Dhian Singh speedily took the place of the Brahman
chamberlain, without, however, consigning him to neglect,
for he retained his estates and his position as a noble.
Gulab Singh obtained a petty command and signalized
himself by the seizure of the turbulent Muhammadan Chief
of Rajauri. Jammu was then conferred in jagir or fief upon
the family, and the youngest brother, Suchet Singh, as well
as the two elder, were one by one raised to the rank of Raja,
and rapidly obtained an engrossing and prejudicial influence

p. 141) likewise describes the Sikhs as hardy and simple ; but,
doubtless, as the power of the nation has increased since these times,
luxuries and vicious pleasures have, in numerous instances, followed
wealth and indolence.

CHAP. VI RANJIT SINGH'S FAVOURITES

179

in the counsels of the Maharaja, excepting, perhaps, in
connexion with his Englisli relations, the importance of
wliich required and obtained the exercise of his own ini-
biassed opinion. The smooth and crafty Gulab Singh
ordinarily remained in the hills, using Sildi means to extend
his own authority over his brother Rajputs, and eventually
into Ladakh ; the less able, but more polished, Dhian Singh,
remained continually in attendance upon the Maharaja,
ever on the watch, in order that he mJght anticipate his
wishes ; while the elegant Suchet Singh fluttered as a gay
courtier and gallant soldier, without grasping at power or
creating enemies. The nominal fakir or devotee, the
Muhammadan Aziz-ud-din, never held the place of an ordi-
nary favourite, but he attached himself at an cai'ly period
to Ranjit Singh's person, and was honoured and trusted as
one equally prudent and faithful ; and, during the ascendancy
both of Khushal Singh and Dhian Singh, he was always
consulted, and invariably made the medium of communica-
tion with the British authorities. The above were the most
conspicuous persons in the Lahore court ; but the mind of
Ranjit Singh was never prostrate before that of others, and
he conferred the government of Multan on the discreet
SaAvan Mai, and rewarded the military talents and genuine
Sikh feelings of Plari Singh Nalwa by giving him the com-
mand on the Peshawar frontier ; while his ancient com-
panion, Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, remained, with increased
wealth, the only representative of the original ' Misals ', and
Desa Singh Majlthia enjoyed the Maharaja's esteem and con-
fidence as governor of Amritsar and of the Jullundur Doab.^

1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 84, 113, 125, 147; Miinshi Shaha-
mat All's Sikhs and Afghans, chaps, iv and vii ; and, with regard to
Aziz-ud-din and Desa Singh, see Moorcroft, Travels,!. 94, 98, 1 10, &c.
Lieut. -Col. Lawrence's work. The Adventurer in the Punjab, and
Capt. Osborne's Court ami Camp of Ranjit Singh, likewise contain
some curious information about the Maharaja's chiefs and faA'Ourites ;
and the author has had the further advantage of referring to a
memorandum on the subject, drawn up by Mr. Clerk for Lord Ellen-
borough. Mohkam Chand has already been alluded to (see ante,
p. 136), and the Brahman Dlwan Chand may also be mentioned.
He was the real commander v\'hen Multan was stormed, and he led the
advance when Kashmir was at last seized. Of genuine Sikhs, too,
Mit'h Singh Bchrania was distinguished as a brave and generous
soldier.

N 2

1802-2L

Ranjit
Singh's
chosen
servants.

Fakir Aziz-
ud-din.

Dlwan
SawanMal.

Hari Singh
Nalwa.

Fateh
Singh Ah-
luwalia.

Desa Singh
Majlthia."

CHAPTER VII

FROM THE ACQUISITION OF MULTAN, KASHMIR,
AND PESHAWAR, TO THE DEATH OF RANJiT
SINGH

1824^39

Changed Relations of tlie English and Sikhs — Miscellaneous Trans-
actions— Capt. Wade, the Political Agent for Sikh Affairs — The
Jammii Rajas — Syed Ahmad Shah's Insurrection at Peshawar —
The Fame of Ranj it Singh — The Meeting at Rupar with Lord Wil-
liam Bcntinck — Ranjit >Singh's views on Sindh,and the English
Scheme of Navigating the Indus— Shah Shuja's Expedition of
1833-5, and Ranjit Singh's Regular Occupation of Peshawar —
Ladfikh reduced by Raja Gulab Singh — ^Ranjit Singh's Claims
on Shikarpur and designs on Sindh crossed by the Commercial
Policy of the English — The connexion of the English with the
Barakzais of Afghanistan — Dost Muhammad retires before
Ranjit Singh — The Siklis defeated by the Afghans — The Marriage
of Nau Nihal Singh — Sir Henry Fane — The English, Dost
Muhammad, and the Russians, and the Restoration of Shah
Shuja — Ranjit Singh feels curbed by the English — ^The Death of
Ranjit Singh.

1823. RanjTt Singh liad brought Peshawar under his sway,

Ch nse'n '^"^ *^^^ complete reduction of the province was yet to cost
the posi- liim an arduous warfare of many years. He had become
SkhT^ j^f master of the Punjab almost unlieeded by the English ; but
lively to the position and views of that people had changed since
^^"'^"^''•^'Hhey asked his aid against the armies of Napoleon. The
year 1823. Jumna and the sea-coast of Bombay were no longer the
proclaimed limits of their empire ; the Narbada had been
crossed, the states of Rajputana had been rendered tribu-
tary, and, with the laudable design of diffusing wealth and
of linking remote provinces together in the strong and useful
bonds of commerce, they were about to enter upon schemes
of navigation and of trade, which caused them to deprecate
the ambition of the king of the Sikhs, and led them, by sure
yet unforeseen steps, to absorb his dominion in their own,

CHAP, vii MISCELLANEOUS TRANSACTIONS 181

and to grasp, perhaps inscrutably to chasten, with the cold 1824-5.

unfeeling hand of worldly rule, the youthful spirit of social
change and religious reformation evoked by the genius of
Nanak and Gobind.

In the year 1824;, the turbulent Muhammadan tribes on Miscel-
either side of the Indus above Attock arose in rebellion, and trans-^''
the Sikli General, Hari Singh, received a severe check. The actions,

18'' 4-5

Maharaja hastened by forced marches to that quarter,
and again forded the rapid, stony-bedded Indus ; but the Peshawar.
mountaineers dispersed at his approach, and his display of
])ower was hardly rewarded by Yar Muhammad Ivhan's
renewed protestations of allegiance.^ In 1825 Ranjit Singh's
attention was amused with overtures from the Gurklias, who Nepal,
forgot his former rivalry in the overwhelming greatness of
the English ; but the precise object of the Nepalese did not
transpire, and the restless spirit of the Sikh chief soon led
him to the Chenab, with the design of seizing Shikarpur.j,
The occurrence of a scarcity in Sind, and perhaps the Sind.
rumours of the hostile preparations of the English against
Bharatpur,* induced him to return to his capital before the Bharatpur
end of the year. The Jdt usurper of the Jumna asked his
brother J at of the Ravi to aid him ; but the Maharaja
affected to discredit the mission, and so satisfied the British
authorities without compromising himself with the master
of a fortress which had successfully resisted the disciplined
troops and the dreaded artillery of his neighbours.* But
about the same time Ranjit Singh likewise found reason to
distrust the possessors of strongholds ; and Fateh Singh

^ Capt. Murray, Ranjit Singh, jjp. 141, 142.

2 Agent at Delhi to Capt. Murray, 18th March 1825, aud Capt.
Murray in reply, 28th March. Cf . also Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 144.

^ [This famous fortress was besieged by the English forces (20,000
men and 100 guns) on 10th Dec. 1825, and fell on 18th Jan. 1826.
Its caiJture made a great impression, as it had been deemed impreg-
nable. The operations were under the direction of Lord Combermere,
the Commander-in-Chief who, as Sir Stapleton Cotton, had fought
under Wellington in the Peninsula. — Ed.]

* Capt. Murray to the Resident at Delhi, 1st and 3rd Oct. 1825,
and Capt. Wado to Capt. Murray, 5th Oct. 1825. Capt. Wade,
however, in the printed Narrative of his Services, p. 7, represents
Ranjit Singh as pausing to take advantage of any disasters which
might befall the English.

182 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1826. Ahluwalia was constrained by his old brother in arms to

p . leave a masonry citadel unfinished, and was further induced

Singh the by his own fears to fly to the south of the Sutlej. He was
Ahluwaha assured of English protection in his ancestral estates in
the Sirhind province, but Ranjit Singh, remembering
perhaps the joint treaty with Lord Lake, earnestly endea-
voured to allay the fears of the fugitive, and to recall a chief
so dangerous iii the hands of his allies. Fatch Singh re-
turned to Lahore in 1827 ; he was received with marked
honour, and he was confirmed in nearly all his possessions.^
Ranjit Towards the end of 1826, Ranjit Smgh was attacked with

^■"if '^ ^ d^^ sickness, and he sought the aid of European skill. Dr.
attended Murray, a surgeon in the British-Indian army, was sent to
y^^y.] attend him, and he remained at Lahore for some time,
surgeon, although the Maharaja was more disposed to trust to time
1820. and abstinence, or to the empirical remedies of his own

physicians, than to the prescribers of unknown drugs and
the practisers of new ways. Ranjit Singh, nevertheless,
liked to have his foreign medical adviser near him, as one
from whom information could be gained, and whom it
Anecdotes, might be advantageous to please. He seemed anxious about
the proposed visit of Lord Amherst, the Governor-General,
to the northern jn'ovinces ; he asked about the qualities of
the Burmese troops," and the amount of money demanded
by the English victors at the end of the war with that people ;
he was inquisitive about the mutiny of a regiment of Sepoys

^ Resident at Delhi to Capt. Murray, 13th Jan. 1S2G, and Capt.
Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 144. The old chief had, as early as 1811,
desired to be regarded as separately connected with the English, so
fearful had he become of his ' turban- brother '. (Government to
Sir D. Ochterlony, 4th Oct. 1811.)

The Cis-Sutlej Muhammadan Chief of Mamdot, formerly of Kasur,
fled and returned about the same time as Fateh Singh, for similar
reasons, and after making similar endeavours to bo recognized as an
English dependant. (Government to Resident at Delhi, 28th April
1827, with correspondence to which it relates, and cf. Murray, Ranjit
Singh, p. 145.)

^ [The Burmese War broke out on 24th Feb. 1824 as the result of
distm'bed relations going back as far as 1818. It lasted till 24th Feb.
1826, when, by the Treaty of Yandabu, the Burmese Government
ceded the jn-ovinces of Tenasserim, Aracan, and Assam, and paid an
indemnity of one million sterling. — Ed.]

CHAP, vn CAPTAIN WADE 183

at Barrackpore, and he wished to know whether native 1827.
troops had been employed in queUing it.^ On the arrival of ' ~
Lord Amherst at Simla, in 1827, a further degree of intimacy Amherst,
became inevitable , a mission of welcome and inquiry was tiie British
sent to wait upon his lordship, and the compliment was General
returned by the deputation of Capt. Wade, the British 1827.
frontier authority, to the Maharaja's court.^ During the
following year the English Commander-in-Chief arrived LordCom-
at Ludhiana, and Ranjit Singh sent an agent to convey to t^g^r^^jsh
him his good wishes ; but an expected invitation to visit Commaud-
tlie strongholds of the Punjab was not given to the captor of er-in-Chicf.
Bharatpur.^

The little business to be transacted between the British Capt. Wade
and Sikh governments was entrusted to the management of •jiyj^edia'te
the Resident at Delhi, who gave his orders to Capt. IMurray, agent for

the affairs

1 Capt. Wade to the Resident at Delhi, 2-4th Sept. and 30th Nov. fjt?'^°'^^'
1826, and 1st Jan. 1827. Cf. Murray, Eanjlt Singh, p. 145. [The °''''
mutiny at Barrackpore was the result of the disinclination of the

troops to go on service in Bui-ma. There were three native regiments
at this station — 26th, 47th, and 62nd — and all of them became dis-
affected. On 1st Nov. 182-t, the 47th broke into open mutiny.
English troops were sent to the station, and the 47th were dispersed
by artillery and the regiment was struck off the army list. The other
two regiments escaped without punishment. — Ed.]

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 2nd May, 1827.

^ Murray, RanjU Singh, p. 147. About this time the journeyings
and studies of the enthusiastic scholar Csoma do Koros, and the
establishment of Simla as a British post, had made the Chinese of
Tibet as curious about the English in one way as Ranjit Singh was
in another. Thus the authorities at Garo appear to have addressed
the authorities of Bissehir, an English dependency, saying, 'that
in ancient times there was no mention of the " Filingha " (i.e.
Faranghis or Franks), a bad and small people, whereas now many
\'isited the upper coimtrics every year, and had caused the chief of
Bissehir to make preparations for their movements. The Great Lama
was displeased, and armies had been ordered to be watchful. The
English shoiild be urged to keep within their own limits, or, if they
wanted an alliance, they could go by sea to Pekin. The people of
Bissehir should not rely on the wealth and the expertness in warfaring
of the English : the emperor was 30 imklsat (120 miles) higher than
they ; he ruled over the fom* elements ; a war would involve the
six nations of Asia in calamities ; the English shoiild remain within
their boundaries ; ' — and so on, in a strain of deprecation and hyper-
bole. (Political Agent Sabathu to Resident at Delhi, 26th March
1827.)

184 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vn

1827-8. the political agent at Ambala, who again had under him an
assistant, Capt. Wade, at Ludhiana, mainly in connexion
with the affairs of the garrison of that place. When Capt.
W^ade was at Lahore, the Maharaja expressed a wish that,
for the sake of dispatch in business, the agency for his Cis-
Sutlej possessions should be vested in the officer at Ludliiana
subordinate to the resident at Delhi, but independent of the
officer at Ambala.* This wish was complied with ; ^ but
in attempting to define the extent of the territories in
question, it was found that there were several doubtful
Discussions points to be settled. Ranjit Singh claimed supremacy over
rights to Chamkaur, and Anandpur Makliowal, and other places
districts belonging to the Sodliis, or collateral representatives of
th"*s u ■ Guru Gobmd. He also claimed Whadni, which, a few years
1827-8. ' before, had been wrested from him on the 'plea that it was
Anandpur, jjjg niother-in-law's ; and he claimed Ferozepore, then held
Feroze- ' by a childless widow, and also all the Aliluwalia districts,
pore, &c. besides others which need not be particularized.^ The
claims of the Maharaja over Ferozepore and the ancestral
possessions of Fateh Singh Alduwalia were rejected ; but
the British title to supremacy over Whadni could no longer,
it was found, be maintained. The claims of Lahore to
Chamkaur and Anandpur Makliowal were expediently
admitted, for the British right did not seem worth maintain-
ing, and the affairs of the priestly class of Siklis could be
best managed by a ruler of their own faith.* Ranjit Singh
disliked the loss of Ferozepore, which the English long
continued to admire as a commanding position ; * but the

1 Capt. Wade to Resident at Delhi, 20th June 1827.
- Government to Resident at Delhi, 4th Oct. 1827.

3 Capt. Wade to the Resident at Delhi, 20th Jan. 1828, and Capt.
Murray to the same, 19th Feb, 1828.

In the case of Ferozepore, Government subsequently decided
(Government to Agent at Delhi, 24th Nov. 1838) that certain
collateral heirs (who had put in a claim) could not succeed, as,
according to Hindu law and Sikh usage, no right of descent existed
after a division had taken j^lace. So uncertain, however, is the
practice of the English, that one or more jjrecedents in favour of
the Ferozepore claimants might readily be found within the range
of cases connected with the Sikh states.

4 Government to the Resident at Delhi, 14th Nov. 1828.

^ In 1823 Capt. Murray talked of the ' strong and important

CHAP. VII

THE JAMi\IU RAJAS

185

settlement generally was such as seemed to lessen the chances
of future collision between the two governments.

Ranjit Singh's connexion with the English thus became
more and more close, and about the same time he began to
resign himself in many instances to the views of his new
favourites of Jammu. The Maharaja had begun to notice
the boyish promise of Hira Singh, the son of Dhian Singh,
and he may have been equally pleased with the native
simplicity, and with the tutored deference, of the child.
He gave him the title of Raja, and his father, true to the
Indian feeling, was desirous of establishing the purity of his
descent by marrying his son into a family of local power and
of spotless genealogy. The betrothal of a daughter of the
deceased Sansar Chand of Kangra was demanded in the
year 1828, and the reluctant consent of the new chief,
Anrudli Chand, was obtained M'hen he unwittingly had put
himself wholly in the power of Dhian Singh by visiting
Lahore with his sisters for the purpose of joining in the
nuptial ceremonies of the son of Fateh Singh Ahluwalia.
The proposed degi'adation rendered the mother of the gins
more indignant perhaps than the head of the family, and
she contrived to escape with them to the south of the Sutlej.
Anrudh Chand was required to bring them back, but he
himself also fled, and his possessions were seized. The
mother died of grief and vexation, and the son follov/cd her
to the grave, after idly attempting to induce the English
to restore him by force of arms to his little principality.
Sansar Chand had left several illegitimate children, and in
1829 the disappointed Maharaja endeavoured to obtain
some revenge by marrying two of the daughters himself,
and by elevating a son to the rank of Raja, and investing him
with an estate out of his father's chiefship. The marriage
of Hira Singh to a maiden of his own degree was celebrated
during the same year with much splendour, and the greatness

1828.

Gradual
ascendancy
of Dhian
Singh, his
brothers,
and his son,
1820-8.

Proposed
marrietge of
Hira

Singh into
the family
of Sansar
Chand,
1828.

Flight of
Sausar
Chand's
widow and
son.

Raja Hira
Singh's
marriage,
1829.

fortress ' of Ferozepore having been recovered by Ranjit Singh, for
the widow proprietress from whom it had been seized by a claimant
(Capt. Murray to the Agent at Delhi, 20th July 1823), and the supreme
authorities similarly talked (Government to Agent at Delhi, 30tli Jan.
1821) of the political and military advantages of Ferozepore over
Ludhiaua.

186 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1829. of RanjJt Singh's name induced even the chiefs living under

British protection to offer their congratulations and their
presents on the occasion.^
Insuiiec- In the meanwhile a formidable insurrection had been
Peshawar organized in the neighbourhood of Peshawar, by an un-
under Sai- heeded jierson and in an unlooked-for manner. One
sSh Ghfi^ Alunad Shah, a aiuhammadan of a family of Saiyids of
zi, 1827. Bareilly in Upper India, had been a follower of the great
History of mercenary leader, Amir Khap, but he lost his employment
t e baiyid. y^^i^^ |-}^g military force of his chief was broken up on the
successful termination of the campaign against the joint
Maratha and Pindari powers, and after Amir Kiian's own
recognition by the English as a dependent prince. The
Saiyid went to Delhi, and a preacher of that city, named
His doc- Abdul Aziz, declared himself greatly edified by the superior
rciicrTous sanctity of Ahmad, who denounced the corrupt forms of
reform. worship then prevalent, and endeavoured to enforce atten-
tion to the precepts of the Koran alone, without reference
to the expositions of the early fathers. His reputation
increased, and two Maulais, Ismail and Abdul Hai, of some
learning, but doubtful views, attached themselves to the
Saiyid as his humble disciples and devoted followers.^

1 Murray, Ranjlt Singh, pp. HI, liS, and Resident at Delhi to
.Government, 28th Oct. 1828.

2 A book was composed by Mauli Ismail, on the part of Saiyid
Ahmad, in the Urdii, or vernacular language of Upper India, at once
exhortative and justificatory of his views. It is called the Takvia-ul-
Iindn, or ' Easis of the Faith ', and it was printed in Calcutta. It is
divided into two portions, of which the first only is understood to be
the work of Ismail, the second part being inferior, and the production
of another person.

In the preface the writer deprecates the opinion ' that the wise and
learned alone can comjn-ehcnd God's word. God himself had said
a prophet had been raised up among the rude and ignorant for their
instruction, and that He, the Lord, had rendered obedience easy.
There were two things essential : a belief in the imity of God, which
was to know no other, and a knowledge of the Prophet, which was
obedience to the law. Many held the sayings of the saints to be their
guide ; but the word of God was alone to be attended to, although
the writings of the pious, which agreed with the Scrij^tm-es, might be
read for edification.'

The first chapter treats of the unity of God,^ and in it the writer

CHAP. VII

SAIYID AHMAD SHAH

187

A pilgrimage was preached as a suitable beginning for all
undertakings, and Ahmad's journey to Calcutta in 1822,
for the purpose of embarkation, was one of triumph,
although his proceedings were little noticed until his
presence in a large city gave him numerous congi-egations.
He set sail for Mecca and Medina, and he is commonly
believed, but without reason, to have visited Constantinople.
After an absence of four years he returned to Delhi, and
called upon the faithful to follow him in a war against in-
fidels. He acted as if he meant by unbelievers the Siklis
alone, but his precise objects are imperfectly understood.
He was careful not to offend the English ; but the mere
supremacy of a remote nation over a wide and populous
country gave him ample oiDportunities for unheeded agita-
tion. In 1826 he left Delhi with perhaps five hundred
attendants, and it was arranged that other bands should
follow in succession under appointed leaders. He made
some stay at Tonk, the residence of his old master, Amh'
Klian, and the son of the chief, the present Nawab, was
enrolled among the disciples of the new saint. He obtained
considerable assistance, at least in money, from the youthful
convert, and he proceeded through the desert to Khairjjur
in Sind, where he was well received by Mir Rustam Khan,
and where he awaited the junction of the ' Ghazis ', or
fighters for the faith, who were following him. Ahmad

1822-6.

His pilgri-
mage.

His

journey
thi'ougli
Kajputaua
and Sind,
to Kanda-
har and
Peshawar.

deprecates the supplication of saints, angels, &c., as impious. He
declares the reasons given for such worship to be futile, and to show
an utter ignorance of God's word. ' The ancient idolaters had like-
wise said that they merely venerated powers and divinities, aiad did
not regard them as the equal of the Almighty ; but God himself had
answered these heathens. Likewise the Christians had been admo-
nished for giving to dead monks and friars the honour due to the
Lord. God is alone, and companion ho has none ; prostration and
adoration are due to him, and to no other.' The wi'itor proceeds in
a similar strain, but assumes some doubtful positions, as that Muham-
mad says God is one, and man learns from his parents that he was
born ; he believes his mother, and yet he distrusts the apostle : or
that an evil-doei' who has faith is a better man than the most pious
idolater.

The printed Urdu Korans are eagerly bought by all who can
afford the money, and who know of their existence.

188

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

1827-9.

Kouses the
Usufzais to
a religious
war.

Saiyid Ah-
mad Shah
fails
against
the Sikhs
at Akora,
1827.

marched to Kandahar, but liis jDrojects were mistrusted or
misunderstood ; he received no encouragement from the
Barakzai brothers in possession, and he proceeded northward
through the Ghilzai country, and in the beginning of 1827
he crossed the Kabul river to Panjtar in the Usufzai hills,
between Peshawar and the Indus.^

The Panjtar family is of some consequence among the
warlike Usufzais, and as the tribe had become apprehensive
of the designs of Yar Muhammad Klian, whose dependence
on Ranjit Singh secured him from danger on the side of
Kabul, the Saiyid and his ' Ghazis ' were hailed as deliverers,
and the authority or supremacy of Alimad was generally
admitted. He led his ill-equipped host to attack a detach-
ment of Siklis, which had been moved forward to Akora,
a few miles above Attock, under the command of Budh
Singh Sindhanwala, of the same family as the Maharaja.
The Sikli commander entrenched his position, and repulsed
the tumultuous assault of the mountaineers with con-
siderable loss, but as he could not follow up his success, the
fame and the strength of the Saiyid continued to increase,
and Yar Muhammad deemed it prudent to enter into an
agreement obliging him to respect the territories of the
Usufzais. The curbed governor of Peshawar is accused of
a base attempt to remove Ahmad by poison, and, in the
year 1829, the fact or the report was made use of by the
Saiyid as a reason for appealing to arms. Yar Muhammad

1 Cf . Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 145, 146; About Saiyid Ahmad,
the author has learnt much from the ' Ghazi's ' brother-in-law, and
from a respectable Mauli, who likewise followed his fortunes, and
both of whom are now in honourable employ in the chiefship of Tonk,
He has likewise learnt many ^particulars from Munshi Shahamat Ali,
and especially from Pir Ibrahim Khan, a straightforward and intel-
ligent Pathan of Kasur, in the British service, who thinks Ahmad
right, notwithstanding the holy neighbourhood of Pak^jattan,
Multan, and Utch ! Indeed, most educated Muhammadans admit
the reasonableness of his doctrines, and the able Regent-Begum of
Bhopal is not indisposed to emulate the strictness of the Chief of
Tonk, as an abhorrer of vain ceremonies. Among humbler people
the Saiyid likewise obtained many admirers, and it is said that his
exhortations generally were so efficacious, that even the tailors of
Delhi were moved to scrupulously return remnants of cloth to their
employers !

CHAP, vii SAIYID AHMAD AT PESHAWAR

189

was defeated and mortally wounded, and Peshawar was
perhaps saved to his brother, Sultan Muhammad, by the
presence of a Sikh force under the Prince Sher Singh and
General Ventura, which had been moved to that quarter
under pretence of securing for the Maharaja a long-promised
horse of famous breed named Laila, the match of one of
equal renown named Kahar, which Ranjit Singh had already
prided himself on obtaining from the Barakzai brothers.^

The Sikh troops withdrew to the Indus, leaving Sultan
Muhammad Khan and his brothers to guard their fief or
dependency as they could, and it would even seem that
Ranjit Singh hoped the difficulties of their position, and the
insecurity of the province, would justify its complete reduc-
tion.2 But the influence of Saiyid Ahmad reached to
Kashmir, and the mountaineers between that valley and the
Indus Were unwilling subjects of Lahore. Ahmad crossed
the river in June 1830, and planned an attack upon the
Sikh force commanded by Hari Singh Nalwa and General
AUard ; but he was beaten off, and forced to retire to the
west of the river. In a few months he was strong enough to
attack Sultan Muhammad Ivhan ; the Barakzai was de-
feated, and Peshawar was occupied by the Saiyid and his
' Ghazis '. His elation kept pace with his success, and,
according to tradition, already busy with his career, he
proclaimed himself Kiialif, and struck a coin in the name of
' Alimad the Just, the defender of the faith, the glitter of
whose sword scattereth destruction among infidels '. The
fall of Peshawar caused some alarm in Lahore, and the force
on the Indus was strengthened, and placed under the

1830,

But defeats
Yar Mu-
hammad,
who dies of
his wounds,
1829.

Saiyid Ah-
mad Shah
crosses the
Indus,
1830.

He is com-
pelled to
retire, but
falls upon
and routs
Sultan Mu-
hammad
Khan, and
occupies
Peshawar,
1830.

1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 146, 149. The followers of Saiyid
Ahmad believe that poison was administered, and describe the
' Ghazi ' as suffering much from its effects.

General Ventura at last succeeded in obtaining a Laila, but that
the real horse, so named, was transferred, is doubtful, and at one
time it was declared to be dead. (Capt. Wade to the Resident,
Delhi, 17th May 1829.)

2 Capt. Wade to the Resident, Delhi, 13th Sept. 1830. The
Maharaja also reserved a cause of quarrel with the Barakzais, on
account of their reduction of the Khattaks, a tribe which Ranjit
Singh said Fateh Khan, the WazTr, had agreed to leave independent.
(Capt. Wade to Government, 9th Dec. 1831.)

190

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

1830-1.

The

Saiyid's
influence
decreases.

He relin-
quishes
Teshfiwar,
1830 ;

and retires
t owards
Kashmir,
and is sur-
prised and
slain, May
1831.

Ranjit,
Singh
courted by
various
parties.

command of Prince Slier Singh. The petty Muhammadan
chiefs generally, with whom self-interest overcame faith,
were averse to the domination of the Indian adventurer,
and the imprudence of Saiyid Ahmad gave umbrage to his
Usufzai adherents. He had levied from the peasants a tithe
of their goods, and this measure caused little or no dis-
satisfaction, for it agreed with their notion of the rights of
a religious teacher ; but his decree that all the young women
of marriageable age should be at once wedded, interfered
with the profits of Afghan parents, proverbially avaricious,
and who usually disposed of their daughters to the wealthiest
bridegrooms. But when Saiyid Ahmad was accused, perhaps
unjustly, of assigning the maidens one by one to his needy
Indian followers, his motives were impugned, and the dis-
content was loud. Early in November 1830 he was con-
strained to relinquish Peshawar to Sultan Muhammad at a
fixed tribute, and he proceeded to the left bank of the Indus
to give battle to the Sikhs. The Saiyid depended chiefly on
the few ' Ghazis ' who had followed his fortunes throughout,
and on the insurrectionary spirit of the Muzaffarabad and
other chiefs, for his Usufzai adherents had greatly decreased.
The hill ' klians ' were soon brought under subjection by
the efforts of Sher Singh and the governor of Kashmir ; yet
Ahmad continued active, and, in a desultory warfare amid
rugged mountains, success for a time attended him ; but,
during a cessation of the frequent conflicts, he was surprised,
early in May 1831, at a place called Balakot, and fallen
upon and slain. The Usufzais at once expelled his deputies,
the ' Ghazis ' dispersed in disguise, and the family of the
Saiyid hastened to Hindustan to find an honourable asylum
with their friend the Nawab of Tonk.^

The fame of RanjTt Singh was now at its height, and his
friendship was sought by distant sovereigns. In 1829,
agents from Baluchistan brought horses to the Sikh ruler,
and hoped that the frontier posts of Harrand and Dajal,

1 Capt. Wade to Resident at Delhi, 21st March 1831, and other
dates in that and the previous year. Cf. Murray, Ban jit Singh,
p. 150. The followers of the Saiyid strenuously deny his assumption
of the title of Khalif, his new coinage, and his bestowal of Usufzai
maidens on his Indian followers.

CHAP. VII

LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK

191

westward of the Indus, which his feudatory of Bahawalpur
had usurped, would be restored to the Khan.'^ The Maha-
raja was Hkewise in communication with SJiah Mahmiid of
Herat,^ and in 1830 he was invited, by the Baiza Bai of
Gwahor, to honour the nuptials of the young Sindhia with
his presence.^ The English were at the same time not with-
out a suspicion that he had opened a correspondence with
Russia,* and they were themselves about to flatter him as
one necessary to the fulfilment of their expanding views of
just influence and profitable commerce.

In the beginning of 1831, Lord William Bentinck, the
Governor-General of India, arrived at Simla, and a Sikh
deputation waited upon his Lordship to convey to him
Ranjit Singh's complimentary wishes for his own welfare
and the prosperity of his Government. The increasing
warmth of the season prevented the dispatch of a formal
return mission, but Capt. Wade, the political agent at
Ludhiana, was made the bearer of a letter to the Maharaja,
thanking him for his attention. The principal duty of the
agent was, however, to ascertain whether Ranjit Singh
wished, and would propose, to have an interview with Lord
William Bentinck, for it was a matter in which it was
thought the English Viceroy could not take the initiative.^
The object of the Governor-General was mainly to give the
world an impression of complete unanimity between the
two states ; but the Maharaja wished to strengthen his
own authority, and to lead the Sikh public to believe his

1 Capt. Wade to the Resident at Delhi, 3rd May 1829, and 29th
April 1830. Harrand was once a place of considerable repute. (See
Munshi Mohan Lai, Journal, under date 3rd March 1836.) The
Bahawalpur Memoirs show that the Nawab was aided by the treachery
of others in acquiring it. The place had to be retaken by General
Ventura (as the author learnt from that officer), when Bahawal
Khan was deprived of his territories west of the Sutlej.

2 Capt. Wade to Resident at Delhi, 21st Jan. 1829, and 3rd Dec.
1830.

^ Capt. Wade to Resident at Delhi, 7th April 1830. The Maharaja
declined the invitation, saying Sindhia was not at Lahore when
his son was married.

« Capt. Wade to Resident at Delhi, 24th August 1830.

^ Government to Capt. Wade, 28th April 1831, and Murray, Ranjit
Singh, p. 162.

1831.

The Bahi-
chls.

Shah Mah-
mud.

The Baiza
Bai of
Gwalior.

The Eus-
sians and
the
EngHsh.

Lord Ben-
tinck, the
Governor-
General, at
Simla,
1831.

A meetins;
proposed
with Ran-
jit Singh,
and desired
by both
parties for
different
reasons.

192

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

1831.

The meet-
ing at
Rupar,
17th July
1831.

31st Oct.
1831.

,Ranjit
Singh's
anxiety
about
Sind.

dynasty was acknowledged as the proper head of the
' Ivlialsa ', by the predominant English rulers. The able
chief, Harl Singh, was one of those most averse to the recog-
nition of the right of the Prince Kharak Singh, and the
heir apparent himself would seem to have been aware of
the feelings of the Sikh people, for he had the year before
opened a correspondence with the Governor of Bombay, as
if to derive hope from the vague terms of a complimentary
reply .^ Ranjit Singh thus readily proposed a meeting, and
one took place at Riipar, on the banks of the Sutlej, in the
month of October (1831). A present of horses from the
King of England had, in the meantime, reached Lahore, by
the Indus and Ravi rivers, under the escort of Lieut. Burnes,
and during one of the several interviews with the Glovernor-
General, Ranjit Singh had sought for and obtained a written
assurance of perpetual friendship.^ The impression went
abroad that his family would be supported by the English
Government, and ostensibly Ranjit Singh's objects seemed
wholly, as they had been partly^ gained. But his mind was
not set at ease about Sind : vague accounts had reached
him of some design with regard to that country ; he plainly
hinted his own schemes, and observed the Amirs had no
efficient troops, and that they could not be well disposed
towards the English, as they had thrown difficulties in the
way of Lieut. Burnes's progress.^ But the Governor- General

^ With regard to this interchange of letters, see the Persian
Secretary to the Political Secretary at Bombay, 6th July 1830.

That Ranjit Singh was jealous, personally, of Harl Singh, or that
the servant would have proved a traitor to the living master, is not
probable : but Harl Singh was a zealous Sikh and an ambitious
man, and Kharak Singh was alwaj-s full of doubts and apprehensions
with respect to his succession and even his safety. Ranjit Singh's
anxiety with regard to the meeting at Riipar, exaggerated, perhaps,
by M. AUard, may be learnt from Mr. Prinsep's account in Murray,
Ranjit Singh, p. 162. Col. Wade has informed the author that
the whole of the Sikh chiefs were said by Ranjit Singh himself to
be averse to the meeting with the British Governor-General.

2 Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 166.

2 Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 167. This opinion of Ranjit Singh
about Sindian troops may not be pleasing to the victors of Dabo and
Miani, although the Maharaja impugned not their courage, but their
discipline and equipment. Shah Shuja's expedition of 1834, never-
theless, served to show the fairness of Ranjit Singh's conclusions.

CHAP. VII NAVIGATION OF THE INDUS 193

would not divulge to his inquiring guest and ally the tenor 1831.

of propositions already on their way to the chiefs of Sind,

confessedly lest the Maharaja should at once endeavour to

counteract his peaceful and beneficial intentions.^ Ranjit

Singh may or may not have felt that he was distrusted, but

as he was to be a party to the opening of the navigation of

the Indus, and as the project had been matured, it would

have better suited the character and the position of the

British Government had no concealment been attempted.

The traveller Moorcroft had been impressed with the The scheme

use which might be made of the Indus as a channel of British ^l opening
^ the Indus

commerce,^ and the scheme of navigating that river and its to

tributaries was eagerly adopted by the Indian Gktvernment, commerce.

and by the advocates of material utilitarianism. One object

of sending King William's presents for Ranjit Singh by

water was to ascertain, as if undesignedly, the trading value

of the classical stream,^ and the result of Lieut. Burnes's

observations convinced Lord William Bentinck of its

superiority over the Ganges. There seemed also, in his

Lordship's opinion, good reason to believe that the great

western valley had at one time been as populous as that of

the east, and it was thought that the judicious exercise of

the paramount influence of the British Government might

remove those political obstacles which had banished

commerce from the rivers of Alexander.* It was therefore

resolved, in the current language of the day, to open the

Indus to the navigation of the world.

Before the Governor-General met Ranjit Singh, he had PioposaJ

directed Col. Pottinger ^ to proceed to Hyderabad, to nego- sindians

tiate with the Amirs of Sind the opening of the lower and the

portion of the river to all boats on the payment of a fixed

1 Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 167, 168. The whole of the tenth
chapter of Capt. Murray's book, which includes the meeting at
Rupar, may be regarded as the composition of Mr. Prinsep, the
Secretary to Government, with the Governor-General.

2 Moorcroft, Travels, ii. 338.

^ Government to Col. Pottinger, 22nd Oct. 1831, and Murray,
Ranjit Singh, p. 153.

* Government to Col. Pottinger, 22nd Oct. 1831.

^ [Afterwards Sir H. E. Pottinger, Bart., first Governor of Hong
Kong. — Ed.]

O

194

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

1831.

19th Dec.
1831.

Han jit
Singh's
views and
suspicions,

He repels
the Daud-
putras from
the Lower
Punjab,
1831,

toll ; ^ and, two months afterwards, or towards the end of
1831, he wrote to the Maharaja that the desire he had
formerly expressed to see a steamboat, was a proof of his
enlightened understanding, and was likely to be gratified
before long, as it was wished to draw closer the commercial
relations of the two states. Capt. Wade was at the same
time sent to explain, in person, the object of Col. Pottinger's
mission to Sind, to propose the free navigation of the Sutlej
in continuation of that of the Lower Indus, and to assure
the Maharaja that, by the extension of British commerce,
was not meant the extension of the British power .^ But
Ranjit Singh, also, had his views and his suspicions.^ In the
south of the Punjab he had wrought by indirect means, as
long as it was necessary to do so among a newly conquered
people. The Nawab of Bahawalpur, his manager of the
country across to Dera Ghazi lOian, was less regular in his
payments than he should have been, and his expulsion from
the Punjab Proper would be profitable, and unaccompanied
with danger, if the English remained neutral. Again,
Bahawal Khan was virtually a chief protected by the British
Government on the left bank of the Sutlej, and Lieut.
Burnes was on his way up the Indus. The Maharaja, ever
mistrustful, conceiNcd that the political status of that
officer's observation v/ould be referred to and upheld by
his Government as the true and permanent one,^ and hence
the envoy found affairs in process of change when he left
the main stream of the Indus, and previous to the interview
at Rupar, General Ventura had dispossessed Bahawal Khan
both of his Lahore farms and of his ancestral territories on
the right bank of the Sutlej.^ Further, Shikarpur formed no

^ Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 168.

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 19th Dec. 1831. It is admitted
that the mission, or the schemes, had a political reference to Russia
and her designs, but the Governor-General would not avow his
motives. (Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 168.)

3 Ranjit Singh's attention was mainly directed to Sind, and
a rumoured matrimonial alliance between one of the Amirs, or the
son of one of them, and a Persian princess, caused him some anxiety.
(Capt. Wade to Government, 5th Aug. 1831.)

* This view appears to have subsequently occurred to Capt. Wade
as having influenced the Maharaja. See his letter to Government,
18th Oct. 1836. 5 Capt. Wade to Government, 5th Nov. 1831.

CHAP. VII RANJIT SINGH'S DESIGNS ON SIND 195

part of the Sind of the Kalhoras or Talpurs ; it had only
fallen to the latter usurpers after the death of Muhammad
Azim Klian, the wazir of the titular king, Shah Ayub, and
it continued to be held jointly by the three families of
lOiairpur, MIrpur, and Hyderabad, as a fortuitous posses-
sion. Ranjit Singh considered that he, as the paramount
of the Barakzais of the Indus, had a better right to the
district than the Amirs of south-eastern Sind, and he was
bent upon annexing it to his dominions.^

Such was Ranjit Singh's temper of mind when visited by
Capt. Wade to negotiate the opening of the Sutlej to British
traders. The Maharaja avowed himself well pleased, but
he had hoped that the English were about to force their way
through Sind ; he asked how many regiments Col. Pottinger
had with him, and he urged his readiness to march and
coerce the Amirs. ^ It was further ascertained that he had
made propositions to Mir All Murad of MIrpur, to farm Dera
Ghazi Khan, as if to sow dissensions among the Talpurs,
and to gain friends for Lahore, while Col. Pottinger was
winning allies for the English.^ But he perceived that the
Governor- General had resolved upon his course, and he
gave his assent to the common use of the Sutlej and Indus,
and to the residence of a British officer at Mithankot to
superintend the navigation,* He did not desire to appear
as if in opposition to his allies of many years, but he did not
seek to conceal from Capt. Wade his opinion that the com-
mercial measures of the English had really abridged his
political power, when he gave up for the time the intention
of seizing Shikarpur.^

^ This argument was continually used by Ranjit Singh. See,
for instance, Capt. Wade to Government, 15th Jan. 1837.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 1st and 13th Feb. 1832.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 21st Dec. 1831 ; and Col. Pottinger
to Government, 23rd Sept. 1837.

* See Appendices XXVIII and XXIX. A tariff on goods was at
first talked of, but subsequently a toll on boats was preferred. From
the Himalayas to the sea the whole toll was fixed at 570 rupees, of
which the Lahore Government got Rs. 155, 4, 0 for territories on the
right bank, and Rs. 39, 5, 1 for territories on the left bank of the
Sutlej. (Government to Ca^it. Wade, 9th June 1834, and Capt.
Wade to Government, 13th Dec. 1835.)

5 Capt. Wade to Government, 13th Feb. 1832.
O 2

1831-2.

and

declares
his superior
right to
Shikarpur.

Ranjit
Singh
yields to
the English
demands,
1832.

Declaring,

however,

that their

commerce

interfered

with his

policy.

196 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1833-5. The connexion of the Enghsh with the nations of the

Shah Shu- I^*^^^ ^^s about to be rendered more complicated by the
ja's second revived hopes of Shah Shuja. That ill-fated king had taken
to Af h'n"- '^P ^^^ abode, as before related, at Ludhiana, in the year
Stan, 1821, and he brooded at his leisure over schemes for the

1833-5. reconquest of Khorasan. In 1826 he was in correspondence
with Ranjit Singh, who ever regretted that the Shah was
The Shah's not his guest or his prisoner.'^ In 1827 he made propositions
toThe"^^ to the British Government, and he was told that he was
Enghsh, welcome to recover his kingdom with the aid of Ranjit Singh
or of the Sindians, but that, if he failed, his present hosts
might not again receive him.^ In 1829 the Shah was in-
duced, by the strange state of affairs in Peshawar consequent
on Saiyid Ahmad's ascendancy, to suggest to Ranjit Singh
that, with Sikh aid, he could readily master it, and reign
once more an independent sovereign. The Maharaja
amused him with vain hopes, but the English repeated their
His nego- warning, and the ex-king's hopes soon fell.^ In 1831 they
withThe figain rose, for the Talpur Amirs disliked the approach of
Sindiaas, English envoys, and they gave encouragement to the tenders
and with ^^ their titular monarch.* Negotiations were reopened with
Ranjit Ranjit Singh, who was likewise out of humour with the
18^ English about Sind, and he was not unwilling to aid the

Shah in the recovery of his rightful throne ; but the views of
the Sildi reached to the Persian frontier as well as to the
shores of the ocean, and he suggested that it would be well
The gates if the slaughter of kine were prohibited throughout Afghani-
and t'he^ Stan, and if the gates of Somnath were restored to their
slaughter original temple. The Shah was not prepared for these con-

of kine.

cessions, and he evaded them by reminding the Maharaja
that his chosen allies, the English, freely took the lives
of cows, and that a prophecy foreboded the downfall
of the Sikh empire on the removal of the gates from
Ghazni.5

1 Capt. Wade to the Resident at Delhi, 25th July 1826.

2 Resident at Delhi to Capt. Wade, 25th July 1827.
2 Government to Resident at Delhi, 12th June 1829.
* Capt. Wade to Government, 9th Sept. 1831.

5 Capt. Wade to Government, 21st Nov. 1831. — Considering the
ridicule occasioned by the subsequent removal by the English of
these traditional gates, it may gratify the approvers and originators

CHAP. VII SHAH SHU J A AND RANJiT SINGH 197
In 1832 a rumoured advance of the Persians against 1832.

Herat gave further encouragement to Shah Shuja in his F^jtiigi, qo,
designs.^ The perplexed Amirs of Sind offered him assistance gotiations
if he would relinquish his supremacy, and the Shah promised guL*^®^
acquiescence if he succeeded.^ To Ranjit Singh the Shah Sindians,
offered to waive his right to Peshawar and other districts ■'^^^^•
beyond the Indus, and also to give an acquittance for the
Koh-i-nur diamond, in return for assistance in men and
money. The Maharaja was doubtful what to do ; he was
willing to secure an additional title to Peshawar, but he
was apprehensive of the Shah's designs, should the expedi-
tion be successful.^ He wished, moreover, to know the
precise views of the English, and he therefore proposed that
they should be parties to any engagement entered into, for
he had no confidence, he said, in Afghans.* Each of the
three parties had distinct and incompatible objects. Ranjit
Singh wished to get rid of the English commercial objections
to disturbing the Amirs of Sind, by offering to aid the right-
ful political paramount in its recovery. The ex-king thought
the Maharaja really wished to get him into his power, and
the project of dividing Sind fell to the ground.^ The
Talpur Amirs, on their part, thought that they would save
Shikarpur by playing into the Shah's hands, and they
therefore endeavoured to prevent a coalition between him
and the Sikh ruler.^

The Shah could not come to any satisfactory terms with The
Ranjit Singh, but as his neutrality was essential, especially indifferent
with regard to Shikarpur, a treaty of alliance was entered about the

Shah's
of that measure to know that they were of some local importance, attempts;
When the author was at Bahawalpur in 1845, a number of Afghan
merchants came to ask him whether their restoration could be
brought about — for the repute of the fane (a tomb made a temple by
superstition), and the income of its ptr or saint, had much declined.
They would carefully convey them back, they said, and they added
that they understood the Hindus did not want them, and that of
course they could be of no value to the Christians !

1 Government to Capt. Wade, 19th Oct. 1832.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 15th Sept. 1832.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 13th Dec. 1832.
* Capt. Wade to Government, 31st Dec. 1832.
5 Capt. Wade to Government, 9th April 1833.

" Capt. Wade to Government, 27th March 1833.

198 HISTORY OF THE SH^HS chap, vii

1832. into by which the districts beyond the Indus, and in the

possession of the Siklis, were formally ceded to the Maharaja.^
The English had also become less averse to his attempt, and
he was assured that his annual stipend would be continued
to his family, and no warning was held out to him against
returning, as had before been done.^ A third of his yearly
allowance was even advanced to him : but the political
agent was at the same time desired to impress upon all
people, that the British Government had no interest in the
Shah's proceedings, that its policy was one of complete
but Dost neutrality, and it was added that Dost Muhammad could be
Muhain- so assured in reply to a letter received from him.^ Dost
is alarmed Muhammad had mastered Kabul shortly after Muhammad
and courts Azim Khan's death, and he soon learnt to become appre-
friendship hensive of the English. In 1832 he cautioned the Amirs of
Sind against allowing them to establish a commercial
factory in Shikarpur, as Shah Shuja would certainly soon
follow to guard it with an army,* and he next sought,
in the usual way, to ascertain the views of the para-
mounts of India by entering into a correspondence with
them.
The Shah Shah Shuja left Ludhiana in the middle of February
sets out, 1833, He had with him about 200,000 rupees in treasure,
and nearly 3,000 armed followers.^ He got a gun and some
camels from Bahawal Klian, he crossed the Indus towards

1 This treaty, which became the foundation of the Tripartite
Treaty of 1838, was drawn up in March 1833, and finally agreed to
in August of that year. (Capt. Wade to Government, 17th June 1834. )

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 19th Dec. 1832.

3 Government to Capt. Faithful, Acting Political Agent, 13th Dec.
1832, and to Capt. Wade, oth and 9th of March 1833.

4 The Bahawalpur Memoirs state that such a recommendation was
pressed by Dost Muhammad on the Amirs ; the belief in the gradual
conversion of 'Kothis', or residencies or commercial houses, into
' Chaonis ' , or military cantonments, having, it may be inferred,
become notorious as far as Kabul. Dost Muhammad's main object,
however, was to keep Shah Shuja at a distance ; and he always seems
to have held that he was safe from the English themselves so long as
Lahore remained unshaken. For another instance of the extent to
which the English were thought to be identified with Shah Shuja, see
the Asiatic Journal, xix. 38, as quoted by Professor Wilson in
Moorcroft's Travels, p. 340 ??., vol. ii.

5 Capt. Wade to Government, 9th April 1833.

CHAP, vn EXPEDITION OF SHAH SHUJA

199

the middle of May, and he entered Shikarpur without
opposition. The Sindians did not oppose him, but they
rendered him no assistance, and they at last thought it
better to break with him at once than to put their means
into his hands for their own more assured destruction.^ But
they were signally defeated near Shikarpur on the 9th
January 1834, and they willingly paid 500,000 rupees in
cash, and gave a promise of tribute for Shikarpur, to get
rid of the victor's presence.^ The Shah proceeded towards
Kandahar, and he maintained himself in the neighbourhood
of that city for a few months ; but, on the 1st July, he was
brought to action by Dost Muhammad KJaan and his
brothers, and fairly routed.^ After many wanderings, and
an appeal to Persia and to Shah Kamran of Herat, and also
an attempt upon Shikarpur,* he returned to his old asylum
at Ludhiana in March 1835, bringing with him about
250,000 rupees in money and valuables.^

Ranjit Singh, on his part, was apprehensive that Shah
Shuja might set aside their treaty of alliance, so he resolved
to guard against the possible consequences of the ex-king's
probable success, and to seize Peshawar before his tributaries
could tender their allegiance to Kabul.^ A large force, under
the nominal command of the Maharaja's grandson, Nau
Nihal Singh, but really led by Sirdar Hari Singh, crossed
the Indus, and an increased tribute of horses was demanded
on the plea of the prince's presence, for the first time, at the
head of an army. The demand would seem to have been
complied with, but the citadel of Peshawar was nevertheless
assaulted and taken on the 6th May 1834,' The hollow
negotiations with Sultan Muhammad Khan are understood
to have been precipitated by the impetuous Harl Singh,
who openly expressed his contempt for all Afghans, and

1833-5.

Defeats the
Sindians,
9th Jan.
1834.

But is
routed at
Kandahar,
1st July
1834,

and returns
to Ludhia-
na, 1835.

Kanjit
Singh
suspicious
of Shah
Shuja.
Strength-
ens himself
by regular-
ly annexing
Peshawar
to his
dominions,
1834.

^ Capt. Wade to Government, 25th Aug. 1833, and the Memoirs of
the Bahawalpur Family.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 30th Jan. 1834.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 25th July 1834.

* Capt. Wade to Government, 21st OxJt. and 29th Dec. 1834, and
6th Feb. 1845. - '

^ Capt. Wade to Government, 19th March 1835.
^ Capt. Wade to Government, 17th June 1834.
' Capt. Wade to Government, 19th May 1834.

200

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

1832-6.

20th July
1832.

TheHuzara
and the
Derajat
more com-
pletely
reduced,
1832-6.

Sansar

Chand's

grandson

returns,

1833.

Eanjit
Singh
sends a
mission to
Calcutta,
1834-6.

did not conceal his design to carry the Sikli arms beyond
Peshawar.^

The Siklis were, in the meantime, busy elsewhere as well
as in Peshawar itself. In 1832 Hari Singh had finally
routed the Muhammadan tribes above Attock, and to better
ensure their obedience, he built a fort on the right side of
the Indus. ^ In 1834 a force was employed against the
Afghans of Tak and Bannu, beyond Dera Ismail lOian ;
but a considerable detachment signally failed in an attack
upon a mountain stronghold, and a chief of rank and up-
wards of 300 men were slain. The ill success vexed the
Maharaja, and he desired his agent to explain to the British
authorities the several particulars ; but lest they should
still be disposed to reflect upon the quality of his troops, he
reminded Capt. Wade that such things had happened before,
that his rash officers did not wait until a breach had been
effected, and that, indeed, the instance of General Gillespie
and the Gurklias at Kalanga afforded an exact illustration
of what had taken place ! ^ In 1833 the grandson of Sansar
Chand, of Katotch, was induced to return to his country,
and on his way through Ludhiana he was received with
considerable ceremony by the British authorities, for the
fame of Sansar Chand gave to his posterity some semblance
of power and regal dignity. A jaglr or fief of 50,000 rupees
was conferred upon the young chief, for the Maharaja was
not disposed from nature to be wantonly harsh, nor from
policy to drive any one to desperation.* During the same
year Ranjit Singh proposed to send a chief to Calcutta with
presents for the King of England, and not improbably with
the view of ascertaining the general opinion about his designs
on Sind. The mission, under Gujar Singh Majithia, finally

1 These views of Hari Singh's were sufficiently notorious in the
Punjab some years ago, when that chief was a person before the
public.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 7th Aug. 1832.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 10th May 1834. Dera Ismail Khan
and the country about it was not fairly brought into order until
two years afterwards. (Capt. Wade to Government, 7th and 13th
July 1836.)

4 Capt. Wade to Government, 9th Oct. 1833, and 3rd Jan.
1835.

CHAP. VII SIKH MISSION TO CALCUTTA 201

took its departure in September 1834, and was absent a 1833-6.

year and a half .^

When Mr. Mooreroft was in Ladakli (in 1821, &e.), the l^anjit
fear of Ranjit Singh was general in that country, and the Lacfakh"
Sikh governor of Kashmir had already demanded the pay- 1821.
ment of tribute ; ^ but the weak and distant state was little
molested until the new Rajas of Jammu had obtained the
government of the hill principalities between the Ravi and
Jhelum, and felt that their influence with Ranjit Singh was
secure and commanding. In 1834 Zorawar Singh, Raja Ladakh
Gulab Singh's commander in Kishtwar, took advantage of j'e'iuced by
internal disorders in Leh, and declared that an estate, niu Rajas,
anciently held by the Kishtwar chief, must be restored. He 1834-5.
crossed into the southern districts, but did not reach the
capital until early in 1835. He sided with one of the con-
tending parties, deposed the reigning Raja, and set up his
rebellious minister in his stead. He fixed a tribute of
30,000 rupees, he placed a garrison in the fort, he retained
some districts along the northern slopes of the Himalayas,
and reached Jammu with his spoils towards the close of
1835. The dispossessed Raja complained to the Chinese
authorities in Lassa ; but, as the tribute continued to be
regularly paid by his successor, no notice was taken of the
usurpation. The Governor of Kashmir complained that
Gulab Singh's commercial regulations interfered with the
regular supply of shawl wool, and that matter was at once
adjusted ; yet the grasping ambition of the favourites never-
theless caused Ranjit Singh some misgivings amid all their
protestations of devotion and loyalty.^

But Ranjit Singh's main apprehensions were on the side Ranjit
of Peshawar, and his fondest hopes in the direction of Sind. ^^"| t()^ his
The defeat which the Amirs had sustained diminished their claims on
confidence in themselves, and when Shah Shuja returned andhis"^"^'

designs on

1 Capt. Wade to Government, 11th Sept. 1834, and 4th April 1836. sind,

2 Mooreroft, Travels, i. 420. 1835-6.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 27th Jan. 1835, and Mr. Vigne,
Travels in Kashmir and Tibet, ii. 352 ; their statements being
corrected or amplified from the author's manuscript notes. The
prince Kharak Singh became especially apprehensive of the designs
of the Jammu family. (Capt. Wade to Government, 10th Aug.
1836.)

202

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

Negotia-
tions.

1835-G. beaten from Kandahar, Nur Muhammad of Hyderabad was
understood to be wiUing to surrender Shikarpur to the
Maharaja, on condition of his guarantee against the attempts
of the ex-king.'^ But this pretext would not get rid of the
English objections ; and Ranjit Singh, moreover, had little
confidence in the Sindians. He kept, as a check over
them, a representative of the expelled Kalhoras, as a pen-
sioner on his bounty, in Rajanpur beyond the Indus ; ^ and,
at once to overawe both them and the Barakzais, he again
opened a negotiation with Shah Shuja as soon as he returned
to Ludhiana.^ But his main difficulty was with his British
allies ; and, to prove to them the reasonableness of his
discontent, he would instance the secret aid which the
Mazari freebooters received from the Amirs ; * he would
again insist that Shikarpur was a dependency of the chiefs
of Khorassan,^ and he would hint that the river below
Mithankot was not the Indus but the Sutlej, the river of the
treaty, — the stream which had so long given freshness and
beauty to the emblematic garden of their friendship, and
which continued its fertilizing way to the ocean, separating,
yet uniting, the realms of the two brotherly powers of the
East ! «
Ranjit But the English had formed a treaty of navigation with

ambit'fon Sind, and the designs of Ranjit Singh were displeasing to
displeasing them. They said they could not view without regret and
EngUsb disapprobation the prosecution of plans of unprovoked

1 Capt. Wade to Government, 6th Feb. 1835.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 17th June 1834. Sarafraz Khan,
otherwise called Ghulam Shah, was the Kalhora expelled by the
Talpurs. He received Rajanpur in jagir from Kabul, and was
maintained in it by Ranjit Singh. The place was held to yield
100,000 rupees, including certain rents reserved by the state, but fhe
district was not really worth 30,000 rupees.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 17th April 1835, and other letters
of the same year. The Maharaja still xirged that the English should
guarantee, as it were. Shah Shuja's moderation in success ; partly,
perhaps, because the greatness of the elder dynasty of Ahmad Shah
still dwelt in the mind of the first paramount of the Siklis, but partly
also with the view of sounding his European allies as to their real
intentions.

* Capt. Wade to Government, 5th Oct. 1836.
s Capt. Wade to Government, 15th Jan. 1837.
^ Capt. Wade to Government, 5th Oct. 1836.

CHAP. VII RANJIT SINGH THWARTED

203

hostility against states to which they were bound by ties
of interest and goodwill.^ They therefore wished to dissuade
Ranjit Singh against any attempt on Shikarpur ; but they
felt that this must be done discreetly, for their object was
to remain on terms of friendship with every one, and to
make their influence available for the preservation of the
general peace. ^ Such were the sentiments of the English ;
but, in the meantime, the border disputes between the Sikhs
and Sindians were fast tending to produce a rupture. In
1833 the predatory tribe of Mazaris, lying along the right
bank of the Indus, below Mithankot, had been chastised
by the Governor of Multan, who jiroposed to put a garrison
in their stronghold of Rojhan, but was restrained by the
Maharaja from so doing.^ In 1835 the Amirs of Khairpur
were believed to be instigating the Mazaris in their attacks
on the Sikh posts ; and as the tribe was regarded by the
English as dependent on Sind, although possessed of such
a degree of separate existence as to warrant its mention in
the commercial arrangements as being entitled to a fixed
portion of the whole toll, the Amirs were informed that the
English looked to them to restrain the Mazaris, so as to
deprive Ranjit Singh of all pretext for interference.* The
aggressions nevertheless continued, or were alleged to be
continued ; and in August 1836, the Multan Governor took
formal possession of Rojhan.^ In the October following the
Mazaris were brought to action and defeated, and the Sikhs
occupied a fort called Ken, to the south of Rojhan, and
beyond the proper limit of that tribe.^

Thus was Ranjit Singh gradually feeling his way by force ;
but the EngKsh had, in the meantime, resolved to go far
beyond him in diplomacy. It had been determined that
Capt. Burnes should proceed on a commercial mission to

1 Government to Capt. Wade, 22nd Aug. 1836. — This plea will
recall to mind the usual argument of the Romans for interference, viz.
that their friends were not to be molested by strangers.

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 22nd Aug. 1836.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 27th May 1835.

* Government to Capt. Wade, 27th May 1835, and 5th Sept. 1836 ;
and Government to Col. Pottinger, 19th Sept. 1836.

5 Capt. Wade to Government, 29th Aug. 1836.

6 Capt. Wade to Government, 2nd Nov. 1836.

1835-6.

The Maha-
raja never-
theless
keeps in
view his
plans of
aggrandize-
ment.

The objects
of the
English be-
come poli-
tical as well
as commer-
cial, 1836 ;

204

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP, vn

1836.

and they
resolve on
mediating
between
Ran jit
Singh and
~the Sind-

The
English
desire
to restrain
Ranjit
Singh
without
threaten-
ing him.

the countries bordering on the Indus, with the view of
completing the reopening of that river to the traffic of the
world.^ But the Maharaja, it was said, should understand
that their objects were purely mercantile, and that, indeed,
his aid was looked for in establishing somewhere a great
entrepot of trade, such as, it had once been hoped, might
have been commenced at Mithankot.^ Yet the views of the
British authorities with regard to Sind were inevitably
becoming political as well as commercial. The condition
of that country, said the Governor-General, had been much
thought about, and the result was a conviction that the
connexion with it should be drawn closer.^ The Amirs, he
continued, might desire the protection of the English against
Ranjit Singh, and previous negotiations, Avhich their fears
or their hostility had broken off, might be renewed with a
view to giving them assistance ; and, finally, it was deter-
mined that the English Government should mediate between
Ranjit Singh and the Sindians, and afterwards adjust the
other external relations of the Amirs when a Resident should
be stationed at Hyderabad.

With regard to Ranjit Singh, the English rulers observed
that they were bound by the strongest considerations of
political interest to prevent the extension of the Sikh
power along the course of the Indus, and that, although
they would respect the acknowledged territories of the
Maharaja, they desired that his existing relations of peace
should not be disturbed ; for, if war took place, the Indus
would never be opened to commerce.- The political agent
was directed to use every means short of menace to induce
Ranjit Singh to abandon his designs against Shikarpur ;
and Shah Shuja, whose hopes were still great, and whose
negotiations were still talked of, was to be told that if he
left Ludhiana he must not return, and that the maintenance
for his family would be at once discontinued. With regard
to the Mazaris, whose lands had been actually occupied by
the Siklis, it was said that their reduction had effected an
object of general benefit, and that the question of their

1 Government to Capt. Wade, 5th Sept. 1836.

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 5th Sept. 1836.

3 Government to Col. Tottinger, 26th Sept. 1836.

CHAP. VII

POLICY OF THE ENGLISH

205

The

S Indians

impatient,

and ready

to resort to

arms.

Ranjit
Singh
equally
ready ;

permanent control could be determined at a future 1836.
period.^

The Sindians, on their part, complained that the fort
of Ken had been occupied, and in reply to Ranjit Singh's
demand that their annual complimentary or prudential
offerings should be increased, or that a large sum should be
paid for the restoration of their captured fort, they avowed
their determination to resort to arms.^ Nor can there be
any doubt that Sind would have been invaded by the
Sikhs, had not Col. Pottinger's negotiations for their pro-
tection deterred the Maharaja from an act which he appre-
hended the English might seize upon to declare their alliance
at an end. The princes Kliarak Singh and Nau Nihal Singh
were each on the Indus, at the head of considerable armies,
and the remonstrances of the British political agent alone
detained the Maharaja himself at Lahore. Nevertheless,
so evenly were peace and war balanced in Ranjit Singh's
mind, that Capt. Wade thought it advisable to proceed to
his capital to explain to him in person the risks he would
incur by acting in open opposition to the British Government.
He listened, and at last yielded. His deference, he said, to
the wishes of his allies took place of every other considera-
tion ; he would let his relations with the Amirs of Sind
remain on their old footing, he would destroy the fort of
Ken, but he would continue to occupy Rojhan and the
Mazari territory.^ Ranjit Singh was urged by his chiefs not
to yield to the demands of the English, for to their under-
standing it was not clear where such demands would stop ;
but he shook his head, and asked them what had become of
the two hundred thousand spears of the Marathas ! * — and,

1 Government to Capt. Wade, 26th Sept. 1836.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 2nd Nov. and 13th Dec. 1836.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 3rd Jan. 1837.
* Cf. Capt. Wade to Government, 11th Jan. 1837. Ranjit Singh

not unfrequently referred to the overthrow of the Maratha power as a
reason for remaining, under all and any circumstances, on good terms
with his European allies. See also Col. Wade's Narrative of Personal
Services, p. 44, note. [Though the Maharaja kept loyally to his
treaty of friendship with the English, he occasionally manifested
some suspicion of their victorious advance in India. On one occasion
he was shown a map of the country in which the English possessions
were marked in red. The Maharaja asked what the red portions

but yields
to the re-
presenta-
tions of
theEnglish,
Dec. 1836.

1836.

206 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

as if to show how completely he professed to forget or forgive

the check imposed on him, he invited the Governor- General

to be present at Lahore on the occasion of the marriage of

the grandson whom he had hoped to hail as the conqueror

of Sind.^ Nevertheless he continued to entertain a hope

that his objects might one day be attained ; he avoided

a distinct settlement of the boundary with the Amirs, and

let con- Qf ^j^g question of supremacy over the Mazaris.^ Neither

hold Roj- was he disposed to relinquish Rojhan ; the place remained

ban with g, Sikli possession, and it may be regarded to have become

views. formally such by the submission of the chief of the tribe in

the year 1838.^
Th^E^^r^i ^^ ^^ '^'^^^ necessary to go back for some years to trace the
and Barak- connexion of the English Government with the Barakzai
zais, 1829- rulers of Afghanistan. Muhammad Azim Khan died in
1823, as has been mentioned, immediately after Peshawar
became tributary to the Siklis. His son Hablb-ullah nomi-
nally succeeded to the supremacy which Fateh Klian and
Muhammad Azim had both exercised ; but it soon became
evident that the mind of the youth was unsettled, and his
violent proceedings enabled his crafty and unscrupulous
uncle. Dost Muhammad Jvlian, to seize Kabul, Ghazni,'and
Jalalabad as his own, while a second set of his brothers
held Kandahar in virtual independence, and a third governed
Peshawar as the tributaries of Ranjit Singh.^ In the year
1824 Mr. Moorcroft, the traveller, was upon the whole well
satisfied with the treatment he received from the Barak-
zais, although their patronage cost him money .^ A few

Suit an Mu- ygaj-g afterwards Sultan Muhammad Khan of Peshawar,
hammad -^

Khan soli- who had most to fear from strangers, opened a communica-
cits the ^Jqj^ y^^i^ ^Ijg political agent at Ludhiana,^ and in 1829 he

indicated, and on being told tossed the map aside with the impatient
remark. Sab lal hojaega (All will become red). — Ed.]

1 Capt. Wade to Government, 5th Jan. 1837.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 13th and 15th Feb., 8th July, and
10th Aug. 1837.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 9th Jan. 1838.

■* Cf. Moorcroft, Travels, ii. 345, &c , and Munshi Mohan Lal,
Life of Dost Muhammad Khan, i. 130, 153, &c.
5 Moorcroft, Travels, ii. 346, 347.
'••Capt. Wade to the Resident at Delhi, 21st April 1828.

CHAP. VII RETROSPECT : AFGHANISTAN

207

wished to negotiate as an independent chief with the
British Government.^ But the several brothers were
jealous of one another, many desired separate principalities,
Dost Muhammad aimed at supremacy, rumours of Persian
designs alarmed them on the west, the aggressive policy
of Ranjit Singh gave them greater cause of fear on the east,
and the chance presence of English travellers in Afghani-
stan again led them to hope that the foreign masters of
India might be induced to give them stability between
contending powers.^ In 1832 Sultan Muhammad Klian
again attempted to open a negotiation, if only for the release
of his son, who was a hostage with Ranjit Singh .^ The
Nawab, Jabbar KJian of Kabul, likewise addressed letters
to the British frontier authority, and in 1832 Dost Muham-
mad himself directly asked for the friendship of the English.*
All these communications were politely acknowledged, but
at the time it was held desirable to avoid all intimacy of
connexion with rulers so remote.^

In 1834 new dangers threatened the usurping Barakzais.
Shah Shuja had defeated the Sindians and had arrived in
force at Kandahar, and the brothers once again endeavoured
to bring themselves within the verge of British supremacy.
They had heard of English arts as well as of English arms ;

1 Capt. Wade to Government, 19th May 1832. The brothers had
already (1823, 1824) made similar proposals through Mr. Moorcroft.
(See Travels, ii. 340.)

2 Mr. Eraser and Mr. Stirling, of the Bengal Civil Service, were in
Afghanistan, the former in 1826, apparently, and the latter in 1828.
Mr. Masson also entered the country by way of the Lower Punjab
in 1827, and the American, Dr. Harlan, followed him in a year by
the same route. Dr. Harlan came to Lahore in 1829, after leading
the English authorities to believe that he desired to constitute himself
an agent between their Government and Shah Shuja, with reference
doubtless to the ex-king's designs on Kabul. ■ (Resident at Delhi to
Capt. Wade, 3rd Feb. 1829.) The Rev. Mr. Wolff should be included
among the travellers in Central Asia at the time in question.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 19th May and 3rd July 1832.

« Capt. Wade to Government, 9th July 1832, and 17th Jan. 1833.
Col. Wade in the Narrative of Personal Services, p. 23, note, regards
these overtures of Dost Muhammad, and also the increased interest
of Russia and Persia in Afghan affairs, to Lieut. Burnes's Journey
(to Bokhara, in 1832) and to Shah Shuja's designs.

5 Government to Capf. Wade, 28th Eeb. 1833.

1829-32.

friendship
or protec-
tion of the
English
against the
Siklis,
1829.

Dost Mu-
hammad
Khan does
the same,
1832.

TheBarak-
zais, appre-
hensive
of Shah
Shuja,
again press
for an alli-
ance with
the
English ;

208 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1834. they knew that all were accessible of flattery, and Jabbar

nd J bbar ^^an suddenly proposed to send his son to Ludhiana, in

Khan sends order, he said, that his mind might be improved by Euro-

hissonto pean science and civilization.^ But Jabbar Hian, while he

Ludhiana, '■ '

6th May appeared to adhere to Dost Muhammad rather than to

1834. others, had nevertheless an ambition of his own, and he was

more than suspected of a wish to make his admiration of

the amenities of English life the means of acquiring political

power.2 Thus, doubtful of all about him, Dost Muhammad

left Kabul to oppose Shah Shuja, but the Sikhs had, in the

meantime, occupied Peshawar, and the perplexed ruler

grasped once more at British aid as his only sure resource.^

Dost Mu- He tendered his submission as a dependent of Great Britain,

hammad g^j^^ having thus endeavoured to put his dominions in trust,

tenders his he gave Shah Shuja battle. But the Shah was defeated, and

allegiance ^j^g rejoicing victor forgot his difficulties. He declared war

English, against the Siklis on account of their capture of Peshawar,

j^t Jy^y and he endeavoured to make it a religious contest by rousing

' the population generally to destroy infidel invaders.* He

Shah Shuja assumed the proud distinction of ' Ghazi ', or champion of

and re- ^.j^g faith, and the vague title of ' Amir ', which he inter-

covers

confidence, preted ' the noble ', for he did not care to wholly offend his

brothers, whose submission he desired, and whose assistance

was necessary to him.^

Dost Mut Dost Muhammad Khan, amid all his exultation, was still

attempteto willing to use the intervention of unbelievers as well as the

recover arms of the faithful, and he asked the English masters of

Peshawar, i^^^^ ^q j^glp jjjj^^ jj^ recovering Peshawar.^ The youth

who had been sent to Ludhiana to become a student, was

invested with the powers of a diplomatist, and the Amir

sought to prejudice the British authorities against the Sikhs,

by urging that his nephew and thtir guest had been treated

with suspicion, and had suffered restraint on his way across

the Punjab, But the English had not yet thought of re-

> Capt. Wade to Government, 9th March 1834.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 17th May 1834. Cf. Masson,
Journeys, ill. 218, 220.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 17th June 1834.

4 Capt. Wade to Government, 25th Sept. 1834.
^ Capt. Wade to Government, 27th Jan. 183.5.

8 Capt. Wade to Government, 4th Jan. and 13th Feb. 1835.

CHAP. VII

DOST MUHAMMAD

209

quiring him to be an ally for purposes of their own, and
Dost Muhammad was simply assured that the son of Nawab
Jabbar Klian should be well taken care of on the eastern
side of the Sutlej. A direct reply to his solicitation was
avoided, by enlarging on the partial truth that the Afghans
were a commercial people equally with the English, and on
the favourite scheme of the great traffickers of the world,
the opening of the Indus to commerce. It was hoped, it
was added, that the new impulse given to trade would
better help the two governments to cultivate a profitable
friendship, and the wondering Amir, full of warlike schemes,
was naively asked, whether he had any suggestions to offer
about a direct route for merchandise between Kabul and
the great boundary river of the Afghans ! ^ The English
rulers had also to reply to Ranjit Singh, who was naturally
suspicious of the increasing intimacy between his allies and
his enemies, and who desired that the European lords might
appear rather as his than as Dost Muhammad's supporters ;
but the Governor- General observed that any endeavours
to mediate would lead to consequences seriously embarrass-
ing, and that Dost Muhammad would seem to have in-
terpreted general professions of amity into promises of
assistance.-

The two parties were thus left to their own means.
Ranjit Singh began by detaching Sultan Muhammad Klian
from the Amir, with whom he had sought a refuge on the
occupation of Peshawar by the Sikhs ; and the ejected
tributary listened the more readily to the INIaharaja's pro-
positions, as he apprehended that Dost Muhammad would
retain Peshawar for himself, should Ranjit Singh be beaten.
Dost Muhammad came to the eastern entrance of the
Khaibar Pass, and Ranjit Singh amused him with proposals
until he had concentrated his forces. On the 11th of May
1835, the Amir was almost surrounded. He was to have
been attacked on the 12th, but he thought it prudent to

1 Government to Capt. Wade, 19th April 1834, and 11th Feb. 1835.
Abdul Ghias Khan, the son of Jabbar Khan, reached Ludhiana in
June 1834, and the original intention of sending him to study at
Delhi was abandoned.

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 20th April 1835.

P

1835.

The
English
decline in-
terferin".

Ranjit
Singh and
Dost Mu-
hammad in
force at
Peshawar,
1835.

Dost Mu-
hammad
retires
rather
than risk a
battle, 11th
May 1835.

210 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vn

1835-6. retreat, which he did with the loss of two guns and some bag-
gage. He had designed to carry off the Sikli envoys, and to
profit by their presence as hostages or as prisoners ; but
his brother, Sultan Muhammad Khan, to whom the execu-
tion of the project had been entrusted, had determined on
joining Ranjit Singh, and the rescue of the agents gave him
a favourable introduction to the victor. Sultan Muliammad
and his brothers had considerable jagirs conferred on them
in the Peshawar district, but the military control and civil
management of the province was vested solely in an officer
appointed from Lahore.^
Dost Mu- Dost Muhammad suffered much in general estimation by
lookTr^- withdrawing from an encounter with the Sikhs. His hopes
wards in the English had not borne fruit, and he was disposed to
stnTprefers court Persia ; ^ but the connexion was of less political credit
an English and utility than one with the English, and he tried once
ISSe"*^^' rnore to move the Governor-General in his favour. The
Sikhs, he said, were faithless, and he was wholly devoted to
TheKanda- the interests of the British Government.^ The Kandahar
desirous ^of brothers, also, being pressed by Shah Kamran of Herat,
English aid. and unable to obtain aid from Dost Muhammad, made
Singii^en- propositions to the English authorities ; but Kamran's own
deavours to apprehensions of Persia soon relieved them of their fears,
iTostTlii- ^^^ *'^^y ^^^ ^^* press their solicitations for European aid.*
hammad. Ranjit Singh, on his part, disliked an English and Afghan
alliance, and sought to draw Dost Muhammad within the
vortex of his own influence. He gave the Amir vague hopes
of obtaining Peshawar, and he asked Jiim to send him some
horses, which he had learnt was a sure way of leading others
to believe they had won his favour. Dost Muhammad was

1 Capt. Wade to Government, 25th April, and 1st, 15th, and 19th
May 1835. Cf. Masson, Journeys, iii. 342, &c. ; Mohan Lai, Life
of Dost Muhammad, i. 172, &c. ; and also Dr. Harlan's India and
Afghanistan, pp. 124, 158. Dr. Harlan himself was one of the envoys
sent to Dost Muhammad on the occasion.

The Sikhs are commonly said to have had 80,000 men in the
Peshawar valley at this time.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 23rd Feb. 1836. Dost Muhammad's
overtures to Persia seem to have commenced in Sept. 1835.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 19th July 1836,
* Capt. Wade to Government, 9th March 1836.

CHAP. VII RETREAT OF DOST MUHAMMAD 211

not unwilling to obtain a hold on Peshawar, even as a tribu- 1836-7.

tary, but he felt that the presentation of horses would be

declared by the Sikh to refer to Kabul and not to that

province.^ The disgrace of his retreat rankled in his mind,

and he at last said that a battle must be fought at all risks.^ But the

He was the more inclined to resort to arms, as the Sikhs ^'"^^ P^*^'

' lers war,

had sounded his brother, Jabbar Klian, and as Sirdar Harl 1836-7.

Singh had occupied the entrance of the Khaibar Pass and Hari

entrenched a position at Jamrud, as the basis of his scheme ^'"8*^ ^
^ designs.

for getting through the formidable defile. ^ The Kabul troops
marched and assembled on the eastern side of Ivliaibar,
under the command of Muhammad Akbar Khan,* the
most warlike of the Amir's sons. An attack was made on Battle of
the post at Jamrud, on the 30th of April 1837 ; but the fou/ April
Afghans could not carry it, although they threw the Sikhs 1837.
into disorder. Hari Singh, by feigning a retreat, drew the The Sikhs
enemy more fully into the plains ; the brave leader was and Han'
present everjrwhere amid his retiring and rallying masses, Singh
but he fell mortally wounded, and the opportime arrival of t^p^fih-
another portion of the Kabul forces converted the confusion retire.''
of the Siklis into a total defeat. But two guns only were
lost ; the Afghans could not master Jamrud or Peshawar
itself, and, after plundering the valley for a few days, they
retreated rather than risk a second battle with the rein-
forced army of Lahore.^

1 Capt. Wade to Government, 12th April 1837.

2 Capt. Wade to Government, 1st May 1837.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 13th Jan. 1837.

* [Afterwards the murderer of Sir W. Macnaghten and the chief
actor in the tragedy of the retreat from Kabul (1842). — Ed.]

5 Capt. Wade to Government, 13th and 23rd May and 5th July
1837. Cf. Masson, Journeys, iii. 382, 387, and Mohan Lai, Life of
Dost Muhammad, i. 226, &c.

It seems that the Afghans were at first routed or repulsed with the
loss of some guns, but that the opportune arrival of Shams-ud-din
Khan, a relation of the Amir, with a considerable detachment, turned
the battle in their favour. It is nevertheless believed that had
not Hari Singh been killed, the Sikhs would have retrieved the day.
The troops in the Peshawar valley had been considerably reduced by
the withdrawal of large parties to Lahore, to make a display on the
occasion of Nau Nihal Singh's marriage, and of the expected visit
of the English Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief.

P2

212 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1837. The death of Hari Singh and the defeat of his army

~ ~, caused some anxiety in Lahore ; but the Maharaja promptly

Singh's roused his people to exertion, and all readily responded to

efforts to jjjg ^,Q^Y. It is stated that field guns were dragged from

retrieve ms ° ^'^

affairs at Ramnagar, on the Chenab, to Peshawar in six days, a

Peshawar, distance by road of more than two hundred miles. ^ Ranjit

Singh advanced in person to Rohtas, and the active Dhian

Singh hastened to the frontier, and set an example of

devotion and labour by working with his own hands on the

His nego- foundations of a regular fort at Jamrud.- Dost Muhammad

with Dost ^v^s buoyed up by his fruitless \ictory, and he became

Muham- more than ever desirous of recovering a province so wholly

SlTahShuja. Afghan ; but Ranjit Singh contrived to amuse him, and the

Maharaja was found to be again in treaty with the Amir,

and again in treaty with Shah Shuja, and with both at the

The English same time.^ But the commercial envoy of the English

^^^d'^ t *^" had gradually sailed high up the Indus of their imaginary

between the commerce, and to his Government the time seemed to have

Sikhs and gQjj^g when political interference would no longer be em-

1837 ; ' barrassing, but, on the contrary, highly advantageous to

schemes of peaceful trade and beneficial intercourse. It was

made known that the British rulers would be glad to be the

means of negotiating a peace honourable to both parties,

yet the scale was turned in favour of the Afghan, by the

simultaneous admission that Peshawar was a place to which

Dost Muhammad could scarcely be expected to resign all

claim.* Nevertheless, it was said, the wishes of Ranjit Singh

could be ascertained by Capt. Wade, and Capt. Burnes

could similarly inquire about the views of the Amir. The

latter officer was formally invested with diplomatic powers,^
the more ^ ^ -i-» • j

especially and the idle designs, or restless intrigues, ot Persians and

a^ they are Russians, soon caused the disputes of Sikhs and Afghans to

apprehen-

Rus.sia ^ Lieut. -Col. Steinbach {Punjab, pp. 64, 68) mentions that he had

himself marched with his Sikh regiment 300 miles in twelve days, and
that the distance had been performed by others in eleven.

2 ijj.. Clerk's Memorandum of 1842, regarding the Sikh chiefs,
drawn up for Lord Ellenborough.

3 Cf. Capt. Wade to Government, 3rd June 1837, and Government
to Capt. Wade, 7th Aug. 1837.

* Government to Capt. Wade, 31st July 1837.
5 Government to Capt. Wade, 11th Sept. 1837.

CHAP. VII DOST MUHAaOIAD, SHAH SHUJA 213

merge in the British scheme of reseating Shah Shuja on the 1837.

throne of Kabul. At the end of a generation the repose of
the English masters of India was again disturbed by the
rumoured march of European armies/ and their suspicions
were further roused by the conduct of the French General, and'are
Allard. That officer, after a residence of several years in Jii^aUsfied
the Punjab, had been enabled to visit his native country, with the
and he returned by way of Calcutta in the year 1836. ^Vllile Pf^Qg^^J^^f
in France he had induced his Government to give him a Allard.
document, accrediting him to Ranjit Singh, in case his life
should be endangered, or in case he should be refused per-
mission to quit the Lahore dominions. It was understood
by the English that the paper was only to be produced to
the Maharaja in an extremity of the kind mentioned ; but
General Allard himself considered that it was only to be so
laid in form before the English authorities, in support of
a demand for aid when he might chance to be straitened.
He at once delivered his credentials to the Sikli ruler ; it
was rumoured that General Allard had become a French
ambassador, and it was some time before the British
authorities forgave the fancied deceit, or the vain effrontery
of their guest.-

1 The idea of Russian designs on India engaged the attention of
the British viceroy in 1831 (see Murray, Eanjlt Singh, by Prinsep,
p. 168), and it at the same time possessed the inquiring but sanguine
mind of Capt. Bumes, who afterwards gave the notion so much
notoriety. (See Capt. Wade to Government, 3rd Aug. 1831.)

2 The author gives what the French officers held to be the intended
use of the credentials, on the competent authority of General Ventura,
with whom he formerly had conversations on the subject. The English
view, however, is that which was taken by the British ambassador
in Paris, as well as by the authorities in Calcutta, with whom General
Allard was m personal communication. (Government to Capt. Wade,
16th Jan. and 3rd April 1837.)

Of the two views, that of the English is the less honourable, with
reference to their duty towards Ranjit Singh, .who might have justly
resented any attempt on the part of a servant to put himself beyond
the power of his master, and any interference in that servant's behalf
on the part of the British Government.

In the letter to Ranjit Singh, Louis Philippe is styled, in French,
' Empereur' (Capt. Wade to Government, 15th Sept. 1837) ; a title
which, at the time, may have pleased the vanity of the French,
although it could not have informed the understandings of the Sikhs,

214

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

1837.

The

marriage of
Nau Nihal

Singh,
1837.

Sir Henry
Fane at
Lahore.

The Sikh
military
Order of
the Star.

Ranjit Singh had invited the Governor- General of India,
the Governor of Agra (Sir Charles Metcalfe), and the
Commander-in-Chief of the British forces to be present at
the nuptials of his grandson, which he designed to celebrate
with much splendour. The prince was wedded to a daughter
of the Sikli chief, Sham Singh Atariwala, in the beginning
of March 1837, but of the English authorities Sir Henry Fane
alone was able to attend. That able commander was ever
a careful observer of military means and of soldierly
qualities ; he formed an estimate of the force which would
be required for the complete subjugation of the Punjab, but
at the same time he laid it down as a principle, that the
Sutlej and the wastes of Rajputana and Sind were the
best boundaries which the English could have in the east.^
The prospect of a war with the Sikhs was then remote, and
hostile designs could not with honour be entertained by
a guest. Sir Henry Fane, therefore, entered heartily into
the marriage festivities of Lahore, and his active mind was
amused with giving shape to a scheme, which the intuitive
sagacity of Ranjit Singh had acquiesced in as pleasing to
the just pride or useful vanity of English soldiers. The
project of establishing an Order of merit similar to those
dying exponents of warlike skill and chivalrous fraternity

as, agreeably to Persian and Indian practice, king or queen is always
translated ' Padshah ' equally with emperor. Sir Claude Wade seems
to think that the real design of the French was to open a regular
intercourse with Ranjit Singh, and to obtain a political influence
ill the Punjab. The Maharaja, however, after consulting the British
Agent, decided on not taking any notice of the overtures. (Sir
Claude Wade, Xarrative, p. 38, note.) [A piece of diplomacy on
the part of the French Government, typical of the chicanery of Louis
Philippe and his advisers. The monarch who could perpetrate the
sordid scandal of the Spanish marriage was equally capable of an
underhand intrigue with Ranjit Singh. — Ed.]

1 These views of Sir Henry Fane's may not be on record, but they
were well known to those about his Excellency. His estimate was,
as I remember to have heard from Cajit. Wade, 67,000 men, and he
thought there might be a two years' active warfare.

This visit to Lahore was perhaps mainly useful in enabling Lieut. -
Col. Garden, the indefatigable quarter-master-general of the Bengal
Army, to compile a detailed map of that part of the country, and which
formed the groundwork of all the maps used when hostilities did at
last break out with the Sikhs.

CHAP. VII IVIARRIAGE OF NAU NIHAL SINGH 215

among European nations, had been for some time entertained, 1837.

and although such a system of distinction can be adapted .

to the genius of any people, the object of the Maharaja was Singh's

simply to gratify his English neighbours, and advantage object the

was accordingly taken of Sir Henry Fane's presence to tion of his

establish the ' Order of the auspicious Star of the Punjab ' guests and

on a purely British model.^ This method of j^leasing, or

occupying the attention of the English authorities, was not

unusual with Ran jit Singh, and he was always ready to

inquire concerning matters which interested them, or which

might be turned to account by himself. He would ask for

specimens of, and for information about, the manufacture Anecdotes

of Sambhar salt and Malwa opium.- So early as 1812 he had showing a

suiular
made trial of the sincerity of his new allies, or had shown purpose.

his admiration of their skill, by asking for five hundred
muskets. These were at once furnished to him, but a
subsequent request for a supply of fifty thousand such
weapons excited a passing suspicion.^ He readily entered
into a scheme of freighting a number of boats with merchan-
dise for Bombay, and he was praised for the interest he took
in commerce, until it was known that he wished the return
cargo to consist of arms for his infantry.* He would have
his artillerymen learn gunnery at Ludhiana,^ and he would
send shells of zinc to be inspected in the hope that he might
receive some hints about the manufacture of iron shrapnels.*'
He would inquire about the details of European warfare,
and he sought for copies of the pay regulations of the Indian

1 Capt. Wade to Government, 7th April 1837. [On the occasion
of this visit the Maharaja displayed considerable interest in the great
wars of Europe. He wa^ particularly interested in the career of
Napoleon. Col. Wallis, one of Sir Henry's staff, had fortunately been
at Waterloo, and the Maharaja asked him many questions concern-
ing the battle. — Ed.]

^ Capt. Wade to the Resident at Delhi, 2nd Jan. 1831, and to
Government, 25th Dec. 1835.

^ Cajjt. Wade to Government, 22nd July 1836.

4 Cf. Government to Capt. Wade, 11th Sept. 1837.

5 Capt. Wade to Government, 7th Dec. 1831.

^ When the restoration of Shah Shuja was resolved on, Ranjit
Singh sent shells to Ludhiana to be looked at and commented on,
as if, being engaged in one political cause, there should not be any
reserve about military secrets !

216 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1837. army and of the English practice of courts martial, and

bestowed dresses of honour on the translator of these
complicated and inapplicable systems ; ^ while, to further
satisfy himself, he would ask what punishment had been
found an efficient substitute for flogging.^ He sent a lad,
the relation of one of his chiefs, to learn English at the
Ludhiana school, in order, he said, that the youth might
aid him in his correspondence with the British Government,
which Lord William Bentinck had wished to carry on in
the English tongue instead of in Persian ; ^ and he sent
a number of young men to learn something of medicine at
the Ludhiana dispensary, which had been set on foot by
the political agent — but in order, the Maharaja said, that
they might be useful in his battalions.'* In such ways, half-
serious, half-idle, did Ranjlt Singh endeavour to ingratiate
himself with the representatives of a power he could not
withstand and never wholly trusted.

The British Ranjlt Singh's rejoicings over the marriage and youthful

scheme of promise of his grandson were rudely interrupted by the
-opening the ^ ^ ^ j t- j

Indus to success of the Afghans at Jamrud, and the death of his able

commerce igafjej. Hari Singh, as has been alrfeady related. The old

ends in the " •'

project of man was moved to tears when he heard of the fate of the

restoring only genuine Sikh chief of his creation ; ^ and he had scarcely

Shuja . vindicated his supremacy on the frontier, by filling the valley

of Peshawar with troops, when the English interfered to

embitter the short remainder of his life, and to set bounds to

1 Major Hough, who has added to the reputation of the Indian
army by his useful publications, put the practice of courts martial
into a Sikb dress for Ranjlt Singh. (Government to Capt. Wade,
21st November 1834.)

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 18th May 1835, intimating that
solitary coniinement had been found a good substitute.

3 Capt. Wade to Government, 11th April 1835. Some of the princes
of India, all of whom are ever prone to suspicion, were not without a
belief that, by writing in English, it was designed to keep them in
ignorance of the real views and declarations of their paramount.

* Some of these young men were employed with the force raised
at Peshawar, in 1 839, to enable Prince Taimiir to march through
Khaibar.

5 Capt. Wade to Government, 13th May 1837, quoting Dr. Wood,
a surgeon in the British army, temporarily deputed to attend on
Ranjit Singh, and who was with his camp at Rohtas on this occasion.

CHAP. VII ENGLISH POLICY ERRONEOUS 217

his ambition on the west, as they had already done on the 1837.

east and south. The commercial policy of the British people
required that peace and industry should at once be intro-
duced among the half-barbarous tribes of Sind, Khora-
san, and the. Punjab ; and it was vainly sought to give fixed
limits to newly-founded feudal governments, and to impress
moderation of desire upon grasping military sovereigns. It
was wished that Ranjit Singh should be content with his
past achievements ; that the Amirs of Sindh, and the chiefs
of Herat, Kandahar, and Kabul should feel themselves
secure in what they held, but incapable of obtaining more ;
and that the restless Shah Shuja should quietly abandon
all hope of regaining the crown of his daily dreams.^ These
were the views which the English viceroy required his agents
to impress on Talpurs, Barakzais, and Siklis ; and their
impracticability might have quietly and harmlessly become
apparent, had not Russia found reason and opportunity to
push her intrigues, through Persia and Turkestan, to the
banks of the Indus.^ The desire of effecting a reconciliation
between Ranjit Singh and Dost Muhammad induced the
British Government to offer its mediation ; ^ the predilec-
tions of its frank and enterprising envoy led him to seize Sir Alex.
upon the admission that the Amir could scarcely be expected j^"^"^^ ^^'
to resign all pretensions to Peshawar.* The crafty chief 1837-8.

1 Cf. Government to Capt. Wade, 13th Nov. 1837, and to Capt.
Burnes and Capt. Wade, both of the 20th January 1838. With
regard to Sind, also, the views of Ranjit Singh were not held to be
pleasing, and the terms of his communication with the Amirs were
thought equivocal, or denotative of a reservation, or of the expression
of a right he did not possess. (Government to Capt. Wade, 25th
Sept. and 13th Nov. 1837.)

2 Without reference to the settled policy of Russia, or to what she
may always have thought of the virtual support which England
gives to Persia and Turkey against her power, the presence of inquiring
agents in Khorasan and Turkestan, and the progressive extension
of the British Indian dominion, must have put her on the alert, if they
did not fill her with reasonable suspicions.

3 Government to Capt. Wade, 31st July 1837.

* These predilections of Sir Alex. Burnes, and the hopes founded
on them by Dost Muhammad, were sufficiently notorious to those in
personal communication with that valuable pioneer of the English ;
and his strong wish to recover Peshawar, at least for Sultan Muhammad
Khan, is distinctly stated in his own words, in Masson, Jnurntys,

218 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1837-8. made use of this partiality, and of the fact that his friendship
was courted, to try and secure himself against the only
power he really feared, viz, that of the Sikhs ; and he re-
Dost Mu- newed his overtures to Persia and welcomed a Russian

hammad emissary, with the view of intimidating the English into the

eventually "^ & &

falls into surrender of Peshawar, and into a guarantee against Ranjit

the views of Singh. Friendly assurances to the Kandahar brothers, and

Russia. a hint that the Sikhs were at liberty to march on Kabul,

would have given Dost Muhammad a proper sense of his

The origi- insignificance ; ^ but the truth and the importance of his

o^the''^^ hostile designs were both believed or assumed by the

English British Government, while the rumours of a northern inva-

erroneous. ^-^^^ were eagerly received and industriously spread by the

vanquished princes of India, and the whole country vibrated

with the hope that the uncongenial domination of the English

was about to yield to the ascendancy of another and less

But, under dissimilar race.^ The recall of Capt. Burnes from Kabul

stanTOs"^^^' g^"^^ speciousness to the wildest statements ; the advantage

brought of striking some great blow became more and more obvious ;

exDedltion ^^^ *^^ ^^^^ ^^ consistency it was necessary to maintain

to Kabul peace on the Indus, and it was wisely resolved to make a

b 'idl^ ^"^ triumphant progress through Central Asia, and to leave

ceived. Shah Shuja as a dependent prince on his ancestral throne.

The conception was bold and perfect ; and had it been

iii. 423. The idea of taking the district from the Sikhs, either
for Dost Muhammad or his brothers, is moreover apparent from
Sir Alex. Burnes's published letters of 5th Oct. 1837, and 26th Jan.
and 13th March 1838 (Parliamentary Papefs, 1839), from the Govern-
ment replies of remark and caution, dated 20th Jan., and especially
of 27th April 1838, and from Mr. Masson's statement {Journeys,
iii. 423, 448). Mr. Masson himself thought it would be but justice
to restore the district to Sultan Muhammad -Khan, while Munshi
Mohan Lai {Life of Dost Muhammad, i. 257, &c.) represents the
Amir to have thought that the surrender of Peshawar to his brother
would have been more prejudicial to his interests than its retention
by the Sikhs.

^ Such were Capt. Wade's views, and they are sketched in his
letters of the 15th May and 28th Oct. 1837, with reference to
commercial objects, although the line of policy may not have been
steadily adhered to, or fully developed.

2 The extent to which this feeling was prevalent is known to those
who were observers of Indian affairs at the time, and it is dwelt
upon in the Governor-General's minute of the 20th Aug. 1839.

CHAP. VII DISSATISFACTION OF RANJlT SINGH 219

steadily adhered to, the whole project would have eminently
answered the ends intended, and would have been, in every
way, worthy of the English name.^

In the beginning of 1838 the Governor- General did not
contemplate the restoration of Shah Shuja ; - but in four
months the scheme was adopted, and in May of that year
Sir William Macnaghten was sent to Ranjit Singh to unfold
the views of the British Government.^ The Maharaja
grasped at the first idea which presented itself, of making
use of the Shah at the head of /ii's armies, with the proclaimed
support of the paramount power in India ; but he disliked
the comj^lete view of the scheme, and the active co-opera-
tion of his old allies. It chafed him that he was to resign
all hope of Shikarpur, and that he was to be enclosed within
the iron arms of the English rule. He suddenly broke up

1 The Governor-General's minute of 12tli May 1838, and his
declaration of the 1st October of the same year, may be referred to
as summing up the views which moved the British Government
on the occasion. Both were published by order of Parliament in
March 1839.

2 Government to Capt. Wade, 20th Jan. 1838.

2 The proximate cause of the resolution to restore Shah Shuja
was, of course, the preference given by Dost Muhammad to a Persian
and Russian over a British alliance, and the immediate object of
deputing Sir W. Macnaghten to Lahore was to make Ranjit Singh
as much as possible a party to the policy adopted. (See, among
other letters, Government to Capt. Wade, 15th May 1838.) The
deputation crossed into the Punjab at Rupar on the 20th May.
It remained some time at Dinanagar, and afterwards went to
Lahore. The first interview with Ranjit Singh was on the 31st May,
the last on the 13th July. Sir William Macnaghten recrossed the
Sutlej at Ludhiana on the 15th July, and on that and the following
day he arranged with Shah Shuja in person the terms of his restora-
tion.

Two months before the deputation waited upon Ranjit Singh, he
had visited Jammu for apparently the first time in his life, and the
same may be regarded as the last in which the worn-out prince
tasted of unalloyed happiness. Gulab Singh received his sovereign
with every demonstration of loyalty, and, bowing to the Maharaja's
feet, he laid before him presents worth nearly forty thousand pounds,
saying he was the humblest of his slaves, and the most grateful of
those on whom he had heaped favours. Ranjit Singh shed tears,
but afterwards pertinently observed that, in Jammu, gold might be
seen where formerly there was naught but stones. (Major Mackeson's
letter to Capt. Wade of 31st March 1838.)

1838.

Negotia-
tions re-
garding the
restoration
of Shah
Shuja,
May, July,
1838.

Ranjit
Singh dis-
satisfied ;
but finally
assents.

220 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vii

1838. his camp at Dinanagar, leaving the British envoys to

follow at their leisure, or to return, if they pleased, to Simla ;
and it was not until he was told the expedition would be
undertaken whether he chose to share in it or not, that he
assented to a modification of his own treaty with Shah
Shuja, and that the triple alliance was formed for the sub-
version of the power of the Barakzais.^ The English, on
their part, insisted on a double invasion of Afghanistan :
first, because the Amirs of Sind disliked a proffered
treaty of alliance or dependence, and they could conve-
niently be coerced as tributaries by Shah Shuja on his way
to Kandahar ; and, secondly, because it was not deemed
prudent to place the ex-king in the hands of RanjTt Singh,
. who might be tempted to use him for Sikh rather than for
British objects. ^ It was therefore arranged that the Shah
himself should march by way of Shikarpur and Quetta,
while his son moved on Kabul by the road of Peshawar,
and at the head of a force provided by the Maharaja of
the Punjab. The British force assembled at Ferozepore
towards the close of 1838, and further eclat was given to

1 That Ranjit Singh was told he would be left out if he did not
• choose to come in, does not appear on public record. It was, however,

the only convincing argument used during the long discussions, and
I think Major Mackeson was made the bearer of the message to that
- effect.

2 Cf. the Governor-General's minute of 12th of May 1838, and his
instructions to Sir William Macnaghten of the 15th of the same month.
Ranjit Singh was anxious to get something lasting and tangible as
his share of the profit of the expedition, and he wanted Jalalabad,
as there seemed to be a difficulty about Shikarpur. The Maharaja
got, indeed, a subsidy of two hundred thousand rupees a year from
the Shah for the use of his troops ; a concession which did not
altogether satisfy the Governor-General (see letter to Sir William
Macnaghten, 2nd July, 1838), and the article became, in fact, a dead
letter.

The idea of creating a friendly power in Afghanistan, by guiding
Ranjit Singh upon Kabul, seems to have been seriously entertained,
and it was a scheme which promised many solid advantages. Cf.
the Governor-General's minute, 12th May 1838, the author's abstract
of which differs somewhat from the copy printed by order of Parlia-
ment in 1839, and Mr. Masson {Journeys, iii. 487, 488) who refers
to a communication from Sir William Macnaghten on the subject.
For the treaty about the restoration of Shah Shuja, see Appendix
XXX.

CHAP. VII

DEATH OF RANJIT SINGH

221

the opening of a memorable campaign, by an interchange
of hospitaUties between the EngUsh viceroy and the Sikh
ruler.^ Ostensibly Ranjit Singh had reached the summit of
his ambition ; he was acknowledged to be an arbiter in the
fate of that empire which had tyrannized over his peasant
forefathers, and he was treated with the greatest distinction
by the foreign paramounts of India : but his health had
become seriously impaired ; he felt that he was in truth
fairly in collision with the English, and he became indifferent
about the careful fulfilment of the engagements into which
he had entered. Shahzada Taimur marched from Lahore
in January 1839, accompanied by Col. Wade as the British
representative ; but it was with difficulty the stipulated
auxiliary force was got together at Peshawar, and although
a considerable army at last encamped in the valley, the
commander, the Maharaja's grandson, thwarted the nego-
tiations of Prince Taimxir and the English agent, by en-
deavouring to gain friends for Lahore rather than for the
proclaimed sovereign of the Afghans.- Ranjit Singh's
health continued to decline. He heard of the fall of Kan-
dahar in April, and the delay at that place may have served
to cheer his vexed spirit with the hope that the English
would yet be baffled ; but he died on the 27th of June, at
the age of fifty-nine, before the capture of Ghazni and the

1 At one of the several meetings which took place on this occasion,
there was an interchange of compliments, which may be noticed.
Ranjit Singh likened the friendship of the two states to an apple,
the red and yellow colours of which were, he said, so blended, that
although the semblance was twofold the reality was one. Lord Auck-
land replied that the Maharaja's simile was very happy, inasmuch
as red and yellow were the national colours of the English and Sikhs
respectively ; to which Ranjit Singh rejoined in the same strain
that the comparison was indeed in every way appropriate, for the
friendship of the two powers was, like the apple, fair and delicious.
The translations were given in English and Urdu with elegance and
emphasis by Sir William Macnaghten and Fakir Aziz-ud-din, both
of whom were masters, although in different ways, of language,
whether written or spoken.

2 See, among other letters, Capt. Wade to Government, 18th Aug.
1839. For some interesting details regarding Capt. Wade's military
proceedings, see Lieut. Barr's published Journal ; and for the
diplomatic history, so to speak, of his mission, see Munshi Shahamat
All, Sikhs and Afghans.

1838-9,

Ranjit
Singh ap-
parently at
the height
of great-
ness ;

but chafed
in mind,
and en-
feebled in
health.

Death of
Ranjit
.Singh,
27th June
1839.

222

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VII

1839.

The politi-
cal condi-
tion of the
Sikhs, as
modified
by the
genius of
Eanjit
Singh.

occupation of Kabul, and the forcing of the Khaibar Pass
with the aid of his own troops, placed the seal of success on
a campaign in which he was an unwilling sharer.

Ranjit Singh found the Punjab a waning confederacy, a
prey to the factions of its chiefs, pressed by the Afghans and
the Marathas, and ready to submit to English supremacy.
He consolidated the numerous petty states into a kingdom,
he wrested from Kabul the fairest of its provinces, and he
gave the potent English no cause for interference. He
found the railitary array of his country a mass of horsemen,
brave indeed, but ignorant of war as an art, and he left it
mustering fifty thousand disciplined soldiers, fifty thousand
well-armed yeomanry and militia, and more than three
hundred pieces of cannon for the field. His rule was founded
on the feelings of a people, but it involved the joint action
of the necessary principles of military order and territorial
extension ; and when a limit had been set to Sikh dominion,
and his own commanding genius was no more, the vital
spirit of his race began to consume itself in domestic con-
tentions.^

1 In 1831, Capt. Murray estimated the Sikh revenue at little more
than 2^ millions sterling, and the army at 82,000 men, including
15,000 regular infantry and 376 guns. (Murray, Ranjit Singh, by
Prinsep, pp. 185, 186.) In the same year Capt. Burnes {Travels,
. i. 289, 291) gives the revenue at 21 millions, and the army at 75,000,
including 25,000 regular infantry. Mr. Masson (Journeys, i. 430)
gives the same revenue ; but fixes the army at 70,000 men, of whom
20,000 were disciplined. This may be assumed as an estimate of
1838, when Mr. Masson returned from Kabul. In 1845, Lieut. -Col.
Steinbach {Punjab, p. 58) states the army to have amounted to
110,000 men, of whom 70,000 were regulars. The returns procured
for Government in 1844, and which cannot be far wrong, show that
there were upwards of 40,000 regularly drilled infantry, and a force
of about 125,000 men in all, maintained with about 375 guns or
field carriages. Cf. the Calcutta^ Review, iii. 176 ; Dr. Macgregor,
Sikhs, ii. 86, and Major Smith, Reigning Family of Lahore, appendices,
p. xxxvii, for estimates, correct in some particulars, and moderate
in others.

For a statement of the Lahore revenues, see Appendix XXXVIII ;
and for a list of the Lahore army, see Appendix XXXIX.

Many descriptions of Ranjit Singh's person and manners have
been written, of which the fullest is perhaps that in Prinsep' s edition
of Murray, Life, p. 187, &c. ; while Capt. Osborne's Court and Camp,
and Col. Lawrence's Adventurer in the Punjab, contain many illus-

CHAP. VII DEATH OF RANJIT SINGH 223

When Ranjit Singh was Lord Auckland's host at Lahore 1839.

and Amritsar, his utterance was difficult, and the powers of ~ ~

his body feeble ; he gradually lost the use of his speech, and fees of

of the faculties of his mind ; and, before his death, the ^.^^'^/^

Rajas of Jammu had usurped to themselves the whole of bringabout

the functions of government, which the absence of Nau tbe quiet

succGSSi on.
Nihal Singh enabled them to do with little difficulty. The „£ Kharak

army was assembled, and a litter, said to contain the dying Singh.

Maharaja, was carried along the extended line. Dhian

Singh was assiduous in his mournful attentions ; he seemed

to take orders as if from his departing sovereign, and from

time to time, during the solemn procession, he made known

that Ranjit Singh declared the Prince Kharak Singh his

successor, and himself, Dhian Singh, the wazir or minister

of the kingdom.^ The soldiery acquiesced in silence, and

the British Government was perhaps more sincere than the

Sikh people in the congratulations offered, agreeably to

custom, to the new and unworthy master of the Punjab.

trative touches and anecdotes. The only good likeness of the
Maharaja which has been published is that taken by the Hon. Miss
Eden ; and it, especially in the original drawing, is true and expres-
sive. Ranjit Singh was of small stature. When young he was dex-
terous in all manly exercises, but in his old age he became weak and
inclined to corpulency. He lost an eye when a child by the small-pox,
and the most marked characteristic of his mental powers was a broad
and massive forehead, which the ordinary portraits do not show.
1 Mr. Clerk's memorandum of 1842 for Lord EUenborough,

CHAPTER VIII

FROM THE DEATH OF IVIAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH
TO THE DEATH OF WAZlR JAWAHIR SINGH

1839-45

Kharak Singh's power usui-ped by his son Nau Nihal Singh —
Lieut. -Col. Wade and IVIr. Clerk — Nau Nihal Singh and the
Rajas of Jammu — The death of Kharak Singh — The death of
Nau Nihal Singh — Sher Singh proclaimed Maharaja, but the
authority of sovereign assumed by the mother of Nau Nihal
Singh — Sher Singh gains over the troops and succeeds to power —
The army assumes a voice in affairs, and becomes an organized
political body — The English willing to interfere — The English
undervalue the Sikhs — The Sikhs in Tibet : — opposed by the
Chinese, and restrained by the English — The English in Kabul —
General Pollock's campaign — The Sindhianwala and Jammu
families — The death of Sher Singh — The death of Raja Dhian
Singh — Dallp Singh proclaimed Maharaja with Hira Singh as
Wazir — Unsuccessful insurrections — Pandit Jail's proceedings
and views — Hira Singh expelled and slain — .Jawahir Singh
nominated WazIr — Gulab Singh submits — Pishaura Singh in
rebellion — Jawahir Singh put to death by the army.

1839. The imbecile Kharak Singh was acknowledged as the

\ master of the Punjab ; but Sher Singh, the reputed son of
clalms'the the deceased king, at once urged Ms superior claims or
succession, merits on the attention of the British viceroy ; ^ and Nau
1839^ "^ Nihal Singh, the real offspring of the titular sovereign,
but Nau hastened from Peshawar to take upon himself the duties of
assimies"all r^ler. The prince, a youth of eighteen, was in his heart
real power, opposed to the proclaimed minister and the Rajas of
radlvTlUes Ja^mu ; but the ascendancy of one Chet Singh over the

S the ^ Government to Mr. Clerk, 12th July 1839. Mr. Clerk, who was

Jammu acting for Col. Wade while absent at Peshawar, seems to have detained
Rajas, Sher Singh's messenger, and to have sent his letter to the Governor-

General somewhat in that ordinary spirit of Indian correspondence,
which ' transmits ' everything ' for information and for such orders
as may seem necessary ' . Lord Auckland hastily desired Sher Singh
to be told Kharak Singh was his master.

CHAP. VIII

KHARAK SINGH

225

weak mind of the Maharaja, and lOiarak Singh's own desire
of resting upon the influence of the British agent, induced
the two parties to coalesce, first for the destruction of the
minion, and afterwards for the removal of Col. Wade. That
officer had stood high withRanjIt Singh as a liberal construer
of Sikh rights, or as one who would carefully show how a
collision with the English was to be avoided ; he had steadily
refused to make Dhian Singh the medium of his communica-
tions with the old Maharaja ; he had offended the heir-
apparent by unceremoniously accusing him of machinations
with Afghan chiefs ; and in the eyes of the Sikhs he was
pledged to Kharak Singh at all hazards, by the prominent
part he had taken in the meeting at Rupar before noticed.
His presence was thus disliked, and his interference dreaded,
by men not inclined to wholly yield themselves to English
counsels, and yet accustomed to see the suggestions of the
Governor-General regularly carried into effect by the
sovereign of Lahore.

The privacy of the Maharaja's household was rudely
violated by the prince and minister at daybreak on the 8th
of October 1839, and Chet Singh was awakened from his
slumbers to be put to death, within a few paces of his
terrified master.^ The removal of Col. Wade was mixed up
with the passage of British troops across the Punjab, and
had to be effected in another manner.

The Governor-General had designed that the Anglo-
Indian army which accompanied Shah Shuja should return
by way of Peshawar, instead of retracing its steps through
the Bolan Pass ; and when his lordship visited Ranjit Singh
at Lahore, the proposition was verbally conceded, although

1839.

The

favourite,
Chet Singh,
put to
death, 8th
Oct. 1839.

iMr. Clerk

succeeds

Lieut.-Col.

Wade as

Agent,

1st April,

1840.

1 Gulab Singh was perhaps the most prominent and resolute actor
in this tragedy, althougli his brother and Nau Nihal Singh were both
present. Col. Wade was desired to express to the Lahore Court the
regret of the British Government that such a scene of violence should
have occurred (Government to Col. Wade, 28th Oct. 1839) ; and
similarly IVIr. Clerk had been directed to explain to Kharak Singh
the disapprobation with which the English viewed the practice of
sati, with reference to what had taken place at his father's funeral.
(Government to Mr. Clerk, 20th Aug. 1839.) [For a detailed account
of this sati the reader is referred to Latif. History of the Punjab,
pp. 492-0— Ed.].

Q

226 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

^^^' not definitively settled by an interchange of letters. ^ In

September 1839, Mr. Clerk was sent on a mission of condo-
lence and congratulation to the new Maharaja, and to
finally arrange about the return of Lord Keane with the
stormers of Ghazni.^ The prince and minister were each
conscious of their mutual enmity and secret design of
grasping supremacy, but they were even more averse to
the presence of a British army in the heart of the Punjab
than to one hovering on a distant frontier. It might be used
to take part with one or other claimant, or it might be
turned against both in favour of the contemned Kharak
Singh : but the passage of the troops could not be wholly
refused, and they therefore urged a march by the difficult
route of Dera Ismail Khan, and they succeeded in fixing
upon a line which prudently avoided the capital, and also
in obtaining a premature assurance that an English force
should not again march through the Sikh country.^ The
chiefs were pleased with the new English negotiator, as all
have ever been with that prompt and approved functionary.
Something is always expected from a change, and when a
return mission was deputed to Simla, it was whispered that
Col. Wade had made himself personally objectionable to
those who exercised sway at Lahore ; and the complaint
was repeated to Lord Keane, when he quitted his army for
a. few days to visit the Maharaja.* In the month of Novem-
ber (1839), Col. Wade was himself at the Sikh metropolis
on his way from Kabul, but Kharak Singh was kept at a
distance on pretence of devotional observances, lest he
should throw himself on the protection of one believed to

1 Government to Mr. Clerk, 20th Aug. 1839.

2 [Kandahar had been entered by the English and Shah Shuja
proclaimed Anur on May 8th, 1839. Ghazni was stormed in July.
Kabul was entered in August, and it was then arranged that the
bulk of the army should return to India, leaving an army of occupa-
tion to maintain Shah Shuja upon his throne. — Ed.]

3 Mr. Clerk to Government, 14tli Sept. 1839. The Governor-
General was not satisfied that a kind of pledge had been given that
British troops should not again cross the Punjab. (Government to
Mr. Clerk, 14th Oct. 1839.)

* See, particularly, Government to Col. Wade, 29th Jan. 1840,
and Col. Wade to Government, 1st April 1840.

CHAP. VIII COL. WADE AND MR. CLERK 227

be ill-disposed towards those who sought his life, or his 1840.

virtual relinquishment of power.^

A portion of the British army of invasion had eventually The relief
to be left in Afghanistan, as it was thought that Shah Shuja °.^ ^^ ^""
could not maintain himself without support. The wants of in Kabul,
regular forces are manifold, and a supply of stores and
ammunition had to be collected for transmission to Kabul
on Col. Wade's resumption of his duties at Ludhiana,
towards the end of 1839. It was desired to send a regiment
of Sepoys as a guard with the convoy, but the Sikli minister
and heir apparent urged that such could not be done under
the terms of the agreement concluded a few months pre-
viously. Their aversion to their old English representative
was mixed up with the general objection to making their
country a common highway for foreign armies, and they
thus ventured to offer obstructions to the speedy equip-
ment of tlic isolated British forces, mainly with the view of
discrediting Col. Wade. The Governor-General was justly
impressed with the necessity of keeping open the straight
road to Kabul, and he yielded to the wishes of the Lahore
factions and remo\ed his agent, but not before Dhian Singh
and the prince had despaired of effecting their object, and
had allowed the convoy, bristling with bayonets, to proceed
on its way .2 In the beginning of April 1840, Mr. Clerk
succeeded to the charge of the British relations with the
Punjab ; and, independent of his general qualifications,
he was the person best suited to the requirements of the
time ; for the very reason which rendered the agency 'of

1 Cf. Munshi Shahamat Ali, Sikhs and Afghans, p. 54=3, &c., and
some remarks in a note, p. 545, about the English policy generally
towards Kharak Singh, which, note may safely be held to be Col.
Wade's own. Doubtless had Col. Wade continued to enjoy the com-
plete confidence or support of the Governor-General, the subsequent
history of the Punjab would have been different from, if not better
than, that which all have witnessed. So much may the British
representative effect at an Indian court, without directly interfering,
provided he is at once iirm, judicious, and well-informed.

2 The Governor-General was about to proceed to Calcutta, which
made him the more desirous of having an agent on the frontier,
at once approved of by himself and agreeable to the Sikhs, i. e. to
the influential parties for the time being at Lahore. (Government
to Col. Wade, 29th Jan. 1840.)

Q 2

228 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1840. Col. Wade invaluable when it was desired to preserve

Sind and to invade Afghanistan, now rendered that of
Mr. Clerk equally beneficial to the iniieterniinate policy of
the English in India. Both officers had the confidence' of
the de facto Sikh rulers of the time, and all their recommen-
dations were held to be given in a spirit of goodwill towards
the Government of the Punjab, as well as in obedience to
the dictates of British interests.
English nc- The Sikh prince and the English viceroy had thus each
gotiations accomplished the objects of the moment. On the one hand,
trade. the Maharaja was overawed by the vigour and success of

his aspiring son, and, on the other, the Punjab was freely
opened to the passage of British troops, in support of a policy
which connected the west of Europe with the south of Asia
by an unbroken chain of alliances. The attention of each
party was next turned to other matters of near concern,
and the English recurred to their favourite scheme of navi-
gating the Indus, and of forming an entrepot on that river,
which should at once become the centre of a vast traffic.^
The treaty of IS.*? t had placed a toll on boats which used the
channels of the Indus and Sutlej, and in 1839 the Sikhs
deferred to the changing views of their allies, and put the
duty on the goods themselves, according to an assumed
ad valorem scale, instead of on the containing vessels.^ This
- scheme inevitably gave rise to a system of search and deten-
tion, and in June 1840 the tolls upon the boats were again
reimposed, but at reduced rates, and with the omission of
su«h as contained grain, wood, and linjestone.'^ But in spite

1 Government to Mr. Clerk, 4th May 1840. The establishment of a
great entrepot of trade was a main feature of the scheme for opening the
navigation of the Indus. (Government to Capt. Wade, 5th Sept. 1836.)

2 Mr. Clerk to Government, 19th May and 18th Sept. 1839, and
Government to Mr. Clerk, 20th Aug. 1839. For the agreement
itself, see Appendix XXXI.

3 Mr. Clerk to Government, 5th May and 15th July 1840. For
the agreement itself, see Appendix XXXII. Subsequently, idle
discussions occasionally arose with local authorities, as to whether
lime was included under limestone, whether bamboos were wood,
and whether rice was comprehended under the technical term
' grain ' , which it is not in India. Similarly the limited meaning of
' corn ' in England has, perhaps, given rise to the modern phrase
' bread-stuffs '.

CHAP. VIII NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT TRADE 229

of every government endeavour, and of the adventitious _^^

aid of large consuming armies, the expectation of creating
an active and valuable commerce by the Indus has not yet
been fulfilled ; partly because Sind and Afghanistan are,
in truth, unproductive countries on the whole, and are in-
habited by half-savage races, with few wants and scanty
means ; and partly because a large capital has for ages been
embarked in the land trade which connects the north of
India with the south, which traverses the old principalities
of Rajjiutana and the fertile plains of Malwa, and which
gives a livelihood to the owners of numerous herds of camels
and black cattle. To change the established economy of
prudent merchants must be the work of time in a coimtry
long subject to political commotion, and the idea of forming
an emporium by proclamation savours more of Eastern
vanity than of English sense and soberness.^

Nau Nihal Singh's great aim was to destroy, or to reduce ajneh's
to insignificance, the potent Rajas of Jammu, who wished to schemes
engross the whole power of the state, and who jointly held ^fa^Vl^^of^^^
Ladakh and the hill principalities between the Ravi and jammu.
Jlielum in fief, besides numerous estates in various parts of
the Punjab. He took advantage of the repeated dilatoriness
of the Mandl and other Rajput chiefs around Kangra in
paying their stipulated tribute, to move a large force into the
eastern hills, and the resistance his troops experienced amid
mountain fastnesses seemed fully to justify the continuous
dispatch of reinforcements. His design was, to place a
considerable army immediately to the north-east of Jammu,
to be ready to co-operate with the troops which could reach
that place in a few marches from Lahore. The commanders
chosen were the skilful General Ventura and the ardent
young chief Ajit Singh Sindhianvv'ala, neither of whom bore
goodwill towards Raja Dhian Singh.^ The plans of the

^ Nevertheless the experiment was repeated in 1846, on the annexa-
tion of the Jullundur Doab, when it was hoped, but equally in vain,
that Hoshiarpur might suddenly become a centre of exchange.
Every part of India bears various marks of the unrealized hopes
of sanguine individuals with reference to the expected benefits of
English sway, which diffuses, indeed, some moral as well as material
blessings, but which must effect its work by slow and laborious means

" Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, Gth Sept. 1840.

230 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

^^^0- j^oiithfiil prince thus seemed in every way well devised for

Interrupted Placing tlie rajas in his grasp, but his attention was dis-
by discus- tracted by disputes with the English authorities about the
thJ^^li^h li"''its of the expanding dominion of Lahore and of the re-
about Af- stored empire of Kabul, and by a direct accusation not only
ghanistan. ^^^ encouraging turbulent refugees from Shah Shuja's power,
but of giving friendly assurances to Dost Muhammad Khan,
who was then preparing for that inroad which fluttered the
English authorities in Khorasan, and yet paved the way for
the surrender of their di-eaded enemy. Shah Shuja claimed
all places not specified in the treaty, or not directly held by
Lahore ; nor can it be denied that the English functionaries
about the Shah were disposed to consider old Durrani
claims as more valid than the new rights of Sikli conquerors ;
and thus the province of Peshawar, which the Punjab
Government further maintained to have been ceded in form
by the Shah separately in 1834, as well as by the treaty of
1838, was proposed to be reduced to strips of land along the
banks of its dividing river. ^ Intercepted papers were pro-
duced, bearing the seals of Nau Nihal Singh, and promising
pecuniary aid to Dost Muhammad ; but the charge of
treachery was calmly repelled, the seals were alleged to be
forgeries, and the British agent for the Punjab admitted
that it was not the character of the free and confident Sikhs
to resort to secret and traitorous correspondence. ^ The
Barakzai chief. Sultan Muhammad Khan, was, however,
made to lead as prisoners to Ludhiana the Ghilzai rebels
who had sought an asyltlm in his fief of Kohat, near Pesha-
war, and whose near presence disturbed the antagonistic
rule of the arbitrary Shah and his moderate English
allies.^

^ See particularly Sir William Macnaghten to Government, 28tli
Feb. and 12th March 1840.

~ Government to Mr. Clerk, 1st Oct. 1840, and Mr. Clerk to Govern-
ment, 9th Dec. 1840. Cf., however, Col. Steinbach {Punjab, p. 23),
who states that the prince was rousing Nepiil as well as Kabul to
aid him in expelling the English ; forgetful that Nau Nihal Singh's
first object was to make himself master of the Punjab by destroying
the Jammu Rajas.

^ Government to Mr. Clerk, 12th Oct., and Mr. Clerk to Govern-
ment, 14th May, 10th Sept., and 24th Oct. 1840.

CHAP, vin SCHEMES OF NAU NIHAL SINGH 231

Nau Nihal Singh thus seemed to have overcome the
danger which threatened him on the side of England, and
to be on the eve of reducing the overgrown power of his
grandfather's favourites. At the same time the end of the
Maharaja's life was evidently approaching ; and although
his decline was credibly declared to have been hastened by
drugs as well as by unfilial harshness, there were none who
cared for a ruler so feeble and unworthy. Kharak Singh
at kist died on the 5th November 1840, prematurely old
and care-worn, at the age of thirty-eight, and Nau Nihal
Singh became a king in name as well as in power ; but the
same day dazzled him with a crown and deprived him of
life. He had performed the last rites at the funeral pyre of
his father, and he was passing imder a covered gateway with
the eldest son of Gulab Singh by his side, when a portion of
the structure fell, and killed the minister's nephew on the
spot, and so seriously injured the prince that he became
senseless at the time, and expired during the night. It is
not positively known that the Rajas of Jammu thus designed
to remove Nau Nihal Singh ; but it is difficult to acquit them
of the crime, and it is certain that they were capable of
committing it. Self-defence is the only palliation, for it is
equally certain that the prince was compassing their degra-
dation, and, perhaps, their destruction.^ Nau Nihal Singh
was killed in his twentieth year ; he promised to be an able
and vigorous ruler ; and had his life been spared, and had
not English policy partly forestalled him, he would have
found an ample field for his ambition in Sind, in Afghani-
stan, and beyond the Hindu Kush ; and he might, perhaps,
at last have boasted that the inroads of Mahmud and of

1840.

Death of
Maharaja
Kharak
Singh, 5th
Nov. 1840.

Death of
the Prince
Nau Nihal
Singh, 5th
Nov. 1840.

1 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 6th, 7th, and 10th Nov. 1840,
who, further, in his memorandum of 1842, drawn up for Lord Ellen-
borough, mentions Gen. Ventura's opinion that the fall of the gateway
was accidental. Lieut.-Col. Steinbach, Punjab (p. 24), and Major
Smith, Reigning Family of Lahore (p. 35, &c.), may be quoted as
giving some particulars, the latter on the authority of an eye-witness,
a European adventurer, known as Capt. Gardner, who was present
a part of the time, and whose testimony is unfavourable to Raja
Dhian Singh. [The scene of this tragedy was the gateway in the fort
at Lahore facing the Hazuri Bagh and the Badshahi Musjid. It is now
closed, but may be easily recognized by its prominent towers. — Ed.]

232 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1840. Taimur had been fully avenged by the aroused peasants of

India.

Sher Singh The good-natured voluptuary, Sher Singh, was regarded

sovereign^f by the Sikh minister and by the British agent as the only
person who could succeed to the sovereignty of the Punjab ;
and as he was absent from Lahore when the Maharaja died
and his son was killed, Dhian Singh concealed the latter
circumstance as long as possible, to give Sher Singh time to
collect his immediate friends ; and the English representa-
tive urged him by message to maintain good order along the
frontier, as men's minds were likely to be excited by what
liad taken place. ^ But Sher Singh's paternity was more
than doubtful ; he possessed no commanding and few
popular qualities ; the Rajas of Jammu were odious to the

but Chand majority of the Sikli chiefs ; and thus Chand Kaur, the

Kaur, the ^idow of Kliarak Singh, and the mother of the slain

ividow of . ^

Kharak prmce, assumed to herself the functions of regent or ruler,

'^'"g'l) somewhat unexpectedly indeed, but still unopposed at the

assumes , , , , , , , r ,

power, and nioment by those whom she had surprised. She was sup-

Sher Singh ported by several men of reputation, but mainly by tiie
Sindhianwala family, which traced to a near and common-
ancestor with Ranjit Singh. The lady herself talked of
adding to the claims of the youthful HIra Singh, by adopting
him, as he had really, if not formally, been adopted by
■ the old Maharaja. She further distracted the factions bj^
declaring that her daughter-in-law was jiregnant ; and one
party tried to gain her over by suggesting a marriage with
Sher Singh, an alliance which she spurned, and the other
more reasonably proposed Atar Singh Sindhianwala as a
suitable partner, for she might have taken an honoured
station in his household agreeably to the latitude of village
custom in the north-west of India. But the widow of the
Maharaja loudly asserted her own right to supreme power,
and after a few weeks the government was stated to be
composed, 1st, of the ' Mai ', or ' Mother ', pre-eminently as
sovereign, or as regent for the expected offspring of Nau
Nihal Singh ; 2nd, of Sher Singh as vicegerent, or as president
of the council of state ; and, 3rd, of Dhian Singh as wazir,

1 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 7tli Nov, 1840, and also Mr. Clerk's
Memorandum of 1842.

ciiAr. VIII

MAI CHAND KAUR

233

or executive minister. The compromise was a mere tem-
porary expedient, and Dhian Singh and Sher Singh soon
afterwards began to absent themselves for varying periods
from Lahore : the one jiartly in the hope that the mass of
business which had arisen with the Enghsh, and with which
he was familiar, would show to all that his aid was essential
to the government ; and the other, or indeed both of them,
to silently take measures for gaining over the army with
promises of donatives and increased pay, so that force might
be resorted to at a fitting time. But the scorn with which
Sher Singh's hereditary claim was treated made the minister
doubtful whether a more suitable instrument might not be
necessary, and the English authorities were accordingly
reminded of what perhaps they had never known, viz, that
Rani Jindan, a favourite wife or concubine of Ranjit Singh,
had borne to him a son named Dalip, a few months before
the conferences took place about reseating Shah Shuja on
the throne of Kabul. ^

The British viceroy did not acknowledge Mai Chand Kaur
as the undoubted successor of her husband and son, or as
the sovereign of the country ; but he treated her govern-
ment as one de facto, so far as to carry on business as usual
through the accredited agents of either power. The Governor-
General's anxiety for the preservation of order in the Punjab
was nevertheless considerable ; and it was increased by the
state of affairs in Afghanistan, for the attempts of Dost
Muhammad and the resolution of meeting him with English
means alone, rendered the dispatch of additional troops
necessary, and before Kharak Singh's death three thousand
men had reached Ferozepore on their way to Kabul. ^ The
progress of this strong brigade was not delayed by the con-
tentions at Lahore ; it pursued its march without interrup-
tion, and on its arrival at Peshawar it found Dost Muham-
mad a prisoner instead of a victor. The ex-Amir journeyed

^ Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, of dates between the 10th Nov.
1840, and 2nd Jan. 1841, inclusive, particularly of the 11th and 24th
Nov. and 11th Dec, besides those specified. It seems almost certain
that the existence of the boy Dalip was not before known to the
British authorities.

2 Government to Mr. Clerk, 1st and 2nd Nov. 1840, and other
letters to and from that functionary.

1840.

Dalip

Singh's

birth and

pretensions

made

known.

TheEnglish
remain
neutral at
the time.

Dost Mu-
hammad
Khan at-
tempts
Kabul, but
eventuallj'
surrenders
to the
English.

234 HISTORY OP THE SIKHS chap, viii

1840. through the Punjab escorted by a relieved brigade ; and

although Sher Singh was then laying siege to the citadel of
Lahore, the original prudence of fixing a route for British
troops clear of the Sikh capital, and the complete subjuga-
tion of the Muhammadan tribes, left the English com-
mander unaware of the struggle going on, except from
ordinary reports and news-writers.^
Sher Singh The English Government made, indeed, no declaration
theTroops ^^^*'^ regard to the Lahore succession ; but it was believed
with Dhian by all that Sher Singh was looked upon as the proper repre-
Singh'said. tentative of the kingdom, and the advisers of Mai Chand
Kaur soon found that they could not withstand the specious
claims of the prince, and the commanding influence of the
British name, without throwing themselves wholly on the
support of Raja Dhian Singh. That chief was at one time
not unwilling to be the sole minister of the Maharani, and
the more sagacious Gulab Singh saw advantages to his
family amid the complex modes necessary in a female rule,
which might not attend the direct sway of a prince of aver-
age understanding, inclined to favouritism, and pledged to
Sikh principles. But the Mai's councillors would not consent
to be thrown wholly into the shade, and Dhian Singh thus
kept aloof, and secretly assured Sher Singh of his support
at a fitting time. The prince, on his part, endeavoured to
■ sound the English agent as to his eventual recognition, and
he was satisfied with the replj', although he merely received
an assurance that the allies of thirty-two years wished to
see a strong government in the Punjab.^
Sher Singh Sher Singh had, with the minister's aid, gained over some

attacks divisions of the army, and he believed that all would declare

Lahore, -^ '

14th-18th for Inm if he boldly put himself at their head. The eagerness

Jan. 1841. ^^f ^j^g prince, or of his immediate followers, somewhat pre-
cii^itated measures ; and when he suddenly appeared at
Lahore, on the 14th January 1841, he found that Dhian
Singh had not arrived from Jammu, and that Gulab Singh

1 The returning brigade was commanded by the veteran Col.
Wheeler [afterwards Sir Hugh Wheeler, the ill-fated commander of
the garrison of Cawnpore — Ed.], whose name is familiar to the public
in connexion both with Afghan and Sikh wars.

2 See Mr. Clerk's letters to Government of Dec. 1840 and Jan.
1841, generally, particularly that of the 9th Jan.

CHAP, viii SHER SINGH ACKNO^AXEDGED

235

would rather fight for the Maharani, the acknowledged head
of the state, than tamely beconn a party on compulsion to
his ill-arranged schemes. But Sher Singh was no longer his
own master, and the impetuous soldiery at once proceeded
to breach the citadel. Gulab Singh in vain urged some delay,
or a suspension of hostilities ; but on the 18th January
Dhian Singh and most of the principal chiefs had arrived
and ranged themselves on one side or the other. A compro-
mise took place ; the Mai was outwardly treated with every
honour, and large estates were conferred upon her ; but
Sher Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab, Dhian
Singh was declared once more to be wazir of the state, and
the pay of the soldiery was permanently raised by one rupee
per mensem. The Sindhianwalas felt that they must be
obnoxious to the new ruler ; and Atar Singh and AjTt Singh
took early measures to effect their escape from the capital,
and eventually into the British territories ; but Lehna Singh,
the other principal member, remained with the division of the
army which he commanded in the hills of Kulu and Mandl.^
Sher Singh had induced the troops of the state to make
him a king, but he was unable to command them as soldiers,
or to sway them as men, and they took advantage of his
incapacity and of their own strength to wreak their ven-
geance upon various officers who had offended them, and
upon various regimental accountants and muster-masters
who may have defrauded them of their pay. Some houses
were plundered, and several individuals were seized and
slain. A few Europeans had likewise rendered themselves
obnoxious ; and General Court, a moderate and high-
minded man, had to fly for his life, and a brave young
Englishman named Foulkes was cruelly put to death. Nor
was this spirit of violence confined to the troops at the
capital, or to those in the eastern hills, but it spread to
Kashmir and Peshawar ; and in the former place Mian
Singh, the governor, was killed by the soldiery ; and in the
latter, General Avitabile was so hard pressed that he was
ready to abandon his post and to seek safety in Jalalabad. ^

1 See IVIr. Clerk's letters, of dates from 17th to 30th Jan. 1841.

2 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 2f)th Jan., 8th and 14th Feb., 28th
April, and 30th Jlay 1841.

1841.

Chand
Kaur

yields, and
Sher Singh
proclaimed
Maharaja.

The Sind-
hianwala
family.

The army
becomes
uncontrol-
lable.

236 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1841. It was believed at the time, that the army would not rest

satisfied with avenging what it considered its own injuries ;
it was thought it might proceed to a general plunder or
confiscation of property ; the population of either side of
the Sutlej was prepared for an extensive commotion, and
the wealthy merchants of Amritsar prophesied the pillage
of their warehouses, and were clamorous for British pro-
Sher Singh tection. Sher Singh shrank within himself appalled, and
he seemed timorously to resort to the English agent for
support against the fierce spirit he had roused and could
not control ; or he doubtfully endeavoured to learn whether
such disorders would be held equally to end his reign and
TheEnglish the British alliance. The English watched the confusion
about the with much interest and some anxiety, and when cities
general seemed about to be plundered, and provinces ravaged, the
quillity question of the duty of a civilized and powerful neighbotu*
naturally suggested itself, and was answered by a cry for
interference ; but the shapes which the wish took were
various and contradictory. Nevertheless, the natural desire
for aggrandizement, added to the apparently disorganized
state of the army, contributed to strengthen a willing belief
in the inferiority of the Sikhs as soldiers, and in the great
excellence of the mountain levies of tlie chiefs of Jammu,
who alone seemed to remain the masters of theirown servants.
Ih'^^S'lf "** "^^ *^^ apprehension of the English authorities, the Siklis
were mere upstart peasants of doubtful courage, except
when maddened by religious persecution ; but the ancient
name of Rajput was sufiicient to invest the motley followers
of a few valiant chiefs with every warlike quality. This
erroneous estimate of the Sikhs tainted British counsels
imtil the day of P'heerooshuhur.^

1 This erroneous estimate of the troops of the Jammii Rajas and
other hill chiefs of the Punjab relatively to the Sikhs, may be seen
insisted on in Mr. Clerk's letters to Government of the 2nd Jan. and
13th April 1841, and especially in those of the 8th and 10th Dec. of
that year, and of the 15th Jan., 10th Feb., and 23rd ApriL 1842.
Mr. Clerk's expressions are very decided, such as that the Sikhs
feared the hill-men, who were braver, and that Rajputs might hold
Afghans in check, which Siklis could not do ; but he seems to have
forgotten that the ancient Rajputs had, during the century gone by,
yielded on either side to the new and aspiring Curkhas and Marathas,

CHAP. VIII APPREHENSIONS OF SHER SINGH 237

The English seemed thus called upon to do something, 1841.

and their agent in Kabul, who was committed to make \

1 • 11 • 1 1 *"d are

Shah Shuja a monarch m means as well as in rank, grasped ready to

at the death of Ranjit Singli's last representative ; he interfere by

1 1 • • 1 T 1 1 11 force of

pronounced the treaties with Lahore to be at an end, and arms, Feb.

he wanted to annex Peshawar to the Afghan sway. The 1^11.
British Ciovernment in Calcutta rebuked this hasty conclu-
sion, but cheered itself with the prospect of eventually
adding the Derajat of the Indus, as well as Peshawar, to
the unproductive Durrani kingdom, without any breach of
faith towards the Siklis ; for it was considered that their
dominions might soon be rent in two by the Sindhianwala
Sirdars and the Jammu Rajas. ^ The British agent on the
Sutlej did not think the Lahore empire so near its dissolu-
tion in that mode, and confident in his own dexterity, in
the superiority of his troops, and in the greatness of the
English name, he proposed to march to the Sikh capital
with 12,000 men, to beat and disperse a rebel army four
times more numerous, to restore order, to strengthen the
sovereignty of Sher Singh, and take the cis-Sutlej districts
and forty lakhs of rupees in coin as the price of his aid.-
This promptitude made the Maharaja think himself in
danger of his life at the hands of his subjects, and of his
kingdom at the hands of his allies ; ^ nor was the Governor-
General prepared for a virtual invasion, although he was
ready to use force if a large majority of the Sikhs as well as

and even that the Sikhs themselves had laid the twice-born princes
of the Himalayas under contribution from the Ganges to Kashmir.

^ See especially Government to Sir William Macnaghten, of 28th
Dec. 18-10, in reply to his proposals of the 26th Nov. The Governor-
General justly observed that the treaty was not formed with an
individual chief, but with the Sikh state, so long as it might last
and fulfil the obligations of its alliance.

2 Mr. Clerk to Government, of the 26th March 1841.

^ When Sher Singh became aware of Mr. Clerk's propositions, he
is said simply to have drawn his finger across his throat, meaning
that the Sikhs would at once take his life if he assented to such
measures. The readiness of the English to co-operate was first
propounded to Fakir Aziz-ud-din, and that wary negotiator said
the matter could not be trusted to paper ; he would himself go and
tell Sher Singh of it. He went, but he did not return, his object
being to keep clear of schemes so hazardous.

238 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1841. the Maharaja himself desired such intervention.^ After

The mill- ^^^^^> *^^^ disorders in the army near Lahore gradually sub-

tary dis- sided ; but the opinion got abroad that overtures had been

sMe'^but^ made to the eager English ; and so far were the Sikh

the people soldiery from desiring foreign assistance, that Lehna Singh

become Sindhianwala was imprisoned by his own men, in the Mandi

suspicious ^ ' '

of the hills, on a charge of conspiracy with his refugee brother to

Enghsh. introduce the supremacy of strangers.^

The suspicions and hatred of the Sikhs were further
Broadfoot's ^oused by the proceedings of an officer, afterwards nominated
passage to represent British friendship and moderation. Major
Punjab. Broadfoot had been appointed to recruit a corps of Sappers
and Miners for the service of Shah Shuja, and as the family
of that sovereign, and also the blind Shah Zaman with his
wives and children, were about to proceed to Kabul, he was
charged with the care of the large and motley convoy. He
entered the Punjab in April 1841, when the mutinous spirit
of the Sikh army was spreading from the capital to the
provinces. A body of mixed or Muhammadan troops had
been directed by the Lahore Government to accompany the
royal families as an escort of protection, but Major Broadfoot
became suspicious of the good faith of this detachment, and
on the banks of the Ravi he prepared to resist, with his
newly recruited regiment, an attack on the part of those
who had been sent to conduct him in safety. On his way
to the Indus he was even more suspicious of other bodies of
troops which he met or passed ; he believed them to be
intent on plundering his camjj, and he considered that he
only avoided collisions by dexterous negotiations and by
timely demonstrations of force. On crossing the river at
Attock, his persuasion of the hostile designs of the battalions
in that neighbourhood and towards Peshawar was so strong,
that he put his camp in a complete state of defence, broke
up the bridge of boats, and called upon the Alghan popula-
tion to rise and aid him against the troops of their govern-
ment. But it does not appear that his apprehensions had

1 Government to Mr. Clerk, 18th Feb. and 29th March 1841. The
Governor-General truly remarked that Mr. Clerk, rather than the
Maharaja, had proposed an armed interference.

? Mr. Clerk to Government, 25th March 1841.

CHAP. VIII

THE SIKH ARMY

239

even a plausible foundation, until at this time he seized
certain deputies from a mutinous regiment when on their
way back from a conference with their commander, and
who appear to have come within the limits of the British
pickets. This proceeding alarmed both General x'Vvitabile,
the governor of Peshawar, and the British agent at that
place ; and a brigade, already warned, was hurried from
Jalalabad to overawe the Sikh forces encamped near the
Indus. But the Shah's families and their numerous followers
had passed on unmolested before the auxiliary troops had
cleared the Khaibar Pass, and the whole proceeding merely
served to irritate and excite the distrust of the Sildis
generally, and to give Sher Singh an opportunity of pointing-
out to his tumultuous soldiers that the Punjab was sur-
rounded by English armies, both ready and willing to make
war upon them.^

Before the middle of 1841 tk^ more violent proceedings
of the Lahore troops had ceased, but the relation of the
army to the state had become wholly altered ; it was no
longer the willing instrument of an arbitrary and genial
government, but it looked upon itself, and was regarded by
others, as the representative body of the Sikh people, as
the ' Khalsa ' itself assembled by tribes or centuries to take
its part in public affairs. The efficiency of the army as a
disciplined force was not nuich impaired, for a higher
feeling possessed the men, and increased alacrity and reso-
lution supplied the place of exact training. They were
sensible of the advantages of systematic union, and they
were proud of their armed array as the visible body of
Gobind's commonwealth. As a general rule, the troops
were obedient to their appointed officers, so far as con-
cerned their ordinary military duties, but the position of
a regiment, of a brigade, of a division, or of the whole army,
relatively to the executive government of the country, was
determined by a committee or assemblage of committees,
termed a 'Panch' or 'Panchayat', i.e. a jury or committee
of five, composed of men selected from each battalion, or
each company, in consideration of their general character
as faithful Sikh soldiers, or from their particular influence in

1 Gf. m-. Clerk to Government, 25th May and 10th June 1841. ^

1841.

The Sikhs
further
irritated
against the
Eughsh,

The

changed
relation of
the Lahore
army to the
state.

Its miH-
tary orga-
nization
enables it
to become
the repre-
sentative
body of the
Khalsa.

240 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1841. their native villages.^ The system of Panchayats is common

throughout India, and every tribe, or section of a tribe,
or trade, or calling, readily submits to the decisions of its
elders or sui^eriors seated together in consultation. In the
Pimjab the custom received a furtlier development from
the organization necessary to an army ; and even in the
crude form of representation thus achieved, the Sikh people
were enabled to interfere with effect, and with some degree
of consistency, in the nomination and in the removal of their
rulers. But these large assemblies sometimes added military
licence to popular tumult, and the corrupt spirit of merce-
naries to the barbarous ignorance of ploughmen. Their
resolutions were often unstable or unwise, and the represen-
tatives of different divisions might take opposite sides from
sober conviction or self-willed jirejudice, or they might be
bribed and cajoled by such able and unscrupulous men as
Raja Gulab Singh.-
Negotia- The partial repose in the autumn of 1841 was taken

||°'^""'|.^ advantage of to recur to those mercantile objects, of which
about in- the British Government never lost sight. The facilities of
isii *^^^'^*'' ri^^'^g^tir^g the Indus and Sutlej had been increased, and
it was now sought to extend corresponding advantages to
the land trade of the Punjab. Twenty years before, Mr.
Moorcroft had, of his own instance, made proposals to
Ranjit Singh for the admission of British goods into the
Lahore dominions at fixed rates of duty.^ In 1832, Col.
Wade again brought forward the subject of a general tariff
for the Punjab, and the Maharaja appeared to be not in-
disposed to meet the views of his allies ; but he really
disliked to make arrangements of which he did not fully see
the scope and tendency, and he thus tried to evade even a
settlement of the river tolls, by saying that the prosperity

[1 One is strongly reminded of the organization of the Parliamentary
army under Cromwell, with its regimental ' elders ', &c. — Ed.]

2 See Mr. Clerk's letter of the Uth March 1841, for Fakir Azlz-
ud-din's admission, that even then the army was united and ruled
by its panchayats. With reference to the Panchayats of India, it
may be observed that Hallam shows, chiefly from Palgrave, that
English juries likewise were originally as much arbitrators as investi-
gators of facts. {Middle Ages, Notes to Chap. VIII.)

3 Moorcroft, Travels, i. 103,

CHAP. VIII

iskArdo taken

211

of Amritsar would be affected, and by recurring to that
ever ready objection, the slaughter of kine. Cows, he said,
might be used as food by those who traversed the Punjab
under a British guarantee.^ In 1840, when Afghanistan was
garrisoned by Indian troops, the Governor- General pressed
the subject a second time on the notice of the Lahore
authorities ; and after a delay of more than a year, Sher
Singh assented to a reduced scale and to a fixed rate of duty,
and also to levy the whole sum at one place ; but the charges
still appeared excessive, and the British viceroy lamented
the ignorance displayed by the Sikli Maharaja, and the
disregard which he evinced for the true interests of his
subjects.^

The Lahore Government was convulsed at its centre,
but its spirit of progress and aggrandizement was active
on the frontiers, where not hemmed in by British armies.
The deputies in Kashmir had always been jealous of the
usurpations of Gulab Singh in Tibet, but Mian Singh, a rude
soldier, the governor of the valley during the commotions
at Lahore, was alarmed into concessions by the powerful
and ambitious Rajas of Jammu, and he left Iskardo, arid
the whole valley of the LTpper Indus, a free field for the
aggressions of their lieutenants.^ Ahmad Shah, the reigning
chief of Balti, had differences with his family, and he pro-
posed to pass over his eldest son in favour of a younger one,
in fixing the succession. The natural heir would seem to
have endeavoured to interest the Governor of Kashmir,

1841.

Zorawar
Singh, the
deputy of
the Jam-
mu Rajas,
takes Iskar-
do, 1840.

1 Cf. Col. Wade to Government, 7th Nov. and .5th Dec. 1832.
These objections are often urged in India, not because they are felt
to be reasonable in themselves, or applicable to the point at issue, but
because religion is always a strong ground to stand on, and because
it is the only thing which the English do not virtually profess a desire
to change. Religion is thus brought in upon all occasions of appre-
hension or disinclination.

2 Government to I\Ir. Clerk, 4th May 1840 and 11th Oct. 1841, and
Mr. Qerk to Government of 20th Sept. 1841.

3 Sir Claude Wade {Narrative of Services, p. 33, note) represents
the Jammu family to have obtained from the British Government
an assurance that the limitations put upon Sikh conquests to the
west and south by the Tripartite Treaty of 1839 would not be held
to apply to the north or Tibetan side, in which direction, it was said,
the Sikhs were free to act as they might please.

242 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1841. and also Zorawar Singli, the Jammu deputy in Ladakh, in

his favour ; and in 1840 he fled from his father and sought
refuge and assistance in Leh. Gnodup Tanzin, the puppet
king of Ladakli, had conceived the idea of throwing off the
Jammu authority ; he had been trying to engage Ahmad
Shah in the design ; the absence of Zorawar Singh was
opportune, and he allowed a party of Iskardo troops to
march on Leh, and to carry off the son of their chief.
Zorawar Singh made this inroad a pretext for war ; and
before the middle of the year 1840 he was master of Little
Tibet, but he left the chiefship in the family of Alimad Shah,
on the payment of a petty yearly tribute of seven thousand
rupees, so barren are the rocky principalities between Imaus
and Emodus.^ Zorawar Singh was emboldened by his own
success and by the dissensions at Lahore ; he claimed fealty
from Gilgit ; he was understood to be desirous of quarrelling
with the Chinese governor of Yarkand ; and he renewed,
antiquated claims of Ladakh supremacy, and demanded the
surrender of Rohtak, Garo, and the lakes of Mansarowar,
from the priestly king of Lhasa. ^
Zorawar Zorawar Singh was desirous of acquiring territory, and

Singhseizes he was also intent on monopolizing the trade in shawl-wool,
the Chinese ^ considerable branch of which followed the Sutlej and more
^'^Lassa, eastern roads to Ludhiana and Delhi, and added nothing to
• the treasury of Jammu. ^ InMay and June 1841, he occupied
the valleys of the Indus and Sutlej, to the sources of those
rivers, and he fixed a garrison close to the frontiers of Nepal,
and on the opposite side of the snovvy range from the British
post of Almora. The petty Rajput princes between the
Kali and Sutlej suffered in their revenues, and trembled
for their territories ; the Nepal Government had renewed
intrigues set on foot in 1838, and was in correspondence with
the crafty minister of Lahore, and with the disaffected
Sindhianwala chiefs ; * and the English Government itself

1 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 26th April, 9th and 31st May,
and 25th Aug. 1840.

2 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 25th Aug. and 8th Oct. 1840, and
2nd Jan. and 5th June 1841.

3 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 5th and 22nd June, 1841

4 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 16th Aug. and 23rd Nov. 1840,
and 17th Jan. 1841 ; and Government to Mr. Clerk, 19th Oct. 1840,

CHAP. VIII EVACUATION OF LASSA 243

was at war with China, at the distance of half the earth's 1841.

circumference.^ It was held that the trade of British

Indian subjects must not be interfered with by Jammu

conquests in Chinese Tibet ; it was deemed unadvisable to

allow the Lahore and Nepal dominions to march with one

another behind the Himalayas ; and it was thought the

Emperor of Pekin might confound independent Sikhs with

the predominant English, and throw additional difficulties

in the way of pending or probable negotiations.^ It was, TheEnglish

therefore, decided that Sher Singh should require his interfere.

feudatories to evacuate the Lassa territories ; a day, the

10th of December 1841, was fixed for the surrender of

Garo ; and a British officer was sent to see that the Grand

Lama's authority was fully re-established. The Maharaja

and his tributaries yielded, and Zorawar Singh was recalled ;

but before the order could reach him, or be acted on, he

was surrounded in the depth of Avinter, and at a height of

The correspondence of Nepal with the Sikhs, or rather with the
Jamniu faction, doubtless arose in part from the presence of Matabar
Singh, an eminent Gurklia, as a refugee in the Punjab. He crossed
the Sutlej in 1838, and soon got a high command in the Lahore
service, or rather, perhaps, a high position at the court. His success
in this way, and his necessary correspondence with British function-
aries, made the Nepal Government apprehensive of him, and at last
he became so important in the eyes of the English themselves, that
in 1840, when differences with Katmandu seemed likely to lead to
hostilities, overtures were virtually made to him, and he was kept in
hand, as it were, to be supported as a claimant for power, or as a
partisan leader, should active measures be necessary. He was thus
induced to quit the Punjab, where his presence, indeed, was not
otherwise satisfactory ; but the differences with the Gurkhas were
composed, and Matabar Singh was cast aside with an allowance
of a thousand rupees a month from the potent government which
had demeaned itself by using him as a tool. (Cf . particularly Govern-
ment to air. Clerk, 4th May and 26th Oct. 1840 ; and Mr. Clerk to
Government, 22nd Oct. 1840.)

[1 The first China or Opium War ended by the Treaty of Nankin
(1842), which resulted in the cession of Hong Kong and the opening
of the 6rst five treaty ports. — Ed.]

2 Cf. Government to Mr. Clerk, 16th Aug. and 6th and 20th
Sept. 1841. The Sikhs, too, had their views with regard to China,
and naively proposed co-operation with the English, or a diversion
in Tartary in favour of the war then in progress on the sea ran si !
(Mr. Clerk to Government, 18th Aug. and 20th Oct. 1841.)

R 2

244

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP, VIII

1841.

The Sikhs
defeated by
a force
fromLassa.

The Chinese

recover

Garo.

Peace be-
tween the
Chinese
and Sikhs.

twelve thousand feet or more above the sea, by a superior
force from Lassa inured to frost and snow. Tlie men of the
Indian plains and southern Himalayas were straitened for
fuel — as necessary as food in such a climate and at such a
season ; some even burnt the stocks of their muskets to
warm their hands ; and on the day of battle, in the middle
of December, they were benumbed in their ranks during
a fatal pause ; their leader was slain, a few principal men
were reserved as prisoners, but the mass was left to perish,
huddled in heaps behind rocks, or at the bottoms of ravines.
The neighbouring garrison on the Nepal frontier fled on
hearing of the defeat ; the men were not pursued, but in
passing over ranges sixteen thousand feet high, on their
way to Almora, the deadly cold reduced them to half
their numbers, and left a moiety of the remainder maimed
for life.i

During the spring of 1842 the victorious Chinese advanced
along the Indus, and not onlj' recovered their own province,
but occupied Ladakh and laid siege to the citadel of Leh.
The Kalmaks and the ancient Sokpos, or Sacae, talked of
another invasion of Kashmir, and the Tartars of the Greater
and Lesser Tibet were elate with the prospect of revenge
and plunder : but troops were poured across the Himalayas ;
the swordsmen and cannoneers of the south were dreaded
by the unwarlike Bhotias ; the siege of Leh was raised,
and in the month of September (1842) Gulab Singh's com-
mander seized the Lassa WazTr by treachery, and dislodged
his troops by stratagem from a position between Leh and
Rohtak, where they had proposed to await the return of
winter. An arrangement was then come to betAveen the
Lassa and Lahore authorities, which placed matters on their
old footing, agreeably to the desire of the English ; and as

1 In this rapid sketch of Ladakh affairs, the author has necessarily
depended for the most part on his own personal knowledge. After
the battle on the Mansarowar Lake, the western passes remained
closed for five weeks, and the defeat of the Sikhs was thus made
known in Calcutta and Peshawar, through the reports of the fugitives
to Ahnora, before it was lieard of in the neighboiiring Garo. From
tlie observations of Lieut. H. Strachey it would appear that the
height of the Mansarowar Lake is 15,250 feet. (Jour. As. Soc,
Bengal, Aug. 1848, p. 155.)

CHAP, vin AMBITION OF THE JAMMU RAJAS 245

the shawl-wool trade to the British provinces was also ^^^■^•-
revived, no further intervention was considered necessary
between the jealous Chinese and the restrained Siklis.'^

When, in April 1841, the troops in Kashmir put their The ambi-
^ '^ '^ tious views

governor to death, Raja Gulab Smgh was sent to restore of the Jam-
order, and to place the authority of the new manager, "i" ^a^%,
Ghulam Muhl-ud-din, on a firm footing. The mutinous indus.
regiments were overpowered by numbers and punished with
severity, and it was soon apparent that Gulab Singh had
made the governor whom he was aiding a creature of his
own, and had become the virtual master of the valley.^
Neither the minister nor his brother had ever been thought
well pleased with English interference in the affairs of the
Punjab ; they were at the time in suspicious communica-
tion with Nepal ; and they were held to be bound to Sultan
Muhammad Khan, whose real or presumed intrigues with
the enemies of Shah Shuja had occasioned his removal to
Lahore a year previously.^ General Avitabile had become
more and more urgent to be relieved from his dangerous
post at Peshawar ; the influence of Dhian Singh was pre-
dominant in Sikh counsels ; and the English opinion of
the ability of the Jammu Rajas and of the excellence
of their troops was well known, and induced a belief in
partiality to be presumed.^ It was therefore proposed by

* At Amritsar in March 1846, when Gulab Singh was formally in-
augurated as Maharaja of Jammu, he exhibited the engagements with
the Lama of Lassa, drawn out on his part in yellow, and on the part
of the Chinese in red ink, and each impressed with the open hand of
the negotiators dipped in either colour instead of a regular seal or
written signature. The ' Panja', or hand, seems in general use in
Asia as typical of a covenant, and it is, moreover, a common emblem
on the standards of the eastern Afghans.

■^ Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 13th May, 9th July, and 3rd Sept.
1840.

^ For this presumed understanding between the Jammu Rajas and
the Barakzais of Peshawar, Mr. Clerk's letter of the 8th Oct. 1840,
may be referred to among others.

"* Mr. Clerk leant upon and perhaps much overrated Dhian Singh's
capacity, ' his military talents, and aptitude for business.' (Mr.
Clerk to Government, 7th Nov. 1840, and 13th May 1841.) General
Ventura, for instance, considered the Raja to possess a very slender
understanding, and in such a matter he may be held to be a fair as
well as a competent judge, although personally averse to the minister.

246

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VIII

1841.

Clash with
the policy
of the
English.

The in-
surrection
at Kabul,
Nov. 1841.

Sher Singh to bestow the Afghan province on the restorer of
order in Kashmir. But this arrangement would have placed
the hills from the neighbourhood of Kangra to the Kaibar
Pass in the hands of men averse to the English and hostile
to Shah Shuja ; and as their troublesome ambition had been
checked in Tibet, so it was resolved that their more danger-
ous establishment on the Kabul river should be prevented.
In the autumn of 184.1, therefore, the veto of the English
agent was put upon Raja Gulab Singh's nomination to
Peshawar.^

About two months afterwards, or on the 2nd November
(1841), that insurrection broke out in Kabul which forms so
painful a passage in British history. No valiant youth arose
superior to the fatal influence of military subordination, to
render illustrious the retreat of a handful of Englishmen, or,
more illustrious still, the successful defence of their position.-
The brave spirit of Sir William Macnaghten laboured perse-
veringly, but in vain, against the unworthy fear which
possessed the highest officers of the army ; and the dismay
of the distant commanders imparted some of its poison to
the supreme authorities in India, who were weary of the
useless and burdensome occupation of Khorasan. The first
generous impulse was awed into a desire of annulling the
Durrani alliance, and of collecting a force on the Indus, or
even so far back as the Sutlej, there to fight for the empire
of Hindustan with the torrents of exulting Afghans which
the startled imaginations of Englishmen readily conjured
up.^ No confidence was placed in the efficiency or the

* Government to Mr. Clerk, 2nd Aug., and Mi'. Clerk to Government,
20th Aug. 1841.

2 There was no want of gallant and capable men in the subordinate
ranks of the army, and it is known that the lamented Major Pottinger
recorded his disapprobation of the retreat so fatuously commenced
and so fatally ended, although, to give validity to document.^?, or an
appearance of unanimity to counsels, he unfortunately put his name
to the orders requiring the surrender of Kandahar and Jalalabad.

* Cf. Government to the Commander-in-Chief, 2nd Dec. 1841, and
10th Feb. 1842 ; Government to Mr. Clerk, 10th Feb. 1842 ; and
Government to General Pollock, 24th Feb. 1842. Of those who re-
corded their opinions about the policy to be followed at the moment,
it may be mentioned that Mr. Robertson, the Lieutenant-Governor
of Agra, and Sir Herbert Maddock, the Political Secretary, advised a

CHAP. VIII

DISTRUST OF THE SIKHS

247

friendship of the Siklis ; ^ and although their aid was always
considered of importance, the mode in which it was asked
and used only served to sink the Lahore army lower than
before in British estimation. ^

Four regiments of sepoys marched from Ferozepore
without guns, and unsupported by cavalry, to vainly en-
deavour to force the Pass of Ivliaibar ; and the Sikh troops
at Peshawar were urged by the local British authorities in
their praiseworthy ardour, rather than deliberately ordered
by their own government at the instance of its ally, to
co-operate in the attempt, or indeed to march alone to
Jalalabad. The fact that the English had been beaten was
notorious, and the belief in their alarm was welcome : the
Sikh governor was obliged, in the absence of orders, to
take the sense of the regimental ' punches ' or committees ;
and the hasty requisition to march was rejected, through
fear alone, as the English said, but really with feelings in
which contempt, distrust, and apprehension were all mixed.
The district Governor- General, Avitabile, who fortimately
still retained his province, freely gave what aid he could ;
some pieces of artillery were furnished as well as abundance

stand at Peshawar ; and that Mr. Prinsep, a member of council, and
Mr. Colvin, the Governor-General's private secretary, recommended
a withdrawal to the Sutlej. All, however, contemplated ulterior
operations.

The Commander-in-Chief, it is well known, thought the means of
the English for defending India itself somewhat scanty, and Mr. Clerk
thought the Sikhs would be unable to check the invasion of moun-
taineers, which would assuredly take place were Jalalabad to fall.
(Mr. Clerk to Government, 15th Jan. 1842.)

^ Government to the Commander-in-Chief, 15th March 1842.

2 Mr. Colvin, in the minute referred to in the preceding note,
grounds his proposition for withdrawing to the Sutlej partly on Mr.
Clerk's low estimate of the Sikhs, and their presumed inability to
resist the Afghans. Col. Wade seems to have had a somewhat similar
opinion of the comparative prowess of the two races, on the fair pre-
sumption that the note (p. 535) of Munshi Shahamat All's Sikhs and
Afghans is his. He says the Sikhs always dreaded the Kiiaibaris ;
and, indeed, General Avitabile could also take up the notion with
some reason, in one sense, as the magistrate of a district surrounded
by marauding highlanders, and with sufficient adroitness in another
when he did not desire to see Sikh regiments hurried into mountain
defiles at the instance of the English authorities. (Cf. the Calcutta
Review, No. Ill, p. 182.)

1841.

The
English
distrustful
of the
Sikhs, but
yet urgent
uj^on them
for aid.

248 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1841. of ordinary supplies, and the British detachment effected
the reUef of Ali Masjid. But the unpardonable neglect of
going to the fort without the food which had been provided,
obliged the garrison to retreat after a few days, and the
disinclination of the Siklis to fight the battles of strangers
communicated itself to the mercenary soldiers of the English,
and thus added to the Governor-General's dislike of the
Afghan connexion.^

An amiy of The necessity of at least relieving the garrison of Jalalabad
assembled" ^^^ paramount, and in the spring of 1842 a well-equipped

1842. ' British force arrived at Peshawar ; but the active co-

operation of the Sikhs was still desirable, and it was sought
for under the terms of an obsolete article of the tripartite
treaty with Shah Shuja, which gave Lahore a subsidy of
two lakhs of rupees in exchange for the services of 5,000
men.2 Sher Singh was willing to assist beyond this limited
degree ; he greatly facilitated the purchase of grain and the
hire of carriage cattle in the Punjab, and his auxiliaries
could be made to outnumber the troops of his allies ; but
he felt uneasy about the proceedings of the Sindhianwala
chiefs, one of whom had gone to Calcutta to urge his own
claims, or those of Mai Chand Kaur, and all of whom re-
tained influence in the Sikh ranks. He was assured that
the refugees shoidd not be allowed to disturb his reign, and
there thus seemed to be no obstacle in the way of his full
co-operation. 3 But the genuine Sikhs were held by the

1 The statements in this paragraph are mainly taken from the
author's notes of official and demi-official correspondence. The letter
of Government to Mr. Clerk, of the 7th Feb. 1842, may also be referred
to about the failure to hold Ali Musjid ; and, further, it may be
mentioned that Mr. Clerk, in his letter of the 10th February, pointed
out, that although the Sikhs might not willingly co-operate in any
sudden assaidt planned by the English, they would be found ready
to give assistance during the campaign in the ways their experience
taught them to be the most likely to lead to success.

2 See Government to Mr. Clerk, 3rd May and 23rd July 1842. The
English agents, however, rather tauntingly and imploringly reminded
the Sikh authorities that they were bound to have such a force ready
by agreement as well as by friendship, than formally revived the
demand for its production under the stipulations of the treatj'.

3 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 2nd Jan. and 31st March 1842, and
Government to Mr. Clerk, 17th Jan. and 12th May 1842. With
regard to assistance rendered by the Sikhs durin the Afghan War in

CHAP, viii CO-OPERATION OF GULAB SINGH 249

English to be both mutinous in disposition and inferior in 1842.

warlike spirit ; the soldiers of Jammu were preferred, and

Gulab Singh was required to proceed to Peshawar to repress ^}^^}'
1 - , T /x^ 1 , 1 • ^ 1 -r* 11 1 Singh sent

the insubordinate Khalsa , and to give General Pollock to co-

the assurance of efficient aid.^ The Raja was at the time operate.

completing the reduction of some insurgent tribes between

Kashmir and Attock, and his heart was in Tibet, where he

had himself lost an army and a kingdom. He went, but

he knew the temper of his own hill levies : he was naturally

unwilling to run any risk by following the modes of strangers

to which he was unused, and he failed in rendering the Sikh

battalions as decorous and orderly as English regiments.

His prudence and ill success were looked upon as collusion

and insincerity, and he was thought to be in league with

Akbar Khan for the destruction of the army of an obnoxious

European power.^ Still his aid was held to be essential, and

the local British officers proposed to bribe him by the offer

of Jalalabad, independent of his sovereign Sher Singh. The

scheme was justly condemned by Mr. Clerk,^ the Khaibar

Pass was forced in the month of April, and the auxiliary

Sikhs acquitted themselves to the satisfaction of the English

general, without any promises having been made to the

Raja of Jammu, who gladly hurried to the Ladakli frontier

to look after interests dearer to him than the success or the

vengeance of foreigners. It was designed by General Pollock M^"^ ^^'

to leave the whole of the Sikli division at Jalalabad, to

assist in holding that district, while the main English

army went to Kabul ; but the proper interposition of

furnishing escorts, grain, and carriage for the British troops, Mr. Clerk' s
letters of the 15th Jan., 18th May, and 14th June 1842 may be
quoted. In the last it is stated that 17,381 camels had been procured
through Sikh agency between 1839 and 1842.

1 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 15th Jan., 10th Feb., and 6th May,
1842. Government at first seemed indifferent whether Gulab Singh
went or not ; and, indeed, Mr. Clerk himself rather suggested than
required the Raja's employment ; but suggestions or wishes could
not, under the circumstances, be misconstrued.

2 Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 19th March 1842.

3 Mr. Clerk to Government, 13th Feb. 1842. The officers referred
to are Major Mackeson and Lieut.-Col. Sir Henry Lawrence, whose
names are so intimately, and in so many ways honourably, identified

with the career of the English in the north-west of India. ^

250

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VIII

1842. Col. Lawrence 1 enabled a portion of the Lahore troops

to share in that retributive march, as they had before
shared in the first invasion, and fully shown their fitness
for meeting difficulties when left to do so in their own
way.
Discussions The proposition of conferring Jalalabad on Gulab Singh
regarding ^g^g taken up in a modified form by the new Governor-
and the ' General, Lord Ellenborough. As his lordship's views
^!?!*^ °^ • became formed, he laid it down as a principle that neither
nion. the English nor the Sikh Government should hold dominion

beyond the Himalayas and the ' Safed Koh ' of Kabul ;
and as the Durrani alliance seemed to be severed, there was
little to apprehend from Jammfi and Barakzai intrigues.
It was, therefore, urged that Gulab Singh should be required
by the Maharaja to relinquish Ladakli, and to accept
Jalalabad on equal terms of dependency on the Punjab. ^
The Sikhs were sufficiently desirous of adding to their
dominion another Afghan district ; but the terms did not
satisfy Gulab Singh, nor did Sher Singh see fit to come to
any conclusion until he should know the final views of the
English with regard to the recognition of a government in
Kabul.3 The death of Shah Shuja and his suspicious pro-
ceedings were held to render the re-occupation of the country
unnecessary, and the trii)artite treaty was declared to be
at an end ; * but the policy of a march on the Afghan
capital was strongly urged and wisely adopted.^ There

1 Lieut. -Col. Lawrence to Major Mackeson, 23rd Aug. 1842. Lieut.-
Col. Lawrence's article in the Calcutta Rev'ieiv (No. Ill, p. 180) may
also be advantageously referred to about the proceedings at Peshawar
under Col. Wild, Sir George Pollock, and Raja Gulab Singh.

2 Government to Mr. Clerk, 27th April 1842.

3 Mr. Clerk to Government, 18th May 1842.

4 Government to Mr. Clerk, 27th May and 29th July 1842. In the
treaty drafted by the Sikhs to take the place of the tripartite one,
they i)ut forward a claim of superiority over Sind, and somewhat
evaded the question of being parties only, instead of principals, to
the acknowledgement of a ruler in Kabul. The treaty, however,
never took a definite shape.

^ Even the Sikhs talked of the impolicy, or, at least, the disgrace, of

suddenly and wholly withdrawing from Afghanistan in the maimer

proposed. (Mr. Clerk to Government, 19th July 1842.) Mr. Clerk

, himself was among the most prominent of those who at first modestly

urged a march on Kaljul, and afterwards manfully remonstrated

CHAP, viii JALALABAD : THE SIKHS 251

seemed to be a prospect of wintering in Kabul, and it was 1842.
not until the victorious troops were on their return to India
that it was believed the English would ever forgo the
possession of an empire. The Sikhs then consented to take
Jalalabad, but before the order transferring it could reach
General Pollock,^ that commander had destroyed the forti-
fications, and nominally abandoned the place to the king
whom he had expediently set up in the Bala Hisar.^ It is
probable that Sher Singh was not unwilling to be relieved
of the invidious gift, for his own sway in Lahore was dis-
tracted, and Dost Muhammad was about to be released
under the pledge of a safe passage through the Punjab
dominions ; and it may have been thought prudent to
conciliate the father of Akbar Khan, so famous for his
successes against the English, by the surrender of a posses-
sion it was inconvenient to hold.^

against a hasty abandonment of the country. (See his letter above
quoted, and also that of the 23rd April 1842.)

1 The order was dated the 18th Oct. 1842. Lord EUenborough
himself was not without a suspicion that the victorious generals might
frame excuses for wintering in Kabul, and the expedition of Sir John
M'Caskill into the Kohistan was less pleasing to him on that account
than it would otherwise have been.

2 The Calcutta Review for June 1849 (p. 539) points out that the
king, viz. Shahpur, son of Shah Shuja, was rather set up solely by
the chiefs at Kabvd than in any way by Sir George Pollock, who had
no authority to recognize any sovereign in Afghanistan. My expres-
sion has, indeed, reference mainly to the prudent countenance
afforded to a native prince by a foreign conqueror about to retrace
his steps through a difficult country, inhabited by a warlike people ;
but as it may mislead as to Sir George Pollock's actual proceedings, .
I gladly insert this note.

3 The Sikhs were not unwilling to acquire territory, but they
wished to see their way clearly, and they were unable to do so until
the English had determined on their own line of policy. The Sikhs
knew, mdeed, of the resolution of the Governor-General to sever all
comaexion with Afghanistan, but they also knew the sentiments of
the majority of Englishmen about at least temporarily retaining it.
They saw, moreover, that recruited armies were still in possession of
every stronghold, and the policy was new to them of voluntarily
relinquishing dominion. They therefore paused, and the subsequent
release of Dost Muhammad again fettered them when the retirement
of the troops seemed to leave them free to act, for they were bound to
escort the Amir safely across the Punjab, and covild not therefore
make terms with him. The Sikhs would have worked through Sultan

1842.

252 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

The Governor-General had prudently resolved to as-

The semble an army at Ferozepore, as a reserve in case of

Governor- further disasters in Afghanistan, and to make known to the

meets the pi'inces of India that their English masters had the ready

Sikh means of beating any who might rebel.^ Lord EUenborough

rniiiiSLGr »^ c^ o

and heir- ^as also desirous of an interview with Sher Singh, and as

apparent at gratitude was uppermost for the time, and added a grace

FcrozeDOrG

1842. ' ^^^^ to success, it was proposed to thank the Maharaja in

person for the proofs which he had afforded of his continued

friendship. To invest the scene with greater eclat, it was

further determined, in the spirit of the moment, to give

expression to British sincerity and moderation at the head

of the two armies returning victorious from Kabul, with

their numbers increased to nearly forty thousand men by

the force assembled on the Sutlej. The native English

portion of this array was considerable, and perhaps so

many Europeans had never stood together under arms on

Indian ground since Alexander and his Greeks made the

Punjab a province of Macedon. The Sikhs generally were

pleased with one cause of this assemblage, and they were

glad to be relieved of the presence of the EngUsh on their

western frontier ; but Sher Singh himself did not look

forward to his visit to Lord Ellenborough without some

misgivings, altliough under other circumstances his vanity

would have been gratified by the opportunitj' of displaying

Muhammad Khan and other chiefs until they were in a condition
to use the frequent plea of the English, of being able to govern better
than dependants. (Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 2nd Sept. 1842.)

1 Lord Auckland had likewise thought that such a demonstration
might be advisable. (Government to Mr. Clerk, 3rd Dec. 1841.) Of
measures practically identified with Lord Ellenborough' s administra-
tion, Lord Auckland may further claim the merit of giving the
generals commanding in Afghanistan supreme authority (Resolution
of Government, 6th Jan. 1842), and of directing Sir WilHam Nott to
act without reference to previous instructions, and as he might deem
best for the safety of his troops and the honour of the British name.
(Government to Sir William Nott, 10th Feb. 1842.) To Lord Auck-
land, however, is due the doubtful praise of suggesting the release of
Dost Muhammad (Government to Mr. Clerk, 24th Feb. 1842) ; and he
must certainly bear a share of the blame attached to the exaggerated
estimate formed of the dangers which threatened tlie English after
the retreat from Kabul, and to the timorous rather than prudent
design of falling back on the Indus, or even on the Sutlej.

CHAP, viii LORD ELLENBOROUGH : SHER SINGH 253

his power and magnificence. He felt his incapacity as a 1842.
ruler, and he needlessly feared that he might be called to
account for Sikh excesses and for a suspected intercourse
with the hostile Amirs of Sind then trembling for their fate,
and even that the subjugation of the Punjab was to be made
the stepping-stone to the complete reduction of Afghanistan.
He had no confidence in himself ; and he dreaded the ven-
geance of his followers, who believed him capable of sacri-
ficing the Ivlialsa to his own interests. Nor was Dhian Singh
supposed to be willing that the Maharaja should meet the
Governor- General, and his suspicious temper made him
apprehensive that his sovereign might induce the English
viceroy to accede to his ruin, or to the reduction of his
exotic influence. Thus both Sher Singh and his minister
perhaps rejoiced that a misunderstanding which prevented
the reception at Ludhiana of Lahna Singh Majlthia, was
seized hold of by the English to render a meeting doubtful
or impossible.^ Lord Ellenborough justly took offence at a
slight which, however unwittingly, had been really offered
to him ; he was not easily appeased ; and when the personal
apologies of the minister, accompanied by the young heir-
apparent, had removed every ground of displeasure, tne
appointed time, the beginning of January 1843, for the

1 On several occasions Raja Dhian Singh expressed his apprehen-
sions of an English invasion, as also did Maharaja Sher Singh. (See,
for instance, Mr. Clerk to Government, 2nd Jan. 1842.) The writer
oT the article in the Calcutta Review (No. II, p. 493), who is believed
to be Lieut. -Col. Lawrence, admits Dhian Singh's aversion to a meet-
ing between his sovereign and the British Governor-General. The
reviewer likewise describes Sher Singh's anxiety at the time, but
considers him to have been desirous of throwing himself unreservedly
on English protection, as doubtless he might have been, had he thought
himself secure from assassination, and that Lord Ellenborough would
have kept him seated on the throne of Lahore at all hazards.

About the suspected hostile intercourse with the Amirs of Sind,
see Thornton's History of India, vi. 447. The Sikhs, however, were
never required to give any explanation of the charges.

The misunderstanding to which Sardar Lahna Singh was a party
was simply as follows : The Sardar had been sent to wait upon the
Governor-General on his arrival on the frontier, according to ordinary
ceremonial. It was arranged that the Sardar should be received by
his lordship at Ludhiana, and the day and hour were fixed, and pre-
parations duly made. Mr. Clerk went in person to meet the chief, and

254

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VIII

1842.

Dost Mu-
hammad
returns to
Kabul,
1843.

Anxieties
of Sher
Singh,

breaking-up of the large army had arrived, and the Governor-
General did not care to detain his war-worn regiments any-
longer from their distant stations. No interview thus took
place with Sher Singh ; but the boy prince, Pertab Singh,
was visited by Lord Ellenborough ; and the rapidity with
which a large escort of Sikli troops was crossed over the
Sutlej when swollen with rain, and the alacrity and pre-
cision with which they manoeuvred, deserved to have been
well noted by the English captains, proud as they had reason
to be of the numbers and achievements of their own troops.
The prince likewise reviewed the Anglo-Indian forces, and
the Sildi chiefs looked with interest upon the defenders of
Jalalabad, and with unmixed admiration upon General Nott
followed by his valiant and compact band. At last the
armed host broke up ; the plains of Ferozepore were no
longer white with numerous camps ; and the relieved
Sher Singh hastened, or was hurried, to Amritsar to return
thanks to God that a great danger had passed away. This
being over, he received Dost Muhammad Khan with dis-
tinction at Lahore, and in February (1843) entered into a
formal treaty of friendship with the released Amir, which
said nothing about the English gift of Jalalabad.^

But Sher Singh principally feared his own chiefs and
subjects, and although the designed or fortuitous murder of
Mai Chand Kaur, in June 1842,^ relieved him of some of his

conduct him to the Governor-General's presence, his understanding
being that he was to go half the distance or so towards the Sikh en-
campment. The Sardar understood or held that Mr. Clerk should
or would come to his tent, and thus he sat still while Mr. Clerk rested
half-way for two hours or more. Lord Ellenborough thought the
excuse of the Sardar frivolous, and that offence was wantonly given,
and he accordingly required an explanation to be afforded. (Govern-
ment to Mr. Clerk, 15th Dec. 1842.) There is some reason to believe
that the Lahore Vakil, who was in the interest of Raja Dhian Singh,
misled the obnoxious Lahna Singh about the arrangements for con-
ducting him to the Governor-General's tents, with the view of dis-
crediting him both with his own master and with the English.

1 Government to Mr. Clerk, ir)th Feb. and 17th Mar. 1843.

2 Mr. Clerk to Government, 15th June 1842. The widow of
Maharaja Kharak Singh was so severely beaten, as was said by her
female attendants, that she almost immediately expired. The only
exxDianation offered, was that she had chidden the servants in question

CHAP. VIII THE SINDHIANWALA CHIEFS 255

apprehensions, he felt uneasy under the jealous domination 1843.

of Dhian Singh, and began to listen readily to the smooth

suggestions of Bhai Gurmukh Singh, his priest so to speak,

and who was himself of some religious reputation, as well as

the son of a man of acknowledged sanctity and influence.^

The English Gk)vernment,in its well-meant but impracticable

desire to unite all parties in the country, had urged the

restoration to favour of the Sindhianwala chiefs, who kept The Sind-

its own agents on the alert, and the Maharaia himself in Wan^ala

' cxiiGis £incl

a state of doubt or alarm.- Sher Singh, from his easiness of the Jammu

nature, was not averse to a reconciliation, and by degrees he R^jas

coalesce
even became not unwilling to have the family about him

as some counterpoise to the Rajas of Jammu. Neither was

Dhian Singh opposed to their return, for he thought they

might be made some use of since Mai Chand Kaur was no

more, and thus Ajit Singh and his uncles again took their

accustomed places in the court of Lahore. Nevertheless,

during the summer of 1843, Dhian Singh perceived that his

influence over the Maharaja was fairly on the wane ; and

he had good reason to dread the machinations of Gvn-mukli

Singh and the passions of the multitude when roused by

a man of his character. The minister then again began to

talk of the boy, Dalip Singh, and to endeavour to possess

the minds of the Sindhianwala chiefs with the belief that

they had been inveigled to Lahore for their more assured

destruction. Ajit Singh had by this time become the boon

companion of the Maharaja ; but he was himself ambitious

for some fault, and the public was naturally unwilling to believe Sher
Singh, at least, guiltless of instigating the murder.

1 In the beginning of his reign Sher Singh had leant mucli upon an
active and ambitious follower, named Jawala Singh, whose bravery
was conspicuous during the attack on Lahore. This petty leader
hoped to supplant both the Sindhianwala chiefs and the Jammu
Rajas as leading courtiers, but he proceeded too hastily; he was
seized and imprisoned by Dhian Singh in May 1841, and died by
foul means immediately afterwards. (Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government,
7th May and 10th June 1841.)

2 Mr. Clerk to Government, 7th April 1842, and Government to
Mr. Clerk, 12th May 1842 ; see also Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Govern-
ment, 5th Sept. 1843. Mr. Clerk became Lieutenant-Governor of
Agra in June 1843, and he was succeeded as Agent on the frontier by
Lieut. -Col. Richmond, an officer of repute, who had recently dis-
tinguished himself under Sir George Pollock.

256 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1843. of power, and he and his uncle Lahna Singh grasped at the

idea of making the minister a party to their own designs.
They appeared to fall wholly into his views ; and they
would, they said, take Sher Singh's life to save their own.
Sher Singh On the 15th September (1843), Ajit Singh induced the
ted^v^Aiit Maharaja to inspect some levies he had newly raised ; he
Singh, approached, as if to make an offering of a choice carbine,
1843 • ^^^^ *^ receive the commendations usual on such occasions,

but he raised the weapon and shot his sovereign dead. The
remorseless Lahna Singh took the life of the boy Pertab Singh
at the same time, and the kinsmen then joined Dhian Singh,
and proceeded with him to the citadel to proclaim a new
king. The hitherto wary minister was now caught in his
who like- own toils, and he became the dupe of his accomplices. He
Dhl^"*^ was separated from his immediate attendants, as if for the
Singh to sake of greater privacy, and shot by the same audacious
death, chief who had just imbrued his hands in the blood of their

1843. ' common master.^ The conspirators were thus far success-
ful in their daring and in their crimes, but they neglected
to slay or imprison the son of their last victim ; and the
minds of the soldiers do not seem to have been prepared
for the death of Dhian Singh, as they were for that of the
Hira Singh Maharaja. The youthful Hira Singh was roused by his own
avenges his danger and his filial duty ; he could plausibly accuse the
Sindhianwalas of being alone guilty of the treble murder
which had taken place, and he largely promised rewards to
the troops if they would avenge the death of their friend
and his father. The army generally responded to his call,
and the citadel was immediately assaulted ; yet so strong-
was the feeling of aversion to Jammu ascendancy among the
Sikh people, that could the feeble garrison have held out
for three or four days, until the first impulse of anger and
surprise had passed away, it is almost certain that Hira
Singh must have fled for his life. But the place was entered
on the second evening ; the wounded Lahna Singh was at
once slain ; and Ajit Singh, in attempting to boldly escape
over the lofty walls, fell and was also killed.^ Dallp Singh
was then proclaimed Maharaja, and Hira Singh was raised

1 Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 17th and 18th Sept. 1843.

2 Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 20th Sept. 1843.

CHAP. VIII DALIP SINGH PROCLAIMED 257

to the high and fatal office of Wazir ; but he was all-powerful 1843.
for the moment ; the Smdhianwala possessions were con- j. , o- ',
fiscated, and their dwellings razed to the ground : nor did proclaimed
the youthful avenger stay until he had found out and put to o^'^^^^?g4'o
death Bhai Gurmukh Singh and Missar Bell Ram, the former
of whom was believed to have connived at the death of his
confiding master, and to have instigated the assassination
of the minister ; and the latter of whom had always stood
high in the favour of the great Maharaja, although strongly
opposed to the aggrandizement of the Jaminu family.
Sardar Atar Singh Sindhianwala, who was hurrying to
Lahore when he heard of the capture of the citadel, made
a hasty attempt to rouse the village population in his favour
through the influence of Bhai BIr Singh, a devotee of gTeat
repute ; but the ' Klialsa ' was almost wholly represented
by the army, and he crossed at once into the British terri-
tories to avoid the emissaries of HIra Singh. ^

The new minister added two rupees and a half, or five The power
shillings a month, to the pay of the common soldiers, and jncreas™^
he also discharged some arrears due to them. The army felt
that it had become the master of the state, and it en-
deavoured to procure donatives, or to place itself right in
public estimation, by threatening to eject the Jammu
faction, and to make the Bhai BIr Singh, already mentioned,
a king as well as a priest.' Jawahir Singh, the maternal
uncle of the boy Maharaja, already grasped the highest post
he could occupy ; nor was the minister's family united
within itself. Suchet Singh's vanity was mortified by the
ascendancy of his nephew, a stripling, unacquainted with
war, and inexperienced in business ; and he endeavoured to
form a party which should place him in power .^ The youth-
ful WazIr naturally turned to his other uncle, Gulab Singh,
for support, and that astute chief cared not who held titles
so long as he was deferred to and left unrestrained ; but the
Sikhs were still averse to him personally, and jealous lest he
should attempt to garrison every stronghold with his own
followers. Gulab Singh was, therefore, cautious in his pro-

1 Lieut. -Col. Richmond's letters from 21st Sept. to 2nd Oct. 1843.

2 Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 26th Sept. 1843.

3 Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 16th and 22nd Oct. 1843.

S

258 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1843. ceedings, and before he reached Lahore, on the 10th of

RaiaGulab November, lie had sought to ingratiate himself with all
Singh. parties, save Jawahir Singh, Avhom he may have despised
Sardar Ja- as of no capacity.^ Jawahir Singh resented this conduct,
Singh Nov ^^^' t^^ij^g advantage of the ready access to the Maharaja's
24, 1843. person which his relationship gave him, he went with the
child in his arms, on the occasion of a review of some troops,
and urged the assembled regiments to depose the Jammu
Rajas, otherwise he would fly with his nephew, their
acknowledged prince, into the British territories. But the
design of procuring aid from the English was displeasing to
the Sikhs, both as an independent people and as a licentious
soldiery, and Jawahir Singh was immediately made a
prisoner, and thus received a lesson which influenced his
conduct during the short remainder of his life.^
Fateh Nevertheless, HIra Singh continued to be beset with

Khan Ti- difficulties. There was one Fateh Khan Tiwana, a personal
follower of Dhian Singh, who was supposed to have been
privy to the intended assassination of his master, and to
have designedly held back when Ajit Singh took the Raja
to one side. This petty leader fled as soon as the army
attacked the citadel, and endeavoured to raise an insurrec-
tion in his native province of Dera Ismail Klian, which
caused the greater anxiety, as the attempt was supposed
to be countenanced by the able and hostile Governor of
The insur- Multan.^ Scarcely had measures been adopted for reducing
rection of the petty rebellion, when Kashmira Singh and Peshawara
Singh and Singh, SOUS born to, or adopted by,.RanjIt Singh at the
Peshawara period of his conquest of the two Afghan provinces from
18^-4. which they were named, started up as the rivals of the child
Dalip, and endeavoured to form a party by appearing in
open opposition at Sialkot. Some regiments ordered to
Peshawar joined the two princes ; the Muhammadan regi-
ments at Lahore refused to march against them unless a
pure Sikh force did the same ; and it was with difficulty,
and only with the aid of Raja Gulab Singh, that the siege of

1 Cf. Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 26th Sept. and 16th
Nov. 1843.

- Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 28th Nov. 1843.
^ Lieut, -Col. Richmond to Government, 12th Dec. 1843.

CHAP.vm INSURRECTION OF KASHMlRA SINGH 259

Sialkot was formed. Tlie two young men soon showed
themselves to be incapable of heading a party ; Hira Singli
relaxed in his efforts against them ; and towards the end
of March he raised the siege, and allowed them to go at
large.^ The minister had, however, less reason to be satisfied
with the success of Jawahir Singh, who, about the same
time, induced his guards to release him, and he was un-
willingly allowed to assume his place in the court as the
uncle of the child to whose sovereignty in the abstract all
nominally def erred. ^

Raja Suchet Singh was believed to have been a secret
party to the attempts of Kashmira Singh, and the release
of Jawahir Singh was also probably effected with his
cognizance. The Raja believed himself to be popular with
the army, and especially with the cavalry portion of it,
which, having an inferior organization, began to show some
jealousy of the systematic proceedings of the regular
infantry and artillery. He had retired to the hills with
great reluctance ; he continued intent upon suj^planting his
nephew ; and suddenly, on the evening of the 26th of
March 1844, he appeared at Lahore with a few followers ;
but he appealed in vain to the mass of the troops, partly
because Hira Singh had been liberal in gifts and profuse in
promises, and partly because the shrewd deputies who
formed the Panchayats of the regiments had a sense of their
own importance, and were not to be won for purposes of
mere faction, without diligent and judicious seeking.
Hence, on the morning after the arrival of the sanguine
and hasty Raja, a large force marched against him without
demur ; but the chief was brave : he endeavoured to make
a stand in a ruinous building, and he died fighting to the
last, although his little band was almost destroyed by the
fire of a numerous artillery before the assailants could reach
the enclosure.^

Within two months after this rash undertaking, Atar
Singh Sindhianwala, who had been residing at Thanesar,
made a similar ill-judged attempt to gain over the army,

1 Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 23rd and 27th March 1844.

2 Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 27th March 1844.

3 Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 29th March 1844.

S2

1844.

Jawahir
Singh.

The

attempt of

Raja

Suchet

Singh,

March

1844.

The insur-
rection of
Sardar
Atar Singh
and Bhai
Bir Singh,
May 1844.

260

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VIII

1844.

The

Governor
of Multan
submits.

and to expel HIra Singh. He crossed the Siitlej on the
2nd May, but instead of moving to a distance, so as to avoid
premature colhsions, and to enable him to appeal to the
feelings of the Sikhs, he at once joined Bhai Bir Singh, whose
religious repute attracted numbers of the agricultural popu-
lation, and took up a position almost opposite Ferozepore,
and within forty miles of the capital. The disaffected
Kashmira Singh joined the chief, but HIra Singh stood as
a suppliant before the assembled Khalsa, and roused the
feelings of the troops by reminding them that the Sindhian-
walas looked to the English for support. A large force
promptly marched from Lahore, but it was wished to detach
Bhai Bir Singh from the rebel, for to assail so holy a man
was held to be sacrilege by the soldiers, and on the seventh
of the month deputies were sent to induce the Bhai to retire.
Some expressions moved the anger of Sardar Atar Singh, and
he slew one of the deputies with his own hand. This act led
to an immediate attack. Atar Singh and Kashmira Singh
were both killed, and it was found that a cannon-shot had
likewise numbered Bhai Bir Singh with the slain. The
commander on this occasion was Labh Singh, a Rajput of
Jammu, and the possession of the family of Kashmira Singh
seemed to render his success more complete ; but the Sikh
infantry refused to allow the women and children to be
removed to Lahore ; and Labh Singh, alarmed by this
proceeding and by the lamentations over the death of Bir
Singh, hastened to the capital to ensure his own safety.^

HIra Singh was thus successful against two main enemies
of his rule, and as he had also come to an understanding
with the Governor of Multan, the proceedings of Fateh Klian
Tiwana gave him little uneasiness. ^ The army itself was
his great cause of anxiety, not lest the Sikh dominion should
be contracted, but lest he should be rejected as its master ;
for the Panchayats, although bent on retaining their own
power, and on acquiring additional pay and privileges for
their constituents the soldiers, were equally resolved on
maintaining the integrity of the empire, and they arranged

1 Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 10th, 11th, and 12th May
1844.

2 Cf. Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 29th April 1844.

CHAP. VIII SUBMISSION OF MULTAN.

261

among themselves about the reHef of the troops in the
provinces. On the frontiers, indeed, the Sikhs continued to
exhibit their innate vigour, and towards the end of 1843 the
secluded principality of Gilgit was overrun and annexed to
Kashmu'. The Panchayats likewise felt that it was the
design of the Raja and his advisers to disperse the Sikh
army over the country, and to raise additional corps of
hill men, but the committees would not allow a single
regiment to quit Lahore without satisfying themselves of
the necessity of the measure ; and thus Hira Singh was in-
duced to take advantage of a projected relief of the British
troops in Sind, and the consequent march of several bat-
talions towards the Sutlej, to heighten or give a colour to
his own actual suspicions, and to hint that a near danger
threatened the Sikhs on the side of the English. The
' Khalsa ' was most willing to encounter that neighbour,
and a brigade was induced to move to Kasur, and others to
shorter distances from the capital, under the plea, as avowed
to the British authorities, of procuring forage and supplies
with greater facility.^ Such had indeed been Ranjit Singh's
occasional practice when no assemblage of British forces
could add to his ever present fears ; ^ but Hlra Singh's
apprehensions of his own army and of his English allies
were lessened by his rapid successes, and by the disgraceful
spirit which then animated the regular regiments in the
British service. The Sepoys refused to proceed to Sind, and
the Sikhs watched the progress of the mutiny with a pleased
surprise. It was new to them to see these renowned soldiers
in opposition to their government ; but any glimmering
hopes of fatal embarrassment to the colossal power of the
foreigners were dispelled by the march of European troops,
by the good example of the irregular cavalry, and by the
returning sense of obedience of the sepoys themselves.
The British forces proceeded to Sind, and the Lahore
detachment was withdrawn from Kasur.^

1844.

Gilgit re-
duced,
1843.

Hlra Singh
professes
suspicions
of the
English.

The

mutiny of
the British
Sepoys
ordered to
Sind.

^ Cf. Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 20th Dec. 1843, and
23rd March 1844.

- See, for instance. Sir David Ochterlony to Government, 16th Oct.
1812.

3 Cf. Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 29th April 1844.

262

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VIII

1844.

Discussions
with the
Enghsh
about the
village
Moran,

and about
■ treasure
buried by
Suchet
Singh.

Nevertheless there were not wanting causes of real or
alleged dissatisfaction with the British Government, which
at last served the useful purpose of engaging the attention
of the Lahore soldiery. The protected Sikh Raja of Nabha
had given a village, named Moran, to Ranjit Singh at the
Maharaja's request, in order that it might be bestowed on
Dhanna Singh, a Nabha subject, but who stood high in
favour with the master of the Punjab. The village was so
given in 1819, or after the introduction of the English
supremacy, but without the knowledge of the English
authorities, which circumstance rendered the alienation in-
valid, if it were argued that the village had become separated
from the British sovereignty. The Raja of Nabha became
displeased with Dhanna Singh, and he resumed his gift
in the year 1843 ; but in so doing his soldiers wantonly
plundered the property of the feudatory, and thus gave
the Lahore Government a ground of complaint, of which
advantage was taken for party purposes.^ But Hira Singh
and his advisers took greater exception still to the decision
of the British Government with regard to a quantity of
coin and bullion which Raja Suchet Singh had secretly
deposited in Ferozepore, and which his servants were
detected in endeavouring to remove after his death. The
treasure was estimated at 1,500,000 rupees, and it was
understood to have been sent to Ferozepore during the
recent Afghan War, for the purpose of being offered as part
of an ingratiatory loan to the English Government, which
was borrowing money at the time from the protected Sildi
chiefs. The Lahore minister claimed the treasure both as
the escheated property of a feudatory without male heirs
of his body, and as the confiscated property of a rebel killed
in arms against his sovereign ; but the British Government
considered the right to the property to be unaffected by the
owner's treason, and required that the title to it, according
to the laws of Jammu or of the Punjab, should be regularly
pleaded and proved in a British court. It "was argued in
favour of Lahore that no British subject or dependent
claimed the treasure, and that it might be expediently
made over to the ruler of the Punjab for surrender to the
^ Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 18th and 28th May 1844.

CHAP. VIII DISCUSSIONS WITH THE SIKHS 263

legal or customary owner ; but the supreme British authori- l^^-
ties would not relax further from the conventional law of
Europe than to say that if the Maharaja would write that
the Rajas Gulab Singh and Hn-a Singh assented to the
delivery of the treasure to the Sikli state for tlie purpose of
being transferred to the rightful owners, it would no longer
be detained. This proposal was not agreed to, partly because
differences had in the meantime arisen between the uncle
and nephew, and partly because the Lahore councillors
considered their original grounds of claim to be irrefragable,
according to Indian law and usage, and thus the money
remained a source of dissatisfaction, until the English stood
masters in Lahore, and accepted it as part of the price of
Kashmir, when the valley was alienated to Raja Gulab
Singh. 1

1 For the discussions about the surrender or the detention of the
treasure, see the letters of Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government of
the 7th April, 3rd and 27th May, 25th July, 10th Sept., and 5th and
25th Oct. 1844; and of Government to Lieut.-Col. Richmond of the
19th and 22nd April, 17th May, and 10th Aug. of the same year.

The principle laid down of deciding the claim to the treasure at a
British tribunal, and according to the laws of Lahore or of Jammu,
does not distinguish between public and individual right of heirship ;
or rather it decides the question with reference solely to the law in
private cases. Throughout India, the practical rule has ever been
that such property shall be administered agreeably to the customs
of the tribe or province to which the deceased belonged ; and very
frequently, when the only litigants are subjects of one and the same
foreign state, it is expediently made over to the sovereign of that state
for adjudication, on the plea that the rights of the parties can be best
ascertained on the spot, and that every ruler is a renderer of justice.

In the present instance the imperfection of the International Law
of Europe may be more to blame than the Government of India and
the legal authorities of Calcutta, for refusing to acknowledge the
right of an allied and friendly state to the property of a childless
rebel ; to which property, moreover, no British subject or dependent
preferred a claim. Vattel lays it down that a stranger's property
remains a part of the aggregate wealth of his nation, and that the
right to it is to be determined according to the laws of his own country
(Book II, chap, viii, §§ 109 and 110) ; but in the section in question
reference is solely had to cases in which subjects or private parties
are litigants ; although Mr. Chitty, in his note to § 103 (ed. 1834),
shows that foreign sovereigns can in England sue, at least, British
subjects.

The oriental customary law with regard to the estates and property

264 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, vm

1844, Hira Singh had, in his acts and successes, surpassed the

TT- q- J, general expectation, and the manner in which affairs were
guided by carried on seemed to argue unlooked-for abilities of a high
T^n^'h' order ; but the Raja himself had little more than a noble
preceptor, presence and a conciliatory address to recommend him, and
the person who directed every measure was a Brahman
Pandit, named Jalla, the familj^ priest, so to speak, of the
Jammu brothers, and the tutor of Dhian Singh's sons. This
crafty and ambitious man retained all the influence over
the youthful minister which he had exercised over the
boyish pupil on whom Ranjit Singh lavished favours.
Armies had marched, and chiefs had been vanquished, as
if at the bidding of the preceptor become councillor. His
views expanded, and he seems to have entertained the idea
of founding a dynasty of ' Peshwas ' among the rude Jats
of the Punjab, as had been done by one of his tribe among
the equally' rude Marathas of the south. He fully perceived
that the Sikh armj^must be conciliated, and also that it must
be employed. He despised, and with some reason, the spirit
and capacity of most of the titular chiefs of the country; and
he felt that Raja Gulab Singh absorbed a large proportion of
the revenues of the countrj', and seriously embarrassed the
central government by his overgrown power and influence.
It M'as primarily requisite to keep the army well and regu-
larly paid, and hence the Pandit proceeded without scruple
to sequester several of the fiefs of the sirdars, and gradually

of Jaglrdars (feudal beneficiaries) may be seen in Bernier's Travels
(p. 181), and it almost seems identical with that anciently in force
among the Anglo-Saxons with reference to 'nobles by service', the fol-
lowers of a lord or king. (See Kemble's Saxons in England, i. 178, &c.)
The right of the Government is full, and it is based on the feeling or
principle that a beneficiary has only the use during life of estates or
offices, and that all he may have accumulated, through parsimony or
oppression, is the property of the state. It may be difficult to decide
between a people and an expelled sovereign, about his guilt or Lis
tyranny, but there can be none in deciding between an allied state
and its subject about treason or rebellion. Neither refugee traitors
nor patriots are allowed to abuse their asjdum by plotting against the
Government which has cast them out ; and an extension of the prin-
ciple would prevent desperate adventurers defrauding the state which
has reared and heaped favours on them, by removing their property
previous to engaging in rash and criminal enterprises.

CHAP, viii PANDIT JALLA'S INFLUENCE

265

to inspire the soldiery with the necessity of a march against
Jamniu. Nor was he without a pretext for denouncing
Gulab Singh, as that unscrupulous chief had lately taken
.possession of the estates of Raja Suchet Singh, to which he
regarded himself as the only heir.^

Jalla showed vigour and capacity in all he did, but he
proceeded too hastily in some matters, and he attempted
too much at one time. He did not, perhaps, understand
the Sildi character in all its depths and ramifications, and
he probably undervalued the subtlety of Gulab Singh. The
Raja, indeed, was induced to divide the Jagirs of Suchet
Singh with his nephew,^ but Fateh Khan Tiwana again
excited an insurrection in the Derajat ; ^ Chattar Singh
Atariwala took up arms near Rawalpindi,* and the Muham-
madan tribes south-west of Kashmir were encouraged in
rebellion by the dexterous and experienced chief whom
Pandit Jalla sought to crush.'' Peshawara Singh again
aspired to the sovereignty of the Punjab ; he was supported
by Gulab Singh, and Jalla at last perceived the necessity
of coming to terms with one so formidable.^ A reconciliation
was accordingly patched up, and the Raja sent his son Sohan
Singh to Lahore.^ The hopes of Peshawara Singh then
vanished, and he fled for safety to the south of the Sutlej.^

Pandit Jalla made the additional mistake of forgetting
that the Siklis were not jealous of Gulab Singh alone, but
of all strangers to their faith and race ; and in trying to
crush the chiefs, he had forgotten that they were Siklis

^ Cf. Lieitt.-Col. Richmond to Government, 13th Aug. and 10th Oct.
1844.

2 Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 30th Oct. 1844.

3 Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 14th June 1844.
* Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 16th Oct. 1844.
5 Major Broadfoot to Government, 24th Nov. 1844.

® Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 16th Oct. 1844, and
Major Broadfoot to Government, 24th Nov. 1844.

' Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 30th Oct. 1844, and
Major Broadfoot to Government, 13th Nov. and 16th Dec. 1844.

8 Major Broadfoot to Government, 14th and 18th Nov. 1844.
Major Broadfoot, who succeeded Lieut.-Col. Richmond as agent on
the frontier on the 1st Nov. 1844, received Peshawara Singh with
civilities unusual under the circumstances, and proposed to assign
him an allowance of a thousand rupees a month.

1844.

Pandit
Jalla and
Gulab
Singh.

Pandit
.Jalla irri-
tates the
Sikhs, and
offends the
Queen-
mother.

266 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1844. equally with the soldiers, and that the ' Klialsa ' was a word

which could be used to unite the high and low. He showed
no respect even to sardars of ability and means. Lahna Singh
Majithia quitted the Punjab, on pretence of a pilgrimage,
in the month of March 1844,^ and the only person who was
raised to any distinction was the unworthy Lai Singh, a
Brahman, and a follower of the Rajas of Jammu, but who
was understood to have gained a disgraceful influence over
the impure mind of Ram Jindan. The Pandit again, in his
arrogance, had ventured to use some expressions of im-
patience and disrespect towards the mother of the Maharaja,
and he had habitually treated Jawahir Singh, her brother,
with neglect and contempt. The impulsive soldiery was
wrought upon by the incensed woman and ambitious man ;
the relict of the great Maharaja appealed to the children of
the Khalsa, already excited by the proscribed chiefs, and
Hira Singh and Pandit Jalla perceived that their rule was
Hira Singh at an end. On the 21st December 1844 they endeavoured
Jalla^fly^^^ to avoid the wrath of the Sikh soldiery by a sudden flight
but are from the capital, but they were overtaken and slain before
and^putTo ^^^^ could reach Jammu, along with Sohan Singh, the
death, 21st cousin of the minister, and Labh Singh, so lately hailed as
Dec. 1844. ^ victorious commander. The memory of Pandit Jalla con-
tinued to be execrated, but the fate of Hira Singh excited some
few regrets, for he had well avenged the death of his father,
and he had borne his dignities with grace and modesty.^
Jawahir The sudden breaking up of Hira Singh's government

L"Ts' h <^^^s^d some confusion for a time, and the state seemed to
attain be without a responsible head ; but it was gradually per-
power. ceived that Jawahir Singh, the brother, and Lai Singh, the
favourite of the Rani, would form the most influential
members of the administration.^ Peshawara Singh, indeed,
escaped from the custody of the British authorities, by
whom he had been placed under surveillance, when he fled
across the Sutlej ; but he made no attempt at the moment

1 Lahna Singh went first to Hardwar and afterwards to Benares.
He next visited Gaya and Jagannath and Calcutta, and he was
residing in the last-named place when hostilities broke out with the
Sikhs.

8 Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 24th and 28th Dec. 1844.

CHAP, VIII

PANDIT JALLA'S POLICY

267

Jammu.

to become supreme, and he seemed to adhere to those who 1844.
had so signally avenged him on Hira Singh .^ The services
of the troops were rewarded by the addition of half a rupee
a month to the pay of the common soldier, many fiefs were
restored, and the cupidity of all parties in the state was
excited by a renewal of the designs against Gulab Singh. ^
The disturbances in the mountains of Kashmir were put
down, the insurgent Fateh I^an was taken into favour,
Peshawar was secure against the power of all the Afghans,
although it was known that Gulab Singh encouraged the
reduced Barakzais with promises of support ; ^ but it was
essential to the government that the troops should be em-
ployed : it was pleasing to the men to be able to gratify
their avarice or their vengeance, and they therefore marched
against Jammu with alacrity.*

Gulab Singh, who knew the relative inferiority of his The Sikh
soldiers, brought all his arts into play. He distributed his j^^^gg
money freely among the Panchayats of regiments, he grati- against
fled the members of these committees by his personal
attentions, and he again inspired Peshawara Singh with
designs upon the sovereignty itself. He promised a gratuity
to the army which had marched to urge upon him the pro-
priety of submission, he agreed to surrender certain portions
of the general possessions of the family, and to pay to the
state a fine of 3,500,000 rupees.^ But an altercation arose
between the Lahore and Jammu followers when the pro-
mised donative was being removed, which ended in a fatal
affray ; and afterwards an old Sikh chief, Fateh Singh Man,
and one Bachna, who had deserted Gulab Singh's service,
were waylaid and slain.^ The Raja protested against the
accusation of connivance or treachery ; nor is it probable

1 Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 28tli Dec. 1844, and 4th Jan.
184.5. As Major Broadfoot, however, x^oints out, the prince seemed
ready enough to grasp at power even so early as January.

- Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 28th Dec. 1844, and 2nd Jan.
1845.

^ Major Broadfoot to Government, 16th Jan. 1845.

* The troops further rejected the terms to which the Lahore court
seemed inclined to come with Gulab Singh. (Major Broadfoot to
Government, 22nd Jan. 1845.)

5 Major Broadfoot to Government, 18th March 1845.

• Major Broadfoot to Government, 3rd March 1845.

Feb. to

March

1845.

268

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. VIII

1845.

Gulab
Singh sub-
mits and
repairs to
Lahore,
April 1845.

Jawahir
Singh for-
mally ap-
pointed
Wazir,
Mav 14,
1845.

that at the time he desired to take the life of any one except
Bachna, who had been variously employed by him, and who
knew the extent of his resources. The act nevertheless
greatly excited the Sikh soldiery, and Gulab Singh perceived
that submission alone would -save Jammu from being
sacked. He succeeded in partially gaining over two brigades,
he joined their camp, and he arrived at Lahore early in
April 1845, half a prisoner, and yet not without a reasonable
prospect of becoming the minister of the country ; for the
mass of the Sikh soldiery thought that one so great had been
sufficiently humbled, the Panchayats had been won by his
money and his blandishments, and many of the old servants
of Ranjit Singh had confidence in his ability and in his good-
will towards the state generally .'^ There yet, however,
existed some remnants of the animosity which had proved
fatal to Hira Singh ; the representatives of many expelled
hill chiefs were ready to compass the death of their greatest
enemy ; and an Akali fanatic could take the life of the
' Dogra ' Raja with applause and impunity. Jawahir Singh
plainly aimed at the office of WazIr, and Lai Singh's own
ambition prompted him to use his influence with the mother
of the Maharaja to resist the growing feeling in favour of
the chief whose capacity for affairs all envied and dreaded.
Hence Gulab Singh deemed it prudent to avoid a contest
for power at that time, and to remove from Lahore to a
place of greater safety. He agreed to pay in all a fine of
6,800,000 rupees, to yield up nearly all the districts which
had been held by his family, excepting his own proper fiefs,
and to renew his lease of the salt mines between the Indus
and Jhelum, on terms which virtually deprived him of a
large profit, and of the political superiority in the hills of
Rohtas.2 He was present at the installation of Jawahir
Singh as WazIr on the 14th May,^ and at the betrothal of
the IMaharaja to a daughter of the Atari chief Chattar Singh
on the 10th July ; * and towards the end of the following

1 Cf. Major Broadfoot to Cilovernment, 8th and 9th April and 5th
May 1845.

2 Major Broadfoot to Government, r)th May 1845.
2 Major Broadfoot to Government, 24th May 1845.
•* Major Broadfoot to Government, 14th July 1845.

CHAP. VIII SUBMISSION OF GULAB SINGH

269

month he retired to Jammu, shorn of much real power, but
become acceptable to the troops by his humility, and to the
final conviction of the English authorities, that the levies of
the mountain Rajpiits were unequal to a contest even with
the Sikh soldiery.^

The able Governor of Multan was assassinated in the
month of September 1844 by a man accused of marauding,
and yet imprudently allowed a considerable degree of
liberty .2 Mulraj, the son of the Diw5,n, had been appointed
or permitted to succeed his father by the declining govern-
ment of Hira Singh, and he showed more aptitude for affairs
than was expected. He suppressed a mutiny among the
provincial troops, partly composed of Sikhs, with vigour and
success ; and he was equally prompt in dealing with a younger
brother, who desired to have half the province assigned to
him as the equal heir of the deceased Dlwan. Mulraj put
his brother in prison, and thus freed himself from all local
dangers ; but he had steadily evaded the demands of the
Lahore court for an increased farm or contract, and he had
likewise objected to the large ' Nazarana ', or relief, which
was required as the usual condition of succession. As soon,
therefore, as Gulab Singh had been reduced to obedience, it
was proposed to dispatch a force against Multan, and the
' Khalsa ' approved of the measure through the assembled
Panchayats of regiments and brigades. This resolution
induced the new governor to yield, and in September (1845)
it was arranged that he should pay a fine of 1,800,000 rupees.
He escaped an addition to his contract sum, but he was
deprived of some petty districts to satisfy in a measure the
letter of the original demand.^

1 Major Broadfoot confessed that 'late events had shown the Raja's
weakness in the hills ' , where he should have been strongest, had his
followers been brave and trusty. (Major Broadfoot to Government,
5th May 1845.)

2 Lieut. -Col. Richmond to Government, 10th Oct. 1844.

^ In this paragraph the author has followed mainly his own notes
of occurrences. The mutiny of the Multan troops took place in Nov.
1844. The Governor at once surrounded them, and demanded the
ringleaders, and on their surrender being refused, he opened a fire
upon their whole body, and killed, as was said, nearly 400 of them.
Diwan Mulraj seized and confined his brother in Aug. 1845, and in
the following month the terms of his succession were settled with the

1845.

SawanMal,
of Multan,
assassin-
ated, Sept.
1844.

Mulraj,
his son,
succeeds ;

and agrees
to the
terms of
the Lahore
court,
1845.

270 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

l^^5. The proceedings of Pesliawara Singh caused more dis-

The rebel- q^ii^tude to tlie new Wazir personally than the hostility of
lion of Gulab Singh, or the resistance of the Governor of Multan.
sfng^y^''^ The prince was vain and of slender capacity, but his rela-
tionship to Ranjit Singh gave him some hold upon the minds
of the Sikhs. He was encouraged by Gulab Singh, then safe
in the hills, and he was assured of support by the brigade of
troops which had made Jawahir Singh a prisoner, when that
chief threatened to fly with the Maharaja into the British
territories. Jawahir Singh had not heeded the value to the
state of the prudence of the soldiers in restraining him ; he
thought only of the personal indignity, and soon after his
accession to power he barbarously mutilated the commander
of the offending division, by depriving him of his nose and
March ears. Peshawara Singh felt himself countenanced, and he
1845 ; endeavoured to rally a party around him at Sialkot, which

he held in fief. But the Sikhs were not disposed to thus
suddenly admit his pretensions ; he was reduced to straits ;
and in the month of June he fled, and lived at large on the
country, until towards the end of July, when he surprised
the fort of Attock, proclaimed himself Maharaja, and
entered into a correspondence with Dost Muhammad Khan.
Sardar Chattar Singh of Atari was sent against the pretender,
and troops were moved from Dera Ismail Khan to aid in
reducing him. The prince was beleaguered in his fort, and
who sub- became aware of his insignificance ; he submitted on the 30th
puUo^"*^ '^ August, and was directed to be removed to Lahore, but he was
death sccretly put to death at the instigation of Jawahir Singh, and

1845^ through the instrumentality, as understood, of Fateh Khan
Tiwana, who sought by rendering an important service to
further ingratiate himself with that master for the time being
who had restored him to favour, and who had appointed him
to the management of the upper Derajat of the Indus. ^

Lahore court. [Miilraj never paid his fine. In April 1848, when
threatened with force, he resigned, and Kahn Singh was sent from
Lahore to relieve him, accompanied by Mr. Vans Agnew and Lieut.
Anderson. The murder of these officers on their arrival at Multan
led to the second Sikh War and the final extinction of Sikh inde-
pendence.— Ed.]

1 Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 14th and 26th July and
8th and 18th Sept. 1845.

CHAP. VIII DEATH OF JAWAHIR SINGH

271

This last triumph was fatal to Jawahir Singh, and anger
was added to the contempt in which he had always been
held. He had sometimes displayed both energy and perse-
verance, but his vigour was the impulse of personal resent-
ment, and it was never characterized by judgement or by
superior intelligence. His original design of flying to the
English had displeased the Siklis, and rendered them suspi-
cious of his good faith as a member of the Khalsa ; and no
sooner had his revenge been gratified by the expulsion of
HTra Singh and Pandit Jalla, than he found himself the mere
sport and plaything of the army, which had only united with
him for the attainment of a common object The soldiery
began to talk of themselves as pre-eminently the ' Panth
Klialsagi ', or congregation of believers ; ^ and Jawahir
Singh was overawed by the spirit which animated the armed
host. In the midst of the successes against Jammu, he
trembled for his fate, and he twice laid plans for escaping
to the south of the Sutlej ; but the troops were jealous of
such a step on the part of their nominal master. He felt
that he was watched, and he abandoned the hope of escape
to seek relief in dissipation, in the levy of Muhammadan
regiments, and in idle or desperate threats of war with his
British allies. ^ Jawahir Singh was thus despised and dis-
trusted by the Siklis themselves ; their enmity to him was
fomented by Lai Singh, who aimed at the post of wazlr ;
and the murder of Peshawara Singh added to the general
exasperation, for the act was condemned as insulting to the
people, and it was held up to reprobation by the chiefs as
one which would compromise their own safety, if allowed to
pass with impunity.^ The Panchayats of regiments met in
council, and they resolved that Jawahir Singh should die as
a traitor to the commonwealth, for death is almost the only
mode by which tumultuous, half-barbarous governments

1 Or, as the ' Sarbat Kiialsa ', the body of the elect. Major Broad-
foot (letter of 2nd Feb. 1845) thought this title, which the soldiers
arrogated to themselves, was new in correspondence ; but Govern-
ment pointed out, in reply, that it was an old term according to the
Calcutta records.

2 Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 23rd and 28th Feb., 5th
April (a demi-official letter), and 15th and 18th Sept. 1845.

'■* Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 22nd Sept. 1845.

1845.

The Sikh
soldiery
displeased
and dis-
trustful.

The per-
plexity of
Jawahir
Singh.

The army
condemas
him and
puts him to
death,
Sept. 21,
1845.

272 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, viii

1845. can remove an obnoxious minister. He was accordingly

required to appear on the 21st September before the
assembled Ivlialsa to answer for his misdeeds. He went,
seated upon an elephant ; but fearing his fate, he took with
him the young Maharaja and a quantity of gold and jewels.
On his arrival in front of the troops, he endeavoured to gain
over some influential deputies and officers by present dona-
tives and by lavish promises, but he was sternly desired to
let the Maharaja be removed from his side, and to be himself
silent. The boy was placed in a tent near at hand, and a
party of soldiers advanced and put the wazir to death by a
discharge of musketry.^ Two other persons, the sycophants
of the minister, were killed at the same time, but no pillage
or massacre occurred ; the act partook of the solemnity
and moderation of a judicial process, ordained and witnessed
by a whole people ; and the body of Jawahir Singh was
allowed to be removed and burnt with the dreadful honours
of the SatI sacrifice, among the last, perhaps, which will
take place in India.
The army For some time after the death of Jawahir Singh, no one
ful^°^^'^'^' seemed willing to become the supreme administrative
authority in the state, or to place himself at the head of
that self-dependent army, which in a few months had led
captive the formidable chief of Jammu, reduced to sub-
mission the powerful governor of Multan, put down the
rebellion of one recognized as the brother of the Maharaja,
and pronounced and executed judgement on the highest
functionary in the kingdom, and which had" also without
effort contrived to keep the famed Afghans in check at
Peshawar and along the frontier. Raja Gulab Singh was
urged to repair to the capital, but he and all others were
overawed, and the Rani Jindan held herself for a time a
regular court, in the absence of a wazlr. The army was
partly satisfied with this arrangement, for the committees
considered that they could keep the provinces obedient, and
they reposed confidence in the talents or the integrity of
the accountant Dina Nath, of the paymaster Bhagat Ram,

1 Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 26th Sept. 1845. It may be
added that the Sikhs generally regarded Jawahir Singh as one ready
to bring in the English, and as faithless to the Khalsa.

CHAP, viii DEATH OF JAWAHIR SINGH

273

and of Nur-ud-din, almost as familiar as his old and infirm
brother Aziz-ud-din, with the particulars of the treaties
and engagements with the English. The army had formerly
required that these three men should be consulted by
Jawahir Singh ; but the advantage of a responsible head
was, nevertheless, apparent, and as the soldiers were by
degrees wrought upon to wage war with their European
neighbours. Raja Lai Singh was nominated wazir, and
Sardar Tej Singh was reconfirmed in his office of Com-
mander-in-Chief. These appointments were made early
in November 1845.^^

1845.

LalSingh
made wa-
zir, and
Tej Singh
Comman-
der-in-
Chief, in
expectation
of an Eng-
hsh war.

^ In this paragraph the author has followed mainly his own notes
of occurrences.

CHAPTER IX

THE WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

1845-6

Causes leading to a war between the Sikhs and English — The English,
being apprehensive of frontier disturbances, adopt defensive
measures on a scale opposed to the spirit of the policy of 1809 —
The Sikhs, being prone to suspicion, consider themselves in
danger of invasion — And are further moved by their want of
confidence in the English representative — The Sikhs resolve to
anticipate the English, and wage war by crossing the Sutlej — The
tactics of the Sikhs — The views of the Sikh leaders — Ferozepore
purposely spared — The Battle of Mudki— The Battle of P'heeroo-
shuhur, and retreat of the Sikhs — The effect of these barren vic-
tories upon the Indians and the English themselves — The Sikhs
again cross the Sutlej — The Skirmish of Badowal — The Battle of
Aliwal — Negotiations through Raja Gulab Singh — The Battle of
Sobraon — The submission of the Sikh Chiefs, and the occupa-
tion of Lahore — The partition of the Punjab — The Treaty with
Dalip Singh — The Treaty with Gulab Singh — Conclusion,
relative to the position of the English in India.

1845-6. The English Government had long expected that it would

"7 '. he forced into a war with the overbearing soldiery of the
public pre- Punjab : the Indian public, which considered only the fact
pared for of the progressive aggrandizement of the strangers, was
between prepared to hear of the annexation .of another kingdom
the Sikhs without minutely inquiring or caring about the causes
English. which led to it ; and the more selfish chiefs of the Sikhs
had always desired that such a degree of interference should
be exercised in the affairs of their country as would guaran-
tee to them the easy enjoyment of their possessions. These
wealthy and incapable men stood rebuked before the
superior genius of Ranjit Singh, and before the mysterious
spirit which animated the people arrayed in arms, and they
thus fondly hoped that a change would give them all they
could desire ; but it is doubtful whether the Sikh soldiery
ever seriously thought, although they often vauntingly
boasted, of fighting with the paramount power of Hindu-

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 275

Stan, until within two or three months of the first battles, 1845-6.

the Sikhs.

and even then the rude and illiterate yeomen considered
that they were about to enter upon a war purely defensive,
although one in every way congenial to their feelings of
youthful pride and national jealousy.

From the moment the Sikh army became predominant Theappre-
in the state, the English authorities had been persuaded !'u^°"f- *^
that the machinery of government would be broken up,
that bands of plunderers would everywhere arise, and that
the duty of a civilized people to society generally, and of
a governing power to its own subjects, would all combine
to bring on a collision ; and thus measures which seemed
sufficient were adopted for strengthening the frontier posts,
and for having a force at hand which might prevent
aggression, or which would at least exact retribution and
vindicate the supremacy of the English name.^ These were The fears of
the fair and moderate objects of the British Government ;
but the Sikhs took a different view of the relative condi-
tions of the two states ; they feared the ambition of their
great and growing neighbour, they did not understand why
they should be dreaded when intestine commotions had
reduced their comparative inferiority still lower ; or why
inefficiency of rule should be construed into hostility of
purpose ; defensive measures took in their eyes the form
of aggressive preparations, and they came to the conclusion
that their country was to be invaded. Nor does this con-
viction of the weaker and less intelligent power appear to
be strange or unreasonable, although erroneous — for it is
always to be borne in mind that India is far behind Europe
in civilization, and that political morality or moderation is
as little appreciated in the East in these days as it was in
Christendom in the Middle Ages. Hindustan, moreover,
from Kabul to the valley of Assam and the island of Ceylon,
is regarded as one country, and dominion in it is associated
in the minds of the people with the predominance of one
monarch or of one race. The supremacy of Vikramajit and
Chandra Gupta, of the Turkomans and Mughals, is familiar

1 Cf. Minute by the Governor-General, of the 16th June 1845, and
the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 1st October 1845.
(Parliamentary Paper, 1846.)

T2

276 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. to all, and thus on hearing of further acquisitions by the
English, a Hindu or Muhammadan will simply observe that
the destiny of the nation is great, or that its cannon is
irresistible. A prince may chafe that he loses a province
or is rendered tributary ; but the public will never accuse
the conquerors of unjust aggression, or at least of unrighteous
and unprincipled ambition.

TheEnglish To this general persuasion of the Sikhs, in common with

advance other Indian nations, that the English were and are ever

bodies of ' "

troops to- ready to extend their power, is to be added the particular

wards the bearing of the British Government towards the Punjab
trary to itself. In 1809, when the apprehensions of a French
* n'sno'^"^^ invasion of the East had subsided, when the resolution of
making the Jumna a boundary was still approved, and when
the policy of forming the province of Sirhind into a neutral
or separating tract between two dissimilar powers had been
wisely adopted, the English Viceroy had said that rather
than irritate Ranjit Singh, the detachment of troops which
had been advanced to Ludhiana might be withdrawn to
Karnal.^ It was not indeed thought advisable to carry out
the proposition ; but up to the period of the Afghan war
of 1838, the garrison of Ludhiana formed the only body of
armed men near the Sikh frontier, excepting the provincial
regiment raised at Sabathu for the police of the hills after
the Gurldia war. The advanced post on the Sutlej was of
little military or political use ; but it served as the most
conspicuous symbol of the compact with the Sikhs ; and
they, as the inferior power, were alwaj^s disposed to lean
upon old engagements as those which warranted the least
degree of intimacy or dictation. In 1835 the petty chief-
ship of Ferozepore, seventy miles lower down the Sutlej
than Ludhiana, was occupied by the English as an escheat
due to their protection of all Sikli lordships save that of
Lahore. The advantages of the place in a military point of
view had been perseveringly extolled, and its proximity to
the capital of the Punjab made Ranjit Singh, in his pro-
phetic fear, claim it as a dependency of his own.^ In 1838
the Maharaja's apprehensions that the insignificant town

1 Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 30th Jan. 1809.

2 See chap. vii.

WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

277

would become a cantonment were fully realized ; for 1845-6.
twelve thousand men assembled at Ferozepore to march
to lOiorasan ; and as it was learnt, before the date fixed
for the departure of the army, that the Persians had raised
the siege of Herat, it was determined that a small division
should be left behind, until the success of the projected
invasion rendered its presence no longer necessary.'^ But
the succeeding warfare in Afghanistan and Sind gave the
new cantonment a character of permanency, and in 1842
the remoteness from support of the two posts on the Sutlej
was one of the arguments used for advancing a considerable
body of troops to Ambala as a reserve, and for placing
European regirrients in the hills still closer to the Sikli
frontier.^ The relations of 1809 were nevertheless cherished
by the Siklis, although they may have been little heeded by
the English amid the multifarious considerations attendant
on their changed position in India, and who, assured of
the rectitude of their intentions, persuaded of the general
advantage of their measures, and conscious of their over-
whelming power, are naturally prone to disregard the less
obvious feelings of their dependants, and to be careless of
the light in which their acts may be viewed by those whose
aims and apprehensions are totally different from their
own.

It had never been concealed from the Sikh authorities,
that the helpless condition of the acknowledged government
of the country was held to justify such additions to the

TheEnglish
views about
Peshawar,
and their
offer to

1 This was the understanding at the time, but no document appears
to have been drawn up to that effect. It was indeed expected that
Shah Shuja would be seated on his throne, and the British army-
withdrawn, all within a twelvemonth.

2 The author cannot refer to any written record of these reasons,
but he knows that they were used. When the step in advance was
resolved on, it is only to be regretted that the cantonment was not
formed at Sirhind, the advantages of which as a military post with
reference to the Punjab, as being central to all the principal passages
of the Sutlej, Sir David Ochterlony had long before pointed out.
(Sir D. Ochterlony to Government, 3rd May 1810.) Some delicacy,
however, was felt towards the Sikhs of Patiala, to whom Sirhind
belonged ; although the more important and less defensible step of
alarming the Sikhs of Lahore had been taken without heed or hesi-
tation.

278 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. troops at Ludhiana and Ferozepore as would give confidence
support *^ *^^ inhabitants of these districts, and ensure the success-
Sher Singh, ful defence of the posts themselves against predatory bands.^

with ti? ^^^ ^'** *^^ ^i**^ '^^^y *^^^ abstract right of the English
Sikhs. to make what military arrangements they pleased for the

security of their proper territories : but that any danger was
to be apprehended from Lahore was not admitted by men
conscious of their weakness ; and thus by every process of
reasoning employed, the Sikhs still came to the same con-
clusion that they were threatened. Many circumstances,
unheeded or undervalued by the English, gave further
strength to this conviction. It had not indeed been made
known to the Sikhs that Sir William Macnaghten and others
had proposed to dismember their kingdom by bestowing
Peshawar on Shah Shuja, when Ranjit Singh's line was held
to end with the death of his grandson ; but it would be idle
to suppose the Lahore government ignorant of a scheme
which was discussed in official correspondence, and doubtless
in private society, or of the previous desire of Sir Alexander
Burnes to bestow the same tract on Dost Muhammad Khan,
which was equally a topic of conversation ; and the Sikh
authorities must at least have had a lively remembrance
of the English offer of 1843, to march upon their capital,
and to disperse their army. Again, in 1844 and 1845, the
• facts were whispered abroad and treasured up, that the
English were preparing boats at Bombay to make bridges
across the Sutlej, that troops in Sind were being equipped
for a march on Multan,^ and that the various garrisons of

1 Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 2nd Dec. 1845,
(Parliamentary Papers, 1846) ; and also his dispatch of the 31st
Dec. 1845 (Parliamentary Papers, p. 28).

- The collection of ordnance and ammunition at Sakhar for the
equipment of a force of five thousand men, to march towards Multan,
was a subject of ordinary official correspondence in 1844-5, as, for
instance, between the Military Board in Calcutta and the officers of
departments under its control. Sir Charles Napier assures the author
that he, although Governor, had no cognizance of the correspondence
in question, and made no preparations for equipping a force for service.
Of the fact of the correspondence the author has no doubt ; but the
expression ' collection of the means ', used in the first edition, can be
held to imply too much, and the meaning is now correctly restored to
' ordnance and ammunition'. The object of the Supreme Government

WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

279

the north-west provinces were being gradually reinforced,
while some of them were being abundantly supplied with
the munitions of war as well as with troops.'^ None of these
things were communicated to the Silch government, but
they were nevertheless believed by all parties, and they were
held to denote a campaign, not of defence, but of aggression. ^
The Sikhs thus considered that the fixed policy of the
English was territorial aggrandizement, and that the imme-
diate object of their ambition was the conquest of Lahore.
This persuasion of the people was brought home to them by
the acts of the British representative for the time, and by
the opinion which they had preformed of his views. Mr.
Clerk became Lieutenant-Governor of Agra in June 1843,
and he was succeeded as Agent for the affairs of the Siklis
by Lieut. -Col. Richmond, whose place again was taken by
Major Broadfoot, a man of undoubted energy and ability,
in November of the following year. In India the views of
the British Government are, by custom, made known to
allies and dependants through one channel only, namely,
that of an accredited English officer. The personal character
of such a functionary gives a colour to all he does and says ;
the policy of the government is indeed judged of by the
bearing of its representative, and it is certain that the Sikli
authorities did not derive any assurance of an increasing
desire for peace, from the nomination of an officer who, thirty

was not to march on Multan at that time, but to be prepared, at least
in part, for future hostilities.

1 The details of the preparations made by Lords EUenborough
and Hardinge may be seen in an article on the administration of the
latter nobleman, in the Calcutta Review, which is understood to be
the production of Lieut. -Col. Lawrence.

Up to 1838 the troops on the frontier amounted to one regiment at
Sabathu, and two at Ludhiana, with six pieces of artillery, equalling
in all little more than 2,500 men. Lord Auckland made the total
about 8,000, by increasing Ludhiana and creating Ferozepore.
Lord EUenborough formed further new stations at Ambala, Kasauli,
and Simla, and placed in all about 14,000 men and 48 field guns on
the frontier. Lord Hardinge increased the aggregate force to about
32,000 men, with 68 field guns, besides having 10,000 men with
artillery at Meerut. After 1843, however, the station of Karnal, on
the Jumna, was abandoned, which in 1838 and preceding years may
have mustered about 4,000 men.

2 Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, Dec. 2, 1845,

1845-6.

The Sikhs
further
moved by
their esti-
mate of the
British
Agent of
the day.

280 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. months before, had made so stormy a passage through their

country.^
Major One of Major Broadfoot's ^ first acts was to declare the

views and^ Cis-Sutlej possessions of Lahore to be under British pro-
overt acts tection equally with Patiala and other chiefships, and also
ple*^ine to ^^ ^^ liable to escheat on the death or deposition of Maha-
the Sikhs, raja Dallp Singh .^ This view was not formally announced
to the Sikh government, but it was notorious, and Major
Broadfoot acted on it when he proceeded to interfere
authoritatively, and by a display of force, in the affairs of
the priest-like Sodhls of Anandpur-Makhowal, a fief to
which some years before it had been declared to be expedient
' to waive all claim, especially as Ranjit Singh could best deal

with the privileged proprietors.* Again, a troop of horse
had crossed the Sutlej near Ferozepore, to proceed to Kot
Kapura, a Lahore town, to relieve or strengthen the mounted
police ordinarily stationed there ; but the party had crossed
without the previous sanction of the British Agent having
been obtained, agreeabty to an understanding between the
~ . two governments, based on an article of the treaty of 1809,

but which modified arrangement was scarcely applicable to so
small a body of men proceeding for such a purpose. Major
Broadfoot nevertheless required the horsemen to recross ;

1 Sir Claude Wade, in his Narrative of Services (p. 19, note), well
.observes it to be essential to the preservation of the English system
of alliances in India, that political representatives should be regarded
as friends by the chiefs with whom they reside, rather than as the
mere instruments of conveying the orders or of enforcing the policy
of foreign masters.

2 See p. 238, with regard to Major Broadfoot's passage of the Punjab
in 1841.

3 Major Broadfoot's letters to Government, of the 7th Dec. 1844,
30th Jan. and 28th Feb. 1845, may be referred to as explanatory of
his views. In the last letter he distinctly says that if the young
Maharaja Dalip Singh, who was then ill of the small-pox, should die,
he would direct the reports regarding the Cis-Sutlej districts to be
made to himself (through the Lahore vakil or agent indeed), and not
to any one in the Punjab.

* With regard to Anandpur, see chap. vii. About the particular
dispute noticed in the text. Major Broadfoot's letter to Government
of the 13th Sept. 1845 may be referred to. It labours in a halting
way to justify his proceedings and his assumption of jurisdiction
under ordinarj' circumstances.

CHAP. IX

WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

281

and as he considered them dilatory in their obedience, he 1845-6.
followed them with his escort, and overtook them as they
were about to ford the river. A shot was fired by the English
party, and the extreme desire of the Sikh commandant to
avoid doing anything which might be held to compromise
his government, alone prevented a coUision.'^ Further, the
bridge-boats which had been prepared at Bombay were
dispatched towards Ferozepore in the autumn of 1845, and
Major Broadfoot almost avowed that hostilities had broken
out when he manifested an apprehension of danger to these
armed vessels, by ordering strong guards of soldiers to escort
them safely to their destination, and when he began to
exercise their crews in the formation of bridges after their
arrival at Ferozepore.^

The views held by Major Broadfoot, and virtually adopted
by the supreme government, with respect to the Cis-Sutlej
districts, and also the measures followed in particular
instances, may all be defended to a certain extent, as they
indeed were, on specious grounds, as on the vague declara-
tions of Sir David Ochterlony or on the deferential in-
junctions of Ranjit Singh.^ It is even believed that if the

Major
Broadfoot's
proceed-
ings held to
virtually
denote war.

1 Cf. Major Broadfoot to Government, 27th March 1845. It is
understood that the Government disapproved of these proceedings.

The Calcutta Review for June 1849 (p. 547) states that the Governor-
General did not, as represented, disapprove, but, on the contrary,
entirely approved, of Major Broadfoot's proceedings in this matter.
The Reviewer writes like one possessed of official knowledge, but I
am nevertheless unwilling to believe that the Governor-General could
have been pleased with the violent and unbecoming act of his agent,
although his lordship may have desired to see the irregular conduct
of the Sikhs firmly checked.

2 A detachment of troops under a European officer was required to
be sent with each batch of boats, owing to the state of the Punjab.
Nevertheless, small iron steamers were allowed to navigate the Sutlej
at the time without guards, and one lay under the guns of Phillaur
for several days without meeting aught except civility on the part
of the Sikhs.

^ Major Broadfoot is understood to have quoted to the Sikhs a
letter of Sir David Ochterlony' s, dated the 7th May 1809, to Mohkam
Chand, Ranjit Singh's representative, to the effect that the Cis-Sutlej
Lahore states were equally under British protection with other states ;
and also an order of April 1824, from Ranjit Singh, requiring his
authorities south of the Sutlej to obey the English Agent, on pain of

282 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. cession of the tracts in question had been desired, their
relinquishment might have been effected without a resort
to arms ; but every act of Major Broadfoot was considered
to denote a foregone resolution, and to be conceived in a
spirit of enmity rather than of goodwill.^ Nor did the Sikhs

having their noses slit. It is not improbable that Sir David Ochter-
lony may, at the early date quoted, have so understood the nature
of the British connexion with reference to some particular case then
before him, but that the Cis-Sutlej states of Lahore were held under
feudal obligations to the English seems scarcely tenable, for the
following reasons : (1) The i^rotection extended by the EngUsh to
the chiefs of Sirhind was declared to mean protection to thon against
Ranjit Singh, and therefore not protection of the whole country
between the Sutlej and Jumna, a portion of which belonged to Lahore.
(See the Treaty of 1809, and Article I of the declaration of the 3rd
May 1809 ; and also Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 10th April
1809.) Further, when convenient, the British Government could even
maintain, that although the Treaty of 1809 was binding on Ranjit
Singh, with reference to Cis-Sutlej states, it was not binding on the
English, whom it simply authorized to interfere at their discretion.
(Government to Capt. Wade, 23rd April 1833.) This was indeed
written with reference to Bahawalpur, but the application was made
general. (2) The protection accorded to the chiefs of Sirhind was
afterwards extended so as to give them security in the plains, but not
in the hills, against the Gurkhas as well as against Ranjit Singh
(Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 23rd Jan. 1810) ; while with
regard to Ranjit Singh's own Cis-Sutlej possessions, it was declared
. that he himself must defend them (against Nepal), leaving it a
question of policy as to whether he should or should not be aided in
their defence. It was further added, that he might march through
his Cis-Sutlej districts, to enable him to attack the Gurkhas in the
hills near the Jumna, in defence of the districts in question, should he
so wish. (Government to Sir David Ochterlony, 4th Oct. and
22nd Nov. 1811.) The opinion of Sir Charles Metcalfe, about the
proceedings of the English with regard to Whadni (see ante, p. 163,
note), may also be quoted as bearing on the case in a way adverse to
Major Broadfoot.

1 It was generally held by the English in India that Major Broad-
foot's appointment greatly increased the probabilities of a war with
the Sikhs ; and the impression was equally strong that had Mr. Clerk,
for instance, remained as Agent, there would have been no war. Had
Mr. Clerk again, or Col. Wade, been the British representative in
1845, either would have gone to Lahore in person, and would have
remonstrated against the selfish and unscrupulous proceedings of the
managers of affairs as obviously tending to bring on a rupture. They
would also have taken measures to show to the troops that the British
Government would not be aggressors ; they would have told the chiefs

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 283

seem to be menaced by their allies on one side only. In the 1845-6.
summer of 1845 some horsemen from Multan crossed a few
miles into the Sind territory in pursuit of certain marauders,
and in seizing them, the Lahore soldiers were reported to

that a war would compromise them with the English, nor would they
have come away until every personal risk had been run, and every
exertion used to avert a resort to arms. That Major Broadfoot was
regarded as hostile to the Sikhs may, perhaps, almost be gathered
from his own letters. On the 19th March 1845 he wrote that the
Governor of Multan had asked what course he, the Governor, should
pursue, if the Lahore troops marched against him, to enforce obedi-
ence to demands made. The question does not seem one which a
recusant servant would put under ordinary circumstances to the
preserver of friendship between his master and the English. Major
Broadfoot, however, would appear to have recurred to the virtual
overtures of Dlwan Mulraj, for on the 20th Nov. 1845, when he wrote
to all authorities in any way connected with the Punjab, that the
British provinces were threatened with invasion, he told the Major-
General at Sakhar that the Governor of Multan would defend Sind
with his provincials against the Sikhs ! — thus leading to the belief
that he had succeeded in detaching the Governor from his allegiance
to Lahore. When this note was originally written, the author thought
that Major Broadfoot' s warning in question had been addressed to
Sir Charles Napier himself, but he has subsequently ascertained that
the letter was sent to his Excellency's deputy in the upper portion
of the country, and that Sir Charles Napier has no recollection of
receiving a similar communication.

Some allusion may also be made to a falsified speech of Sir Charles
Napier's, which ran the round of the papers at the time, about the
British army being called on to move into the Punjab, especially as
Major Broadfoot considered the Sikh leaders to be moved in a greater
degree by the Indian newspapers than is implied in a passing attention
to reiterated paragraphs about invasion. He thought, for instance,
that Pandit Jalla understood the extent to which Government
deferred to public opinion, and that the Brahman himself designed
to make use of the press as an instrument. (Major Broadfoot to
Government, 30th Jan. 1845.)

In the first edition of this history the speech of Sir Charles Napier
was referred to as if it had really been made in the terms reported,
but the author has now learnt from his Excellency that nothing
whatever was said about leading troops into the Punjab, or about
engaging in war with the Sikhs. The author has likewise ascertained
from Sir Charles Napier, that the mention made in the first edition
about a proposal to station a considerable force at Kashmor having
been disapproved by the Supreme Government is incorrect, and he
offers his apologies to the distinguished leader misrepresented for
giving original or additional currency to the errors in question.

284 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. have used needless violence, and perhaps to have committed
other excesses. Nevertheless, the object of the troopers
was evident ; and the boundary of the two provinces
between the Indus and the hills is nowhere defined, but the

Sir Charles governor, Sir Charles Napier, immediately ordered the wing

Napier's q£ ^ regiment to Kashmor, a few miles below Roihan, to
acts con- ° j '

sidered preserve the integrity of his frontier from violation. The

further Lahore authorities were thus indeed put upon their guard,
hostile but the motives of Sir Charles Napier were not appreciated,
views. a,nd the prompt measures of the conqueror of Sind were mis-
takenly looked upon as one more proof of a desire to bring
about a war with the Punjab.
The Lahore The Sikli army, and the population generally, were con-
chiefs make yjnggd iiig^i war was inevitable ; but the better informed
use of the '

persuasion members of the government knew that no interference was

of the likely to be exercised without an overt act of hostility on
people for "^ •'

their own their part.'^ When moved as much by jealousy of one another
ends, g^g ijy ^ common dread of the army, the chiefs of the Punjab

had clung to wealth and ease rather than to honour and
independence, and thus Maharaja Sher Singh, the Sindhian-
walas, and others, had been ready to become tributary, and
to lean for support upon foreigners. As the authority of the
army began to predominate, and to derive force from its
system of committees, a new danger threatened the terri-
• torial chiefs and the adventurers in the employ of the govern-
ment. They might successively fall before the cupidity of
the organized body which none could control, or an able
leader might arise who would absorb the power of all others,
and gratify his followers by the sacrifice of the rich, the
selfish, and the feeble. Even the Raja of Jammu, always'
so reasonably averse to a close connexion with the English,
began to despair of safety as a feudatory in the hills, or of

1 Cf. Enclosure No. 6 of the Governor-General's letter to the Secret
Committee of the 2nd Dec. 1845. (Parliamentary Papers, 26th Feb.
1846, p. 21.) Major Broadfoot, however, states of Gulab Singh, what
was doubtless true of many others, viz. that he believed the English
had designs on the Punjab. (Major Broadfoot to Government,
6th May 1845.) It is indeed notorious that Sikhs and Afghans
commonljf said the English abandoned Kabul because they did not
hold Lahore, and that having once established themselves in the
Punjab, they would soon set about the regular reduction of Khorasan.

CHAP. IX

WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

285

authority as a minister at Lahore without the aid of the
British name, and Lai Singh, Tej Singh, and many others,
all equally felt their incapacity to control the troops. These
men considered that their only chance of retaining power
was to have the army removed by inducing it to engage in
a contest which they believed would end in its dispersion,
and pave the way for their recognition as ministers more
surely than if they did their duty by the people, and earnestly
deprecated a war which must destroy the independence of
the Punjab.^ Had the shrewd committees of the armies
observed no military preparations on the part of the English,
they would not have heeded the insidious exhortations of
such mercenary men as Lai Singh and Tej Singh, although
in former days they would have marched uninquiringly

1845-6.

and urge

the army
against the
EngHsh, in
order that
it may be
destroyed.

1 Cf. Enclosures to the Governor-General' s letter to the Secret Com-
mittee of the 31st Dec. 1845. (Parliamentary Papers, 26th Feb. 1840,
p. 29.) It has not been thought necessary to refer to the intemperance
of the desperate Jawahir Singh, or to the amours of the Maharani,
which, in the papers laid before the British Parliament, have been
used to heighten the folly and worthlessness of the Lahore court.
Jawahir Singh may have sometimes been seen intoxicated, and the
Maharani may have attempted little concealment of her debaucheries,
but decency was seldom violated in public ; and the essential forms
of a court were preserved to the last, especially when strangers were
present. The private life of princes may be scandalous enough, while
the moral tone of the people is high, and is, moreover, applauded and
upheld by the transgressors themselves, in their capacity of magis-
trates. Hence the domestic vices of the powerful have, comparatively,
little influence on public affairs. Further, the proneness of news-
mongers to enlarge upon such personal failings is sufficiently notori-
ous ; and the diplomatic service of India has been often reproached
for dwelling pruriently or maliciously on such matters. Finally, it is
well known that the native servants of the English in Hindustan,
who in too many instances are hirelings of little education or respect-
ability, think they best please their employers, or chime in with their
notions, when they traduce all others, and especially those with whom
there may be a rivalry or a collision. So inveterate is the habit of
flattery, and so strong is the belief that Englishmen love to be them-
selves praised and to hear others slighted, that even petty local
authorities scarcely refer to allied or dependent princes, their neigh-
bours, in verbal or in wiitten reports, without using some terms of
disparagement towards them. Hence the scenes of debauchery
described by the Lahore news-writer are partly due to his professional
character, and partly to his belief that he was saying what the English
wanted to hear.

286 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. towards Delhi at the bidding of their great Maharaja. But
the views of the government functionaries coincided with
the beUef of the impulsive soldiery ; and when the men were
tauntingly asked whether they would quietly look on while
the limits of the Ivhalsa dominion were being reduced, and
the plains of Lahore occupied by the remote strangers of
Europe, they answered that they would defend with their
lives all belonging to the commonwealth of Gk)bind, and
that they would march and give battle to the invaders on
their own ground.^ At the time in question, or early in
November, two Sikli villages near Ludhiana were placed
under sequestration, on the plea that criminals concealed
in them had not been surrendered.^ The measure was an
unusual one, even when the Siklis and the English werq
equally at their ease with regard to one another ; and the
circumstance, added to the rapid approach of the Governor-
General to the frontier, removed any doubts which may
have lingered in the minds of the Panchayats. The men
would assemble in groups and talk of the great battle they
must soon wage, and they would meet round the tomb of
Ran jit Singh and vow fidelity to the Klialsa.^ Thus wrought
upon, war with the English was virtually declared on the
The Sikhs 17th November ; a few days afterwards the troops began
cross the ^q move in detachments from Lahore ; they commenced
11th Dec. crossing the Sutlej between Hariki and Kasur on the 11th
1845. December, and on the 14th of that month a portion of the

army took up a position within a few miles of Ferozepore.*

The initiative was thus taken by .the Sikhs, who by an
overt act broke a solemn treaty, and invaded the territories
of their allies. It is further certain that the English people
had all along been sincerely desirous of living at peace with
the Punjab, and to a casual observer the aggression of the

^ The ordinary private conespondence of the period contained
many statements of the kind given in the text.

^ Major Broadfoot's official correspondence seems to have ceased
after the 21st Nov. 1845 ; and there is no report on this aifair among
his recorded letters.

^ The Lahore news-letters of the 24th Nov. 1845, prepared for
Government.

* Gf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 2nd and 31st
Dec. 1845, with enclosures. (Parliamentary Papers, 1846.)

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 287

Sikhs may thus appear as unaccountable as it was fatal ; 1845-6.
yet further inquiry will show that the policy pursued by the
English themselves for several years was not in reality well
calculated to ensure a continuance of pacific relations, and
that they cannot therefore be held wholly blameless for a
war which they expected and deprecated, and which they
knew could only tend to their own aggrandizement. The
proceedings of the English, indeed, do not exhibit that
punctilious adherence to the spirit of first relations which
allows no change of circumstances to cause a departure from
arrangements which had, in the progress of time, come to be
regarded by a weaker power as essentially bound up with
its independence. Neither do the acts of the English seem
marked by that high wisdom and sure foresight, which
should distinguish the career of intelligent rulers acquainted
with actual life, and the examples of history. Treaties of
commerce and navigation had been urged upon the Sikhs,
notwithstanding their dislike to such bonds of unequal
union ; they were chafed that they had been withheld from
Sind, from Afghanistan, and from Tibet, merely, they would
argue, that these countries might be left open to the ambition
of the English ; and they were rendered suspicious by the
formation of new military posts on their frontier contrary
to prescriptive usage, and for reasons of which they did not
perceive the force or admit the validity. The English looked
upon these measures with reference to their own schemes of
amelioration ; and they did not heed the conclusions which
the Sikhs might draw from them, although such conclusions,
how erroneous soever, would necessarily become motives of
action to a rude and warlike race. Thus, at the last, regard
was mainly had to the chance of predatory inroads, or to
the possibility that sovereign and nobles and people, all
combined, would fatuitously court destruction by assailing
their gigantic neighbour, and little thought was given to the
selfish views of factious Sikh chiefs, or to the natural effects
of the suspicions of the Sildi commonalty when wrought
upon by base men for their own ends. Thus, too, the original
agreement which left the province of Sirhind free of troops
and of British subjects, and which provided a confederacy
of dependent states to soften the mutual action of a half-

288 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. barbarous military dominion and of a humane and civilized
government, had been set aside by the English for objects
which seemed urgent and expedient, but which were good
in their motive rather than wise in their scope. The
measure was misconstrued by the Sikhs to denote a gradual
but settled plan of conquest ; and hence the subjective mode
of reasoning employed was not only vicious in logic, but,
being met by arguments even more narrow and one-sided,
became faulty in policy, and, in truth, tended to bring about
that collision which it was so much desired to avoid.

A corresponding singleness of apprehension also led the
confident English to persevere in despising or misunder-
standing the spirit of the disciples of Gobind. The unity
and depth of feeling, derived from a young and fervid faith,
were hardly recognized, and no historical associations
exalted Sikhs to the dignity of Rajputs and Pathans.

In 1842 they were held, as has been mentioned, to be
unequal to cope with the Afghans, and even to be inferior
in martial qualities to the population of the Jammu hills.
In 1845 the Lahore soldiery was called a ' rabble ' in sober
official dispatches, and although subsequent descriptions
allowed the regiments to be composed of the yeomanry of
the country, the army was still declared to be daily dete-
riorating as a military body.^ It is, indeed, certain that
■ English officers and Indian sepoys equally believed they
were about to win battles by marching steadily and by the
discharge of a few artillery shots, rather than by skilful
dispositions, hard fighting, and a prolonged contest. ^

1 Major Broadfoot to Government, 18th and 25th Jan. 1845. A
year before, Lieut. -Col. Lawi-ence {Calcutta Bevieio, No. Ill, pp. 176,
177) considered the Sikh army as good as that of any other Indian
power, and not inferior, indeed, to the Gwalior troops which fought
at Maharajpur. The Lahore artillery, however, he held to be very
bad, although he was of opinion that in position the guns would be
well served. In his Adventurer in the Punjab (p. 47, note k) he had
previously given a decided preference to the Maratha artillery.

2 Major Smyth is, however, of opinion that the sepoys in the
British service had a liigh opinion of the Sikh troops, although the
English themselves talked of them as boasters and cowards. (Major
Smyth, Reigning Family of Lahore, Introduction, pp. xxiv and xxv.)
Cf. Dr. Macgregor, History of the Sikhs, ii. 89, 90.

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 289

The English not only undervalued their enemy, but, as has 1845-6.

been hinted, they likewise mistook the form which the long- ^^^
expected aggressions of the Sikhs would assume.^ It was English
scarcely thought that the ministry, or even that the army, unprepared
would have the courage to cross the river in force, and to campaign.
court an equal contest ; the known treasonable views of the
chiefs, and the unity and depth of feeling which possessed
the troops, were not fully appreciated, and it continued to
be believed that a desultory warfare would sooner or later
ensue, which would indeed require the British to interfere,

* Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 31st Dec. 1845
(Parliamentary Papers, 1846), and the Calcutta Review, No. XVI,
p. 475. A few words may here be said on a subject which occasioned
some discussion in India at the time, viz. Major Broadfoot's reputed
persevering disbelief that the Sikhs would cross the Sutlej, although
his assistant, Capt. Nicolson, stationed at Ferozepore, had repeatedly
said they would. The matter was taken up by the Indian public as
if Capt. Nicolson had for several months, or for a year and more, held
that the British provinces would assuredly be invaded within a definite
period ; whereas, with regard to what the Sikh army might eventually
do, Capt. Nicolson was as uncertain as others, up to within a week or
so of the passage of the Sutlej in December 184.5. The truth seems
to be, that Major Broadfoot affected to disbelieve Capt. Nicolson' s
report of the actual march and near approach of the Lahore army,
of its encampment on the Sutlej, and of its evident resolution to
cross the river, giving the preference to intelligence of a contrary
nature received direct from the Sikh capital, and which tallied with
his own views of what the Sikhs would finally do. That such was the
case, may indeed be gathered from the Governor-General's dispatch
to the Secret Committee of the 31st Dec. 1845. (Parliamentary
Papers, 1846, pp. 26, 27.)

The writer of the article in the Calcutta Review, No. XVI, endeavours
to justify Major Broadfoot's views by showing that all the officers on
the frontier held similar opinions. The point really at issue, however,
is not whether, generally speaking, invasion were probable, but
whether in the beginning of December 1845 Major Broadfoot should
not have held that the Sutlej would be crossed. The Reviewer forgets
to add that of the local officers Major Broadfoot alone knew at the
time the extent of provocation which the Sikhs had received ; and
that the officers wrote with no later news before them than that of
the 17th of November. Hence all, save Major Broadfoot himself,
had very imperfect means of forming a judgement of what was likely
to take place. With regard to what the English should have been pre-
pared against, Lieut. -Col. Richmond's letter of the 3rd April 1844,
to the address of the Commander-in-Chief, may be referred to as in
favour of having stations strong if they were to be kept up at all.

u

290

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

CHAP. IX

184&-6.

The

English
hasten to
oppose
the Sikhs.

but which would still enable them to do so at their own con-
venience. Thus boats for bridges, and regiments and guns,
the natural and undesigned provocatives to a war, were
sufficiently numerous ; but food and ammunition, and
carriage and hospital stores, such as were necessary for a
campaign, were all behind at Delhi or Agra, or still re-
mained to be collected ; for the desire of the English was,
it is said, peace, and they had hoped that an assemblage of
troops would prevent predatory aggression, or deter the
Sikhs from engaging in suicidal hostilities.^

The Gk)vernor- General ^ joined the Commander-in-Chief
at Ambala early in December 1845, and as soon as it seemed
certain that the Sikhs were marching in force towards the
Sutlej, the English troops in the upper provinces were all
put in motion. The nearest divisions were those of Ambala,
Ludhiana, and Ferozepore, which numbered in all about
17,000 available men, with 69 field guns ; and as the last-
mentioned force was the most exposed, the Ambala troops
were moved straight to its support, and Lord Hardinge
further prudently resolved to leave Ludhiana with a mere
garrison for its petty fort, and to give Lord Gough as large
a force as possible, with which to meet the Sikhs, should
they cross the Sutlej as they threatened. ^

1 It was a common and a just remark at the time, that although
the Indian Government was fortunate in having a practical and ap-
proved soldier like Lord Hardinge at its head, under the circumstances
of a war in progress, yet that had Lord Ellenborough remained
Governor-General, the army would have taken the field better
equipped than it did.

[2 Sir Henry Hardinge had succeeded Lord Ellenborough as
Governor-General in July 1844. The Commander-in-Chief was
Sir Hugh Gough.- — Ed.]

^ The effective force at Ferozeshah was 17,727 men, according to
the Calcutta Review (No. X\T:, p. 472), and 16,700 according to Lord
Hardinge's dispatch of the 31st Dec. 1845. This was the available
force, out of 32,479 men in all, posted from Ambala to the Sutlej.
The author has learnt that Lord Gough is satisfied the number of
the enemy at Ferozeshah and the other battles of the campaign have
been underestimated in this narrative. There cannot, indeed, be any
statements of decisive authority referred to, but the settled conviction
of the Commander-in-Chief is of primary consideration, and requires
to be recorded in this new edition ; especially as, with a characteristic
singleness of heart, his lordship, in noticing the probable error, had

CHAP, IX

WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

291

The Lahore army of invasion may have equalled 35,000
or 40,000 men, with a hundred and fifty pieces of artillery,
exclusive of a force detached towards Ludhiana to act as
circumstances might render advantageous. The numbers
of the Sikhs were understood at the time to greatly exceed
those given, but the strength of armies is usually exaggerated
both by the victors and the vanquished ; and there is no
satisfactory proof that the regular troops of the Sikhs
exceeded those of the English by more than a half, although
numerous bodies of undisciplined horse swelled the army of
the invaders to more than double that of their opponents.^

The Sikh leaders threatened Ferozepore, but no attack
was made upon its seven thousand defenders, which with
a proper spirit were led out by their commander, Sir John
Littler, and showed a bold front to the overwhelming force
of the enemy. The object, indeed, of Lai Singh and Tej
Singh was not to compromise themselves with the English
by destroying an isolated division, but to get their own
troops dispersed by the converging forces of their opponents.
Their desire was to be upheld as the ministers of a dependent
kingdom by grateful conquerors, and they thus deprecated
an attack on Ferozepore, and assured the local British
authorities of their secret and efficient goodwill. But these
men had also to keep up an appearance of devotion to the
interests of their country, and they urged the necessity of
leaving the easy prey of a cantonment untouched, until the
leaders of the English should be attacked, and the fame of
the Khalsa exalted by the captivity or death of a Governor-
General. ^ The Sikh army itself understood the necessity

regard rather to the reputation of the army he led than to his own
fame.

1 The Governor-General, in his dispatch of the 31st Dec. 1845,
estimates the Sikhs at from 48,000 to 60,000 men ; but with regard
to efficient troops, it may be observed that the whole regular army
of the country did not exceed 42,000 infantry, including the regiments
at Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, and Kashmir, as well as those forming
the main army of invasion. Perhaps an estimate of 30,000 embodied
troops of all kinds would be nearer the truth than any other.

2 It was sufficiently certain and notorious at the time that Lai
Singh was in communication with Capt. Nicolson, the British Agent
at Ferozepore, but, owing to the untimely death of that officer, the
details of the overtures made, and expectations held out, cannot now

U2

1845-6.

The

numbers of
the Sikhs.

Ferozepore
threatened,
but pur-
posely not
attacked.

The objects
of Lai Singh
and Tej
Singh.

292 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. of unity of counsel in the affairs of war, and the power of
The tactics *^^^ regimental and other committees was temporarily
of the suspended by an agreement with the executive heads of

Sikhs. ^Y\e state, which enabled these unworthy men to effect their

base objects with comparative ease.^ Nevertheless, in the
ordinary military arrangements of occupying positions and
distributing infantry and cavalry, the generals and inferior
commanders acted for themselves, and all had to pay some
respect to the spirit which animated the private soldiers in
their readiness to do battle for the commonwealth of Gobind.
The effects of this enthusiastic unity of purpose in an
army, headed by men not only ignorant of warfare, but
studiously treacherous towards their followers, was con-
spicuously visible in the speediness with which numerous
heavy guns and abundance of grain and ammunition were
brought across a large river. Every Sikh considered the
cause as his own, and he would work as a labourer as well
as carry a musket ; he would drag guns, drive bullocks,
lead camels, and load and unload boats with a cheerful
alacrity, which contrasted strongly with the inapt and
sluggish obedience of mere mercenaries, drilled, indeed,
and fed with skill and care, but unwarmed by one generous
feeling for their country or their foreign employers. The
youthful Khalsa was active and strong of heart, but the
soldiers had never before met so great a foe, and their

be satisfactorily known. (Cf. Dr. Macgregor's History of the Sikhs,
ii. 80.)

The Calcutta RevieiviorJune 1849 (p. 549), while doubting the fact,
or at least the extent and importance, of Lai Singh's and Tej Singh's
treachery, admits that the former was not only in communication
with Capt. Nicolson, as stated, but that on the 7th Feb. 1846 he was
understood to have sent a plan of the Sikh position at Sobraon to
Col. Lawrence, and that on the 19th Dec. 1845, the day after the
battle of Mudki, Lai Singh's agent came to Major Broadfoot, and was
dismissed with a rebuke. [As regards Tej Singh's treachery it may
be stated that, according to a reliable tradition, that officer discovered
early in the operations that his artillery ammunition had been tam-
pered with and much of it rendered useless. Such treachery on the
part of his own side doubtless had a considerable effect upon his
subsequent conduct. — Ed.]

1 Lai Singh was appointed wazir, and Tej Singh commander-in-
chief of the army on or about the 8th Nov. 1845, according to the
Lahore News-Letter of that date, prepared for Government.

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 293

tactics were modified by involuntary awe of the British 1845-6.

army, renowned in the East for achievements in war. The
river had been crossed, and the treaty broken ; but the
Sikhs were startled at their own audacity, and they partially
entrenched one portion of their forces, while they timorously
kept the other as a reserve out of danger's way. Thus the
valiant Swedes, when they threw themselves into Germany
under their king, the great Gustavus, revived the castrame-
tation of Roman armies in the presence of the experienced
commanders of Austria ; ^ and thus the young Telemachus,
tremulously bold, hurled his unaccustomed spear against
the princes of Ithaca, and sprang for shelter behind the
shield of his heroic father ! ^

The Ambala and Ludhiana divisions of the British army The battle
arrived at Mudkl, twenty miles from Ferozepore, on the jg^^^^g^'
18th December ; and they had scarcely taken up their 1845.
ground before they were attacked by a detachment of the
Sikh army, believed at the time to be upwards of thirty
thousand strong, but which really seems to have consisted
of less than two thousand infantry, supported by about
twenty-two pieces of artillery, and eight or ten thousand
horsemen.3 Lai Singh headed the attack, but, in accordance

1 As at Werben, before the battle of Leipzig. Col. Mitchell says
Gustavus owed his success almost as much to the spade as to the
sword. (Life of Wallenstein, p. 210.)

2 Odyssey, xxii. The practice of the Sikhs would probably have
resolved itself into the system of fortified camps of the Romans at
night and during halts, and into the Greek custom of impenetrable
phalanxes on the battle-field, while it almost anticipates the European
tendencies of the day about future warfare — which are, to mass
artillery, and make it overwhelming. The Sikhs would have moved
with their infantry and guns together, while they swept the country
with their cavalry ; and it is clear that no troops in India or in
Southern Asia, save the movable brigades of the English, could have
successfully assailed them.

3 See Lord Gough's dispatch of the 19th December 1845 for the
estimate of 30,000 men, with 40 guns. Capt. Nicolson. in his private
correspondence of the period, and writing from Ferozepore, gives the
Sikh force at about 3,500 only, which is doubtless too low, although
subsequent inquiries all tended to show that the infantry portion was
weak, having been composed of small detachments from each of the
regiments in position at Ferozeshah. The Calcutta Review, No. XVI,
p. 489, estimates the guns at 22 only, and, the estimate being moderate,
it is probably correct.

294 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. with his original design, he involved his followers in an
engagement, and then left them to fight as their undirected
valour might prompt. The Sikhs were repulsed with the
loss of seventeen guns,^ but the success of the English was
not so complete as should have been achieved by the victors
in so many battles ; and it was wisely determined to effect
a junction with the division of Sir John Littler before
assailing the advanced wing of the Sikli army, which was
encamped in a deep horse-shoe form around the village of
P'heerooshuhur, about ten miles both from Mudki and from
Ferozepore.^ This position was strengthened by more than
a hundred pieces of artillery, and its slight and imperfect
entrenchments had, here and there, been raised almost waist
high since the action at Mudki. It was believed at the time
to contain about fifty thousand men, but subsequent in-
quiries reduced the infantry to twelve regiments, and the
cavalry to the eight or ten thousand which had before been
engaged. The wing of the Sikh army attacked did not,
therefore, greatly surpass its assailants, except in the number
and size of its guns, the English artillery consisting almost
wholly of six and nine pounders.^ But the belief in the

1 The British loss in the action was 215 killed and 657 wounded.
(See Lord Cough's dispatch of the 19th Dec, 1845.) The force under
Lord Gough at the time amounted to about 11,000 men. In this
action the English may, in a military sense, be said to have been
surprised. Their defective system of spies left them ignorant of the
general position and probable objects of the enemy ; and the little
use their commanders have usually made, of cavalry left the near
approach of the Sikhs unknown, and therefore unchecked. [Among
the killed was Sir Robert Sale, the defender of Jalalabad. — Ed.]

2 The correct name of the place, which has become identified with
an important battle, is as given in the text : — ' P'heeroo' being the
not uncommon name of a man, and ' shuhur ' an ordinary termina-
tion, signifying place or city. The name ' Ferozeshah ' is erroneous,
but it is one likely to be taken up on hearing ' P'heerooshuhur ' badly
pronounced by peasants and others. The Sikhs call the battle
'P'heeroo ka larai', or the fight of P'heeroo simply, without the
addition of ' shuhur '.

^ Both the Sikhs and the European officers in the Lahore service
agree in saying that there were only twelve battalions in the lines of
P'heerooshuhur, and such indeed seems to have been the truth. The
Governor- General and Commander-in-Chief vaguely estimated the
whole Sikh army on the left bank of the Sutlej at 60,000 strong, and

CHAP. IX

WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

295

fortune of the British arms was strong, and the Sepoys
would then have marched with alacrity against ten times
their own numbers.

A junction was effected with Sir John Littler's division
about midday on the 21st December, and at a distance of
four miles from the enemy's position. Considerable delay
occurred in arranging the details of the assault, which was
not commenced until within an hour of sunset. The confident
English had at last got the field they wanted ; they marched
in even array, and their famed artillery opened its steady
fire. But the guns of the Sikhs were served with rapidity
and precision, and the foot-soldiers stood between and
behind the batteries, firm in their order, and active with their
muskets. The resistance met was wholly unexpected, and
all started with astonishment. Guns were dismounted,
and their ammunition wa's blown into the air ; squadrons
were checked in mid career ; battalion after battalion was
hurled back with shattered ranks, and it was not until after
sunset that portions of the enemy's position were finally
carried. Darkness, and the obstinacy of the contest, threw
the English into confusion ; men of all regiments and arms
were mixed together ; generals were doubtful of the fact or
of the extent of their own success, and colonels knew not
what had become of the regiments they commanded, or of
the army of which they formed a part. Some portions of
the enemy's line had not been broken, and the uncaptured
guns were turned by the Siklis upon masses of soldiers,
oppressed with cold and thirst and fatigue, and who attracted
the attention of the watchful enemy by lighting fires of
brushwood to warm their stiffened limbs. The position of

Lord Gough makes Tej Singh bring 30,000 horse, besides fresh batta-
lions, and a large park of artillery into action on the 22nd December,
which would leave but a small remaiader for the previous defence of
P'heerooshuhur. (See the dispatches of the 22nd and 31st Dec. 1845.)
The author has learnt that, after the war. Lord Gough ascertained,
through the British authorities at Lahore, that the Sikhs estimated
their numbers at P'heerooshuhur at 46,808 men, of all kinds, with
88 guns, ' including those brought up and taken away by Tej Singh '.
This low estimate of the strength of the Sikhs in artillery is in favour
of the credibility of the statement, and if Tej Singh's men are likewise
included in the numbers given, the estimate may perhaps be fully
trusted.

1845-6.

The

battle of
P'heeroo-
shuhur,and
retreat of
the Sikhs,
21st and
22nd Dec.
1845.

29G HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. the English was one of real danger and great perplexity ;
their mercenaries had proved themselves good soldiers in
foreign countries as well as in India itself, when discipline
was little known, or while success was continuous ; but in
a few hours the five thousand children of a distant land
found that their art had been learnt, and that an emergency
had arisen which would tax their energies to the utmost.
On that memorable night the English were hardly masters
of the ground on which they stood ; they had no reserve at
hand, while the enemy had fallen back upon a second armj%
and could renew the fight with increased numbers. The
not imprudent thought occurred of retiring upon Feroze-
pore ; but Lord Gough's dauntless spirit counselled other-
wise, and his own and Lord Hardinge's personal intrepidity
in storming batteries, at the head of troops of English gentle-
men and bands of hardy yeomen, eventually achieved a
partial success and a temporary repose. On the morning of
the 22nd December, the last reinnants of the Sikhs were
driven from their camp ; but as the day advanced the second
wing of their army approached in battle-array, and the
wearied and famished English saw before them a desperate
and, perhaps, useless struggle. This reserve was commanded
by Tej Singh ; he had been urged by his zealous and sincere
soldiery to fall upon the English at daybreak, but his object
was to have the dreaded army of the Khalsa overcome and
dispersed, and he delayed until Lai Singh's force was every-
where put to flight, and until his opponents had again ranged
themselves round their colours. Even at the last moment
he rather skirmished and made feints than led his men to
a resolute attack, and after a time he precipitately fled,
leaving his subordinates without orders and without an
object, at a moment when the artillery ammunition of the
English had failed, when a portion of their force was retiring
upon Ferozepore, and when no exertions could have pre-
vented the remainder from retreating likewise, if the Sikhs
had boldly pressed forward.^

^ For the battle of P'heerooshuhur, see Lord Gough's dispatch of
the 22nd, and Lord Hardinge's of the 31st Dee. 1845. The Governor-
General notices in especial the exertions of the infantry soldiers ;
and one of the charges made by the 3rd Light Dragoons has been a

CHAP. IX

WAR WITH THE ENGLISH

297

A battle had thus been won, and more than seventy
jiieces of artillery and some conquered or confiscated

theme of general admiration. The loss sustained was 694 killed, and
1,721 wounded. [The casualties among the officers were very heavy —
103 in all. Among them was the political officer, Major Broadfoot,
who has figured so prominently in previous pages. — Ed.]

After the war. Lord Gough learnt that the loss of the Sikhs in killed
probably amounted to 2,000 in all, as the heirs of 1,782 men of tlie
regular troops alone claimed balances of pay due to relatives slain.
This argues a great slaughter ; and yet it was a common remark at
the time, that very few dead bodies were to be seen on the field after
the action.

The statements of the Quarterly Review for June 1846, pp. 203-6,
and of the Calcutta Revieiv for Dec. 1847, p. 498, may be referred to
about certain points still but imperfectly known, and which it is only
necessary to allude to in a general way in this history. Two of the
points are : (1) the proposal to fall back on Ferozepore during the
night of the 21st December ; and (2) the actual movement of a con-
siderable portion of the British army towards that place on the fore-
noon of the following day.

Had the Sikhs been efficiently commanded, a retirement on Feroze-
pore would have been judicious in a military point of view, but as
the enemy was led by traitors, it was best to fearlessly keep the field
Perhaps neither the incapacity nor the treason of Lai Singh and Tej
Singh were fully perceived or credited by the English chiefs, and
hence the anxiety of the one on whom the maintenance of the British
dominion intact mainly depended.

At P'heerooshuhur the larger calibre and greater weight of metal
of the mass of the vSikh artillery, and consequently the superiority
of practice relatively to that of the field guns of the English, was
markedly apparent in the condition of the two parks after the battle.
The captured cannon showed scarcely any marks of round shot or
shells, while nearly a third of the British guns were disabled in their
carriages or tumbrils.

With regard to this battle it may be observed that the English
had not that exact knowledge of the Sikh strength and position which
might have been obtained even by means of reconnoitring ; and it
may also perhaps be said that the attack should have been made in
column rather than in line, and after the long flanks of the enemy's
position had been enfiladed by artillery. The extent, indeed, to
which the English were unprepared for a campaign, and the manner
in which their forces were commanded in most of the actions of the
war, should be carefully borne in mind ; for it was defective tactics
and the absolute want of ammunition, as much as the native valour
and aptitude of the Sikhs, which gave for a time a character of equality
to the struggle, and which in this history seems to make a compara-
tively petty power dispute with the English supremacy in Northern
India. Had the English been better led and better equipped, the

1845-6.

The diffi-
culties and
apprehen-
sions of the
English.

298 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. territories graced the success ; but the victors had lost
a seventh of their numbers, they were paralysed after their
prodigious exertions and intense excitement, and the Sikhs
were allowed to cross the Sutlej at their leisure to prepare
for fresh contests. The sepoy mercenaries had for the first
time met an equal antagonist with their own weapons —
even ranks and the fire of artillery. They loudly complained
of the inferiority of their cannon ; they magnified banks
two and three feet high into formidable ramparts, and
exploding tumbrils and stores of powder became, in their
imaginations, designed and deadly mines. Nor was this
feeling of respect and exaggeration confined to the Indians
alone ; the European soldiers partook of it ; and the British
public, as well as the dignitaries of the church and the heads
of the state, became impressed with the immensity of the
danger which had threatened the peace, and perhaps the
safety, of their exotic dominion.^ Regiments of men, and

fame of the Sikhs would not have been so great as it is, and the British
chronicler would have been spared the ungracious task of declaring un-
pleasing truths. No one, however, can be insensible to the claims which
the veteran chief of the army has established to his country' s gratitude,
by his cheering hardihood under ev c m circumstance of danger, and by
his great successes over all opponents. The robust character of Lord
Gough has on many occasions stood England in good stead.

1 The alarm of the English about the occupation of Delhi and the
passage of the Jumna, may be likened to the nervous dread of Augus-
tus, when he heard of the defeat of Varus and the destruction of his
legions ; and that one so astute, and so familiar with the sources of
Roman power and the causes of Roman weakness, should have feared
the consequences of a German invasion of Italy, at once palliates
the apprehensions of the English in India and shows upon what
slight foundations and undreamt-of chances the mightiest fabrics of
dominion sometimes rest. Yet it is not clear that Augustus was not
alarmed rather for himself than for Rome. He may have thought
that a successful inroad of barbarians would encourage domestic
enemies, and so lead to his own downfall, without sensibly affecting
the real power of his country. Similarly, the apprehensions of the
English after P'heerooshuhur may be said to have had a personal as
much as a national reference, and there is no good reason for believing
that one or two or even three defeats on the Sutlej would have shaken
the stability of the British rule to the east and south of Delhi. All
the chiefs of India, indeed, are willing enough to be independent,
but no union for any such purpose yet exists among them, and only
one or two are at any moment ready to take up arms ; whereas the

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 299

numerous single officers variously employed, were summoned 1845-
from the most distant provinces to aid in vindicating the
military renown of the English race, and the political supre-
macy of three generations. All longed for retribution, and
all were cheered amid their difficulties by the genial temper
and lofty bearing of one chief ; and by the systematic
industry and full knowledge of military requirements
possessed by the other. But joy and gratitude were yet
uppermost for the moment ; the hope of revenge was dis-
turbed by the remembrance of danger ; and, unmindful of
the rebuke of the wise Ulysses, a partial Divinity was praised
by proclamation, for the deliverance he had vouchsafed to
his votaries.

Unholy is the voice
Of loud thanksgiving over slaughtered men.^

resources of the English are vast, obedience among them is perfect,
and \'ictory would soon return to valour and unanimity. Still, an
unsuccessful warfare on the part of the English of three or four con-
secutive years, might justly be regarded as the commencement of
their decline ; although it is very doubtful whether any combination
of the present powers of India could drive them from Bengal, or from
the coasts of the Deccan.

* Odyssey, xxii. The Governor-General's notification of the
25th December 1845 calls upon the troops to render acknowledge-
ments to God, and the ecclesiastical authorities in Calcutta subse-
quently circulated a form of thanksgiving. The anxiety of the
Governor-General may be further inferred from his proclamation,
encouraging desertion from the Sikh ranks, with the assurance of
present rewards and future pensions, and the immediate decision of any
lawsuits in which the deserters might he engaged in the British 'provinces !
(Major Smith, Reigning Family of Lahore, Introduction, p. xxvi n.)

The feeling which prompted the troops of Cromwell or Gustavus to
kneel and return thanks to God on the field of victory must ever be
admired and honoured ; for it was genuine, and pervaded all ranks,
from the leader downwards, and it would equally have -moved the
soldiers to reproaches and humiliation had they been beaten. But
such tokens of reverence and abasement come coldly and without a
vital meaning in the guise of a ' general order ' or ' circular memo-
randum ' ; and perhaps a civilized and intelligent government might
with advantage refrain ffom such tame and passionless assurances of
devotion and gratitude, while it gave more attention to religious
exercises in its regimental regulations. God should rather be kept
ever present to the minds of the armed servants of the state by daily
worship and instruction, than ostentatiously lauded on the rare
occasion of a victory.

300 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. The British army was gradually reinforced, and it took

~ „.. , up a position stretching from Ferozepore towards Hariki,
recross the and parallel to that held by the Sildis on the right bank of
Sutlej, and ^j^g Sutlej. But the want of ammunition and heavy guns
Ludhiana, reduced the English to inactivity, and delay produced
Jan. 1846. negligence on their part and emboldened the enemy to fresh
acts of daring. The Cis-Sutlej feudatories kept aloof from
their new masters, or they excited disturbances ; and the
Raja of Ladwa, a petty prince dependent on the English,
but who had been denounced as a traitor for a year past,^
openly proceeded from the neighbourhood of Karnal, and
joined the division of the Sikh army under Ranjor Singh,
which had crossed the JuUundur Doab, to the neighbour-
hood of Ludhiana. This important town had been denuded
of its troops to swell the first army of defence, and it was
but slowly and partially garrisoned by fresh regiments
arriving from the eastward, although it covered the several
lines of approach from the Jumna towards Ferozepore.^
Early in January the Raja of Ladwa returned to withdraw

1 Major Broadfoot to Government, 13th Dec. 1844. This chief
received the title of Raja from Lord Auckland, partly as a compliment
to Ranjit Singh, to whom he was related, and partly in approbation
■ of his liberality in providing the means of throwing a bridge across
the classical Sarsuti, at Thanesar. He was a reckless, dissipated man,
of moderate capacity ; but he inherited the unsettled disposition of
his father, Gurdut Singh, who once held Karnal and some villages to
the east of the Jumna, and who caused the English some trouble
between 1803 and 1809.

■^ It is not clear why Ludhiana was not adequately garrisoned, or
rather covered, by the troops which marched from Meerut after the
battle of P'heerooshuhur. The Governor-General's attention was,
indeed, chiefly given to strengthening the main army in its unsupported
position of Ferozepore — the real military disadvantage of which he
had ample reason to deplore ; while amidst his difficulties it may
possibly have occurred to his Lordship, that the original policy of
1809 — of being strong on the Jumna rather than on the Sutlej — was
a truly wise one with reference to the avoidance of a war with the
Sikhs.

The desire of being in force near the capitals of the Punjab and the
main army of the Sikhs likewise induced Lord Hardinge to direct
Sir Charles Napier to march from Sind, without heeding Multan,
although, as his Lordship publicly acknowledged, that victorious
commander had been sent for when it was thought the campaign
might become a series of sieges.

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 301

his family from his fief of Badowal near Ludhiana, and he 1845-6.

took the opportunity of burning a portion of the cantonment
at the latter place, which the paucity of infantry and the
want of cavalry on the spot enabled him to do with impunity.
About the same time, the main army of the Sikhs, observing
the supineness of their opponents, began to recross the
Sutlej and to construct a bridge-head to secure the freedom
of their passage. The English were imwillingly induced to
let the Sikhs labour at this work, for it was feared that an
attack would bring on a general engagement, and that the
want of ammunition would prevent a battle being won or
a victory being completed. The Sikhs naturally exulted,
and they proclaimed that they would again fall upon the
hated foreigners. Nor were their boasts altogether dis-
believed ; the disadvantages of Ferozepore as a frontier post
became more and more apparent, and the English began to
experience difficulty in obtaining supplies from the country
they had annexed by the pen without having secured by
the sword. The petty fort of Muktsar, where Gobind
repulsed his Mughal pursuers after his flight from Chamkaur,
was successfully defended for a time against some provincial
companies and the auxiliaries of BIkanir, which, like the
legionaries themselves, were deficient in artillery ammuni-
tion. The equally petty fort of Dharmkot was held, in
defiance of the near presence of the right wing of the English
army ; and other defensible places towards Sirhind over-
awed the population, and interfered with the peaceful
march of convoys and detachments.^

On the 17th January 1846, Major-General Sir Harry The skir-
Smith 2 was sent with a brigade to capture Dharmkot, b"X)°^-i

1 The hill station of Simla, where many English families reside, ^^"* »
and which is near the Sutlej, and the equally accessible posts of
Kasauli and Sabathu, were at this time likewise threatened by the
Lahore feudatory of Mandi, and some Sikh partisans ; and as the
regiments usually stationed at these places had been wholly withdrawn,
it would not have been difficult to have destroyed them. But the
local British authorities were active in collecting the quotas of the
hill Rajputs, and judicious in making use of their means ; and no
actual incursion took place, although a turbulent siiarer in the
sequestered Anandpxu--Makhowal had to be called to account.

[2 This distinguished officer, who fought through the Peninsular War,
afterwards served in South Africa, where his memory is commemorated

302 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. which was surrendered without bloodshed, and the transit
of grain to the army was thus rendered more secure. The
original object of Sir Harry Smith's diversion was to cover
the march of the large convoy of guns, ammunition, and
treasure in progress to Ferozepore, as well as to clear the
country of partisan troops which restricted the freedom of
traffic ; but when it became known that Ranjor Singh had
crossed the Sutlej in force and threatened Ludhiana, the
General was ordered to proceed to the relief of that place.
On the 20th of January he encamped at the trading town
of Jugraon, within twenty-five miles of his destination, and
the authorities of the son of Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, of
the treaty of 1805, to whom the place belonged, readily
allowed him to occupy its well-built fort. It was known on
that day that Ranjor Singh was in position immediately
to the westward of Ludhiana, and that he had thrown a small
garrison into Badowal, which lay about eighteen miles
distant on the direct road from Jugraon. The British
detachment, which had been swelled by reinforcements to
four regiments of infantry, three regiments of cavalry, and
eighteen guns, marched soon after midnight ; and early
on the morning of the 21st January it was learnt that the
whole Sikh army, estimated at ten thousand men, had
moved to Badowal during the preceding day. That place
was then distant eight miles from the head of the column,
and Sir Harry Smith considered that if he made a detour to
the right, so as to leave the Sikhs about three miles on his
other flank, he would be able to effect his junction with the
Ludhiana brigade without molestation. A short halt took
place to enable the baggage to get somewhat ahead, and it
was arranged that the long strings of animals should move
parallel to the troops and on the right flank, so as to be
covered by the column. As Badowal was approached, the
Sikhs were seen to be in motion likewise, and apparently
to be bent on intercepting the English ; but as it was not
wished to give them battle. Sir Harry Smith continued his

by the towns of Aliwal and Harrismith. His wife, a Spanish lady,
who accompanied him through the Peninsular campaigns, also gave
her name to a South African town, 'Ladysmith', — a place not without
fame. — Ed.]

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 303

march, inclining however still more to his right, and making 1845-6.
occasional halts with the cavalry to enable the infantry to
close up, it having fallen behind owing to the heavy nature
of the ground. But the Sikhs were resolved on fighting,
and they commenced a fire of artillery on the British horse,
which obtained a partial cover under sand-banks, while the
guns of the detachment opened upon the Sikhs and served
to keep their line in check. By the time that the British
infantry and small rear-guard of cavalry had closed up, the
fire of the Sikhs had begun to tell, and it was thought that
a steady charge by the infantry would throw them into
disorder, and would allow the baggage to pass on, and give
time to the Ludhiana troops to come to the aid of their
comrades. A close contest was indeed the prompting of
every one's heart at the moment ; but as the regiments of
foot were being formed into line, it was found that the
active Sikhs had dragged guns, unperceived, behind sand
hillocks to the rear of the column — or, as matters then
stood, that they had turned their enemy's left flank. These
guns threw their enfilading shot with great rapidity and
precision, and whole sections of men were seen to fall at a
time without an audible groan amid the hissing of the iron
storm. The ground was heavy, the men were wearied with
a march of nine hours and eighteen miles, and it became
evident that a charge might prove fatal to the exhausted
victors. The infantry once more resumed its march, and
its retirement or retreat upon Ludhiana was covered with
skill and steadiness by the cavalry.^ The Sikhs did not
pursue, for they were without a leader, or without one who
wished to see the English beaten. Ranjor Singh let his
soldiers engage in battle, but that he accompanied them
into the fight is more than doubtful, and it is certain that
he did not essay the easy task of improving the success of
his own men into the complete reverse of his enemy. The
mass of the British baggage was at hand, and the temptation
to plunder could not be resisted by men who were without
orders to conquer. Every beast of burden which had not
got within sight of Ludhiana, or which had not, timorously
but prudently, been taken back to Jugraon, when the firing
[1 Under Col. Cureton.— Ed. ]

304

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS

1845-6.

The Sikhs
encour-
aged,

and Gulab
Singh in-
duced to
repair to
Lahore.

was heard, fell into the hands of the Sikhs, and they were
enabled boastfully to exhibit artillery store carts as if they
had captured British cannon.^

Ludhiana was relieved, but an unsuccessful skirmish
added to the belief so pleasing to the prostrate princes of
India, that the dreaded army of their foreign masters had
at last been foiled by the skill and valour of the disciples
of Gobind, the kindred children of their own soil. The British
sepoys glanced furtively at one another, or looked towards
the east, their home ; and the brows of Englishmen them-
selves grew darker as they thought of struggles rather than
triumphs. The Governor- General and Commander-in-Chief
trembled for the safety of that siege train and convoy of
ammunition, so necessary to the efficiency of an army which
they had laimched in haste against aggressors and received
back shattered by the shock of opposing arms. The leader
of the beaten brigades saw before him a tarnished name after
the labours of a life, nor was he met by many encouraging
hopes of rapid retribution. The Sikhs on their side were
correspondingly elated ; the presence of European prisoners
added to their triumph ; Lai Singh and Tej Singh shrank
within themselves with fear, and Gulab Singh, who had been
spontaneously hailed as minister and leader, began to think
that the Khalsa was really formidable to one greater far
than himself, and he arrived at Lahore on the 27th of
January, to give unity and vigour to the coimsels of the
Sikhs.2 The army under Tej Singh had recrossed the Sutlej
in force ; it had enlarged the bridge-head before alluded to,
and so entrenched a strong position in the face of the British
divisions. The Sikhs seemed again to be about to carry the
war into the country of their enemy ; but Gulab Singh came
too late — their fame had reached its height, and defeat and
subjection speedily overtook them.

1 Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 19th Jan.
and 3rd Feb., and Lord Gough's dispatch of the 1st Feb. 1845. After
the skirmish of the 21st January there were found to be sixty-nine
killed, sixty-eight wounded, and seventy-seven missing ; of which
last, several were taken prisoners, while others rejoined their corps
in a day or two. Of the prisoners, Mr. Barron, an assistant-surgeon,
and some European soldiers were taken to Lahore.

2 Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, 3rd Feb. 1846.

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 305

During the night of the 22nd January, Ranjor Singh 1845-6.
marched from Badowal to a place on the Sutlej about fifteen ~

miles below Ludhiana, where he immediately collected a of Aliwal
number of boats as if to secure the passage of the river. 28th Jan.
The object of this movement is not known ; but it may have
been caused by a want of confidence on the part of the Sikhs
themselves, as there were few regular regiments among them,
until joined by a brigade of four battalions and some guns
from the main army, which gave them a force of not less
than fifteen thousand combatants. Sir Harry Smith imme-
diately occupied the deserted position of the enemy, and he
was himself reinforced simultaneously with the Sikhs by
a brigade from the main army of the English. On the 28th
January the General marched with his eleven thousand men,
to give the enemy battle, or to reconnoitre his position and
assail it in some degree of form, should circumstances render
such a course the most prudent. The Sikhs were nearly ten
miles distant, and midway it was learnt that they were
about to move with the avowed object of proceeding with
a part or the whole of their force to relieve the fort of
Gungrana or to occupy the neighbouring town of Jugraon,
both of which posts were close to the line of the British
communications with the Jumna. On reaching the edge of
the table-land, bounding the sunken belt of many miles in
breadth within which the narrower channel of the Sutlej
proper winds irregularly, a portion of the Sikhs were observed
to be in motion in a direction which would take them clear
of the left of the British approach ; but as soon as they saw
that they were liable to be attacked in flank, they faced
towards their enemy, and occupied with their right the
village of Biindri, and with their left the little hamlet of
Aliwal, while with that activity necessary to their system,
and characteristic of the spirit of the common soldiers,
they immediately began to throw up banks of earth before
their guns, where not otherwise protected, such as would
afford some cover to themselves and offer some impediment
to their assailants. An immediate collision was inevitable,
and the British commander promptly gave the order for
battle. The regiments of cavalry which headed the advance
opened their glittering ranks to the right and left, and made

306 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. apparent the serried battalions of infantry and the frowning
batteries of cannon. The scene was magnificent and yet
overawing : the eye inchided the whole field, and glanced
approvingly from the steady order of one foe to the even
array of the other ; all bespoke gladness of mind and strength
of heart ; but beneath the elate looks of the advancing
warriors there lurked that fierce desire for the death of his
fellows which must ever impel the valiant soldier, ^^^len
thus deployed, the lines of battle were not truly parallel.
The Sikh line inclined towards and extended beyond the
British right, while the other flanks were, for a time, com-
pa^ati^•ely distant. The English had scarcely halted during
their march of eight miles, even to form their line ; but the
Sikhs nevertheless commenced the action. It was perceived
by Sir Harry Smith that the capture of the village of Aliwal
was of the first importance, and the right of the infantry
was led against it. A deadly struggle seemed impending ;
for the Sildi ranks were steady and the play of their guns
incessant ; but the holders of the post were battalions of
hill-men, raised because their demeanour was sober, and their
hearts indifferent to the Khalsa, and after firing a straggling
volley, tliey fled in confusion, headed by Ranjor Singh,
their immediate leadrr, and leaving the brave Sikh artillery-
men to be slaughtered by the conquerors. The British
• cavalry of the right made at the same time a sweeping and
successful charge, and one-half of the opposing army was
fairly broken and dispersed ; but the Sikhs on their own
right seemed to be outflanking their opponents in spite of
the exertions of the English infantry and artillery ; for
there tlie more regular battalions were in line, and the true
Sikh was not easily cowed. A prompt and powerful effort
was necessary, and a regiment of European lancers,^ sup-
ported by one of Indian cavalry, was launched against the
even ranks of the Lahore infantry. The Siklis knelt to
receive the orderly but impetuous charge of the English
warriors, moved alike by noble recollections of their country,
by military emulation, and by personal feelings of revenge ;
but at the critical moment, the unaccustomed discipline of
many of Gk)bind's champions failed them. They rose, yet
[1 H.M.'s 16th Lancers, under Col. Cureton.^Eo.]

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 307

they reserved their fire, and dehvered it together at the 1845-6.
distance of a spear's throw ; nor was it until the mass had
been three times ridden through that the Sikhs dispersed.
The charge was timely and bold ; but the ground was more
thickly strewn with the bodies of victorious horsemen than
of beaten infantry. An attempt was made to rally behind
Bundrl ; but all resistance was unavailing, the Siklis were
driven across the Sutlej, more than fifty pieces ^ of cannon
were taken, and the General forgot his sorrows, and the
soldiers their sufferings and indignities, in the* fullness of
their common triumph over a worthy enemy, in a well-
planned and bravely fought battle. ^

\} Sixty-seven is the official number given. — Ed.]
2 Cf. Sir Harry Smith's dispatch of the 30th January, and Lord
Gough's dispatch of the 1st February 1846. (Parliamentary Papers,
1846.) The loss sustained was 151 killed,413 wounded, and 25 missing.
The Calcutta Review, No. XVI, p. 499, states that Sir Harry Smith
required some pressing before he would engage the Sikhs, after his
reverse at Badowal. That active leader, however, was in no need of
such promptings, and had adequate reinforcements reached him
sooner than they did, the battle of Aliwal would have been sooner
fought. It may likewise be here mentioned, that neither does the
reviewer throughout his article do fair justice to Lord Gough, nor, in
a particular instance, to the commissariat department of the army.
Thus, with regard to the Commander-in-Chief, it is more than hinted
(gee p. 497), that Lord Hardinge was in no way to blame — that is,
that Lord Gough was to blame — for the delay which occurred in
attacking the Sikhs at P'heerooshuhur. It may be difficult to ascer-
tain the caiises, or to apportion the blame, but the Governor-General
can proudly stand on his acknowledged merits and services, and wants
no support at the expense of an ancient comrade-in-arms. Again,
with regard to the commissariat, it is stated, at p. 488, that supplies,
which the head of the department in the field asked six weeks to
furnish, were procured by Major Broadfoot in six days. The com-
missariat department could only use money and effect purchases by
contract, or in the open market ; but Major Broadfoot could sum-
marily require ' protected chiefs ', on pain of confiscation, to meet all
his demands ; and the writer of the article might have learnt, or must
have been aware, that the requisitions in question led to one chief
being disgraced by the imposition of a fine, and had some share in
the subsequent deposal of another. Had the British magistrates of
Delhi, Saharanpur, Bareillj', and other places, been similarly em-
powered to seize by force the grain and carriage within their limits,
there would have been no occasion to disparage the commissariat
department. Further, it is known to many, and it is in itself plain,
that had the military authorities been required, or allowed, to prepare

X2

308 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS chap, ix

1845-6. The victory was equally important and opportune, and

The Sikh ^^^ time-serving Gulab Singh, whose skill and capacity

chiefs might have protracted the war, first reproached the van-

trea\°Tnd' Q^ished Sikhs for rashly engaging in hostilities with their

the Enghsh colossal neighbour, and then entered into negotiations with

ShS'the *^^ English leaders.^ The Governor- General was not dis-

war. pleased that the Lahore authorities should be ready to

yield ; for he truly felt that to subjugate the Punjab in one

season, to defeat an army as numerous as his own, to take

two capitals, and to lay siege to Multan, and Jammu, and

Peshawar — all within a few months — was a task of difficult

achievement and full of imminent risks. The dominion of

the English in India hinges mainly upon the number and

efficiency of the troops of their owti race which they can

bring into the field ; and a campaign in the hot weather

would have thinned the ranks of the European regiments

under the most favourable circumstances, and the ordinary

recurrence of an epidemic disease would have proved as fatal

to the officers of every corps present as to the common

soldiers. But besides this important consideration, it was

felt that the minds of men throughout India were agitated,

and that protracted hostilities would not only jeopardize

the communications with the .Jimma, but might disturb the

whole of the north-western provinces, swarming with a

. military population which is ready to follow any standard

affording pay or allowing plunder, and which already sighs

for the end of a dull reign of peace. Bright visions of

standing triumphant on the Indus and of numbering the

remotest conquests of Alexander among the provinces of

Britain, doubtless warmed the imagination of the Governor-

themselves as they wished, they as simple soldiers, who had no finan-
cial difficulties to consider, would have been amply prepared with ail
that an army of invasion or defence could have required, long before
the Sikhs crossed the Sutlej. Lord Hardinge was chiefly responsible
for the timely and adequate equipment of the army, in anticipation
of a probable war ; and with the Governor-General in the field,
possessed of superior and anomalous powers, the Commander-in-Chief
could only be held responsible — and that but to a limited extent — for
the strategy of a campaign or the conduct of a battle.

* Cf. the Governor-General to the Secret Committee, of the 19th
Feb. 184(3.

CHAP. IX WAR WITH THE ENGLISH 309

General ; but the first object was to drive the Siklis across 1845-6.
the Sutlej by force of arms, or to have them withdrawn to
their own side of the river by the unconditional submission
of the chiefs and the delegates of the army ; for, until that
were done, no progress could be said to have been made in
the war, and every petty chi