The Punjaub; bring a brief account of the country of the Sikhs ..

Steinbach, Henry · 1846 · Public domain (mark) · archive.org ↗

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2HISTORY OF THE PUNJAUB FROM

3speaking of the British government, in reply to

4some malicious representations made to him, as

5to draw his sword in open durbar (the levee), and

6proclaim his intention never to sheath it until he

7had measured himself with the English. This

8ridiculous vapouring earned for him the soubriquet

9of the Hotspur of the Sikhs ; but notwithstanding

10the disregard of his bravadoes by the British

11government, it is tolerably certain that, had he

12lived, a war with the Punjaub and Nepaul would

13have been inevitable, and Affghanistan would

14have taken part in the quarrel.

15Pending this state of affairs, the serious illness

16of the deposed Maharajah Kurruck Singh began

17to occupy public attention. The Dusseera fete,

18held annually at Umritzur, was omitted; and

19whispers of the Maharajah labouring under the

20effects of slow but deadly poison, daily inter-

21mingled in small quantities with his food, began

22to gain ground, not without strong suspicion of

23the sanction, or at least connivance, of his son,

24If oo Nehal Singh. His death shortly followed,

25when one of the most extraordinary events

26occurred of which history presents a record.

27The funeral procession was much the same as

28that already described upon the demise of Run-

29jeet Singh, with this exception, that only two

30self devoted victims sacrificed themselves to their

31horrible superstition. Returning from his late