1 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS.
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3 grief on hearing of the cruel murder of my father.
4 I was alone and friendless in the world ; but I was
5 resolved to avenge his death, and establish the
6 Sikhs on a firmer footing. I reformed their religion,
7 and obtained numerous followers. The rajahs
8 who had been at feud with my father, made war
9 against me, and I vanquished them,
10 " The governors of Lahore and Sirhind were
11 sent by your orders to their assistance, and I was
12 surrounded in my fort at Mukhowal. I was re¬
13 duced to great extremities ; and, to add to my dis¬
14 tress, my mother, taking with her my two sons,
15 escaped from the fort to Sirhind : the collector of
16 that place cruelly buried my two boys alive, under
17 the wall of the city, contrary to all the laws of God
18 and man.
19 " This unheard-of tyranny drove me to despair;
20 and, helpless as f now was, my followers deserted me,
21 leaving me with only forty men, and my two sons.
22 These brave men sallied out in the morning from
23 the fort, killed great numbers, and were at length
24 slaughtered, with the exception of five. I escaped
25 through the wall, and we fled. We passed the
26 enemy's camp, and were pursued like a flock of
27 goats before the tiger. I wandered from village
28 to village, nowhere finding a resting-place, until,
29 at length, I reached the desert and concealed my¬
30 self. The news of my safety and arrival were
31 no sooner spread, than all my scattered followers
32 joined me, and I had soon a large army at my
33 disposal.
34 VOL. 1. H