1 HISTORY OF THE -SIKHS. 149
2 when crossins; the Ravee, with the Maharajah,, the UmmuiSingi«
3 ° , drowned m
4 boat was upset and Uramur Singh was drowned* the Rav*%
5 This occurred in 1841, after which time Nehal
6 Singh remained in quiet possession of his country
7 in the Rist Jalindhur.
8 Kapoorthuilah was the chief town in the posses¬
9 sion of the Alloowalya Sirdar, in the Bist, and it
10 was greatly enlarged and beautified by Futteh
11 Singh. His friendship for the Maharajah was Cba^cter cf
12 sincere, and they exchanged turbans, which, among
13 the Sikhs, is considered the strongest bond of friend¬
14 ship. The sirdar was exceedingly fond of horses; ^^fonJness
15 and in memory of a favorite black charger, he
16 erected a tomb, over which was placed a clay figure
17 of the horse. It was near the entrance of the city
18 on approaching it from the Beas.
19 At the time when the Sikh sirdars divided tile
20 Punjab amongst them, Churruth Singh, the grand¬
21 father of Runjeet Singh, had about 400, or 500,
22 horsemen in his employ.
23 One account is, that this Churruth Singh was
24 kind to a fukeer, whom he fed and clothed. One
25 day the fukeer came to Churruth Singh’s house
26 and jumping on his back, began to beat him with
27 his shoe, ordering him to leave his fields, for
28 Churruth Singh was at this time a zemindar near
29 Goojurawala. Churruth Singh obeyed the orders
30 of the fukeer, and at first, bought five horses, and
31 became a highway robber. By degrees he in- Rise of frW-
32 crcased his force, and seized on several villages,
33 such as Pindan Khan, and Loon Khana, or the