1 msTfy
2 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS. 17
3 at Delhi, and have been kept in tolerable order
4 through the exertions of Runjeet Singh, who was
5 exceedingly fond of gardens and flowers. In the
6 country lying between Shalamar and Lahore, 'seve¬
7 ral places' were laid out by him in flower gardens,
8 and a small house constructed at each for the ae-
9 comrdodation of the Maharajah when visiting these
10 favourite spots.
11 Though Lahore has always been the capital of
12 the Punjab, the city of Kussoor, now a dilapidated
13 place, was coeval with it in size and grandeur, and,
14 at first, formed a distinct capital of this portion of
15 the Doab lying between the Gharra and the Ravee.
16 The ruins of Kussoor point it out as a place of
17 great extent, and it was held possession of by
18 the present family of Mumdote, and conquered
19 with difficulty by Runjeet Singh after he had
20 made himself master of the other portion of the
21 Punjab.
22 The , former deep bed of the Gharra is to be seen
23 near Kussoor, showing that this river, which-now
24 flows about five miles from Feerozpore, had at one
25 time pursued its course close to Kussoor, and about
26 twelve miles from its present channel,
27 'The second city of the Punjab, and the first in Umritsir.
28 a commercial point of view, is Umritsir. It j s also
29 a place of great sanctity, from the existence of a
30 holy tank and Gooroo temple, in the construction
31 and adornment of which vast sums of money have
32 been expended,
33 The dome is exceedingly rich, and its gilded and
34 vol. r. e