1 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 37
2 grounds as under the Maharajah Shere Singh)
3 together with the dismissal of the whole of the
4 European officers; demands with which Heera
5 Singh had no alternative but to comply. But
6 even these concessions (generally a mark of
7 weakness) were insufficient to check the progress
8 of anarchy and intrigue. The Rajah Soochet
9 Singh, Heera Singh’s uncle, jealous of his
10 nephew’s power, resolved upon supplanting him
11 in his position of minister. He accordingly,
12 with a few trusty followers (not more than fifty),
13 left his native place, Jummoo, for the capital, in
14 the hope of gaining over the troops, stationed at
15 Lahore, for the accomplishment of his object,
16 and which he was assured by his partisans was
17 a necessary procedure. He, however, found him-
18 self egregiously mistaken: for Heera Singh, who
19 had notice of his uncle’s intentions, assembled
20 and harangued the troops; and by his promises
21 so prevailed upon them, that upon Soochet
22 Singh’s arrival at Lahore, he did not find him-
23 self joined by a single soldier. Seeing this
24 unexpected and desperate state of affairs, aware
25 also that Heera Singh had secured the passage
26 of the river, and that flight was consequently
27 impossible, he shut himself up with his followers
28 ina temple about three miles distant from Lahore,
29 with the determination of defending himself to the
30 last extremity. He was soon after attacked by