Gazetteer of the Lahore District

· 1894 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1Chapter II.

2Ranjit Singh.

338 CHAP. Il.—HISTORY.

4to establish a Durdni empire from Kabul to the Ganges. His

5advance created the livelicat sensation not only in the Punjab

6but even in the Council Chamber at Calentta. Governors-

7General wrote long minutes, augmented the Native army, and

8lnid the foundation of that chronic state of apprehension which

9ended in the expedition to Afghdnistan. In the beginning of the

10cold season, Shih Zemén appeared before Lahore, and the tall

11sheep-skin cap of the then youthful warrior is still recollected,

12as he rode upon a prancing steed on the plain fronting the

13palace. But his expedition was arrested by bad tidings from

14iome, and he retired, after exacting a subsidy of thirty lakhs from

15the few wealthy merchants who still remained. The next year,

16it was renewed with no better success; but the event 1s interest-

17ing as being the first occasion on which Ranjit Singh, son of Maha

18Singh, chief of the Sikhérchskiya mis/, came prominently into

19notice, and made the first step towards obtaining the

20sovereiguty of the Punjab by securing from the retiring Durim

21Emperor a formal grant of the chiefship of Lahore. The history

22of Lahore is henceforth merged in the history of its great ruler

23Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the events of whose life are fully

24detailed in the now familiar pages of Murray, Cunningham, and

25the “History of the Punjab.” From this period, therefore, it

26is not proposed to give more than a brief résume of events.

27In 1799 Ranjit Singh became master of Lahore, which

28was then in possession of Sardér Chet Singh, the son of the

29triomvir Lehna Singh, after a short contest, in which Ranjit

30Singh was aided by the treachery of the leading men. in

311801, itanjit Singh assawed the title of Sarkar, established a

32mint, and commenced his career as asovereign. In 1802, he

33obtained the celebrated gun Zamzamah, a huge piece which

34Ahmad Shéh had nsed in the battle of Panipat, but had left

35behind at Lahore, as too unwieldy to take back to Kabul. The

36gon had hitherto been in possession of the most powerful of the

37misiz, the Bhangis of Amritsar, and came to be regarded

38as the talisman of Sikh empire. Hence its capture by Ranjit

39Singh added greatly to his prestige. From this period, the

40tide of success flowed on apace; Jhang, Kastir, Pathankot,

41Sidklot, Gujrat, felt the power of his arms, and the chiefs of

42Mooltan, Jolluondur and Kusanuli, were glad to ward off an

43attack by timely submission, and acknowledgment of Ranjit

44Singh as lord paramount. In 1812, he became possessed of the

45person of Shah Shuja, and of the gem Koh-i-Nir ; effectually

46opposed the hitherto irresistible progress of Afghan invaders,

47and re-oceupied the fort of Attock. In 1814 he suffered his

48first reverse, in an attempt to conquer Kashmir; but he so far

49sneceeded as to obtain from the governor a formal recognition of

50the paramount authority of the Lahore Darbar. In 1818, Mooltan

51was besieged and taken by his forces, and the province annexed

52to the Empire of the Mahéréja, In 1819, Kashmir was at

53length conquered. This was followed by the annexation of the

54Derajat, or tract of country between the Indus and the Sulemén

55range ; and Peshawar was captured in 1929.