1 AHMAD SHAH. 221
2 was to storm the fort of Ram Rouni which he captured and reduced. He
3 then stationed detachments of troops in all parts infested by the Sikhs,
4 with stringent orders to shave their heads and beards wherever they might
5 be found. These measures, beirg rigorously enforced, inspired public con-
6 fidence, checked the progress of Sikh proselytism, and compelled the votaries
7 of the Guru to conceal themselves in the mountains or jungles. Mir
8 Manni issued strict orders to the hill rajas to seize the Sikhs and send
9 them in irons to Lahore. These orders were obeyed, and hundreds of Sikhs
10 were brought daily to Lahore and butchered at the Nakhas, or Shahid-
11 ganj, outside the Delhi Gate, in sight of multitudes of spectators. The
12 young Mannu became an irreconcilable foe of the Sikhs, and was deter-
13 mined to extirpate the nation; but the influence of his minister, Koura
14 Mal, who was himself a Sikh of the Khdlsd sect, withheld him from carry-
15 ing out his resolution. His plans were also secretly thwarted by Adina
16 Beg Khan, the artful governor of Jalandar Dodb, who saw in the tur-
17 bulent tribe a means of advancing his own interests, and took care not to
18 reduce them altogether, but to confine their excursions within such bounds
19 as to give them internal security, without affording them an opportunity
20 of ostensibly coming in contact with the ruling authority.
21 Abdéli Ahmad Shah had retreated across the Indus with no inclina-
22 tion to relinquish his designs on Hindostan, whose glittering gold had
23 dazzled his eyes when he had first visited India in the train of his more
24 formidable predecessor, Nadir Shah, He was not then an inattentive
25 observer of the vast resources of the Indian empire, and a single defeat
26 was not enough to induce him to give up his plans of conquest and aggran-
27 dizement. At the close of the rains of 1748, he re-crossed the Indus, at
28 the head of a considerable army, and disturbed the peace which the Pan-
29 jab had enjoyed since the assumption of power by the vigorous Manni. In
30 vain did the young goveror ask for re-inforcements from the distracted
31 court at Delhi. Thinking that further delay might prove disastrous, Mannt,
32 at the head of his troops, moved from Lahore to repel the danger as best
33 he could. He pitched his camp at Sodhdard, on the south bank of the
34 Chinab, where he threw up three entrenchments. Ahmad Shah, having
35 crossed the Jhelum and Chinab, arrived within six miles of his camp.
36 Some smart skirmishes took place, but Moin-ul-Mulk, seeing the superiority
37 of the enemy’s forces, wisely refrained from hazarding a general -action.
38 The Durranis laid waste the country around Lahore. Moin-ul-Mulk at
39 length despatched agents to the Durrani camp to arrange terms of peace.
40 Ahmad Shah’s own administration had not yet been firmly established on
41 * the other side of the Indus, and the bold front assumed by Mir Mannu,
42 who had effectually checked his progress at Sirhind, made a deep impres-
43 sion on his mind, He, therefore, thought it prudent to withdraw on the
44 condition that the revenues of the four districts of Pasrér, Gujrat, Sidlkot
45 and Aurangabdd, the most fruitful principalities of the Panjéb, should be
46 assigned to him, as they had been to Nadir Shah, from whom he pretended
47 to have inherited his power and title. The governor further agreed to
48 hold the government of the Panjab in the name of the invader, and to remit
49 the tribute, before mentioned, regularly to the Shah.
50 The affairs of the Panjab being thus satisfactorily arranged, the Abdali
51 king retraced his steps to Kandahar. On his way he settled the districts
52 of Dera Ismdil Khan, Dera Ghdzi Khan and Shikdrpur and the southern
53 Afghan tribes acknowledged him as king.
54 The praise awarded to the young Mannt for his success in averting the
55 coming storm, aroused a feeling of intense jealousy against him among
56 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary
57 The Sikhs are dis-
58 persed,
59 They are butchered
60 in large numbers at
61 Shahidyganj, Lahore.
62 Artful contrivances
63 of Adina Beg Khan,
64 Second invasion of
65 Ahmad Shah, 1848,
66 Manni marches from
67 Lahore to repel the in-
68 vasion,
69 The country sround
70 Léhore ravaged.
71 Mannt sues the
72 Durrani king for peace,
73 The terms of peace,
74 Ahmad Shah retires
75 across the Indus,
76 The southern
77 Afghan tribes acknow-
78 ledge him astheir king,
79 NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com