1 But the Sikhs rally
2 and defeat him.
3 Disturbances in the
4 Jalandar Doab.
5 The Afghans retire.
6 The Sikhs occupy
7 Lf&hore,
8 And coin money, in
9 the name of the A/dilsd,
10 1756-58
11 Disagreement be-
12 tween Adina Beg Khan
13 and the Sikhs,
14 Adina invite
15 Mahrattas to fe
16 Panjab.
17 230 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
18 great numbers and determined to defend their religion with the sword.
19 They ravaged the whole country round Lé&hore, which swarmed with Sikh
20 horsemen. Jahdn Khan came out against them and succeeded at first in
21 dispersing them. The Sikhs, however, assembled in larger numbers, and were
22 strong enough not only to cut off communication between the fort and
23 the country, but also to collect the revenues of the country around Lahore
24 and dispose of it as they liked. The Afghan Prince engaged them on
25 several occasions, but was worsted each time in consequence of the superi-
26 ority of their numbers. Ina desperate engagement which took place between
27 the Pathans and the Sikhs, the latter fired a volley, every bullet of which
28 took effect. A great number of Pathans fell, and the rest fled. The Sikhs
29 kept up the fire with great vigour, and in the heat of the action, Jahdn
30 Khan’s horse, being wounded, fell with its rider. The Sikhs rushed forward,
31 to kill the Khan, with the loud war cry, “Wah Guru-ji-ki-fateh,” but the
32 Khan fled on foot, and was protected by his men. The Pathans were
33 completely routed, and this was the first decisive victory on record achieved
34 by the Sikhs over the Afghans.
35 About the same time, serious disturbances broke out in the Jalandar
36 Dodhb, instigated by Adina Beg Khan, who had fled on the prince’s approach,
37 but who now excited the chiefs against the Afghans, and with their aid de-
38 feated a division of the Afghan troops under Sarfrdz Khan at Jalandar. The
39 whole Panjéb was now ina state of commotion. The Afghan prince and
40 his guardian, seeing that all their attempts to disperse the Sikhs had failed,
41 and that the numbers of the insurgents were daily increasing by thousands,
42 and aware that the forces at their own disposal, however well-armed and disci-
43 plined, were too few in number to stand before them, considered it prudent
44 to evacuate Léhore and retreat towards the Chinéb. They retreated in the
45 night, unknown even to their own Hindostdni troops, whom they distrusted,
46 ‘and in such haste that the royal family fell into the hands of the enemy,
47 though they were subsequently released. This took place about the middle
48 of 1758. The triumphant Sikhs occupied Léhore under their celebrated
49 leader Jassa, the Kalal, or carpenter, who had declared the hdlsd to be a
50 “State” (ora political body united under one government), and who now
51 assumed the sovereignty of the country. Thus did the Sikhs become, for
52 the first time, masters of Ldéhore. They used the mint of the Moghals to
53 coin a rupee with an inscription :—‘ Coined by the Grace of the Khdlsé in the
54 country of Ahmad, conquered by Jassa Singh, the Kalal.”
55 The Sikhs, who, in no small degree, owed their rise to power and freedom
56 to the courtesy and forbearance of their ally, Adina Beg Khan, now for-
57 got their debt of gratitude to him. They expelled from Lahore, with disgrace,
58 Khwaja Mirza Jan, the agent of Adina Beg Khan, but that old and wily
59 chief was, in his turn, not wanting in energy to checkmate them. Shahdb-
60 ud-din, styled Ghazi-ud-din, had called in the aid of the Mahrattas to support
61 his authority against Najib-ud-doula, the Rohilla chief, who, it will be remem-
62 bered, had been installed in the office of commander-in-chief at Dehli by the
63 Abdali king, as a reward for his joining his majesty at Karndl, and was look-
64 ed upon as the Abdali’s agent, The royal fort at Dehli was laid under siege
65 by Ragho Nath Rao, better known under his familiar appellation of Raghobd,
66 and, after a month’s defence, Najib-ud-doula escaped. The helpless emperor
67 once more fell under the control of Ghazi-ud-din. At this juncture Adina
68 Beg Khan invited the Mahratta chiefs to enter the Panjab and extend their
69 arms to the Indus. He stipulated for the payment of a daily * sum for
70 _ 7. One lakh of for a i housa — :
71 Din Reh Of B runes or a march, and fifty thousand for a halt.—7he Afemoirs of Ae
72 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com