1 They are defeated
2 by Adina Beg,
3 Who now exercises
4 sole authority in the
5 Panjab, and fixes his
6 head-quarters at
7 Batala.
8 The Sikhs of the
9 Manjha country be-
10 come troublesome.
11 More Sikh insur-
12 rections,
13 Death of Adina
14 Beg Khan, 1758.
15 His previous history
16 and character.
17 The state of Lahore
18 under Adina Beg
19 an.
20 ~ Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary
21 232 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
22 Taufiq, the chela of Khan Bahadur, who worked as the mahdwat of Adina
23 Beg Khan’s elephant, fired at him -with his musket. This killed Jamal
24 Khan, and, no sooner had he fallen, than the insurgent troops, struck with
25 panic, fled, a great number of them being slain by the pursuing troops of
26 the Lahore viceroy.
27 This victory over the insurgent tribes tended greatly to strengthen the
28 position of Adina Beg Khan in the Panjab, and spread terror throughout the
29 whole province. He fixed his head-quarters at Batala, and appointed his
30 own governors for the provinces of Multan, Thatta and Lahore* The
31 hill r4jas tendered their allegiance to him; the zemindars made their sub-
32 mission, and Raja Sef Ali Khan, of Kangrd, paid him his homage. The
33 Dehli Court conferred upon him the title of Zafar Jang Bahadur, treating him
34 as an independent chieftain. ss
35 The Sikhs of the Manjha country now began to give trouble, and, col-
36 lecting in large numbers, carried on their depredations in the surrounding
37 districts. Mir Aziz Bakhshi was sent to chastise them, and he brought 12,000
38 Sikhs as prisoners to Batdla, where the viceroy resided at the time with
39 Nidhdn Singh Randhdwé, their head. The rising had been searcely suppress-
40 ed when a greater and more serious one took place in Ramgarh (then known
41 as Ram Nomi) under the Sikh leaders Jai Singh, Kanhia, and Jassa Singh
42 Ramgarhia. Troops were sent to suppress this insurrection; but the
43 end of the viceroy, who now aspired to complete independence in the
44 Panjdéb, was near. He was attacked with cholic in his palace, in the town of
45 Batdla, and was laid in his grave on 11th Moharram, before the end of
46 1758. His body was, according to his own will, conveyed to Khanpur,
47 in the neighbourhood of Jalandar, and interred there.
48 Adina Beg Khan had long played a very conspicuous part in the diplo-
49 macy of the Panjab. From an humble position in life, he advanced till
50 he was made Karddér of Sultanptr, and the Nawéb Zakaria Khan,
51 viceroy of Lahore, subsequently appointed him governor of Bahrampur
52 in the Gurddspir district. The nawdb once put him in close confinement
53 for default of payment of goverment revenue, but the Omerahs interceded,
54 and he was reinstated. He was a master of. Indian diplomacy; for, amidst
55 storms of confusion and anarchy, raised by parties with conflicting in-
56 terests, who aspired to political supremacy, he maintained his position
57 intact. By his tact, address and judgment, he raised himself in the estima-
58 tion of each successive viceroy of Lahore, who looked upon him as a source
59 of strength. His management of the Jalandar Dodb was highly success-
60 ful. He was shrewd and crafty. The Sikhs he amused, the Delhi Court
61 he despised, the Afghans he bewildered, and the Mahrattas he effectually
62 influenced in his favor to break the power of both the Sikhs and the
63 Afghans and to obtain his own independence. He turned every change
64 to his own advantage; and while the interest of everybody else suffered
65 from the disorder that prevailed, he never allowed his own to be sacrificed.
66 He was unscrupulous and sometimes cruel. Once he ordered a confectioner
67 who had refused to supply him with preserves, to be boiled alive. The
68 poor wretch’s life was saved through the intercession of some of the by-
69 standers.T
70 Lahore was never prosperous under him. Scarcity of provisions pre-
71 vailed, and no edible grain could he imported into the city without his
72 leave. He left no issue or successor, though the thriving town of Adina-
73 * Farhatun Nazirin.
74 + Boiling seems to have been the torture in use at this period.
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