1 POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SIKHS. 287
2 “(A world has been devastated.”
3 The Sikh chiefs and their followers now partitioned amone them-
4 selves the whole country between the Jhelum and the Sutlej. Kot
5 Mohy-ud-din Khan, near the Pathan colony of Kasur, was closely besieged,
6 and a strong detachment of the Sikhs, compelled Jahan Khan, the Moghal
7 governor of Gujrét, to effect his escape from Rohtas to Sialkot, where he
8 was besieged and put to great straits. Numerous mosques were razed to
9 the ground, and the Afghan prisoners who were in chains, were compelled
10 to smear the débris with the blood of hogs. The Sikh confederates then
11 held a national meeting at Amritsar, their sacred rendezvous, and, by a
12 decree of the Khdlsd, proclaimed their own sect as the dominant power in the
13 Panjab, and their own religion as supreme. The assumption of sovereignty
14 by the Sikhs was marked by the striking of a coin bearing the inscription,
15 “ Guru Govind had received from Nanak Degh, Tegh and Fatteh—grace, power,
16 and victory.”
17 For two years the Sikhs continued tranquilly to enjoy their supremacy,
18 the chiefs acting independently of one another, and being loyally aided by
19 their followers in all their undertakings. Notwithstanding the multiplicity
20 of chieftains, and their independence, they one and all, considered it a
21 paramount duty to act unitedly in the defence of their religion and country,
22 and thus they formed themselves into a commonwealth. God on their head,
23 the steel of Govind under their arms, and the book of Nanak in their
24 hands, these were the safeguards of each true disciple who was a substan-
25 tive member of the confederacy. They held an annual meeting at Amritsar,
26 after the monsoon, to mature their plans of conquest and aggrandizement.
27 A sort of blackmail, or tribute, called the “Rakhi,” literally, ‘“ protection
28 money,” was levied upon the inhabitants of the subdued tracts of country,
29 and in this manner a regular form of government was introduced.
30 The Sikhs, now unchecked, became masters of the whole open country as
31 far west as the Jhelum, while their possessions to the east extended to the
32 plains of Karndl. While they imagined themselves perfectly secure in the
33 enjoyment of their conquests, Ahmad Shah’s final invasion in 1767 threw
34 them into a state of consternation and frenzy. The Abdali, having fully
35 made up his mind to wreak his vengeance upon the rebellious Sikhs, crossed
36 the Indus in the early part of the same year, at the head of his invincible troops,
37 and, encountering the enemy on the banks of the Sutlej, obliged them to
38 retreat precipitately to the woods and mountains south of Jagraon. He found
39 a useful ally in the chief of Katoch, a Rajput veteran, whom he made his
40 lieutenant in the Jalandar Doab and the adjoining hills. At Kardé Bawana,
41 twenty-four miles south of Ambdla, on the banks of the Sutlej, he received
42 Amar Singh, who had just succeeded his grandfather, Ala Singh, in the
43 sovereignty of Patidld, and was pleased to invest him with the title of
44 “Raja Rajgan Mahandar Bahadur,” permitting him at the same time to use
45 the colours and drum as the insignia of royalty. He wasalso allowed to strike
46 a coin in his own name, which he did, and which bore the following Persian
47 inscription :—
48 shor Bale Got jt D3 9 phe y2 wi he = al gh deals wymras Dols 5] od pho
49 ‘By the command of God the inscrutable, Ahmad, the king, struck coin on silver and
50 gold, from the bottom of the sea to the height of the moon.”
51 The Sikhs assemble
52 at Amritsar,
53 And proclaim their
54 own sway by striking
55 a coin.
56 They resolve them-
57 selves into a feudcral
58 confederacy,
59 The extent of their
60 possessions.
61 Eighth invasion of
62 Ahmad Shah, 1767.
63 The Sikhs retreat to
64 the south of Jagraon
65 on his approach,
66 The title of Maharajé
67 bestowed on Amar
68 Singh of Patiala.
69 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com