1 He coins money at
2 Sirhind in the name of
3 the Shah.
4 The Shah's declining
5 health,
6 Tiis policy of recon-
7 ciliation.
8 Moulvi Obedull4h
9 appointed Afghan
10 governor of Lahore,
11 Ahmad Shab retires
12 to Kabul. :
13 The Sikhs masters of
14 the country as far as
15 Rawalpindi, 1768.
16 Death of Ahmad
17 Shah, Abdali, June
18 W753.
19 Ilis character.
20 288 HISTORY OF THE PANJADR.
21 On the reverse was the inscription :—
22 “Coined at Sirhind in the auspicious year of the reign.”
23 In recognition of the privilege conferred on him by the Durrdni Shah, the
24 rajé& presented him with a nazér of a lakh of rupecs, and, in commemoration of
25 the event, the king, on his part, was pleased to release all prisoners of war
26 taken in the neighbourhood of Sahdranpér.
27 The declining period of Ahmad Shah’s life may be said to have set in about
28 this time. He had been suffering the most excruciating pain from cancer of
29 the pose ever since 1764, and now old age appeared to be creeping upon him;
30 for the loss of his martial spirit and activity were very perceptible, and were
31 the common topic of conversation with both his friends and his enemies ; the
32 former looking forward with anxiety to the dissolution of their leader, and
33 the latter regarding with great satisfaction the approaching demise of their
34 dreaded chastiser. During the latter days of his stay in India, he adopted a
35 policy of reconciliation where armed resistance was of little avail, and, acting
36 upon that policy, he secured the regard of the Malwa Sikhs by the recognition
37 of Amar Singh as the independant ruler of Patiala, and the co-operation of
38 the Rajput chiefs of the Jalandar Dodb. He sent a present of fruits to
39 Lahnd Singh, the Bhangi chief of Lahore; but the latter returned it to the
40 king, with a message to the effect that fruit was a luxury worthy of an
41 emperor, the asylum of the poor, and that for an humble peasant like himself
42 grain was the best food. The Shah was greatly pleased with the humility dis-
43 played by the chief, whom he confirmed in his possessions in the neighbour-
44 hood of Léhore.
45 The Shah appointed Sarfr4z Khan, the governor of Kashmir, as his lieuten-
46 ant at Rohtas. He then visited Sirhind, and was much grieved to see it in
47 the ruinous condition to which the Sikhs had reduced it. Returning thence
48 to Ldhore, he appointed Moulvi Obedulléh his governor of Lahore, with
49 Daétd Khan as his deputy, His plans were, however, frustrated by 12,000
50 of his Durréni troops deserting him and marching back towards Kabul. The
51 Shah thought it prudent to follow them, but was harassed in his retreat
52 by the ubiquitous Sikhs, who cut off his baggage train and plundered his
53 camp followers. As soon as the Shah had crossed the Indus, the Sikhs,
54 under Charat Singh, the grandfather of Ranjit Singh, the founder 6f the
55 Sukerchakia msl, blockaded the stronghold of Rohtas. Lahore was again
56 besieged by three rulers, Lahnd Singh, Gujar Singh and Sobha Singh, who
57 had fled on the Abdali’s approach. The Mahomedan governor, Obedulléh
58 Khan, closed the gates of the city, and for two months a guerilla warfare
59 was carried on, At length the gates were opened without much bloodshed.
60 Obedull4h was pardoned, out of consideration for his learing, but Datd
61 Khan was cast into a dungeon in the fort, where he remained till he was
62 released, two months after, through the mediation of the citizens. Ldéhore
63 was now in the possession of the three rulers, and the whole country, as far as
64 Rawalpindi and the Khanpur valley, was occupied by the Sikhs, unopposed
65 by the Ghakkars, the warlike race who had resisted so desperately the arms
66 of the once powerful Moghals,
67 Ahmad Shah did not long survive these events. After suppressing &
68 rebellion i Khorasdn, he returned to Kandahar, where his malady increased.
69 At Murghab, in June 1773, Ahmad Shah, probably the most intrepid, active,
70 successful and accomplished general and military genius of the age,
71 breathed his last, in the fiftieth year of his reign. If we compare him with
72 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com