1 BHANGI MISL. : 301
2 match for the Afghans in the open field. Such was the fear of the Afghans,
3 that the proverb of those days is still remembered by the people,
4 fd xl& seo} foray — 15 be Kya Uf
5 meaning, “ What we actually eat and drink is our own; the rest is all
6 Ahmad Shah’s.”. Ahmad Shah, according to the popular belief, left nothing
7 for the people, except what was actually in their mouths, but swallowed
8 up everything himself. The joint-governors of Ldhore, alarmed at the
9 Shah’s approach, fled to Panjwar. But the Shah returned to Kébul soon
10 afterward, confirming, as already stated, Lahna Singh in his possession of
11 Lahore.
12 For thirty years following these events, the joint governors of Lahore
13 reigned in peace; but in 1797, Léhore was invaded by Shah Zaman, who had
14 succeeded to the Kdbul throne in 1793. His mind was full of the notion,
15 however absurd, of founding an Indian Empire. In December 1793, the
16 king marched to Peshawar at the head of a large army, and advanced unop-
17 posed as far as Hassan Abddl. From this place he sent his generals Ahmad
18 Khan, Shahanchi, and Bahddur Khan, Mahomedzie, at the head of 7,000 horse,
19 to conquer the country between the Jhelum and the Chinab. His plans
20 were, however, frustrated by a fresh disturbance at Herat, caused by his brother
21 Mahmtd, and he was compelled to return to his country and abandon
22 his favourite project of invading India. Suffice it to say that his troops, under
23 Ahmad Khan, Shahanchi, were defeated and put to flight by the Sikhs,
24 with great loss,
25 Shah Zaman’s second invasion of the Panjab was commenced at the close
26 of the year 1795. Having crossed the Indus by a bridge of boats at Attock,
27 he entered Hassan Abdal, from which place he detached his shahanchi, at
28 the head of a large force, to occupy Rohtas. That general took possession
29 of Rohtas without difficulty, and was joined by the Ghakkars, the Jdéts and
30 other Panjab Mussalman tribes, the Sikhs having fled in dismay to the moun-
31 tains, or the country beyond the Bias. The king had, however, been only
32 a week in Hassan Abdal, when intelligence of the invasion of Western Kho-
33 rasdn by Agha Mahomed Khan, Kajyar, king of Persia, reached him, and he
34 immediately left the Panjab for the defence of his dominions, arriving at
35 Peshawar in January 1796.
36 After settling his affairs with Agha Mahomed Khan, who was compelled
37 to retreat to Teheran, the Shah’s infatuation for Indian expeditions brought
38 him again, for the third time, on the confines of the Panjab. About this
39 time the princes of Upper India, being hard pressed by the English and
40 the Mahrattas, had entered into negotiations with Shah Zaman to bring
41 about another Durrani invasion of India. Thus, Gholam Mahomed, the de-
42 feated usurper of Rohilkhand, and the agents of Nawab Asif-ud-doula, the
43 Oudh wazir, crossed the Panjab in 1795-96, to urge upon his majesty the
44 necessity of an invasion, assuring him that the Mahomedan world would
45 gladly hail his appearance on the soil of India, as the deliverer of its people.
46 The Shah, having assembled a force of thirty thousand men, half of whom
47 were Durranis, resumed his march to India at the end of November 1796.
48 His army forded the Chinab and marched or to Shah Dera, on the banks of
49 the Ravi, by the Emnabad route, and pitched their camp in the enclosure
50 of Jahangir’s mausoleum. From this place he despatched his grand wazir,
51 Hafiz Sher Mahomed Khan, surnamed Mukhtar-ud-doula Wafadar Khan,
52 to Léhore, at the head of twenty thousand troops to occupy the town. The
53 wazir, with his troops, crossed the Ravi by boats. Before his arrival, Lahna
54 Singh and Sobha Singh, the joint governors of Léhore, delivered the keys of
55 The Bhangi sardars
56 vacate Lahore on his
57 approach,
58 But are subsequently
59 restored.
60 Invasion of Shah
61 Zaman, 1793,
62 His troops routed by
63 the dikhs,
64 Second invasion of
65 Shah Zaman, 1795,
66 Third invasion of
67 Shah Zaman, 1796,
68 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com