1 THE SUKERCHAKIA MISL. 339
2 carried away much booty and munitions of war from the arsenals there.
3 In 1777, the sardars, considering the Katchi Serae ill-adapted to meet their
4 wants, began to build a mud fort, better suited for the purpose; but their
5 attention was diverted by an attack on their possessions by the Mahomedan
6 chiefs of Lahore, who, jealous of the rising power of the Sikhs, had moved
7 with a strong force to destroy their strongholds and disperse their bands.
8 The Sikhs united together and defended their property against the Maho-
9 medans, an account of which has been given in the beginning of the preced-
10 ing chapter. Suffice it to say, the invading army was completely routed, and
11 its chiefs narrowly escaped with their lives. leaving their military stores and
12 ammunition in the hands of the enemy. From this time the audacity of the
13 Sikhs increased, and they began to organise themselves into a still more
14 compact and formidable body under Charat Singh, who, as his fame in-
15 creased, established his power as the head of the Sukerchakia misl.
16 On the appearance of Ahmad Shah, the Abddli, with his Afghan troops,
17 in 1762, Charat Singh, conscious of his own inability to oppose the disci-
18 plined army of the Shah in the open field, and afraid of a direct conflict
19 with the main body of the invaders, sent his family to Jammu, where he
20 concealed all his property, but he was never quiet himself. At the head
21 of a band of chosen men, he harassed the march of the Afghans, cut off
22 the stragglers of -their army, and plundered their baggage. The Afghans,
23 on their side, levelled to the ground the mud fort which the Sikhs were
24 building at Gujranwala.
25 On the departure of Ahmad Shah, Abdali, from the Panjab, Charat
26 Singh, being joined by Bakhshish Singh, his brother-in-law, sacked Wazira-
27 bad, and, driving out the Moghal officials, took possession of the city,
28 which he gave to Bakhshish Singh. He then conquered Ahmadabad,
29 which he gave to Dal Singh. At Ahmadabad news reached him that the :
30 Hindu subjects of Rohtas were much oppressed by Nur-ud-din Khan Bami-
31 zie, the general of Ahmad Shah, who was stationed there with some troops,
32 and who had permitted cows to be slaughtered. He repaired to Rohtas at
33 the head of his misl, and engaged and defeated Nur-ud-din. Charat Singh
34 plundered Rohtas, and then proceeded to Dhanni, which he conquered.
35 -Chakwal and Jalalpur next fell, and escaped the rapacity of the invader
36 only on payment of a nazrénd or present. He then subdued Pind Dadan
37 Khan, whose governor, Sahib Khan, had his life spared on condition of his
38 paying a heavy fine. He left Budh Singh and Gor Singh, two of his sar-
39 dars, in charge, and ordered them to build a fort in the place. Proceeding
40 onwards, he conquered Kot Sahib Khan and Rajd-kd-kot, two large towns,
41 and then returned to Gujarwdl. The successive victories won by Charat
42 Singh, and the power and resources at his command, made him an object of
43 jealousy to the rival misldars, who all looked upon him with great suspi-
44 cion, and thought (not without ground) that their own positions were not
45 safe before his vast schemes of conquest and aggrandizement. None, how-
46 ever, became more apprehensive thau the sardars of the Bhangi misl, who
47 had from the first entertained hostile feelings towards the rising Suker-
48 chakias, Butacause for open conflict was no longer wanting, for circums-
49 tances arose in a border hill State, involving a general rupture between the
50 various misls,
51 It was during his retreat to the Jammu hills that Charat Singh formed
52 ’ his first acquaintance with the rdjdés of that State. Ranjit Deo, the raja,
53 had some misunderstanding with his eldest son, Brij Raj Deo, whom he
54 desired to deprive of the right of succession, in favour of the youngest son,
55 Midén Dalel Singh. Brij Raj Deo applied Charat Singh to help him in
56 a ‘
57 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com
58 And repel an inva-
59 sion made on their
60 territory by the Malio-
61 medan Governor of
62 Lahore,
63 Charat Singh be-
64 comes the head of the
65 confederacy,
66 He harasses Ahmad
67 Shah’s troops on their
68 march through the
69 Panjab,
70 Sacks Wazirabad,.
71 Captures Ahmadd4-
72 ad,
73 His conquests west
74 of the Jhelum.
75 His position is en-
76 vied by the rival
77 Misldars.
78 Rival claimants of
79 the Jammu Raj.