1 The battle of Bataéla,
2 1783.
3 Utter rout of the
4 Kanhias,
5 They are again de-
6 feated at Naushera,
7 Marriage of Ranjit
8 Singh with the grand-
9 daughter of Jay Singh,
10 Kanhia.
11 War between Maha
12 Singh and Sahib Singh,
13 Bhangi,
14 Defeat and a
15 Naha Singh, an -
16 His charnoter,
17 34d HISTORY OF THE PANJAB. -
18 with the Sukerchakias, when Mahé Singh invited to his help Jassa Singh,
19 Ramgarhia and Sansar Chand, rajé of Katoch.
20 The particulars of the battle which took place, within a few miles of
21 Batdla, between the allied forces of Mahé Singh and Jassa Singh on the one
22 side, and of Jey Singh on the other, need not: be repeated here, as they have
23 been already noticed in the account of the Kanhia misl. Suffice it to say,
24 Mahd Singh was joined on that occasion by a number of disaffected tribu-
25 taries of the Kanhia sardar, who had been stirred up by his allies, The
26 heroic Gurbaksh Singh, at the head of 8,000 horse, very imprudently exposed
27 himself to the enemy’s fire. The fighting was continued for six hours, till an
28 arrow, shot by one of Guru Sundar Das’s men, struck him in the breast and
29 killed him. The Kanhias, seeing their leader dead, fled, leaving their adver-
30 saries masters of Batdla.
31 Jay Sing, though humbled, never lost bis spirit, and the determination to
32 take vengeance on’ Maha Singh still burned in his breast. He collected the
33 remnants of his troops and again attacked Maha Singh at Naushera, but
34 was repulsed with great loss, and fled precipitately to Nurpur, where he shut
35 himself up on the approach of the enemy.
36 Sada Kour, the widow of Gurbaksh Singh, now exercised the greatest
37 influence over her old. father-in-law, whose whole affections were centred’
38 in the family of his deceased son. This heroine regulated the affairs of
39 Batdla in the interest of herself and her only daughter, Mahtdéb Kour.
40 She now proposed the betrothal of the girl to the young son of Maha Singh,
41 hoping thereby to unite the Sukerchakia and Kauhia families in a permanent
42 bond of friendship, and thus to secure for herself the sardari of the Kanhia
43 msl upon the demise of her father-in-law. ‘I'he proposal was readily agreed
44 to by Maha Singh ; the contract was signed in 1785, and, at the close of the
45 following year, the marriage was performed with great pomp. This union
46 proved very fortunate for the interests of the country, Mahé Singh’s reign in
47 the Panjab, for many years after this marriage, being one of peace and
48 prosperity.
49 _ After the death of Gujar Singh, Bhangi, in 1788, Maha Singh, coveting
50 his possessions, supported the cause of his younger son, Fatteh Singh, -
51 against the elder, Sahib Singh, the result of which was that war was de-
52 clared between Mahd Singh and Sahib Singh, without the slightest regard
53 being paid to the relationship which existed between them by virtue of
54 their intermarriages. Maha Singh was determined to effect his aspiring and
55 ambitious plans at any cost, and a recourse to arms was thus rendered inevi-
56 table. An account of this fight and its issue, has already been given in the
57 notice of the Bhangi mis. It is sufficient to say here that Mahé Singh, at
58 this Juncture, asserting his own superiority over Gujrdt, demanded tribute
59 from Sahib Singh, which was, of course, refused, on the ground that Gujar
60 Singh had never fought under the standard of the Sukerchakia mist, but
61 was an adherent of the Bhangi msl.
62 Sahib Singh shut himself up in the Sodhra fort, which was besieged.
63 The Slege was continued for three months, during the whole of which time
64 Maha Singh remained in a state of delirium tremens, which eventually led
65 to his being removed from the field, and to the breaking up of the camp.
66 Upon the siege being raised, he was conveyed to his fort at Gujranwala,
67 where he expired in 1792,
68 Mahd Singh was brave, enterprising and prudent beyond his years; and
69 the age in which he lived highly favoured his ambitious schemes. So dis-
70 lect was the state of the country, so small the influence of the Guru
71 atta, or national Sikh assembly, and so rife was intrigue among the ambi-
72 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com