1 PART IV—THE LIFE OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH.
2 ' CHAPTER I.
3 FROM HIS ASCENDANCY AS RULER OF LAHORE TO THE
4 SUTLEJ TREATY, 1799 to 1808 A.D.
5 ee: pant SinGu, the only son of Mahé Singh, was in his twelfth year when
6 ne his father died. His mother, Mai Malwain, assisted by the minister
7 of her husband, Lakhpat Rai, dewdn, a Chhatvi of Noushera, was nominated
8 regent, and ruled the confederacy in the name of the minor; though
9 Sada Kour, the young chief's mother-in-law, widow of Gurbaksh Singh,
10 Ste a att Kanhia, had also much to do with the conduct of affairs. The wisdom
11 mother-in-law, and energy of this extraordinary woman, Sadé Kour, one of the most
12 artful and ambitious of her sex that ever figured in the Sikh history,
13 conduced materially to the success of Ranjit Singh in his early exploits,
14 and it is truly said of her that she was the ladder by which Ranjit Singh
15 reached the summit of his power. By affiancing her daughter, Mahtab
16 Kour, to the youthful Ranjit Singh, she hoped to secure the support of
17 the Sukerchakia chief in her instalment in the sardari of the Kanhia mist
18 on the death of her father-in-law, Jay Singh, to the exclusion of his two
19 surviving sons, Bhag Singh and Nidhan Singh, and to play thus a pro-
20 minent part in the history of the Panjéb. These objects were fully
21 attained on the death of Jay Singh, Kanhia, which occurred in the
22 year following the demise of Mahé Singh, viz., in 1793, and by which she
23 gained the entire control of the Kanhia msi.
24 Ranjit Singh received Little care had been bestowed on the early education of Ranjit Singh,
25 no hind of education who spent his days in huntiog, indulging in every kind of excess, and
26 gratifying his youthful passions and desires. He was never taught to read
27 or write, and, while yet a minor, under the guardianship of his mother
28 and mother-in-law, became the husband of another wife, Raj Kour, daughter
29 of Ram Singh, the Nakai chief. On attaining the age of seventeen, Ranjit
30 considering himself as well, or better, qualified to manage public affairs
31 than the triune regency of Lakhpat Rai, Mai Malwain and Sada Kour,
32 he, like his father, gave them to understand that their supervision in the
33 Heappointspa -- CONtrol of the State would, for the future, be dispensed with. He then
34 Such, his father's took upon himself the sole responsibility, and appointed, as his prime
35 prime minister, minister, Dal Singh, maternal uncle to his father, Maha Singh, who, shortly
36 before his death, had entrusted the young chief to his care, binding the
37 turban of sardari on Ranjft’s head. Acting under the advice of Dal
38 Singh, Ranjit sent Lakhpat Rai on an expedition to Ketas, where the sus-
39 pected lover of his mother was easily despatched. All accounts, however,
40 agree that the late dewan was not the only paramour upon whom the
41 a AEsssinates 224i Mdéi Malwain lavished her favours. One Ldik Missar was also suspected
42 oa ee of entertaining an amorous passion for her. Ranjit Singh, following the
43 example set him by his father, put both his mother and her lover to death
44 with his own hand. For several months preceding this tragedy, the
45 young chief was desirous of convincing himself of his mother’s guilt by
46 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com
47 Malwain, acts as regent
48 for the minor sardar,
49 Ranjit Singh,
50 Her politic views,