1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 359
2 him with honour, and, having exacted a large tribute from him, retraced his
3 steps to Lahore.*
4 The Maharaj, in December 1802, resolved upon the total reduction of
5 the remnants of the Bhangi més/, who still held power in Amritsar. The, Raniit Singh makes
6 affairs of this once most formidable confederacy, which was always at Amritsar, expelling the
7 enmity with Maha Singh, when alive, and had once taken the lead in the prance
8 trying to recover Lahore, were at this time governed by Rani Sukhan, "18
9 widow of Goldb Singh, in the name of her minor son, Gurdit Singh. The
10 Ahluwalia chief was ordered to join the Maharaja at Amritsar, with all his
11 available troops, and Ranjit’ Singh himself moved from Lahore, at the head
12 of his forces, accompanied by his mother-in-law.
13 When the confederate armies reached Amritsar, the Rani closed the
14 gates of the town, and, mounting the ramparts of the city with heavy
15 ordnance, gave the invading army a warm reception. Sardar Fatteh Singh,
16 Ahluwalia, commenced his operations in front of the Bridge Gate, amd the
17 Mahardjé opposite the Lohgarh Gate of the town. At length, the gates
18 having given way before a heavy cannonade, the invading troops entered in
19 triumph, with the Maharaja at their head. The troops would have plund-
20 ered the city, had not the Maharaja prevented them, out of reverence,
21 it is believed, for a place held so sacred to the memory of the Sikh Guru,
22 Ram Dds. The fort of Lohgarh was then besieged and reduced without
23 difficulty, as the Bhangis were much weakened. It rained heavily that day,
24 and the widowed Rani, with her infant child, had no place to shelter them.
25 At length they found their way to the haveli of Sardar Jodh Singh,
26 Ramgarhia, who, pitying their helpless condition, gave them an asylum.
27 On the recommendation of the Ramgarhia sardar, Ranjit Singh allowed a
28 small jdgir for the maintenance of the reduced Bhangi Chief, and thus the
29 confederacy collapsed. Ranjit Singh then, entering the holy temple, bowed
30 his head before the Harmandar, and performed his ablutions in the sacred
31 tank. He also increased the stipends of the worshippers of the great Sikh
32 institution, and, as usual with him, on such occasions, gave away large sums
33 of money asalms to the poor as he passed through the bazars of the town.
34 The civil war in Afghanistén, carried on by the four sons of Tymtr Shah, — the affairs of
35 Htimdyin, Mahmud, Shah Zamdén and Shah Shujdé, between themselves “{hanistén.
36 for ascendancy, bad ruined that empire, and the once dreaded power of the
37 Afghans in India was now looked upon everywhere with contempt. The
38 ever-vivilant Ranjit Singh found the time most opportune for extending
39 his conquests in the regions east of the Indus, once the focus of Afghdn
40 influence and power.
41 After the Dasahra festival, which was kept with more than the usual
42 excesses at Léhore, Ranjit Singh sent his agents to Alimad Khan, the _ The Maharajé invades
43 powerful Sial chief of Jhang, demanding tribute, and a promise of future THEM EV ANS
44 submission as the only alternative to war. Preparations were at the same
45 time made for marching into Jhang, with a thoroughly equipped force. The
46 agents, of course, returned with an evasive answer, which decided Ranjit
47 Singh’s declaring war against him, and he set out for Jhang at the head
48 of his troops in 1808, attended by the Ahluwalia chief. The new battalions
49 * Rai Kénhia Lal, in his History of the Fanjdb, writesa long account here of a bat
50 having been fought between the troops of Muzaffar Khan and thosa'os Ranjit Singh, in is
51 the latter was victorious. He represents that the Sikhs entered the city, and indiscriminately
52 plundered the inhabitants, but the nawdéb at length sued for peace, and his request was
53 granted. have been unable to corroborate this account from contemporary historians.
54 All that really occurred has been given above. See Dewén Amar Né&th’s History of
55 Ldhore (manuscript edition), and compare it with McGregor, page 156, and Panjab Chiefs,
56 page 483,
57 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com