1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 361
2 after the fashion in vogue in Turkistan, their native country, Ranjit
3 was not the man to be easily convinced of the truth gof an interpretation
4 which he himself did not wish to be put upon the word. He asked them,
5 if the word really meant what they said, how it was that Mirza Mahdi,
6 the biographer of Nddir Shah, called it “Shélé mah” ( gle alyxs) or
7 “ the blaze of the moon,” in his description of the life of his royal master,
8 the date of whose advent in India is derived from the chronograms
9 Choghad Kadan ¢o3 s%= (entrance of an owl) and Ghami am pte ra
10 (universal mourning). The arguments of the courtiers in favour of
11 the Turki signification of the word failing to make any impression
12 on Ranjit Singh, he gave his own name to the garden, and called
13 it “Shahla Bagh” eu Ned, “ Shahla” meaning in Persian “sweetheart” with
14 dark gray eyes and a shade of red, and “Bagh” meaning “garden.”
15 The courtiers present passed high eulogies on the Mahardja’s ingenuity
16 in selecting so charming a name for the famous gardens of Ldhore, and
17 it was ordered, accordingly, that henceforward the gardens be called
18 by that name, and written so in all public correspondence. A few days
19 after, the Sikh monarch visited the Harmandar at Amritsar, and, at a grand
20 review of his troops, bestowed the following honours on military sardars —
21 Sardar Desa Singh, Majithia, to be commander of 400 sawars; Hari
22 Singh, Nalwa, from being a menial attendant, to become a sardar with the
23 command of 800 infantry and cavalry; Hukam Singh, Chamni, to be
24 superintendent of artillery with the command of 200; Ghouse Khan to be
25 commandant of artillery with the command of 2,000 sawars; Roushan
26 Khan and Sheikh Ibadulls, of Hindostdn, to be commandant of 2,000 najibs ;
27 Baj Singh to be styled Babé Bhag Singh, Moraliwdld, and to be commander
28 of 500, with a jagir; Milkhd Singh to be commander of 700 at Rawalpindi ;
29 Nodh Singh to be commander of 400 with a jdgir of Pargand Ghep; Attar
30 Singh, son of Fatteh Singh, Dhari, to be rasaldar of 500 infantry. Mit
31 Singh, Bharania, to be commander of 590 cavalry; Kurba Singh to be com-
32 mander of 1,000; Nehal Singh, Attariwdla, to be commander of 500.
33 All the above were created sardars, while the following were made
34 honourary commanders of the forces specified opposite their names, which
35 they were to produce in time of war :—
36 Jassa Singh, son of Karam Singh, Sahib Singh son of Gujar Singh,
37 Chet Singh, son of Lahna Singh, Bhag Singh, Hallowalia, and the sons of
38 Nar Singh of Chammari, 10,000 troops; the Kdnhia sardars, 5,000; the
39 Nakdis, 4,000; the Rais of the hills, 5,000; the sardars of the Dodb4, 7,000.
40 In the early part of 1805 the Mahardjé entered into treaties with the
41 Mahomedan chiefs and families about the Chindéb and the Jhelum. The
42 Court of Kdébul was no longer regarded as the royal and highest tribunal of
43 India. The chiefs of the Panjab looked upon the Maharaja Ranjit Singh as
44 the greatest and most powerful chief of India; to him they did homage;
45 to him they looked for advancement, and around his standard they rallied in
46 cases of national danger, or of any great emergency. In February of that
47 year the Mahardjé returned to Ldhore, and celebrated the Holi festival with
48 the greatest libertinism, as was usual with him. He then, like a pious Hindu,
49 proceeded to Hardowar, with a small retinue, to bathe in the holy Ganges,
50 and wash away, as it were, the sins he had accumulated. Well may the
51 Hindosténi couplet be applied to the character of the eccentric Sikh Ruler:
52 Lyd Ipedy 6 ws35} ot — S21} od ly syle on
53 ‘* Now a devotee, now a monk, and now a leader of libertines.”
54 The Mahardj4 pre-
55 fers to call it “Shald
56 Bagh,” ;
57 Visit,
58 Honours bestowed,
59 Treaties with the
60 Mahomedan chiefs of
61 Chinab and Jhelum,
62 1805,
63 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com