1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 3638
2 altars as a memorial on its banks. The inauspicious Indian gods had turned
3 the Macedonian conqueror back, but they had little effect on the illustrious
4 British General, who was as much a stranger in the land of the Five Rivers
5 as the renowned Macedonian had been.
6 Thousands of people assembled on the banks of the Bids, to gaze upon | The wonder of the
7 the British troops with wonder. Their eyes were unfamiliar with the sight a Duropean military.
8 of a British military camp, its white soldiers (gords) dressed in their “™”?
9 military costume, their warlike music, their discipline, their mode of living,
10 and their general appearance; but blessed be the nation to which they
11 belonged, and for whom Providence had destined the sway of these lands.
12 Had it been the march of an Asiatic conqueror like Tymtr the Tartar,
13 Mahmitid the Ghdaznani, or any other freebooter of their kind, the case would
14 have been very different for the countries invaded. But how did the British Phe demeanour of |
15 General, the conqueror of the metropolis of the Indian Empire, the deliverer wards the natives.
16 of Agra, the city of Akber, the “hero of the land,” the “Lord of the age,”
17 as the blind Shah Alam called him, conduct his marches into this
18 country? The strictest discipline was observed. Nota grain of wheat was
19 taken without payment; no man, however small or insignificant, was
20 molested; no work, however trifling, was forced upon the people without
21 the payment of liberal wages, and no wrong was done to any person on
22 any account.
23 The spectators soon learnt to admire the men of the British army, and
24 were always ready to render them whatever assistance they could in purcbas-
25 ing their goods. The most scrupulous regard was paid to the property of
26 the inhabitants, and as all supplies were punctually paid for, the British
27 troops wanted for nothing that the country could produce. Ranjit Singh,
28 though he would have proved a valuable auxiliary to either of the contend-
29 ing parties, was sensible of his own inability to render any material assistance
30 to either of them, in the confused state of his own kingdom, yet in its infancy;
31 and as his whole policy was directed to giving unity to the scattered Sikh
32 elements, and to moulding the entire nation into one State or commonwealth,
33 he, on the approach of the foreigners, held a council of the Sikh confeder- | Ranjft Singh con-
34 acies that still depended upon him for advice or support. It was umani- siknconfederacies.
35 mously resolved in this council, that the chief of Lahore and the Sikh
36 nation should interpose as mediator between the fugitive Mahratta chief
37 and the British Government. On the 19th of December, the Mahardja
38 sent his vakil to the British camp, and the negotiations were soon concluded.
39 Holkér, finding his whole dominions closed against him, and himself totally
40 helpless, sued for peace; and, on the 11th of January 1806, a treaty was, 2renty of peace con-
41 concluded between him and the British Government, by which he had British and the
42 to renounce all his possessions in Northern India, Ranjit, on his part, ““™**** 1%
43 agreeing to give the Mahrattas no assistance. Thus was the evil which
44 Ranjit dreaded averted, and his Sikhs blessed their stars that they had not
45 been entangled in war with the foreigners. Friendly relations were further
46 strengthened between the British commander and Ranjit Singh, and the
47 Ahluwalia Chief, and, in the course of the same month, the armies which
48 had inspired so much alarm in the Panjab, retraced their steps to Hindos- , The foreign armies
49 tan. Ranjft Singh had heard many particulars regarding the British from ~~” mee
50 the Mahratta chief, Jaswant Rao, and expressed his astonishment at their
51 warlike exploits. Ever after this, Ranjit dreaded the power of that Govern-
52 ment, and determined to be at peace with it. The Holi festival was then
53 celebrated at Ldhore with rejoicings, commensurate with the embar-
54 rassments which had perplexed the Sikhs during the past few months, and
55 Ranjit Singh, with his mind at rest, freely indulged in all kinds of excesses.
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