1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 365
2 to interfere.* The Dasehra was no sooner over, than the ruler of Lahore
3 crossed the Sutlej, on 26th July, 1806, with 20,000 horse, having in his train
4 Sardar Fatteh Singh, Ahluwalia, Gurdit Singh of Ladwd and many other
5 chiefs. Having received large nazrénds from Sardar Budh Singh of
6 Jalandar, and Sardar Dharm Singh of Phillour, and, having reduced Nakodar,
7 he entered the Patiala territory on the third day, and at once seized Doladhi,
8 the possession of the Patidld rdja, and the subject of dispute between him
9 and the Nabha chief, driving the Patiala troops out of the town. From
10 Doladhi, the Maharajd proceeded to Mansirpur, in Patidlaé, which he
11 invested. The rdjds of Jhind and Nabha, who had induced the Maharaja
12 to make the attack, were in his train. But the Patiala troops, on this
13 occasion, greatly out-numbered those of the Lahore chief who were engaged
14 in the field. . Mir Zulfikdr Ali, nephew of Mir Maksad Ali, commandant
15 of the Patidld4 artillery, personally superintended the firing of the heavy
16 ordnance. He managed, during the engagement, to send a shot through the
17 howdah of the elephant on which Raj& Bhdg Singh was seated. Ranjit
18 Singh viewed all this through his telescope from a distance, on his elephant,
19 whence he saw the overwhelming number of the enemy’s troops. In the
20 meanwhile, Chen Singh, the agent of Raja ‘Sahib Singh, of Patiala, arrived
21 with fresh messages on behalf of his master. The next day peace was con-
22 cluded between the Raja of Patidla and the Mahardjé of Lahore, who
23 restored Doladhi to the Patiala chief. The Maharaja then levied a nazrdnd
24 of Rs. 50,000 from Raj4 Jaswant Singh, of Nabha. -
25 The visit of the Lahore sovereign, at the head of so large an army, to the
26 Trans-Sutlej States, was the subject of a correspondence between the British
27 Resident at Delhi and the Rajé of Jhind, and it was considered advisable to
28 strengthen the British garrison at Karnal, to provide against any unforeseen
29 emergency, though Ranjit Singh had his hands quite full enough just then with
30 the atfairs of the territories which he had recently visited, and under the
31 circumstances had no wish to give the British Government any cause of offence.
32 Ludhiéndé was at this time held by Nurunnissa and Lachmi, the widows
33 of Rai Ilias Khan,f a Mussalmdn Rajput of Raikot, whose family had held
34 it for two hundred years. The declining Mahomedan family had sought
35 the protection of the adventurous George Thomas. Ranjit had no weak-
36 ness for generosity. His policy was self-aggrandizement at any price.
37 Might was right with him. With him the weak were sure to go to the
38 wall, and their ruin was the foundation upon which he built his greatness.
39 Expelling the helpless widows, he made himself master of Ludhiana, to-
40 gether with the surrounding villages, the whole of which he bestowed upon
41 his maternal uncle, the Raj4 of Jhind. He also wrested Pargand Thara,
42 in the Basia taluk, from the widow of Mian Ghous, and gave it in jagir to
43 Mohkam Chand, his favourite general. Jhanddld, Raikot, Jagrdon, Baddo-
44 wal, Talwandi, Dhakd& and Basia, all originally possessions of Rai Ilias,
45 next fell into his hands, and were divided among the Rdjds of Jhind and
46 * A strict policy of non-interference, inaugurated by Lord Cornwallis, prevailed at this
47 time in British India, and all connection with the powers beyond the Jamna was avoided.
48 ae ey Recent for the fact of Ranjit’s arbitration being sought in preference to that of
49 the English.
50 + Rai Ilias Khan was a2 Mussalmdn_Rdjput and a man of great importance in Ludhidna
51 towards the close of the 17th century. His great ancestor, Tulsi Dis, coming from Jesselmir,
52 settled in Faridkot in 1323, and became a convert to Mahomedanism. His son, Gopal, founded
53 Shahjahénpur, in the Ludhidné district, and Rai Kald, one of his decendants, became the
54 founder of Talwandi in 1478. This Talwandi is still know as Rai ki Talwandi. The family
55 reached the zenith of its power in 1620, when it mastered the town of Ludhiandé, which, 140
56 years previously, had been founded by two Pathan Lodhis, named Eusaf and Nihang. Hence
57 the name Ludhidna or Lodhidnd was given to the town. In the beginning of the present
58 century Raikot, Talwandi, Jandala or Jandidla, Buddowél, Jagréon, Ludhidné, Basia, &c.,
59 towns of some importance, were in possession of Rai Ilias Khan’s widows.
60 He crosses the Sutlej
61 for the first time, July,
62 1806
63 Nakodar reduced
64 1806,
65 Ranjit Singh enters
66 the Patiala territory,
67 And engages with
68 the Patiala troops,
69 Peace concluded,
70 Strengthening of the
71 British garrison in
72 Karnal,
73 Ranjit wrests Ludhi-
74 ana from the widows
75 of Rai Ilias and gives
76 it to the Rajé of Jhind, -
77 1806.
78 Usurpations and re-
79 wards.
80 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com