1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 367
2 lasted for a month, by which time the besieged had consumed all their
3 store of provisions, and had begun to live on the flesh of horses and cattle.
4 The Sikhs laid waste the whole territory with more than their ordinary
5 vengeance, and their artillery levelled to the ground a great portion of the
6 city walls. The city, being thus reduced, was given up to plunder, every-
7 thing which the citizens possessed being forcibly wrested from them. Much
8 barbarity was shown by the Sikhs towards the tender sex, many of whom com-
9 mitted suicide by strangling or throwing themselves into wells, thus prefer-
10 ring death to dishonour. Hundreds of women and children were carried away
11 as slaves, and numerous helpless people were deprived even of their wearing
12 apparel, and forced to go about naked. The outrages committed by the
13 Sikhs on this occasion were more than ordinarily cruel, and are remembered by
14 the people to the present day. Kutb-ud-din shut himself up in the fortress
15 of Kastr. But internal seditions and broils completed the ruin of his
16 family, and, at the end of March, he was compelled to surrender, and
17 retire to his territory of Mamdot, on the opposite bank of the Sutlej, hold-
18 ing it in jdgir, subject to his supplying 100 horsemen for service when
19 required. This territory had been conquered by Kutb-ud-din Khan and his
20 brother, in the year 1800, from the Rai of Raikot, with the assistance of
21 the Dogrds, a turbulent Mussalmdn tribe, inhabiting the neighbouring
22 country. To Fatteh Din Khan, nephew of the chief, and son of Nizém-ud-
23 din Khan, Ranjit Singh gave a jdgir at Marup, in the Gurgdon district,
24 subject to the same military conditions as were imposed upon his uncle,
25 Kasir, with the whole of the country adjoining it, lapsed to the kingdom of
26 Lahore, and was temporarily assigned to Sardar Nehal Singh, Attariwald.
27 The Sikh soldiers are said to have greatly enriched themselves by
28 plundering Kastir, and the property of Kutb-ud-din Khan in particular,
29 which fell into the hands of the Mahardja, consisting of jewels, rich stuffs
30 and fabrics, shawls, horses and camels, is said to have been enormous; while
31 thousands of Qurdnsand Arabic and Persian books, plundered by the Sikhs,
32 were sold at very cheap rates in the bazars of Lahore. On his return to
33 Léhore, Ranjit held a great darbdr in honour of the victory gained, and the
34 cities of Lahore and Amritsar were illuminated to celebrate the occasion, a
35 large amount of money and property being also sent to Amritsar to be
36 presented at the Sikh Harmandar. Ranjit Singh next proceeded to Dipalpur,
37 the fort of which he invested and reduced, making it over to the heir ap-
38 parent as jagir. At Dipdlpur he received nazuars from the neighbouring
39 chiefs and sardars, and he then marched to Multdn, au expedition under-
40 taken at the instigation of Abdul Samad Khan, the Baddozie chief, who had
41 recently taken refuge at Lahore. He was at one time appointed Governor
42 of Multdén by Shah Zamdn, but was at last defeated by Muzaffar Khan
43 and dispossessed of his fort and jagirs. But excuses were not wanting, and
44 the cause of the expedition was stated to be that the nawdb, after conclud-
45 ing his treaty in 1802, renewed in 1805-1806, by which he acknowledged
46 his submission to the Mahardja, had given protection to his enemy, Ahmad
47 Khan, the Sidl of Jhang, providing him with men and money, and thereby
48 enabling him to recover a considerable portion of his territories, and, secondly,
49 he was suspected of intriguing with Kutb-ud-din Khan, of Kastr. On his
50 way, he occupied and garrisoned various dependencies of the Multdén
51 Government, and in April he laid siege to Multan itself. The walled town
52 was captured, but the citadel, into which the principal inhabitants had
53 retired, with their valuables, offered a stubborn resistance. Ranjit Singh,
54 who was unprovided with the means of carrying on a difficult and protracted
55 siege, was glad to accept the payment of a nazrdnd, or tribute, of Rs. 70,000
56 Acts of devastation
57 and violence commit-
58 ted by the Sikhs,
59 _ The conquest of
60 Kast, 1807,
61 Riches obtained by
62 the plunder of Kastir,
63 Rejoicings at Lahore,
64 Ranjit Singh pro-
65 ceeds to Dipalpur
66 which he captures,
67 1807,
68 Third expedition to
69 Multan, 1807.
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