1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. * 873
2 Resident, Mr. Seton, and implore the protection of the British Government.
3 On the first of April, the members of the deputation presented a written
4 memorial to Mr. Seton, in which the subject was dealt with at full length.
5 It was pointed out in this document that the States of the Sutlej had _ their grounas for
6 always been under the protection of the sovereign of Delhi, and rendered ‘¢"*#**
7 him service in time of war. Thus, when the Durrdni King, Ahmad Shah,
8 waged war on the Emperor Mohamed Shah of Delhi, Raja Ala Singh of
9 Patidlé was present with his contingent of troops, in the train of Wazir
10 Kamr-ud-din Khan. Again, when Ahmad Shah conquered Delhi and made
11 Nawab Najib-ud-doula his subaddr at that capital, the Patidld r4j4 supplied
12 the nawéb with a contingent of 4,000 troops under Sardar Bhola Singh, to fight
13 against Jawdhar Singh Rdjé of Bharatpur, on the side of the nawab. Other in-
14 stances were also cited ; but they need not be recapitulated here. Upon these
15 grounds, the members of the deputation solicited the protection of the British
16 Government, and the extension of the paramount power to all the States
17 south-east of the Sutlej. The attitude of these States was unmistakeably
18 friendly, and the Government of India had, on its part, assured the nawab of
19 Kunjpura, in Karndl, that his hereditary possessions would be respected, while
20 the services of the Sikh chief of Sikri were considered worthy of recognition ;
21 yet the policy of the Government of India was to act cautiously with res-
22 pect to its relations with the Cis-Sutlej States. The Resident held out no
23 hopes to the deputies of the confederate Sikh chiefs of direct British inter-
24 ference in their relations with the Léhore ruler, but nevertheless they were the British govern-
25 led to hope that they had the best sympathies of the British authorities, Hyp poce ner pecede
26 and that, when the time came, a helping hand would not be denied them.
27 The reply, though encouraging, was not decisive, and by no means sufficient
28 to save the chiefs concerned from eventual ruin. In the meanwhile, news of
29 the mission having reached Léhore, Ranjit Singh became anxious to prevent
30 them from going over to the side of the English and deserting his own. He,
31 therefore, proposed a meeting of these chiefs at Amritsar, where they went
32 to settle their own terms with the acknowledged ruler of Lahore. Ranjit _ Ranyit singh enters
33 Singh received them with every mark of consideration and favour, and did *'° *™s wh them.
34 everything in his power to allay their fears. es
35 While these transactions were pending, the political aspect of affairs in
36 India underwent a material change, and the policy of non-interference in-
37 augurated by Lord Cornwallis was totally abandoned by the new Governor- _ British policy to-
38 General of India, Lord Minto, a statesman of great promise, and of special fea consequently on
39 experience at the Board of Control. The ambitious Napoleon Buonaparte, thesuspected designs of
40 Emperor of France, now in the zenith of his power, who had won brilliant :
41 victories in Europe, and had just concluded a treaty with the Emperor of
42 Russia, was believed to be meditating the invasion of India (in concert with
43 the Turks and the Persians); and, to prevent his designs, Lord Minto deter-
44 mined to form a defensive alliance, not only with the powers beyond the Jamna
45 and Sutlej, but also with those beyond the Indus. It was, accordingly, resolved
46 to send ambassadors to the court of Shah Shujé, the King of Kabul, the
47 court of the Shah of Persia, and of Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Lé&hore, whose
48 authority had now been firmly established in the Panjab, to negotiate
49 with those monarchs, and to persuade them that their interests were iden-
50 tical with those of the British, and that, in the event of an invasion of this
51 country by the French Government, the interest of the Sikhs would be the first
52 to suffer ; he therefore urged upon them the necessity of a policy of unity as the
53 only means by which they could hope to keep the enemy at bay. Mr. Elphin-
54 stone was deputed to the Court of K4bul, Sir John Malcolm to the Court of arte mission of Mr,
55 Teheran, and in August 1808, Mr. (afterwards Lord) C. T. Metcalfe, a young isos,
56 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com