1 The Maharaja
2 marches to the relief
3 of the Kangra chief,
4 Duplicity of Sansar
5 Chand,
6 A fierce engagement.
7 The Maharija
8 reduces the fort,
9 And compels the
10 Gorkha general to
11 confine himself to the
12 left bank of the Sutle},
13 War between the
14 English and the
15 Gorkhas, 1814-15,
16 Desa Singh appointed
17 to the charge of
18 Kangra and other Hill
19 States,
20 382 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
21 to ask the Mahardjd’s aid in expelling the Gorkhds from his territory to the
22 north-west of the Sutlej, the famous stronghold of Kangra being offered him
23 as the price of his assistance. The Maharaja gladly accepted the invita-
24 tion, and advanced to Kangra, at the head of a large army, by the Patidld
25 and Jawdlé Mukhi road, having, in bis train, his enterprising mother-in-law,
26 Sadd, Kour. On 28th May, he reached Pathdnkot, where he seized the
27 possessions of the Kénhia msl, and thence he marched to Jawdlé Mukhi.
28 At the latter place, he collected all the sardars, and made them take an
29 oath of fidelity to his cause in the impending war against the Gorkhas.
30 Having taken nazrénds from the hill chiefs of Jasrota and Nurpur, he
31 marched to the relief of the citadel of Kangrd. The reduction of this fort
32 which had hitherto had the reputation, in India, of being impregnable,
33 occupied three months. The supplies of the invaders were cut off by the
34 forces of the confederate hill chiefs, and they were thereby considerably
35 weakened, but the duplicity of Sansdr Chand at this juncture, in enter-
36 ing into negotiations with the Gorkhds, and promising them the surrender
37 of the fort in the event of himself and his family being permitted to
38 withdraw unmolested, excited the anger of the Sikh ruler, who, in the
39 meantime, had received offers, in money, from the Kathmandu General,
40 equivalent in value to the famous hill fortress. Ranjit Singh, by his ex-
41 cessive craftiness, succeeded in making dupes both of the Rajput chief and
42 of the Nepdl commander. In August, he made a prisoner of the son of his
43 Kangra ally, then in attendance on him, while, with his pretented negotia-
44 tions, he amused Amar Singh, Thaépd, who had proposed a joint expedition
45 against the mountain chief. Having learnt that the Nepdlese troops had
46 fallen short of supplies and ammunition, he suddenly made his appearance
47 at the head of a chosen body of his troops, and demanded admission to the
48 fort. His demand being rejected, he attacked the fort and the Sikh warriors,
49 in their advance, suffered severely in a hand-to-hand conflict with their
50 adversaries, but the place at last fell, and Ranjit Singh made his triumphant
51 entry into it on 24th August, 1809. Thus did the Maharaja gain possession
52 of fort Kangrd, the key of the valley of that name. Amar Singh, after this
53 defeat, retired to Maldkra, the fort of which he besieged, but was compelled
54 by the pursuing Sikh army to raise the siege, and driven to Char Bégh. An
55 understanding was ultimately come to between the Mahardjd& and the
56 Nepdlese General, who procured the means of transport and_ retired
57 across the Sutlej. Amar Singh long brooded over these reverses, and re-
58 peatedly proposed to Sir David Ochterlony and other authorities of the
59 British Government to unite in an attack on the Panjab, but he met
60 with no success in any quarter. The war of 1814-15 between the English
61 and the Gorkhds settled the fate of the latter, who, instead of being in a
62 position to participate in Kdshmir,* had to be content with their abodes in
63 the hills of Kathmandu, the English becoming the neighbours of the
64 Sikhs in the hills as well as in the plains.
65 Desé Singh, Majithia, was appointed kilddar, or commandant, of the fort
66 of Kangra, and Pahar Singh second in command. Desd Singh was also made
67 Nazim, or governor, of the hill states of Kangré, Chamba, Nirpur, Kotla,
68 Shahpur, Jasrota, Basoli, Ménkot, Jaswdn, Sibé, Goler, Kolhor, Mandi,
69 . Suket, Kali and Datdérpur. The Mahardja then proceeded to Jawdlé Mukhi to
70 perform his religious devotions there, and distributed large sums to the keepers
71 * Captain Wade was told by the Maharéjé that i ' ci rtici i
72 , vay "i { 4 that the Gorkhis were anxious to participate in
73 Kashmir, but that his own idea was to keep them outside the limits of the Panjab. -—Cuoning-
74 Sri Sakguicn AUR TB Braryem! Singh wasypebn diyABtbaahr® reaiecertitence