1 MAHARAJA: RANJIT: SINGH. 385
2 _. lost: The. people-of ‘Peshawar, and several powerful mountain tribes in the
3 . neighbourhood of. that..district, were firm in: their allegiance ‘to Shujd-ul-
4 Mulk; who, being thus enabled.to.assemble a fresh:army, dnd being, more-
5 over, assisted: with.-money; by ‘the subaddr.,of Kashmir, Ata “Muhammad
6 _ Khan,’son of Wazir ‘Sher Muhammad Khan,-.once more advanced against
7 ’ Shah: Mahmud: Shah Mahmid.was repulsed, and, being compelled to, fly,
8 took refuge in the: fort of Atak:' The: clans of Afghdn mountaineers who
9 - were friendly to Shujd; however, continued to harass him, and Shah Shujd,
10 having ‘returned. to :Peshdwar;..was received there on the, 20th of March,
11 taking posséssion .of: the: Vast -regions west.. of Peshawar, inhabited by
12 the Afghdn.race ; but the. tide of fortune soon turned in ‘favor of Shah
13 Mahmdd, for, in ‘the following September, Muhammad. Azim Khan,
14 brother of .Wazir Fatteh Khan, inflicted a signal defeat on Shuja-
15 ul-Mulk,.and:drove him across the Indus again. ~ ;
16 As Mr. Elphinstone was returning to the British provinces through the
17 Sikh -country, he was overtaken by Shujd-ul-Mulk’s fugitive harem, and
18 among: them was the exiled,: dethroned and blind Shah Zamdn. The
19 .ambassador;: who ‘was: gifted. with a good and generous heart, met the un-
20 happy monarch, and ‘treated him: with the honour befitting a king. The
21 interview, which ‘was most affecting, is fully described in Mr. Elphinstone’s
22 excellent work:.on .Kdbul. . The: scené was’ heart-rending. A monarch,
23 ‘whose name was. once the terror of Persia’and .India, and whose repu-
24 tation: had spread-to the remotest...confines .of..Asia, was now to .be
25 . seen -in the train of women, ‘helpless; blind .and ‘dethroned. . But Shah
26 _ Zaman: wasia: thorough’ Persian scholar, and familiar with the history of
27 ‘Asiatic nations, --He ‘possessed. all the qualities of a king, and spoke of
28 ‘reverses and -strokes: ‘of “fortune. as: the common lot of.princes. He spoke
29 with much composure: of the: great calamities which had befallen kings,
30 frankly narrating .all that! had happened to. him. “Had he gone over all
31 the history -of Asia,”. observes. Mr.. Elphinstone, “he could scarcely have
32 discovered a more remarkable instance of the mutability of fortune than
33 he- himself. presented, blind,! dethroned atid exiled in a country which he
34 ’ had:twice subdued.” “9. 20
35 ‘It was during the first interview of Mahardjd Ranjit Singh with
36 Shah Shujd-ul-Mulk that the Sikh ruler léd: the ex-king to hope that he ™
37 might yet make an attempt. to recover. his: lost provinces.of Kashmir and
38 Multdn, with the co-operation of the: Sikh troops, whose services the wily
39 chief offered: with apparent. pleasure.” The Shah’s troops had made. an
40 attack on: Multdn, in 1803, but were repulsed by. Muzaffar Khan. The latter
41 chief had, more ‘than once, offered’ an asylum to the Shah, and shown his
42 anxiety to conciliate him, but the Shah wanted to conquer the city and
43 province for: himself. At the present juncture, the Shah had reason to
44 -distrust the Ldhore ruler’s sincerity, but no sooner had the ex-king recrossed
45 the. Atak, leaving Ranjit Singh to -settle his affairs. with the Mussalmdn
46 chiefs, east of that-river, than ‘he made preparations for a.descent on Multda.
47 The affairs -of the recently-subdued district of Sdéhiwdl, however, precluded
48 him: for a ‘short time~ from’ prosecuting his ‘plans: against Multdn. The
49 revenues ‘of Sdhiwd! now amounted to ‘Rs. 1,50,000, and Fatteh Khan, its
50 chief, had, in 1804, agreed to give-Ranjit.Singh’ 25 horses and 25 camels
51 annually, as. tribute. ‘This tribute’ had, in. January, 1809, been commuted
52 for an atinual payment ‘of the sum of Rs. 12,000, and, the chief having
53 recently failed to-remit-the tribute punctually, Ranjit Singh found a pre-
54 text’ in‘ this act of default for invading his territory, and accordingly
55 The Shak makes a
56 fresh attempt on
57 Kabul,
58 But eventually fails,
59 and is driven across
60 the Sutlej.
61 Interview between
62 Mr. Elphinstone and
63 the blind Shah Zamin.
64 The polities of
65 ultdin. :
66 Final conquest of
67 Khushab and saéhiwal,
68 1810,
69 “marched "gq SetbuMd] agfit Seg ¢edt iofabjs troops, in therpptaaeHb AH gail.com