1 The Mahnrdjd seizes
2 the wealth of Jaimal
3 Singh Kanhia, 1812.
4 Insurrection of the
5 hill chiefs near
6 Kashmir.
7 Suppressed, 1812,
8 The families of Shah
9 Zaman and Shak Shuja
10 at Lahore.
11 é
12 Ranjit’s professions
13 of sympathy for the
14 distressed families.
15 His real motive.
16 _ His designs on
17 RKashunir,
18 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh}
19 B94 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
20 In August, 1812, Jaimal Singh the father-in-law of prince Kharak
21 Singh, died without male issue. The Mahardj4 sent Ram Singh on a pre-
22 tended mission of condolence to the widow of the deceased sardar, but as
23 soon as this officer was admitted, he seized the hoards which the sardar had
24 accumulated during a long life of frugality. He had also lent money on
25 interest to the mahajans of Amritsar, who were called upon to furnish
26 accounts to the Lahore treasury. Three months later, the widow of Jaimal
27 Singh gave birth to a son, who was named Chandd Singh, and the Maharaj
28 released a portion of the confiscated estate, valued at Rs. 15,000, asa jdgir
29 for the maintenance of the heir.
30 The heirs of Ismail Khan, the murdered chief of Bhimbar, who had
31 recently been disappointed by the ruler of Léhore in their efforts to obtain
32 the restoration of their estates, and Aiz Khan, chief of Rdjduri, raised the
33 standard of revolt. This insurrection was countenanced by the governor of
34 Kdshmir and supported by the Mahomedan chiefs and sardars of the
35 neighbouring country. Ranjit Singh, who had so often had occasion to try his
36 strength against these Mussalman states, now marched in person to reduce
37 them. He thought it the more necessary to do so to further his designs
38 against Kdshmir, as the possessions of the chiefs in question commanded
39 the route to the Pir Panjal mountains. The confederate army of the chiefs
40 was entirely routed, and the country finally annexed about the middle of
41 November. The independent chiefs and jégirdars who had joined in the
42 insurrection fled to Kashmir.and were afforded protection by the governor,
43 Ata Muhammad Khan.
44 It was in the previous September, when the Mahardj4 was making his
45 preparations for an expedition against the hill states of Bhimbar and
46 Rajauri, that the families of the two ex-kings of Kabul, Shah Zaman and
47 Shujé-ul-Mulk, took up their residence at Lahore. The disastrous retreat of
48 Shujé, after his ill-designed enterprise in September, has been already noticed,
49 To add to the Shah’s misfortunes, his person was seized by Jahdnddd Khan,
50 the governor of Atak, who sent the royal prisoner to his brother, Ata
51 Muhammad Khan, at Kdshmir, where the unfortunate king was now kept in
52 close confinement. The blind Shah Zaman brought both the families to
53 Léhore, where the wily Sikh chief professed much concern for their afflictions,
54 and even held out to the helpless Shah a hope of obtaining the liberation of
55 his brother, and ofreplacing him onthe Kashmir throne. He professed deep
56 sympathy with the misfortunes of Wafé Beyum, the wife of Shah Shuja, pro-
57 mising to do everything in his power to alleviate her distress, but expressing
58 a hope that his services, when crowned with success, would be rewarded by
59 the presentation to him of the famous diamond, the Kohinwr, or
60 ‘mountain of light,’ which had adorned the throne of the Moghal emperors.
61 The object of these artifices was to inspire the distressed lady with confi-
62 dence, and to induce her royal husband, by means of her representations, to
63 believe that hé had at least a sympathiser in the ruler of Ldhore, and to
64 repair to Léhore, where, of course, the possession of his person could be
65 obtained without any difficulty.
66 The plans of RanjitSingh against the much-coveted valley of Kashmir
67 were now approaching completion. His newly-married son, Kharak Singh,
68 had subdued Jammu. His own personal exertions had ended in the
69 complete overthrow of the Mussalman chiefs of Bhimbar and Rajauri, and
70 the final annexation of these territories to those of the Khdlsd. His Sikh
71 sardars and generals had penetrated the various principalities in the hills
72 south of Kashmir, and had, after repeated actions, rendered them tributary to
73 the Léhore kingdom, It only eoneined now to make a general, advance into
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