1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 3907
2 owing partly to the check thus received, and partly to the fierce heat
3 of the sun, were compelled to retire, and the Sikhs recovered their lost guns.
4 Fatteh Khan, believing that Dost Muhammad Khan had been slain, fled, and
5 the victorious Sikhs pursued the Afghans, and drove them out of Khyra-
6 bad. The wazir retired to Kébul, leaving another brother, Yar Muhammad
7 Khan, in charge of Peshawar, Kohat, and Eusufzai, with Sultan Muhammad
8 Khan as his naib, or second in command. Mohkam Chand, after relieving
9 the fort of Atak, returned victorious to Lahore in the month of August.
10 The battle of Haidaru was fought on the 13th of July, 1818, and was the
11 first on record in which the Sikh troops, under the Lahore darbar, had beaten
12 the Afghans, who from this time began to entertain a dread of their prowess.
13 There were great rejoicings at Lahore in honour of this great and decisive
14 victory, royal salutes being fired at all the principal stations in the Raj,
15 while the cities of Lahore, Amritsar and Batala were brilliantly illuminated.
16 Two months were spent in Ldhore in these rejoicings, at the end of which
17 time, in Assu (September), the Maharaja himself paid a visit to his
18 newly-conquered province of Atak, with the view of further intimidating
19 the Pathans, as well as of consolidating his authority in those distant regions.
20 In October, 1818, the Maharaja visited Jawadl&é Mukhi and Kangrd, vid
21 Pathankot, and then joined the camp of Kanwar Kharak Singh at Sialkot,
22 Thence, taking the Wazirdbad and Gujrdét route, he reached Bhimbar and
23 encamped on the banks of the Jhelum. Preparations were made here
24 on a grand scale for an expedition into Kashmir, and all the jdgirdars and
25 tributary hill chiefs were summoned to join the Mahardja’s camp with their
26 respective contingents, Sardar Desa Singh, Majithia, was appointed to
27 collect the azrdénd, and succeeded in levying Rs. 40,000 from the rdjd of
28 Nurpur, Rs. 50,000 from the raja of Jasrota, and one lakh from minor hill chiefs,
29 Special arrangements were made to improve the artillery and to make the
30 camel battery more effective, and, when all the preparations were complete,
31 the Mahardjd crossed the Jhelum and entered Bhimbar and Rohtas. At
32 Rajéuri he was joined by Raja Agar Khan, chief of that place, who was
33 honourably received by him. Thatta, seven kos from Rajauri, was easily
34 reduced; but at Bahram.Kalla, five kos further, on the Pir Panjal route,
35 the Kashmir troops, under Wazir Ruhulla offered a determined resistance.
36 The place was difficult of access, being surrounded by streams which
37 flowed in deep currents. The bridge over one of these streams, between
38 Thatta and Bahram Kalla, was destroyed by order of the governor;
39 but the chief of Rajdéuri pointed out a different route which obvi-
40 ated the necessity of crossing the steam. A detachment of 80,000 troops
41 was sent. under Sardar Dal Singh, Dewan Ram Dayal, Jodh Singh, Kal-
42 sia, and Fateh Singh, Ahluwalia, and the pass was seized without difficulty by
43 the Sikh troops, who were subsequently reinforced by Desa Singh, Majithia,
44 Daya Singh, Jawand Singh, Hukm Singh, Chamni, and Dewan Bhawani Das,
45 who reached the valley with their battery of camel artillery (zambtiaks),
46 The reduction of Bahram Kalla, one‘of the most difficult passes of the val-
47 ley, was an occasion of great rejoicing in the Mahardja’s camp, and orders were
48 nowissued to Sardars Mit Singh, Sh4m Singh, Réj4 Agar Khan, Dhanna Singh,
49 Malwai, and Namdar Khan, Thakkar, for an advance on the Pir Panjal Range.
50 But heavy rains interfered with the further progress of the Sikh troops, and it
51 was reported that the summits of the Pir Panjdl were still covered with
52 deep snow. Further operations were, therefore, suspended, and the Maha-
53 rdja4, having made arrangements for strengthening the newly captured pass-
54 es beyond Rajauri, and for collecting grain and stores in select places, return-
55 ed to Léhore, vid Bhimbar and Rohtas, on the 26th of December.
56 Fateh Khan retires
57 to Kabul.
58 Rejotcings at Lahore.
59 Second expedition to
60 Kdshmji, 1813.
61 Tll snecess of the
62 expedition,
63 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com