1 MAHARAJA RANJ[T SINGH. 399
2 was made on him and his principal wife, Wafi Begum, for the great
3 diamond, the Kohinur, which had once adorned the throne of the Moghals.
4 A large sum of money and a valuable jagir were promised to the Shah,
5 in the event of his majesty surrendering the great diamond. The Shah
6 denied being in possession of it, while Wafé Begum declared that it had
7 been pawned, for a large sum of money, with the merchants at Kdbul,
8 to supply her husband with funds in his late expeditions. The Maharaja
9 disbelieving these statements, placed a strong guard round the Shah’s
10 residence, no ingress or egress being allowed without strict search. Findin
11 that the severity of mere restraint was of little avail in inducing the Afghan
12 king to part with so rich a prize, Ranjit Singh had the baseness to resort to
13 extortion. . The king was subjected to absolute deprivation of food; for two
14 whole days, nothing was cooked in his majesty’s kitchen, and the Shah,
15 with his wives, children and servants, suffered from actual hunger. The
16 exiled family was proof even against this act of oppression, and Ranjit
17 Singh, out of regard for his own reputation, had the prohibition of food
18 removed. The expedients of restraint and deprivation of food proving
19 unavailing, recourse was now had to artifices and tricks. Two forged
20 letters, purporting to have been written by Shujd-ul-Mulk to Wazir Fatteh
21 Khan, and declared to have been intercepted, were produced in the darbdr.
22 In these the sufferings of the Shah from ill-treatment at the hands of the
23 Lahore ruler, were described, and the aid of the wazir and the Afghans was ~ —_
24 solicited to put an end to these persecutions. This afforded ample pretext for
25 increased violence against the Shah, and the addition of a strong guard to
26 his residence was now assumed to be indispensable. Two companies of
27 Sikh infantry, from newly-raised regiments, were, accordingly, placed over
28 the king’s haveli in the city, in addition to the previous guards and the
29 Shah was threatened with separation from his family, and told that he would
30 be sent to Amritsar, there to remain a prisoner, in the fort of Govindgarh,
31 if he did not comply with the demand for the diamond. Threats of per-
32 sonal violence were also conveyed to him, and every possible device resorted to
33 in order to enforce the surrender of the precious jewel. The Shah, finding ex-
34 postulations without effect, had resort to stratagem in his turn, and asked for
35 two months’ time, to enable him to procure the diamond, which, he said, had
36 been pledged by him to certain bankers for a large sum of money, which would
37 be required to redeem it. The Mahardjd, with much reluctance, allowed
38 the time solicited, and there was a temporary cessation of severities, But
39 so impatient was the Sikh ruler tosecure the object of his ambition, and so
40 little did he rely on the Shah’s promise, that, before long, the extortionate
41 demands for the jewel were renewed. The Shah, wearied of the insults to
42 which he was subjected by the rapacious ruler of Lahore, and seeing that,
43 if the surrender of the diamond were longer delayed, the Sikh would not
44 hesitate to deprive him even of his life, resolved, at last, to comply with his
45 demand. The news was received with intense joy by the Mahardjd, who, on
46 Ist June 18138, deputed Fakir Aziz-ud-diu, Bhdi Gur Baksh Singh, and Jamadar
47 Khushhal Singh, to receive the jewel. The Shah having, however, expressed a
48 wish that the prize should be taken by the winner in person, Ranjit Singh gladly
49 availed himself of an opportunity to wait on the Shah, with his principal
50 courtiers. The interview took place on the first day of June at the residence
51 of the Shah, in Mubarak Haveli. The exiled king received the ruler of
52 Léhore with due honour, and, both princes being seated, a solemn pause
53 ensued, which lasted for about an hour. Ranjit Singh, at last, becom-
54 ing impatient, whispered to one of his attendants to give the Shah a re-
55 ‘minder regarding his promise, The latter,therefore, made a sign to one of
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