1 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH 411
2 Khan, the Sial chiefof Jhang, who, for nine months previously, had been
3 kept in close confinement, retaining Inayat Khan, his eldest son, who had been
4 recalled from Sindh as security for his good behaviour at Lahore. On Ah-
5 mad Khan a jagir of Rs. 12,000 was bestowed, for his subsistence at
6 Mirowdl, in the Amritsar District. An exorbitant sum was now demanded,
7 together with five of Muzaffar Khan’s best horses, and, this requisition not
8 being complied with, the forts of Khangarh and Muzaffargarh, on the way
9 to Multan, were stormed and captured. A proclamation was issued by the
10 nawd4b, calling on the faithful to draw the sword in the cause of Islém, and
11 hundreds of Mussalmans gathered from the surrounding country and were
12 supplied with arms by the nawab. The Sikhs, under Dewdn Moti Ram,
13 closely besieged the town of Multén, which was defended by Nawdéb Muzaffar
14 Khan with great vigour. The siege lasted for several days, until, at length,
15 several breaches having been effected in the walls of the city by the incessant
16 fire from the Sikh batteries, the invaders took possession of the town in Feb-
17 ruary, after aseverestruggle. The bombardment of the fort now commenced.
18 The citadel was ill-provisioned fora siege, and the nawab had a garrison of
19 only 2,000 men there. With such scanty means at his disposal, Muzaffar
20 Khan made a defence so gallant, that the Sikhs had never before witnessed
21 the like. The Sikhs established batteries on commanding positions, each
22 held by a jdégirddr, and entrenched themselves outside the ditch. From
23 these positions they opened a steady fire from their guns and matchlocks on
24 the fort. The besieged made several sorties, and many desperate encounters
25 took place between detachments of the two armies, but the continuous fire
26 of the Sikhs had the effect of making several breaches in the walls of the
27 citadel, and, in the course of April, the upper works of the defences were
28 almost all demolished. The following month the approaches close to the
29 fuusse braye of the works were carried. The bombardment went on till the
30 2nd of June. The great Bhangi top, or zamzama, before mentioned, was
31 now in full play, and had been fired four times with effect. Other heavy guns,
32 the number of which was large, were also well employed. ‘Two practicable
33 breaches were made in the wall, and the gates blown up, but the defenders
34 raised mounds of earth behind them, and from these engaged in a hand-to-hand
35 fight with their assailants. The Sikhs made several assaults, but the small
36 garrison repulsed the attack each time, with severe loss to their enemies,
37 Ranjit Singh, though absent, regularly forwarded his orders regarding the con-
38 duct of affairs connected with the siege. He repeatedly wrote to Misr Dewan
39 Chand, forbidding him to run the risk of storming the fort, for which the
40 Sikh troops were eager, the object of the Mahardjd being to compel Muzaffar
41 Khan to surrender at discretion, and agree to accept a jagir which had been
42 offered to him. The nawdb was, however, obstinate in his refusal, and
43 was determined to repel the enemy, or die. Desertions now began to take
44 place on the side.of the nawdb, for the Sikhs offered large bribes to his
45 Pathan adherents, and few of them were able to resist the temptation.
46 At length the defenders of the citadel were reduced to two or three hun-
47 dred fighting men, for the most part the immediate dependents and con-
48 nections of the nawab. All the rest had either been killed, or gone over
49 to the enemy, This devoted little band determined to hold out to the last
50 extremity. While matters were in this stage, one Sddht Singh, an Akali
51 fanatic, taking with him a few companions, as fanatical.and reckless as him- *
52 self, rushed, without orders, on the 2nd of June, into an outwork of the fort
53 and fel] suddenly on the Afghans. It was Friday morning, and the Mussal-
54 mans, who were resting after the care and toils of the night, were taken
55 by surprise. The Sikh soldiers, seeing this from the trenches, made a
56 The city of Multan ig
57 invested and captured,
58 Bombardment of the
59 Port.
60 The zam aoa gun
61 employed at the siege,
62 The war tactic dis-
63 played by the Maha-
64 raja.
65 Sadhi Singh the
66 Kalli,
67 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com