1 Khushhal Singh falls
2 into disfavour,
3 Dhiin Singh is
4 appointed chamberlain.
5 Commotions in
6 Afghanistan, 818,
7 Sri Satguru J agjit
8 414 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
9 Jamadar Khushhal Singh, the Mahardja’s chamberlain, upon whom
10 unlimited bounties had been lavished, and who was in command at the tomb
11 of Shams Tabrez, fell into disfavour soon after the capture of Multdn. His
12 brother, Ram Lal, who had joined him from Hindostan in 1816, had received
13 an appointment in the body-guard. He.was the great court favourite,”
14 the boon companion of Ranjit Singh, who had a personal attachment for
15 him. The Mahardjé wished Ram Lal to give up the Brahminical thread
16 and receive the Sikh initiation of the Péhal of the Guru, as his brother had
17 done ; but the most seductive offers availed not to induce Ram Lal to comply
18 with his master’s wish. The Maharaja becoming urgent on the point, Ram
19 Lal, with the connivance of his brother, fled to Hindostdn across the
20 Sutlej, and thus placed himself beyond the reach of the Sikh ruler. This
21 incensed Ranjit Singh in the highest degree. Khushhdl Singh was im-
22 mediately put under restraint, and Ranjit Singh, acting on the advice of
23 Misr Dewan Chand, was induced by Zaffar Jang, who had quarrelled with
24 Khushhdl Singh about the Multan booty, to remove the latter from his. office
25 of chamberlain and to appoint in his place Mian Dhidu Singh, a young Rajput,
26 who was now rising into favour. A fine of fifty thousand rupees was imposed
27 on Khushhal Singh, and Ram Lal, seeing the consequences which his
28 obstinacy had brought on his brother, returned to Lé&hore and took the
29 Péhal, changing his name to Ram Singh. Khushhdl Singh had retained
30 all his jégirs, and he was now admitted into the council and put in com-
31 mand of four thousand irregulars, thus obtaining more real power than he
32 had before. Ram Lal was made commandant of Chet Singh’s battalions,
33 aud te Singh appointed general of the irregular forces under Prince Kharak
34 Singh.*
35 The peace which followed the capture of Multdn was productive of an ~
36 event which had a material effect on the future fortunes of the ruler of
37 Lahore. A plot was formed against Fatteh Khan, the able Kabul Wazir,
38 whose bravery and political wisdom had raised Shah Mahmud to the Kabul
39 throne. His energy and talents had forced the Sindhians to pay tribute,
40 and he had conquered Kashmir and kept in harmony the discordant clans
41 and turbulent tribes of which the kingdom of the Afghans was composed.
42 Prince Némrdn, son of the imbecile Mahmtid, had become jealous of the
43 unbounded influence which the wazir exercised over his father. A vain
44 conceit had taken deep root in his mind that the experience and ability of
45 the wazir could be dispensed with and the affairs of the kingdom conducted
46 as well without him, The wazir had been sent to Herat to repel an attack
47 of the Persians, and had in his train his brother, Dost Muhammad Khan,
48 and a Sikh chief, Jai Singh Attdriwala, who had left the Panjab discontented.
49 The wazir vindicated the honour of the Afghan name, and obtained a com-
50 plete victory over the Persians, who were repulsed with great slaughter.
51 This procured universal applause for the talented wazir, who, however, formed
52 a project to eject Feroz-ud-din, a prince of the blood-royal, from the govern-
53 ment of Herat, and place it under Mahmud, so that it might be within his
54 own grasp. Dost Muhammed and his Sikh ally, who were employed to
55 despoil the prince governor, however, effected their object in a somewhat
56 coarse manner. Not only was the property of the prince plundered, but the
57 person of a royal lady was touched in the eagerness to possess her jewels.
58 The affront offered to a female member of the Durréni-family was made a
59 pretext for revenge, and any attempt at open resistance against the power
60 ., lr. Murray has given 1817 as the date of this incident, but all accounts that Khush-
61 hal Singh lost the lucrative office of chamberlain after the capture of Multan in 1818 aay pane
62 Panjab aie page 31, and the Memoirs of Moulavi Din At chammad, : , :
63 inghjietibrary amdharieh rary@ gmail.com