1 But the territory is
2 eventually occupied by
3 Dost Muhammad Khan,
4 1818,
5 Shah Shuja once
6 more tries his fortune
7 beyond the Indus, but
8 fails, 1818,
9 Expedition to the hill
10 country, 1919,
11 416 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
12 sion of Atak, and who had not yet been substantially rewarded for his
13 services, in charge of affairs at Peshawar. He was, however, left to his
14 own resources and furnished neither with troops nor with money to main-
15 tain possession. The Maharajd carried with him fourteen guns, which he
16 had captured at Peshawar, and with them crossed the Atak, on his way
17 back to his capital. About the same time, Dost Muhammad Khan, Barak-
18 zai, brother of Yar Muhammad Khan, sent his agents, Damodar Mal and
19 Hafiz Ruhulla, to the Mahardjd, offering to pay a bribe of one lakh
20 of rupees per annum if allowed to retain possession of Peshdwar and its
21 suburbs. The proposal was accepted and the agents were dismissed with
22 khilats of honour. Shortly afterwards, however, intelligence was brought to
23 him that the Barakzai Sardars, having come down to the plains with their
24 mountain hosts, had taken possession of Peshawar, expelling the powerless
25 Jahandad Khan, who had sought refuge at Hasht Nagar. The Maharaja
26 was greatly irritated, and forthwith sent Sardar Dal Singh at the head
27 of 12,000 troops with orders to replace the expelled Governor Jahandad
28 Khan. Dal Singh recrossed the Attak and was followed by Prince Kharak
29 Singh and Mishar Dewdn Chand Zafar Jang. The Kabul agents, Mirza
30 Hasan, Héfiz Ruhullah and Damodar Mal, however, arrived, and presented
31 Rs. 50,000 in Awndzs, and a number of horses, with fruits, on behalf of Dost
32 Muhammad Khan. The presents were received, and the Sikh troops which
33 were advancing on Peshdwar, recalled. The Mahardjd, after bathing in the
34 spring of Katas, returned to his capital in Pos, or December.
35 The state of affairs in Kabul tempted the exiled Shah Shuja once more
36 to try his fortune beyond the Indus. Jahdnddd Khan, Wazir Khail, having
37 received a free pardon, joined his standard. The Shah, having collected
38 some troops, reached Peshdwar, which he occupied, and was now in advance
39 at Khaibar; but Muhammad Azim Khan, collecting his hillmen, defeated
40 him, and he was compelled to withdraw. He then proceeded to Dera Ghazi
41 Khan, and, with the assistance of Nawdb Sadiq Khan, of Bahawalpur, was
42 enabled to enlist a body of soldiers in his service. It having been reported
43 to Ranjit Singh that the Shah was bent on establishing himself at Dédera
44 Din Panah and had put himself in communication with the Amirs of Sindh,
45 he ordered Dal Singh, Killadar of Makhad, to proceed to Dera Ghazi
46 Khan, and expel him from that territory. Before, however, Dal Singh had
47 crossed the Atak, the unfortunate prince made his way to Sindh, and after
48 some fruitless negotiations with the Amirs and other dependants of the
49 Afghan empire, now no longer existing, returned in safety to his old asylum
50 at Ludhidnd, where he had been living with his family since 1812. His
51 ill-starred fate, which had brought so many misfortunes on the Shah him-~-
52 self and on his family, never left him. Whatever enterprise he undertook,
53 whether on the plains, or in the hills, in the distant north, or the far west,
54 seemed destined to fail. He was not destitute of ability, or wanting in
55 vigour, but he lacked that inherent power, that inborn energy, which
56 might have inspired awe, or given confidence to those who rallied round
57 his standard, or were otherwise disposed to embrace his cause. Jahandad
58 Khan, hopeless of favour at the court of the Lahore sovereign, repaired to
59 Herat, there to cast in his lot with the party of Shah Mahmud.
60 In February 1819, Desa Singh, Majithia, and Sansdér Chand of Katoch
61 were employed in an expedition undertaken to collect tribute from the hill
62 rdjds, The rajé of Kalhur, whose territories extended north and west of
63 the Sutlej, but whose capital, Bildspur, was on the British side of the river,
64 ventured to resist the demand made. The rajé& was a friend of the Gorkhas,
65 i > ; ne
66 Sri Satg THEE im es oF the Katoch RIS IAMPE ESR G yrtirearire’ that