1 The NawdAb
2 surrenders, 1821.
3 Arrangements for the
4 government of the con-
5 quered country.
6 Expeditions to Nara
7 and Sazae Saleh, 1822.
8 426 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
9 army, under the personal supervision of the indefatigable Maharaja, had
10 succeeded in digging twenty wells in their camp, and a supply of fresh water
11 was now at hand, to the great relief of the invading army. A further
12 division now moved forward to complete the investment, Ranjit Singh
13 himself superintending the conduct of the whole. The siege lasted for
14 twenty-two days, during which the Nawab held his own. But desertions
15 now commenced on his side, and some of his principal sardars, having se-
16 cretly come out of the fort, joined Ranjit Singh, and pointed out the
17 spots at which an attack could be successfully made. The dispositions
18 for the attack were accordingly changed; but the Nawab, seeing treachery
19 on all sides and conceiving that he had done enough to preserve the honour
20 of his ancestors, sent his agents, Kazi Gul Muhammad and Ali Jah Sikan-
21 dar Khan, to Ranjit Singh, to propose terms of capitulation. These were that
22 the Nawab should be allowed a safe conduct from the citadel to his camp,
23 bringing with him the whole of his family, men, arms and property, and
24 that he should be allowed to retain possession of Dera Ismail Khan, and
25 receive a suitable jagir, The Maharaja agreed to these terms, The Naw-
26 &b had studied well the Sikh character, and knew the Sikh ruler’s ideas of
27 good faith. He therefore wanted him to put the impression of his hand, with
28 the fingers extended, on a blank piece of paper, with saffron, as asolemn pledge
29 for the due execution of the agreement; and Ranjit Singh, anxious to give a
30 new example of the Khalsa faith, no less than to close a costly campaign in a
31 country so ill-provided with the means of prosecuting it, went through the
32 formality. Rich dresses were sent to the Nawab, who, his. suspicions
33 having been thus allayed, surrendered the fort, and came out with 300
34 followers, bringing with him all his property and arms. His camp was
35 pitched within the lines of the Sikhs, and he had an interview with the.
36 Maharaja on the 20th. The Maharaja half stood up to receive him, and
37 was seated close to him on the same masnad, The Nawab implored his
38 conqueror to save the city from plunder, and to provide his troops, who
39 had proved faithful to him, with suitable employment. Both these requests
40 were granted by the Maharaj4, who, as a further proof of his -friend-
41 ship for the Nawab, discarded those who had joined him as deserters from
42 their now-vanquished sovereign. The Nawab made over twenty-two
43 guns, with a large quantity of ammunition, to the Maharaja, and, with the
44 whole of his harem, family and attendants, was sent to Dera Ismail Khan
45 under a sufficient escort. The country of Nawab Hafiz Ahmad Khan, annexed
46 by the Mahardja, was worth annually ten lakhs of rupees, and its acquisition
47 was the source of intense pleasure to Ranjit Singh, who ordered the towns
48 of Lahore and Amritsar to be illuminated in honour of the occasion. Sardar
49 Amir Singh Sindhianwalia was appointed governor of Mdéukera, while Bhak-
50 kar and Leia were farmed to Raj Kour, Khatri, The Bilich Mahomedan
51 chiefs of Tank and Sagar having been then reduced to subjection, the Sikh
52 army marched to Déera Din Panéh. From this place the army was sent by
53 land to Multan, the Mahardjé himself embarking on the Indus for Dera Ghazi
54 Khan. Here five lakhs of rupees were exacted from the Bahdwalpur Nawéb,
55 under pain of an invasion of his territory, and the rent of Dera Ghazi Khan
56 and Mithankot, held in farm by him, wasincreased, Joining then his army at
57 Multan, the Mahardjd returned to his capital on the 27thof January, 1822.
58 On his arrival at Léhore, the Mahardj& heard of the murder of Sardar
59 Amar Singh, Majithia, by the zemindars of Nard, and the flight of Sardar Jai
60 Singh, Attariwald, one of his principal sardars, to Afghanistan, and he there-
61 . Mishay Dewan Che ae ;
62 a Satguiil aaitebingty BIEN cr at Sonat Gta eRTB AS Haters, Sanden