1 Gulab Singh and
2 Dhidn Singh are
3 appointed running
4 footmen to the Maha-
5 raja.
6 The rapid rise of the
7 brothers.
8 Dhién Singh is crea-
9 ted Rdjd-i-Rdjgdn,
10 1828.
11 The boy Hird Singh,
12 son of Dhian Singh.
13 THis privileges in the
14 Darbir.
15 The Maharaja’s
16 attachment to him.
17 Proposed affiance of
18 Hira Sigh with the
19 family of Sansir
20 Chand, 1828,
21 The negotiations.
22 Plight of Sansar
23 nend’s widow south
24 the Sutlej.
25 a
26 British interference
27 refused.
28 Deaty, ‘
29 a her soy, the >}, “dow
30 440 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
31 the eldest brother, first entered as a horseman (ghor-charah) in the Sikh
32 cavalry, under Jamadar Khushhdl Singh. He sent for Dhidn Singh, his
33 younger brother, from Jammu, and both, having attracted the attention
34 of Ranjit Singh, obtained employment as running footmen under the
35 Mahardjd’s eye. It was little known at the time that these footmen were
36 destined, at no distant date, to become the lords of the hills, and that their
37 power would be supreme in the vast kingdom established by the warlike
38 talents of Ranjit Singh. Dhidn Singh was soon created Master of the
39 Entry, superseding the Brahmin chamberlain Khushhal Singh, who, how-
40 ever, retained his jdgfrs and estates, while Guléb Singh distinguished
41 himself by quelling disturbances raised by Mahomedan petty chiefs in the
42 neighbourhood of Jammtk and Kashmir. His services were rewarded by
43 the bestowal of Jammti on him as a jégir, and thus he continued his
44 influence and power among the Rajputs of the hills, using his Sikh name
45 for purposes of his own. Dhidén Singh attached himself to the Mahardjd’s
46 person, while Suchet Singh became a gay and polished courtier and a brave
47 soldier, indifferent to affairs of State. The brothers were truly the architects
48 of their own glory. They were, one after another, raised to the dignity of
49 raja. Dhidn Singh was this year created wazir with the title of Rdjd-t-
50 Rdjgdn Rdjd Hindpat Rdjé Bahdéddur. The Mahardjé was dotingly fond
51 of the boy Hird Singh, who was about twelve years of age, and the son of
52 Dhién Singh. He was, in common with his father and uncles, created a
53 rdjé, and had the privilege of sitting before the Mahardjé on a chair, while
54 all others stood or sat on the floor, The Mahardjé seldom suffered him to
55 go out of his sight, and delighted in humorous conversation with him.
56 Anrodh Chand, son of Sansdr Chand, of Katoch, was present at Léhore,
57 with his two beautiful sisters, on his way to join the nuptial ceremonies of
58 the son of Fatteh Singh, Ahluwdlid, which took place about this time. The
59 family of the Katoch Rdjé held a high place among the hill chiefs on account
60 of the antiquity of its genealogy, and Dhidn Singh, seeing the rdjé within his
61 grasp, sought a matrimonial alliance between one of his sisters and his son,
62 Hird Singh. The pride of the hill chief was roused, for he thought the
63 proposed marriage tie with the Jammu hillmen a degradation to himself.
64 Pandits Mahddé Sudan and Ram Kishen, who held a high position in the
65 Darbar, were selected to open negotiations with the hill chief, and the influ-
66 ence of the Mahardja eventually obtained a written engagement from
67 Anrodh Chand, agreeing to the proposed marriage. The mother of the young
68 women, more indignant than her son, contrived to make her escape with her
69 daughters beyond the Sutlej, where she would be secure from the grasp of
70 the Léhore ruler and his favourite Dogré ministers. Dilbégh Rai, the agent
71 of Dhidn Singh, and Gahi Khan, were sent to Anrodh Chand to remind
72 him of the solemn pledge given by him by the impression of his hand with
73 the fingers stretched, which he had made on a blank sheet of paper with
74 saffron, to execute the agreement already made, and calling upon him to
75 procure the return of his sisters. He, however, fled to the south of the
76 Sutlej, leaving his estates and jdgirs at the mercy of the Sikh rulers. In
77 vain did he ask for British interference; for that Government had been
78 always averse to-meddling in the affairs of the Sikhs on this side of the Sutlej.
79 The widow of Sansdr Chand, proud of her high family descent, but bowed
80 down with grief and sorrow, died, and her humbled son followed her to the
81 grave with a broken heart. On hearing of Anrodh Chand’s death, the
82 Mahardjé left Phagwdrd for Nadaun, with the object of sequestrating the
83 sso BEN BRL ht cH gene Cn’
84 ~