1 The Mahardj&
2 confers a jagir on the
3 grandsons of Sansar
4 Chand, of Katoch, 1833,
5 Serious illness of the
6 Maharaja 1833.
7 His dream.
8 Its interpretation by
9 ihe Bralmins,
10 They advise him to
11 receive afresh the Sikh
12 initiation into pihal.
13 The Maharaji goes
14 through the ceremony,
15 Release of State
16 prisoners,
17 A curious rite
18 performed,
19 466 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
20 on the frontier, prevented him from indulging vent to his cupidity against an
21 officer who was honoured alike by the people, the officers and the Govern-
22 ment,
23 Rai Ra4mbir Chand and Barmodh Chand, the sons of Anrodh Chand,
24 of Katoch, having been introduced, through R4jé Suchet Singh, they pre-
25 sented 31 gold mohurs, a horse, an elephant and a sword as a nazar. The
26 Maharaja gave the grandsons of Sansdr Chand a cordial reception and con-
27 ferred upon them a jagir of Rs. 50,000 in the Kangré hills. The Maharaja
28 was not by nature wantovly harsh, and, though avaricious in the extreme,
29 his generosity was proverbial, and it was his policy never to reduce anyone
30 to desperation. During the same year, Misar Beli Rém was ordered to have
31 some fine shawls and other articles suited for presents manufactured, with a
32 view to their being sent to Calcutta, for His Majesty the King of England.
33 On his return from Amritsar to Léhore, at the close of the year, the
34 Mahardja’s health becathe. seriously impaired. He was a great believer in
35 the prayers of fakirs, and even dreaded them. There lived on the banks
36 of the Ravi about this time, a Bairagi fakfr,and Ranjit went to him, asa
37 private individual, and besought his prayers in his behalf He offered a
38 pair of shawls, 1,000 rupees in money and 25 pieces of crystallized sugar as
39 a nazar, but these were distributed among the poor, as ordered by the
40 fakir, He next went to the mausoleum of Mian Wadda, in the vicinity of
41 Lahore, and invoked the prayers of the blind darveshes who were in attend-
42 ance on the Khangdah, presenting them with money and fruit. On the first
43 day of the moon, alms were given out to the poor. The same day the
44 Mahardjé narrated a dream which he had had the previous night. He saw
45 a band of Sikhs dressed in black, with dreadful features, speaking harshly
46 tohim. His Highness seemed quite perplexed at this, and Brahmins and
47 astrologers were consulted as to the interpretation of the dream. They declar-
48 ed, after a reference to their holy books, that the Sikhs he had seen in his
49 dream were the soldiers of God (Nihangs), who had come to tell him that
50 he had relinquished the religion of the Guru by marrying .a Muhammadan
51 lady (Gul Bahar), and that, unless atonement was soon made, the displeasure
52 of the Guru would not be averted. It was therefore resolved that the
53 Maharajé should take the péhal afresh and renew the faith of his ancestors
54 by doing penance for his sin, Atma Singh and Dewa Singh, the Sikh priests,
55 were accordingly sent for, and the necessary ceremonies having been perform-
56 ed, the Maharajé was duly invested with the péhdl of the Guru. Such was
57 the superstitious belief of Ranjit Singh, who, however, in accepting the péhal
58 a second time, had no intention of putting away his much-favoured Muham-
59 madan wife, Following this event, a large number of prisoners were released,
60 and orders were issued to the governors of provinces to set at liberty a fixed
61 number of convicts under their charge. Some old State prisoners at Lahore
62 were also released on this occasion, among them being Mian Bhup Deo, of
63 Jammu, who had been in confinement for fifteen years, Bir Singh, the Rajé of
64 Nurpur, and Faiz Talab Khan, of Bhimbar. The services of Bhip Deo
65 were placed at the disposal of Kour Kharak Singh and those of Faiz Talab
66 Khan at that of Sardar Atar Singh, Sindhianwalia. A lakh of rupees was
67 demanded from Raéjé Bir Singh, as a ransom, but 80,000 rupees only was
68 realized, The Basant festival having arrived, Kour Kharak Singh was
69 ordered to hold the usual Darbdr at the mausoleum of Lél Husain, and receive
70 the nazardnds from the sardars and chiefs.
71 Pandit Madhostidan and other Brahmins of the Court, after consulting
72 the Shastras, gave it as their opinion that, in order completely to remove
73 the effects of the unpropitious star from.the Mahardjd, it was necessary to
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