1 SHER SINGH. 51i
2 mirth and familiar jollity in which all were treated alike. The sardars
3 quarrelled with the Mahardja, and harsh words were even exchanged
4 between them; but ail this was taken in good part. In these hours of
5 revelry, Ajit Singh was known to have frequently threatened to take the
6 life of the Mahardja; but the latter paid no regard to his threats. Shér
7 Singh was repeatedly cautioned by his friends to be on his guard and not
8 place too implicit confidence in the Sindhianwalds, but he took no heed of
9 these warnings. When the plans of the sardars were completed, they at
10 first waited on Shér Singh and held a private conference with him, They
11 began with stories of their own fidelity to the person of the Mahardjé and
12 of their devotion to the State. As servants and loyal subjects it was, they
13 said, impossible for them in any way to support or countenance the wicked
14 machinations of Dhidn Singh, who, they represented, had resolved to put
15 an end to the Mahardja’s life. They informed the Mahardjd that the
16 acquisition of worldly rewards was not their object in making these
17 designs of Dhidn Singh known to him, for they had, after all, to leave this
18 world’ and account to the Creator for their acts. Had they cared for such
19 wealth, they would, they maintained, not have deprived themselves of a
20 jagir of sixty lakhs of rupees, which was promised them by Dhidn Singh
21 in the event of their taking the Mahardja’s life. They assured the Maha-
22 rdj&é that Dhidn Singh had resolved to place the young Dulip Singh on
23 the throne, and that they had a promise from him that they should act as
24 regents during the minority of the young chief. All this was declared to
25 Shér Singh in a spirit of apparent candour and strict confidence, and
26 after the Mahardj& had been prevailed upon to take an oath of secrecy.
27 The Mahardjé was further assured that they had been actually commis-
28 sioned by the wazir to assassinate him. Shér Singh, who was a brave and
29 intrepid soldier, was deeply affected by this information, and, with the
30 bluntness usual to him, drawing his own sword, he offered it to the sardars,
31 telling them: “ Here is the sword, and here my throat; cut it, if you have
32 been commanded to slay me, and are inclined to act as ordered. But forget
33 not one thing; the day will not be far off when your own throats will be cut
34 by the very men who now wish to make you their tools.’ Feigning to be
35 startled at these prophetic remarks, the cunning Sindhianwdld brothers
36 immediately stood up, joined their hands, and, with bent heads, protested :
37 “Take the life of our lord and sovereign! What are our own heads for ?
38 These will be sacrificed first of all, should any designs be entertained by
39 the ill-disposed on the precious life of our master, on which depend the
40 happiness and the welfare of millions of people.” Such was their display
41 of sincerity and candour that the Maharaja was convinced of the treacher-
42 ous designs imputed to the wazir and the loyalty and devotion of the sardars
43 to his person. They proposed to the Maharajé that the perfidious minister
44 should be immediately put to death, and took upon themselves the respon-
45 sibility of carrying their proposal into effect. The Maharaja gave his full
46 and unqualified consent to this; and the brothers obtained a firman*
47 under his signature, authorising them to act in the manner resolved
48 upon, and exonerating them from all responsibility for an act which was
49 * According to McGregor, ‘‘the Mahardjd’s signature was obtained to this writing at a
50 time when, overcome by the effects of liquor, he was unconscious of what he was doing.”
51 This can hardly be the fact, as his seal was also subsequently obtained to this document, as
52 will appear hereafter. The mode and the time of the intended murder were fixed, with only
53 this diltvetiee that the victim really designed was the Maharaja himself. The same pro-
54 gramme was strictly acted upon the day of murder. All this could not have been arranged
55 and consented to by the Maharaja in a state of unconsciousness, for he is shown to have acted
56 according to the programme and received the Sindhianwald sardars as had been arranged.
57 The whole plan, it is clear, was-well considered, and had received Shér Singh’s full approval.
58 Their professions of
59 friendship for him,
60 The grand tragedy.
61 The Maharaja signs
62 the Minister’s death-
63 Warrant,
64 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com