1 Rewards to soldiers,
2 Dulip Singh declared
3 Maharaj4 and Hird
4 Smeh his wazir, Sep-
5 tember 1843.
6 ane soulleny all-
7 powerful,
8 The character of
9 Hiva Singh,
10 520 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB,
11 this, crossed the Sutlej with all his retainers. All the Sindhianwdlds were
12 now punished with either death, confiscation of property, or banishment,
13 The only Sindhianwdld sardar whose life was spared by Hird Singh was
14 ea Singh, he being the known adversary of Ajit Singh and Lahna
15 ingh.
16 This done, all the troops were assembled in the fort, when Hird Singh
17 gave them a written agreement for one month’s pay as gratuity, and renewed
18 assurances of permanent increase of salary.
19 On the fourth day, a council of all the military officers was called, at which
20 the panches or deputies from each company were present. The meeting was
21 convened at Haziri Bagh, and was attended by all the sardars of the State.
22 At this meeting of the civil and military officers, the public acclamations
23 declared Dulip Singh Mahardjé of the Panjab, and Hird Singh his wazir.
24 Hird Singh hypocritically declined to accept the office of wazir, assigning, as
25 his reason, that he had too many enemies in the State who hated him and
26 his family, and might frustrate his designs, but he was assured by the soldiery
27 that any person not well disposed towards him would be looked upon as the
28 direct enemy of the State and summarily punished. As a proof of their
29 sincerity, the sardars and panches then and there proposed the murder or
30 imprisonment of certain officers and men who were suspected of being in
31 league with the Sindhianwalas. Appearing to be satisfied with their
32 honesty of intention, Hird Singh, with seeming reluctance, accepted the
33 office of wazir. ;
34 The soldiery were all-powerful at this time. They could make or
35 unmake a king. The most extravagant desires of the military were acceded
36 to; nothing which they coveted was withheld from them. They took away
37 the best of Ranjit Singh’s horses from the royal stable, without anybody
38 daring to utter a word against their acts of spoliation, The whole of the
39 old king’s carriages, elephants and costly furniture, were scattered about in
40 all directions, and what had cost the great Mahardjé years of trouble and
41 toil to collect was now at the mercy of the Khdlsdé troops. A sum of between
42 35 and 40 lakhs of rupees was surreptitiously abstracted from the treasury
43 alone within a few weeks after Sher Singh’s death; and yet it is positively
44 affirmed that this, combined with other valuables lavished on the soldiery,
45 was not equal to even one-eighth part of what Hird Singh had appropriated
46 to himself; not to mention the immense riches carried away by Gulab
47 Singh to his mountain recesses before the accession of Shér Singh to the
48 throne.
49 DULIP SINGH.
50 Dulip Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Panjab in September 1843,
51 and Hird Singh installed in the high, but fatal, office of wazir. Hird Singh
52 was brought up under the care of the great Mahardja, and possessed talents
53 and energies suited to the times in which he lived. He had’ received a good
54 education and was able to read and write well. Having received his train-
55 ing in the school of the one-eyed monarch, and being in constant attendance
56 on him, he had acquired the old king’s habits of reflection and thoughtful-
57 ness, while in hypocrisy and shrewdness he resembled his father Dhidu Singh.
58 He knew well how to treat the sardars and behave to the troops, with
59 whom he was very popular. He was excessively fond of wearing jewellery,
60 and was rather effeminate in appearance, unlike his father, who was a tall,
61 well-built and powerful man. But he was endowed with wit and genius,
62 Sri Satgutu HO jC SIARH ReLIbAARy Petes 94 SHURE eRERR GPanaREGAES oF the