1 DULIP SINGH. 531
2 and Labh Singh, who had so lately been hailed as a victorious commander,
3 Every one hastened to present his nazrénd, and to offer congratulations,
4 Some of the Americans and Spaniards who were still quartered in the town
5 did the same, and they were restored to their former offices, The heads of
6 the sardars were the next morning hung up to public view at the several gates
7 of the town. That of Hird Singh ‘was exhibited at the Léhori gateway, and
8 that of Sohan Singh at the Mori gateway. Midn Labh Singh was held in
9 some esteem by the Khdlsé troops, and General Mewé Singh, who had served
10 under him, saved his head and body from being thus-ignominiously treated.
11 The memory of Pandit Jallé, once the idol of Hird Singh, was bitterly
12 execrated, and the fanatic Akdlis and the Nihangs treated his head with
13 the greatest indignity. They would not allow it to be exposed at the
14 gateways with the others, but carried it for some days about the city from
15 house to house and shop’to shop, procuring a few cowries from each
16 spectator as payment for their trouble in exhibiting it. So great was the
17 unpopularity of the Pandit, that even women, on seeing jt, cursed his memory.
18 ' «That is the rogue,” exclaimed they, “ who induced the young Hird Singh
19 to murder his uncle, the brave Suchet Singh, for which he wanted an army
20 of 20,000 men, although his antagonist was only assisted by forty valiant
21 mountaineers.” When the head had thus been dragged and exposed
22 through the whole city, it was thrown on a heap of rubbish and filth and
23 allowed to lie there for weeks. The irritated passers-by spat on it, and,
24 after being subjected to this horrible ignominy, it was, by orders of Jawéhir
25 Singh; given to the dogs. The heads of Midéu Sohan Singh and Hird Singh,
26 after being taken down, were thrown into a ditch outside the fort, whence,
27 some days after, they were conveyed into the private rooms of Raj& Dhidn
28 Singh’s house, where they were discovered by Gulab Singh about the middle
29 of February 1846, when the latter came to Léhore, on a visit to the Governior-
30 General, when His Excellency was advancing with the British army on the
31 capital of the Panjdéb, The bodies of Hird Singh and Lébh Singh became
32 a prey to the wild beasts and birds of the village which was the scene of
33 their murder.
34 Those who have watched the progress of political events in the Panjab
35 at this critical period, cannot fail to notice the great want of discretion and
36 judgment shown by the Sikh soldiery. Had they not acted under a
37 mistaken notion of patriotism and blind zeal, much of the bloodshed and
38 mischief which ravaged the country might have been averted. If, after the
39 Ignominious treat-
40 ment of the dead.
41 Survey of events.
42 death of Sher Singh and Dhidn Singh, the soldiery had espoused the cause ,
43 of the Sindhianwdld brothers, and exalted Ajft Singh or Lahnd Singh to
44 the office of wazir, to the entire exclusion of the Jammu family, the
45 kingdom would have maintained its power and stability, and party-spirit
46 would have died a natural death, The Sindhianwélds, being the direct
47 lineal descendants of the common ancestor, with the old Maharaja, were the
48 best suited for the coveted office, and they had fully identified their interest
49 with those of the young Mahardjd4 Dulip Singh, the acknowledged sovereign
50 of the Panjéb. The extirpation of the Sindhianwdlds and the restoration
51 to power of the Dogrd family, whose interests could never have been iden-
52 tical with those of the legitimate rulers, was a death-blow to the kingdom
53 of the great Mahardjé. Hird Singh was quite indifferent to life when his
54 father was assassinated, and had he been arrested, as the circumstances of
55 the moment imperatively demanded, quiet would have been restored through-
56 out the country, and not only would the lives of thousands have been saved,
57 but the immense wealth and treasures of the kingdom which flowed to the
58 Jammu hills, would have remained in the State, and proved a source of
59 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibeéty@ gmail.com