1 Ts advised to leave
2 Lahore for the time
3 peing.
4 QGuldb Singh urges *
5 the assassination of the
6 Prince,
7 His deep policy.
8 The Prince repairs
9 to Atok,
10 Army sont against
11 him,
12 Sardar Chattar Singh
13 AttariwAl4 and Fatteh
14 Khan, Tiwdué, ordered,
15 to Atok,
16 534 HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
17 claimant to the throne. A golden necklace of the value of Rs. 25 was, among
18 other things, promised to each soldier, The Khdlsd& were greatly pleased
19 with this liberality and advised Peshora Singh to withdraw to his principa-
20 lity, and there await a more favourable opportunity. The prince prudently
21 withdrew, carrying with him the good wishes of the Khélsé and rich presents
22 from the darbar of Léhore. The minister wreaked his wrath on the batta-
23 lions who had invited Peshora Singh to the capital, by ordering the mutila-
24 tion of the commander’s nose and ears. The ruler of Jamm& saw that his
25 design of bringing about a rupture between the Lahore Darbdr and Peshord
26 Singh had collapsed. He therefore urged the minister to hurry on the ar-
27 rangements for the assassination of the prince, advancing, by way of argu-
28 , ment, that, being the rival of the young Mahardjd, his nephew, he would not
29 fail to avail himself of the earliest opportunity to establish his own supre-
30 macy, and that, the sooner he was removed from the scene, the better it
31 would be for the interests and stability of the kingdom of Lahore, The
32 > consideration which inspired the policy of the astute chief was that, if Jaw4-
33 hir Singh was known to be the contriver of Peshora Singh’s death, the
34 Khdlsé would avenge his death on him, and thus two great obstacles to the
35 extension of his influence and power would be removed, and that without
36 his being in the least suspected of complicity in the matter, as he was
37 distantly situated from both. Peshora Singh at this time held Sialkot in
38 fief, but was in very straitened circumstances, in consequence of his Sikh
39 troops having deserted him. It was at this juncture that he put in an
40 appearance, towards the end of July, at Atok. There he was joined by
41 the Mahomedan Pathans of the neighbourhood, and, having surprised and
42 seized the fort, he proclaimed himself Mahardj& and entered into corres-
43 pondence with Dost Muhammad Khan of Kébul. Troops were sent from
44 Ldhore to punish the insurgent prince ; but such was the respect in which
45 he was held, owing to his reputed relationship to the old Mahardjd, that,
46 on reaching their destination, they refused to fight. Not a shot was fired,
47 and the rebel still remained at large, daily gaining ground and advancing
48 ‘in popularity.
49 The Ldhore minister was much disgusted and disappointed at receiving
50 this news, and two confidential sardars of high rank were now sent, at the
51 head of a body of troops to punish the prince, without the aid of the Khdlsd
52 troops of Lahore. Sardar Chattar Singh, Attariwdld, the new father-in-law
53 of the Mahardjd, and Fatteh Khan, Tiwdnd, a personal friend of the minister,
54 were ordered to proceed to Atok at once. The former moved from Naushera,
55 and the latter from Dera Ismail Khan, where they were on special duty at
56 the time, settling some differences with the people of the hill country about
57 Rajduri and the upper Derdjat of the Indus. Peshora Singh had so strength-
58 ened his position in the fort that, when the combined forces of these chiefs
59 reached Atok, they saw that it would be a losing .game for them to assume
60 the offensive. The chiefs therefore resorted to negotiations, which lasted
61 twelve days. Peshora Singh, conscious of his power and of his great popu-
62 larity with the children of the Khdlsd, at first refused to come to terms, but
63 the sardars, with every show of sincerity, made large promises on behalf of
64 the Crown, and the prince was at last induced to vacate the fort on 30th
65 August. The terms of the capitulation were that he should leave the fort
66 at the head of his troops with all the honours of war, and should be treated
67 with the respect and distinction due to his position as the son of the great
68 Mahardjdé; that, in addition to his previous jdgirs in Sidlkot, another fief,
69 yielding an income of one lakh of rupees per annum, should be permanently
70 assigned to him by the darbdr (letters written by Sardar Jawdéhir Singh
71 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com