1 5388 * HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
2 The Riniandher divert their attention in another direction, as also to break their union and
3 shies try oeewih «power, the Rdni and her friends originated the proposal of crossing the
4 the British Govern» Sutlej to make war on the British Government. The troops, on hearing this,
5 ; clamoured for munitions of war and military stores, and as these were not
6 provided, the idea of an expedition to Hindostén seems to have been
7 abandoned for a time. In the meanwhile, the Court moved to Amritsar,
8 and all orders of State were passed from the palace of Ram Bégh. It
9 returned to Lahore about the beginning of November, 1845, and for a while
10 encamped in the Shaldmdr gardens, Radja Lal Singh now openly assumed
11 the duties of wazir, and conducted the business of State under the control
12 of the queen-mother.
13 False reports regard- Reports were now ingeniously circulated that the British army was advanc-
14 Puan tothe Panjab. ing to the south and east of the Sutlej; and letters from the Sikh governors
15 of the territories beyond that river were produced to show that British
16 officers were actually interfering with the Sikh subjects and inflicting on
17 them all sorts of annoyance and trouble. So successtully were these reports
18 disseminated that the troops were thrown into a state of intense agitation,
19 The grand meeting and great alarm prevailed in the city of Lahore. Early in November a council
20 athe See of the sardars, panches of the army and officers of State was convened
21 The speech of Dewin by RaAj& Lal Singh at the Shaldmdr gardens, and, when all had assembled,
22 Die Reel Dewdn Dind Néth read them a letter, purporting to have been sent by the
23 Sikh officers beyond the Sutlej, intimating that the British authorities were
24 treating the subjects of the darbdr as their own and demanding. tribute
25 from them. He informed them that there was no system of government in
26 Kashmir and Peshdwar, which had ceased to remit a single rupee on account
27 of Government revenue, and that confusion and anarchy reigned throughout
28 thecountry, He reminded them that their sovereign was but a child, that the
29 whole Sikh nation were, as loyal subjects, bound to defend his rights, and
30 that, unless arrangements were speedily made for the maintenance of Sikh
31 rule and power, its utter collapse would be the inevitable result. The Dewdn
32 then communicated tothe assembly the wish of the Maharéni to create Rajé
33 Lal Singh wazir and Sardar Tej Singh Commander-in-Chief of the Sikh
34 armies. This eloquent speech made such an impression on the panches of the
35 The deputies of the £hdisé% and the sardars assembled, that there was a unanimous cry for war,
36 with thesis. = s and the appointments proposed by the Mahardnf were acceded to with loud
37 acclamations.. Two or three days after this meeting, the young Maharaja,
38 with his sardars, returned to the palace in Léhore.
39 The absorbing topic of conversation with all classes of the community at
40 Lahore was an expedition to Hindostén, and the wild soldiery expatiated on
41 * the spoils they hoped to bring from Mathrd, Delhi and Benares ;.for nothing
42 short of the subjugation of all India was boasted of as the project they had
43 LAI Singh made in view. Rajé& Lal Singh and Sardar Tej Singh were formally installed
44 Gazi and Rela gingh, at the samddh, or mausoleum, of Mahardjé Ranjit Singh and the panches
45 of the army and the sardars assembled there to do honour. to the chiefs,
46 The meeting atthe as well as to receive orders for a march towards the Sutlej. Passages from
47 Raitsiagt the Granth, or the holy book, were first recited, and karchdé parshdd, or
48 bread sweetened with sugar and raisins, was distributed. The panches and
49 sardars were then requested to lay their hands on the sacred Granth and
50 the canopy over the shrine of Ranjit Singh, as a pledge of fidelity to the
51 young Maharéj&é Dulip Singh, and obedience to R4jd Lal Singh, the wazir,
52 and Sardar Teja Singh, the Commander-in-Chief. These ceremonies being
53 of war UT hone ce, over, war against the British Government was formally declared, and the
54 Grounds for such arch of the Ifhdlsdé army across the Sutlej ordered. The grounds alleged
55 resolution, by the darbdy for this fatal determination were four—/irst, the advance of
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