1 THE SECOND SIKH WAR. 559
2 received from Mul Rdj, stating that all the garrison was in rebellion,
3 that he could neither give up the guilty nor come himself, and that the
4 British officers had better see to their own safety. He was urged by the
5 soldiery to declare his independence.
6 The dewdn went to his mother and asked heradvice. “ Act like a man,”
7 said the widow of Sdwan Mal, “take counsel from your amirs (nobles) and
8 come not to women for advice.” Mdl Rdj, having, thereupon, convened a
9 meeting of his chiefs made up his mind for war. The Mahomedans set
10 their seals to an oath of allegiance taken on the Qurdén, the Hindus swore
11 by the water of the Ganges, and the Sikhs by the holy Granth, to fight to
12 the last. A war-bracelet was fastened by the Sikhs on the wrist of Mal Raj
13 himself. This was on 20th April, 1848. The men of the escort were now
14 bribed, and the troops, horse, foot and artillery, all deserted and went over to
15 Mal Rdéj. Only Sardar Kahn Singh, with eight or ten faithful horsemen,
16 and the domestic servants of the British officers, remained with them to the
17 last. They formed a group around the beds of the wounded Englishmen,
18 beneath the lofty centre dome of the hall. :
19 That same evening a mob from the city, led by a company of Mul Rdj’s
20 Mazbi Sikhs, rushed into the Idgdh with loud cries. Sardar Kahn Singh
21 begged Mr. Agnew’s permission to wave a sheet and sue for mercy. Strength
22 had forsaken Mr. Agnew, through loss of blood, but not the pride of an
23 Englishman. His heart failed him not. Scorning the idea of asking for
24 mercy, he replied: “The time for mercy has gone; let none be asked for.
25 They can kill us two if they like, but we are not the last of the English ;
26 thousands of Englishmen will come down here, when we are gone and
27 annihilate Mul Raj and his soldiers and his fort.” With frantic shouts the
28 crowds now rushedin. Kahn Singh was madea prisoner. The two Englishmen,
29 wounded and despairing of their lives, were bidding farewell to each other.
30 Mr. Agnew was sitting by the bedside of his countryman, who had been
31 badly wounded and had not strength enough to move, holding his
32 hand, and both had resigned themselves to their fate. On came the
33 furious mob, clamouring, shouting and scoffing, and pushing the servants
34 aside with the butts of their muskets. Gudar Singh, a Mazhabi, then
35 rushed on Mr. Agnew, with a drawn sword, and, after heaping insults on
36 him, gave him two sword cuts on the neck and, with a third, cut off his
37 head, after which another soldier discharged his musket into the lifeless body.
38 Lieutenant Anderson was immediately despatched with sword cuts, and the
39 two bodies, being then dragged outside, were slashed and insulted and left
40 out in the open all night. Gudar Singh, the murderer, took Mr. Agnew’s
41 head to Mul Raj, who rewarded him with an elephant, money, and the horse
42 his victim had ridden. The head was thrown into the lap of Sardar Kahn
43 Singh, now Mul Rdj’s prisoner, and he was tauntingly told to take the head
44 of the youth he had brought down to govern Multdn. The sardar burst into
45 tears, but Mal Rdj reproached him for his sympathy with the foreigners.
46 The bodies of the murdered Englishmen were then laid in a hasty grave
47 near the Idgdh, under the’orders of the dewdn; but they were not safe even
48 there. Twice were they torn up by the people of Multdén and stripped of
49 the clothes in which they had been buried. A third time they were buried,
50 and a guard placed over the tomb till the matter was forgotten.
51 The news of this atrocity roused the strongest indignation, and the
52 British Resident at Lahore, Sir Frederick Currie, immediately put troops
53 under orders for Multdn, but waited for the final orders of the Commander-
54 in-Chief. The hottest period of the year had arrived, and it was thought
55 expedient to defer the operations to a more convenient season. The proceed-
56 Evasive reply of
57 Mul Raj.
58 fe declares war
59 against the British,
60 20th April, 181s.
61 Gallant conduct of
62 the wounded British
63 officers,
64 Kahn Singh made }
65 prisoner.
66 A touching scene.
67 The murder of Mr.
68 Vauns-Agnew and
69 Lieutenant Anderson.
70 Their remains are
71 inswted.
72 Action taken by the
73 British Resident at
74 Lahore.
75 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com