1 THE MUTINY OF 18957. 579
2 arms forthwith. The former piled arms at once. The 69th wavered, but,
3 under the menace of the guns, they, too, yielded. The disarmament of the
4 disaffected troops restored confidence to the inhabitants, who waited on the
5 Commissioner, Major Hamilton, and thanked him forthe renewal of peace
6 and security in Multén. The inhabitants wlio had left the city in terror,
7 at once returned and resumed business; In the first week of July, the
8 native troops at Jhelam and Sidlkot mutinied, but were met and defeated,
9 the mutineers from the latter station being destroyed to the last man.
10 By the adoption of vigorous measures, 13,000 native troops were dis-
11 armed in the Panjdéb by the end of July. Nor is it less gratifying to
12 . observe that, although the Bengal sepoys in the Compatiy’s service manifest-
13 ed a disloyal and rebellions spirit throughout the Panjab, the statesmen who
14 guided its affairs, were, within a week after the announcement of the out-
15 break at Meerut and Delhi, in a position to rely upon the loyalty of the
16 Sikhs on either side of the Sutlej and of the Muhammadans on both sides
17 of the Indus. The calm, stern energy displayed, deeply impressed the
18 Panjab population with a sense of British power, and they at once became
19 the staunch allies of the British. Into the new regiments raised at Lahore
20 the Sikhs of the interior and the Muhammadans of the border equally flock-
21 ed, and within the short period of four months, eighteen new regiments were
22 raised in the province to supply the place of those sent down from time to
23 time to Delhi, the seat of war. Regiment after regiment was sent across the
24 Suélej to help in the siege of Delhi. Seven thousand men, forming the con-
25 tingents of the Rdjds of Patidld, Jhind and Nabhd, accompanied the regular
26 troops to the scene of the grand contest. To this was added a contingent of
27 2,267 infantry, 190 cavalry and 140 artillery furnished by the Maharaja of
28 Kashmir, together with the movable column which had recently crushed the
29 Sidlkot mutineers under Brigadier-General John Nicholson, and a heavy siege
30 train from Ferozepur. There then remained, to hold the Panjab, 4,500 Euro-
31 peans, including the sick. Now was the crisis. Every eye was turned in the
32 direction of Delhi, the focus of rebellion, which, before the arrival of the rein- ,
33 forcements from the Panjab, had been besieged by General Anson with but a
34 small force.
35 In the meanwhile, the old King of Delhi, a mere puppet and the sole
36 representative of the race of Timur, for whom the bounty of the British
37 Government had provided a munificent pension, and who had lived peace-
38 fully in the palace of the Great Moghal, not as a hereditary claimant, but
39 as a dependent of the British crown, assumed the sovereignty of India by
40 proclamation, an ancient silver throne being placed in the marble hall o
41 audience, and the mock King taking his seat on it, under a salute of 21 guns,
42 and thence commencing to issue royal mandates. One Bakht Khan, a
43 subaddr of artillery, better known for his personal prominence than for his.
44 military qualifications, was appointed Commander-in-Chief under the King’s
45 son, Mirzd Moghal. Poets sprang up, and the subject of one of the earliest
46 emanations of their muse, intended for coinage, was the following :—
47 “" Sir4j-ud-din, Bahadur, the conqueror of England and of Hind, has issued a new
48 currency,
49 Intelligence was brought to the King from Lucknow that Qudratulld
50 Beg, son of Mendt Khan, had placed the son of Wajid Ali Shah, late King
51 of Oudh, on the throne of his father, subject to the approval of the Emperor,
52 and that he had commenced coining money with the following inscription :—
53 >
54 USjté gli dly wd] aly —_ USilyb wy yaaa 54 Sw 3} 3
55 “ Sirdj-ud-din the Ghazi (Conqueror) has established a gold coinage as the emblem of Victory.’
56 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary
57 Peace restored at
58 ultan,
59 The mutiny at
60 Shelam and Sialkot
61 suppressed,
62 The loyalty of the
63 Sikhs and of the
64 Muhammadans on both
65 sides of the Indus,
66 New regiments
67 raised in the Panjab
68 and sent to Delhi, the
69 seat of war,
70 The contingents of
71 the Native States.
72 The crisis.
73 All eyes turned to
74 elhi.
75 Affairs at Delhi.
76 Proceedings of the
77 old King,
78 He assumes sovereign
79 authority,
80 One Bakht Khan is
81 appointed Commander-
82 in-Chief.
83 The new coinage,
84 NamdhariElibrsyy@ gmail.com