1 HISTORY OF RUNJEET SING'S FAMILY. 7
2 with the Fyzolpooria Missall, as he kept aloof from that body,
3 leaving* his younger brothers to act in his stead. Even these he
4 soon called away from the camp, having- other views of aggran-
5 dizement for himself and his family. In 1752, or the beginning
6 of the following year, he, with a few of his relatives and followers,
7 joined by a number of Mujbees, Sansees, and other roving*
8 plunderers, formed a separate body of robbers, and they soon be-
9 came notorious throughout the land for the audacity and success
10 with which they executed their schemes of plunder and rapine.
11 So great was the dread which their acts inspired, and so
12 strong the confidence of the people in the prowess of the
13 Seiks in general, that one Mahomed Yar, a Sansee, and
14 Chowdree or Chief of Keeallee, tendered to Churut Sing his
15 right and title to that village, on condition that he would
16 protect it against other robbers of his class. He also joined
17 the band with some fifteen mounted followers, and thus
18 added to its strength. About the same time Milika Sing,
19 another robber, took by force the village of Mereliawalla near
20 Gujerawalla, and being a friend of Churut Sing, he also
21 joined his camp with about twenty horsemen. In this way, the
22 originally small band soon mustered above one hundred and
23 fifty active and daring plunderers. Being now irresistible,
24 Churut Sing took forcible possession of all the villages
25 around Gujerawalla, and also the Serai of Kutchee, in which he
26 intended to establish his head-quarters.
27 About the year 1773 Churut Sing appears to have been
28 usually guided in his enterprises by the counsel and advice of
29 one Ameer Sing of Gujerawalla, whose grand-father was a
30 Sansee of the name of Sunnuth, residing in the vicinity of
31 Gujerawalla, and who was said to have been a hundred years
32 old when he took the Pahul and became a Seik. This Ameer
33 Sing originally belonged to the Fyzolpooria Missall, but subse-
34 quently robbed- on his own account, and became well known on
35 the roads, even from the banks of the Jhelum to the walls of