1 EARLY HISTORY OF RUNJEET SING. 21
2 Among the followers of Runjeet, and the principal agents of
3 his successes, were the Akalees, a body of fanatic Seiks some-
4 what analogous to the Gazees among the Mussulmans, and
5 whose head-quarters were at the holy tank of Umritsir. These
6 men, whose designation signifies " Immortal " were in the habit
7 of rushing forward furiously upon the enemy in the begin-
8 ning of a battle and throwing him into confusion, thereby often
9 doing good service to their chief, who knew their value, and
10 gave them every encouragement. They were led by one Phoola
11 Sing, a desperado of a most fierce and sanguinary character and
12 who figures prominently in the history of Runjeet' s early career.
13 There is reason, however, to suppose, that these fiery bigots
14 served the Maharajh rather out of hate to the Mussulmans
15 than out of regard for him, for this same Phoola Sing their
16 leader came to Mr. Moorcroft when he was in the Punjaub and
17 offered his and their services to the British Government.
18 It happened that while Mr. Metcalf was at Umritsir the
19 Mohurum a period of particular solemnity among the Mussul-
20 mans occurred. The men of that faith in the suite and escort
21 of the envoy accordingly prepared to celebrate it with the ap-
22 propriate rites. This, which was looked upon as an insult to
23 their sacred place, gave great umbrage to the Seiks in general
24 and to the bigoted Akalees in particular ; and while the Maho-
25 medan procession in honour of Hassan and Hussain was in
26 progress, the fanatics, led by Phoola Sing, opened a fire of
27 matchlocks upon the Mussulmans. Though greatly overmatched
28 in numbers the Moslems of the envoy's escort, which consisted
29 only of two companies of infantry and a few troopers,
30 were not disposed to submit to this treatment. They there-
31 fore broke up their procession for the moment, seized their
32 arms, gave battle to their assailants, and having after a fierce
33 struggle beaten them off, proceeded with their ceremonies
34 as if nothing had occurred to interrupt them. Runjeet himself
35 was a witness to the close of the contest and to the defeat of his