1 A. D. 1813-14. FURTHER EXTORTIONS. 101
2 ti\ e artillery into the field, and to improve that monnted on
3 camels, and the whole having been reviewed, RuNJEET
4 Singh, on the 11th November, crossed the Jyhlum,
5 and entered the town of Rohtas. The V'uzeer FuTEH
6 Khan was brought from Peshawar by these preparations
7 to the Derajat, on the west bank of the Indus, which cir-
8 cumstance, added to intelligence, that the snow lay still
9 deep on the Peer-Punjal mountains, induced RuNJEET
10 Singh to snspend his proposed expedition until the fol-
11 lowing spring. He accordingly sent a detachment to
12 occupy and seize the passes in the hills beyond Rajaoree,
13 and to select places for grain and store-depots, and then
14 returned, via Rohtas, to Labor, where he arrived on the
15 26th of December.
16 The confiscation of the hill territory of Hureepoor,
17 and its annexation to the Labor Khalsa, (fiisc), was the
18 first act which marked the return of the Sikh ruler to his
19 capital. Bhoop Singh, the Raja, whose treacherous
20 seizure and confinement preceded the confiscation, receiv-
21 ed on its completion a small Jageer for subsistence. The
22 next act of Runjeet Singh was more shamelessly
23 extortionate. Hearing that Shah Shooja had still
24 some jewels of rare value, a demand was made for them;
25 and, on the Shah's declaring that he had none left, the Sikh
26 determined to judge for himself, and sending Bhy a Ram
27 Singh with a party of females to search the interior
28 apartments, caused to be brought into his presence, every
29 box or packet the Shah possessed. The Shah's head
30 Eunuch was then made to open them, and Runjeet
31 seized, and retained for himself, all the most precious
32 articles, with the swords, pistols, and two cart loads of
33 carpets, and women's dresses. The Shah was then
34 ordered to remove from the Shahlemar garden and palace