1 A. D. 1815. RUNJEET REPAIRS HIS LOSSES. 109
2 had engaged in hostilities with the Goorkhas, and Colonel,
3 afterwards General Ochterlony, had taken the field
4 there against Umur Singh, who for six months,
5 maintained himself at Ramgurh and Malonn, and
6 baffled the known skill and the superior forces of this
7 experienced commander. His final discomfiture, and the
8 dispossession of the Goorkhas from all the hill territory
9 west of the Gogra or Kalee river, occasioned a break-
10 ing up of their power, which was highly favourable to
11 Kunjeet's views, and procured him many men of this
12 nation particularly well adapted for hill warfare.
13 In the mean time, the defeat of the Sikh expedition
14 against Kashmeer encouraged the Moosulmau Chiefs
15 of Bhimhur and Rajaoree to break out into rebellion,
16 and towards the close of the year J814, the sou of the lat-
17 ter who was detained as a hostage at Labor, effected his
18 escape and joined his father. The Bhimbur insurgents
19 were headed by the brother of Sooltan Khax, who
20 since he made his submission in 1813, had been himself
21 detained by Runjeet Singh, and was now a close
22 prisoner at Labor.
23 In October, after the Dussera of 1815, the Sikh army
24 was called out, and its rendezvous for muster appointed
25 at Seealkot. A division was sent in advance under Ram
26 Dyal and Dul Singh to punish the Bhimbur and
27 Rajaoree Chiefs, and to ravage their territories with
28 fire and sword. Poonch was saved from a similar
29 visitation by its greater elevation, and by the setting in
30 of winter with severity. Runjeet Singh was not yet
31 prepared for an attempt to retrieve his fortune and lost
32 reputation, by another expedition against Kashmeer.