1 10 HISTORY OF THE PUNJAUB
2 rattas rose against the existing dynasty in the
3 hope of restoring Hindoo pre-eminence, which
4 had long been superseded by the rule of the
5 Islamites. Lahore was at this time ruled by a
6 viceroy from the Delhi court, and Mahome-
7 danism was in the ascendant ; but the desperate
8 state of poverty to which a series of exactions
9 on the part of the government had reduced the
10 Sikh landholders, induced them to rise and be-
11 come plunderers on a large scale, and as a bond
12 of union and excitement against their oppressors,
13 they proclaimed the faith and tenets of Govind
14 Singh, the last acknowledged Gooroo or spiritual
15 guide of the Sikhs, and commenced marauding
16 in large organized bodies, under different chief-
17 tains.* In process of time, the government ne-
18 glecting to take precautionary measures, these
19 united associations attained a dangerous degree
20 of prosperity, and ultimately formed a general
21 confederation for defence. But when, through
22 their resistance, the viceroy found the revenue
23 diminishing, he sent out troops to put down and
24 disperse the Sikh confederacy, and succeeding in
25 this, proclaimed death to all who should invoke
26 the name of Gooroo Govind. The assertion of
27 Mahomedan supremacy was not, however, of un-
28 interrupted duration. Ahmed Shah Abdalla, the
29 Affghan, anxious to found an empire on the ruins
30 • Prinsep.