1 96 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 ensue, Ranjit Singh knew that his opportunity would
3 come. He had only to wait four years.
4 In the meantime, there was plenty of work for
5 the Sikh army to do. Between the years 1815 and
6 1819, operations were carried on against the tribes
7 lying between the Chenab and the Indus, of whom
8 the most formidable were the Ghakkars and the
9 Tiwanas. The former were finally subdued in 1818,
10 and the latter, one of the bravest of the Punjab races,
11 were driven out of their chief stronghold. The
12 Tiwanas made a gallant struggle for independence ;
13 and it was not till 1821 that their chief, Ahmad Yar
14 Khan, tendered his submission. But the greatest
15 triumph of this period was the capture of Multan,
16 which was effected in the year 1818.
17 This city, which had so long defied the forces of
18 the Khalsa, was still held by the redoubtable Nawab
19 Muzaffar Khan, to whose keeping it had been en-
20 trusted by Ahmad Shah in 1779. In 1816, and
21 again in the following year, Ranjit Singh attempted
22 to carry the fortress by storm ; but on both occasions
23 his attack was repulsed, and he was forced, as in
24 1810, to retire with such tribute as he could exact.
25 Nothing daunted, he prepared for a third attempt in
26 which his full strength was to be put forth ; and in
27 the beginning of 1818, Multan was invested by
28 an army of 18,000 men. Muzaffar Khan's force
29 numbered but 2,000, and with this he determined
30 to defend his citadel to the last. The Sikhs were
31 commanded by the Maharaja's son, Kharak Singh,
32 then a lad of sixteen, the siege operations being in
33 the charge of General Misr Diwan Cband. The