1 98 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 country east of the plains of Herat, where Mahmud
3 was left clinging to the remnants of his authority.
4 For the sake of appearances, Azim set up a king in
5 Kabul, in the person of Ayiib Khan ; but his title
6 was Ayub's only kingly attribute.
7 Ranjit Singh's opportunity had now come, and he
8 was not slow to take advantage of it. Part of the
9 garrison of Kashmir had accompanied Azim Khan to
10 Kabul, and the force which was now dispatched from
11 Lahore under Diwan Misr Chand was more than
12 sufficient to overcome the troops left with Jabbar
13 Khan. The latter did, indeed, make a show of re-
14 sistance, but he was soon forced to take refuge in
15 flight, and the valley of Kashmir was left in the
16 possession of the conqueror of Miiltan. The province
17 was formally annexed to the dominions of the ruler
18 of Lahore, and Moti Ram, the son of Diwan Mokham
19 Chand, was appointed its first governor. The news of
20 these events was received with the greatest joy at
21 Lahore and Amritsar, and for three nights both
22 cities were illuminated.
23 The next year saw the commencement of the long
24 struggle between Lahore and Afghanistan for the
25 possession of Peshawar. But before passing on to
26 this the last of Ranjit Singh's campaigns, we must
27 briefly refer to another event which took place at this
28 time — namely, the downfall of the famous Sada Kour,
29 through whose support Ranjit Singh had been enabled,
30 in the early years of his career, to shake off his
31 mother's control, and to make himself master of
32 Lahore and Amritsar. It had been Sada Kour's hope
33 that her daughter would bear Ranjit Singh a son, and