1 100 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 Singh annexed the whole of her lands, of which he
3 granted a portion, including the town of Batala, in
4 jdgir to Sher Singh.
5 Previous to the capture of Kashmir, Ranjit Singh
6 had seized and occupied Peshawar ; but the town was
7 soon after recovered, and was in 1820 held by Yar
8 Muhammad Khan. The Maharaja now determined
9 to regain his hold on the frontier province ; and as a
10 preliminary measure an ambassador was dispatched
11 to Yar Muhammad with a demand for tribute, a
12 demand which the latter, remembering Haidaru,
13 deemed it expedient to comply with. This transaction
14 was duly reported at Kabul ; and Azim Khan, enraged
15 that a Barakzai chief should enter into a subordinate
16 alliance with the Sikh ruler, the sworn enemy of his
17 race and country, marched at the head of a large
18 army to Peshawar, with a view to restoring his
19 authority and the credit of his family. The Yuzafzai
20 tribes, ever ready for a jihdd against the unbelievers,
21 joined him en route, and nlade a formidable addition
22 to his strength. The Sikhs advanced from Attock in
23 two divisions, one on either side of the Kabul river :
24 those on the left bank, under the personal command
25 of the Maharaja, to oppose the Yuzafzais ; and those
26 on the right, under Sirdar Hari Singh Nalwa and
27 General Ventura, to do battle against the troops of
28 Azim Khan. The fight took place some twenty
29 miles from Attock ; and on both sides of the river the
30 Sikhs were equally ' successful, though on the left
31 bank the struggle was fierce and bloody. Azim
32 withdrew to Kabul, and the Sikhs entered Peshawar
33 unopposed. Having sacked the city and the villages