1 102 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 Yar Muhammad's son was carried to Lahore as a
3 hostage.
4 In 1829, the Say ad again collected the tribesmen
5 round his standard, this time for an attack on
6 Peshawar, in order to punish the governor for his
7 submission to the Sikh unbeliever. When his
8 assailant descended the hills, Yar Muhammad
9 marched out and attacked him. But he lost both
10 the battle and his life, and Peshawar was only
11 saved from capture by the timely arrival of General
12 Ventura. With his disciplined troops, the general
13 had little difficulty in scattering the fanatical
14 followers of Sayad Ahmad, after which he entered
15 Peshawar, and conferred the governorship on Sultan
16 Muhammad Khan, the brother of Yar Muhammad.
17 But the Sayad was not yet done with. No sooner
18 had General Ventura departed, than he once more
19 swooped down on Peshawar ; and before any steps
20 could be taken to oppose him, he had driven out
21 Sultan Muhammad and made himself master of
22 the city. This necessitated the dispatch of another
23 Sikh force, which set out early in 1830. Sayad
24 Ahmad evacuated Peshawar on its approach, but for
25 a year longer maintained a desultory warfare in the
26 surrounding hills. He was then defeated and slain
27 by Hari Singh Nalwa, and Sultan Muhammad was
28 reinstated as tributary governor.
29 Ranjit Singh was beginning to find his vassal
30 province an expensive luxury. The tribute he had
31 received from Sultan Muhammad and his predecessor
32 was considerably less than the amount he had spent
33 in protecting them ; and when later he discovered