1 124 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 Sikh armies, one under Prince Kharak Singh and the
3 other under Nao Nihal Singh, were soon on the banks
4 of the Indus. As a collision seemed imminent, the
5 British Government determined to mediate. The Mir
6 of Khairpur was informed that the British looked to
7 him to restrain his unruly subjects, and, at the same
8 time, a special ambassador was sent to Lahore to
9 remonstrate with Ranjit Singh and warn him that if
10 he persisted in making war on Sind, the Government
11 would be obliged to consider his action unfriendly.
12 By yielding to persuasion, and thus paving the way
13 to a peaceful settlement, the Sikh ruler once more
14 showed the value he placed on British friendship.
15 He pledged himself to abandon once for all his de-
16 signs on Shikarpur, and stipulated only for the
17 retention of Rojhan as a Sikh possession. To this
18 the Amirs reluctantly consented. The Mazaris, the
19 tribe who had caused most of the trouble, were thus
20 brought under the dominion of Lahore, and the
21 Mazari chief soon after tendered his submission.
22 " Runjeet Singh," says Cunningham, " was urged by
23 his chiefs not to yield to the demands of the English,
24 for to their understanding it was not clear where
25 such demands would stop ; but he shook his head,
26 and asked them what had become of the two hundred
27 thousand spears of the Mahrattas ! — and, as if to
28 show how completely he professed to forget or forgive
29 the check imposed upon him, he invited the Governor-
30 General to be present at Lahore on the occasion of
31 the marriage of the grandson whom he had hoped to
32 hail as the conqueror of Sind." *
33 1 A History of the Sikhs, by J. D. Cunningham, p. 219.
34 V