1 146 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 by her own attendants. There is no direct evidence
3 to show that Sher Singh was responsible for the
4 crime, so he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt.
5 But that the Rani's disappearance from the scene was
6 a relief to him we can well believe ; for, as long as
7 she lived, the Sindhanwalia brothers continued to
8 scheme for her restoration, by means of which they
9 looked to rebuild their own fortunes, if not to secure
10 possession of the throne itself, which, in the absence
11 of any direct male descendant of Ranjit Singh, would
12 pass by law of inheritance to the Sindhanwalia family.
13 The Rani's death completely wrecked their plans;
14 and soon afterwards, through the mediation of the
15 British Government, they obtained the Maharaja's
16 pardon, and were once more received at the court
17 of Lahore. Sher Singh was the more willing to take
18 this obviously dangerous step because he saw in the
19 Sindhanwalia brothers a useful counterpoise to the
20 overpowering influence of Dhian Singh, while their
21 presence in the capital would enable him to keep a
22 more watchful eye on their movements.
23 Sher Singh had never trusted the Jammu brothers,
24 and his suspicions were not lessened by the intelli-
25 gence that the Rani Jindan, one of the wives of
26 Ranjit Singh, with her infant son Dhulip, had found
27 an asylum with Ghulab Singh at Jammu. Probably
28 no one believed that Dhulip was the son of Ranjit
29 Singh ; but, on the other hand, no one could prove
30 that he was not; and that alone was sufficient to
31 render him a dangerous weapon in the hands of such
32 a master of intrigue as Ghulab Singh. Dhian was
33 not slow to perceive that his power was on the wane.