1 158 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 and his contemptuous treatment of men of rank of
3 their own faith who had occupied honourable positions
4 at the court of Ranjit Singh. In his dealings with
5 the Sikhs, Jalla underrated their national pride and
6 the strength of the spirit of brotherhood which gave
7 them unity. He forgot that the sirdars " were Sikhs
8 equally with the soldiers, and that the ' Khalsa ' was
9 a word which could be used to unite the high and the
10 low." He forgot, too, that both he and his patron
11 were aliens, and that that fact was alone sufficient
12 to render their acts unpopular and their positions
13 precarious.
14 More than once the Panches had demanded the
15 dismissal of Jalla; but on each occasion Hira Singh
16 had contrived to put them off with excuses and
17 promises. Such tactics, however, were of little avail
18 against the machinations of Jowahir Singh, who, from
19 the hour of his arrival at Lahore, worked unceasingly
20 to feed the discontent of the troops and to fan their
21 smouldering animosity into a flame. The pandit
22 made no effort to conciliate his opponents. Jowahir
23 Singh he treated with open discourtesy, which ex-
24 asperated not only that chief himself but every Sikh
25 who witnessed his discomfiture. The climax came
26 when, on December 1, Jalla publicly insulted the
27 Rani Jindan. Jowahir, to whom the Rani com-
28 plained of her ill-usage, was furious, and the entire
29 Khalsa shared his indignation, Other charges of a
30 similar nature were brought against Hira Singh, and
31 it was further asserted that the pandit had attempted
32 to take the life of the Rani by poison. A meeting of
33 the panchayats was hastily summoned ; but before