1 Anarchy. 163
2 scenting more plunder, were jubilant; but this time
3 their cupidity was not to be gratified. The prompt
4 action of the government brought Mulraj to his
5 senses, and he lost no time in tendering his sub-
6 mission. The Panches allowed him to purchase for-
7 giveness for eighteen lakhs of rupees, little dreaming
8 that for that sum they had bartered the independence
9 of the Khalsa.
10 The second rebellion was more characteristic of the
11 period, terminating in the death of its promoter and
12 of the minister of the state. Repeated assurances
13 of support from the troops of the Khalsa induced
14 Peshora Singh to make another effort to establish
15 his claim to the throne of the Punjab. In the month
16 of July he succeeded in gaining possession of the
17 fort of Attock, where he boldly proclaimed himself
18 Maharaja. Again Ghulab Singh secretly supported
19 him, not, it is needless to say, from feelings of affec-
20 tion, but from the desire to see Jowahir Singh incur
21 the odium of destroying a prince whose person every
22 Sikh soldier regarded as sacred. Having brought
23 matters to this stage, and knowing that the army of
24 Lahore would be unwilling to take the field, the
25 resourceful Ghulab privately offered to place at the
26 minister's service tools of his own, who would be un-
27 hampered by inconvenient scruples. The offer was
28 accepted ; and Fatteh Khan and Chattar Singh, the
29 tools in question, proceeded, with the troops under
30 their command, to Attock. Their method of dealing
31 with the situation more than justified Ghulab Singh's
32 guarantee. Unable to reduce the fort, they opened
33 negotiations, and with profuse assurances of their