1 196 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 isfcry of Jowahir Singh, Mulraj, the Khatri governor
3 of Miiltan, had refused to pay his " footing," and had
4 only escaped deposition by submitting to a fine of
5 eighteen lakhs of rupees. He now found, or professed
6 to find, that it was impossible to provide the yearly
7 revenue which his province was expected to yield,
8 and in the beginning of March he tendered his resig-
9 nation to the Government at Lahore, by whom it
10 was promptly accepted. Sirdar Khan Singh was
11 appointed to the vacant office, and, accompanied by
12 two British officers, Mr. Vans Agnew of the Bengal
13 Civil Service and Lieutenant Anderson of the Bombay
14 Fusiliers, he proceeded to Miiltan to take over charge
15 from Mulraj. The party reached Miiltan on April
16 18, and on the following day the new governor
17 was duly installed. Up to that point all had gone
18 well ; but, as Vans Agnew and Anderson were re-
19 turning to their camp without the fort, they were
20 suddenly attacked by some of Mulraj 's men. Both
21 were severely wounded, but managed, with the help
22 of their escort and Khan Singh's followers, to make
23 their escape to a neighbouring mosque. On the
24 morning of the 20th, Mulraj, who, at the commence-
25 ment of the previous day's affray, had galloped off to
26 his summer residence, returned to the fort, where he
27 reinstated himself and openly declared his hostilit}^ to
28 the British. The guns of the fort were turned on
29 the mosque in which Vans Agnew and Anderson had
30 taken refuge ; and in the evening the two wounded
31 officers, deserted by their escort, were brutally
32 murdered.
33 On the night of the 19th, Vans Agnew had man-