1 Early Struggles of the Khdlsa. 57
2 he had, before quitting Sirhind, appointed iCla Singh,
3 the Patiala chieftain, his governor in that province.
4 By the Sikhs this step was regarded as a con-
5 cession rather than a favour ; and knowing that the
6 Shah was occupied with dissensions in his own king-
7 dom, they seized the opportunity to march against
8 Lahore. The Muhammadan garrison made but an
9 indifferent defence, and was easily overcome. The
10 Afghan governor was expelled, and the affairs of the
11 city were entrusted to the joint administration of the
12 three chiefs who had effected its capture.
13 In 1767 Ahmad Shah invaded India for the
14 eighth and last time. The Sikhs were routed on the
15 banks of the Sutlej, and dispersed to their hill
16 retreats, and the ejected viceroy was reinstated at
17 Lahore. But ill-health and the unsettled condition
18 of his own kingdom obliged the Shah to cut short
19 his operations in the Punjab, and inclined him more
20 than ever to conciliatory methods. He abandoned
21 all idea of annexing Sirhind, and acknowledged Raja
22 Ala Singh as independent ruler of the province ;
23 while other districts were ceded to the Sikh sirdars
24 who had held Lahore, in the hope of inducing them
25 to uphold the authority of the Afghan governor.
26 Then, for the last time, the Durani warrior recrossed
27 the Indus ; and, for the last time, he suffered the
28 mortification of having his baggage-train plundered
29 by the inexorable Sikhs. As, before, conciliation was
30 regarded as a proof of weakness. Hostilities were
31 at once renewed : Lahore was recaptured, and in a
32 short time not a vestige of Afghan authority re-
33 mained in the Punjab. The Sikhs spread themselves