1 Constitution of the Kh&lsa. 67
2 sirdar, who repeatedly distinguished himself in the
3 early struggles with Ahmad Shah. Shortly after
4 the defeat of Timur's deputy, Obaid Khan, Charrat
5 Singh, who on that occasion had led the Sikhs
6 to victory, marched with his followers to Kashmir,
7 to espouse the cause of Brij Raj, then in rebellion
8 against his father, Raja Ranjit Deo, the chief of
9 Jammu. Ranjit Deo had called to his aid the
10 Bhangis under Jhanda Singh, at that time the most
11 powerful of all the Sikh sirdars, while the Kanheyas
12 under Sirdar Jai Singh took sides with the Sukar-
13 chakias. The rival armies encamped within a few
14 miles of each other, and preparations were being
15 made for battle, when Charrat Singh was killed
16 by the bursting of his own matchlock. This event
17 would probably have given the victory to Ranjit
18 Deo, had it not been counterbalanced, on the follow-
19 ing day, by the assassination of the Bhangi chief,
20 Jhanda Singh. The deaths of the two leaders
21 brought about a cessation of hostilities, and the
22 Sikh forces withdrew to their respective districts,
23 leaving Ranjit Deo and his son to settle their quarrel
24 as best they could.
25 These events took place in the year 1773.
26 Mahan Singh, the son and successor of Charrat
27 Singh, was only ten years old when he succeeded
28 to the chiefship of the Sukarchakias. The year
29 after his father's death, he was married to Raj
30 Kour, the daughter of the Raja of Jind, who,
31 six years later, became the mother of Ranjit Singh.
32 During his minority, Mahan Singh remained under
33 the guardianship of his mother, a shrewd and