1 76 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 the British ; and Jaswant Rao Holkar was the only
3 Mahratta leader who remained unsubdued. The war
4 seemed practically at an end, when the rout of
5 Colonel Monson's brigade in Central India by the
6 last-named chief completely changed the aspect of
7 affairs. Elated with his success, Holkar marched
8 upon and laid siege to Delhi, which was garrisoned
9 at the time by " a mere handful of sepoys." The
10 gallantry of the defence went far to wipe out the
11 stain of Monson's defeat. Holkar was forced to raise
12 the siege, and marching southwards with his army,
13 he commenced ravaging the Company's territory
14 between the Jumna and the Sutlej. Before a month
15 had passed, he was utterly routed by General Fr*tzet_
16 at Dig ; and at Farukhabad, three days later, a large
17 body of his cavalry was cut to pieces by Lake.
18 Holkar's position was now desperate, and the pos-
19 sibility of a Sikh alliance seemed his only chance of
20 escaping annihilation.
21 As soon as Ranjit Singh reached Amritsar, a
22 gurumata — the last ever held — was called together.
23 Many of the sirdars, including the Maharaja him-
24 self, were at first inclined to support Holkar; but
25 eventually, and mainly through the efforts of the
26 Ahluwalia chief, it was decided that the army of
27 the Khalsa should remain neutral. Lake had
28 already reached the banks of the Beas ; and had
29 the bold policy of Lord Wellesley been followed,
30 Holkar must have been finally crushed, and the
31 second Mahratta war would have been the last.
32 But the Monson disaster had created a panic amongst
33 the Directors of the Company. Wellesley was