1 90 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 which he must afterwards have bitterly regretted,
3 for Ranjit Singh straightway led his army into the
4 hills, and ended the dispute by taking possession of
5 the fortress himself.- Had Sansar Chand held out a
6 little longer, the Gurkhas, who were equally worn
7 out, would probably have abandoned the siege. The
8 unlucky chief died soon afterwards ; but it was not
9 until 1829 that Katoch and the other states of the
10 Kangra districts were finally annexed to the territory
11 of Lahore.
12 On his return to his capital, Ranjit Singh was met
13 by Shah Shuja, the exiled monarch of Afghanistan,
14 who, having been ousted from his throne by his
15 brother Mahmtid, had crossed the Indus in search of
16 any assistance that might be forthcoming. Ranjit
17 Singh, foreseeing that the ex-king's influence might
18 be of use to him, offered him an asylum at Lahore,
19 which was accepted, and discussed a proposal for a
20 joint attack on Multan. But Shah Shuja did not
21 remain long at the Sikh capital. An unexpected
22 offer of assistance tempted him to march on Peshawar,
23 which he seized and for a time succeeded in holding.
24 But Fateh Khan, Mahmud's wazir, and the virtual
25 ruler of his kingdom, soon drove him out again ; and
26 after an unsuccessful attempt to win over Muzaffar
27 Khari, the Governor of Multan, the royal exile was
28 captured by the Governor of Attock, who sent him to
29 Kashmir, where for twelve months he was kept in
30 confinement.
31 The misfortunes of Shah Shuja in no way affected
32 Ranjit Singh's determination to seize Multan ; and in
33 February 1810 a strong force under Diwan Mokham