1 Conquest of the Punjab. 91
2 Chand was dispatched for its reduction. The Sikhs
3 were soon in possession of the town ; but the citadel,
4 gallantly defended by Nawab Muzaffar Khan, defied
5 all their efforts. Mokham Chand was obliged through
6 illness to relinquish the command ; and at the end of
7 a month, every general capable of taking the lead
8 having been slain, Ranjit Singh made terms with the
9 Nawab and raised the siege, the latter engaging to
10 pay him two and a half lakhs of rupees.
11 The remainder of this year was spent in bringing
12 under subjection the Muhammadan tribes of the
13 central and western Punjab, a task which, for many
14 years, occupied the Maharaja's spare time. These
15 tribes included the Ghakkars, Tiwanas, Awans,1 and
16 many other warlike clans, who, had they been able
17 to combine under a single leader, might have formed
18 themselves into a power which it would have taxed
19 the utmost resources of the ruler of Lahore to over-
20 come. As it was, Ranjit Singh was able to proceed
21 against them singly, and their subjugation was, in
22 consequence, merely a matter of time.
23 Early in 1811, the Maharaja turned his eyes in
24 the direction of Kashmir, the annexation of which
25 was one of the main objects of his ambition. Since
26 the downfall of the Moghul empire, the province had
27 been under the sway of the Durani kings of Afghan-
28 istan, having been conquered in 1752 by Ahmad
29 Shah. It was governed at this time by an officer
30 named Atta Muhammad Khan, of whose allegiance
31 the new Shah entertained considerable doubt, and the
32 fact that Shah Shuja was now a captive in his hands
33 1 See Appendix C.