Tempo:
CHAP. IV
INCREASE OF SIKH POWER
93
villages, to mark them as his. Sirhind itself was totally 1763-4. destroyed, and the feeling, still lingers which makes it sirhind
meritorious to carry away a brick from the place which taken and witnessed the death of the mother and children of tiestroyed, Gobind Singh. The impulse of victory swept the Sikhs ''"^^./^'^^^ across the Jumna, and their presence in Saharanpur pe°ma. recalled Najib-ud-daula from his contests with the Jats, nentiy oc under Suraj Mai, to protect his own principality, and cupied by he found it prudent to use negotiation as well as force, ^^^ sikhs. to induce the invaders to retire.^
Najib-ud-daula was successful against the Jats, and T^e sikhs Suraj Mai was killed in fight; but the wazir, or regent, If^^^J,^^^ was himself besieged in Delhi, in 1764, by the son of p^r in the deceased chief, and the heir of Bhartpur was aided besieging by a large body of Sikhs, as well as of Marathas more Delhi. i764 accustomed to defy the imperial power.- The loss of Sirhind had brought Ahmad Shah a seventh time across the Indus, and the danger of Najib-ud-daula led him onwards to the neighbourhood of the Jumna; but the siege of Delhi being raised partly through the Ahmad mediation or the defection of the Maratha chief, shah's Holkar, and the Shah having perhaps rebellions to seventh exp^^^^^o"^ suppress in his native provinces, hastened back without making any effective attempt to recover Sirhind. He ^gWement^ was content v/ith acknowledging Alha Singh of Patiala as governor of the province on his part, that chief having opportunely procured the town itself in exchange from the descendant of an old companion of the Guru's, The Sikh to whom the confederates had assigned it. accounts do not allow that the Shah retired unmolested, but describe a long and arduous contest in the vicinity of Amritsar, which ended without either party being able to claim a victory, although it precipitated the already hurried retirement of the Afghans. The Sikhs The sikhs found little difficulty in ejecting Kabuli Mai, the gov- become °^ ernor of Lahore, and the whole country, from the ^3^^^*^^ Jhelum to the Sutlej, was partitioned among chiefs and their followers, as the plains of Sirhind had been divided in the year previous. Numerous mosques were ^ general demolished, and Afghans in chains were made to wash assembly the foundations with the blood of hogs. The chiefs held at then assembled at Amritsar, and proclaimed their own Amritsar. sway and the prevalence of their faith, by striking a ^""^ ^^^
—
1 Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 24, and Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 26, 27. Some accounts represent the SikHs to have also become temporarily possessed of Lahore at this period.
2 Cf.
the
Browne, Tracts, ii.
24.
Sikh tradition
still
preserves
names of the chiefs who plundered the vegetable market
at Delhi on this occasion.
INCREASE OF SIKH POWER
93
villages, to mark them as his. Sirhind itself was totally 1763-4. destroyed, and the feeling, still lingers which makes it sirhind
meritorious to carry away a brick from the place which taken and witnessed the death of the mother and children of tiestroyed, Gobind Singh. The impulse of victory swept the Sikhs ''"^^./^'^^^ across the Jumna, and their presence in Saharanpur pe°ma. recalled Najib-ud-daula from his contests with the Jats, nentiy oc under Suraj Mai, to protect his own principality, and cupied by he found it prudent to use negotiation as well as force, ^^^ sikhs. to induce the invaders to retire.^
Najib-ud-daula was successful against the Jats, and T^e sikhs Suraj Mai was killed in fight; but the wazir, or regent, If^^^J,^^^ was himself besieged in Delhi, in 1764, by the son of p^r in the deceased chief, and the heir of Bhartpur was aided besieging by a large body of Sikhs, as well as of Marathas more Delhi. i764 accustomed to defy the imperial power.- The loss of Sirhind had brought Ahmad Shah a seventh time across the Indus, and the danger of Najib-ud-daula led him onwards to the neighbourhood of the Jumna; but the siege of Delhi being raised partly through the Ahmad mediation or the defection of the Maratha chief, shah's Holkar, and the Shah having perhaps rebellions to seventh exp^^^^^o"^ suppress in his native provinces, hastened back without making any effective attempt to recover Sirhind. He ^gWement^ was content v/ith acknowledging Alha Singh of Patiala as governor of the province on his part, that chief having opportunely procured the town itself in exchange from the descendant of an old companion of the Guru's, The Sikh to whom the confederates had assigned it. accounts do not allow that the Shah retired unmolested, but describe a long and arduous contest in the vicinity of Amritsar, which ended without either party being able to claim a victory, although it precipitated the already hurried retirement of the Afghans. The Sikhs The sikhs found little difficulty in ejecting Kabuli Mai, the gov- become °^ ernor of Lahore, and the whole country, from the ^3^^^*^^ Jhelum to the Sutlej, was partitioned among chiefs and their followers, as the plains of Sirhind had been divided in the year previous. Numerous mosques were ^ general demolished, and Afghans in chains were made to wash assembly the foundations with the blood of hogs. The chiefs held at then assembled at Amritsar, and proclaimed their own Amritsar. sway and the prevalence of their faith, by striking a ^""^ ^^^
—
1 Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 24, and Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 26, 27. Some accounts represent the SikHs to have also become temporarily possessed of Lahore at this period.
2 Cf.
the
Browne, Tracts, ii.
24.
Sikh tradition
still
preserves
names of the chiefs who plundered the vegetable market
at Delhi on this occasion.
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