Tempo:
j
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
108 1798-9.
The Shah's second
march to Lahore, 1798-9.
CHAP. V
gating the Shah of Persia to invade the Afghan territories. Shah Zaman renewed his invasion in 1798; a body of five thousand men, sent far in advance, was attacked and dispersed on the Jhelum, but he entered
Lahore without opposition, and renewed his measures of mixed conciliation and threat. He found an able leader, but doubtful partisan, in Nizam-ud-din Khan, a Pathan of Kasur, who had acquired a high local reputation, and he was employed to coerce such of the Sikhs, including the pertinaciously kept aloof.
youthful Ranjit
Singh,
as
They distrusted the Shah's honour; but Nizam-ud-din distrusted the permanence of his power, and he prudently forbore to proceed to
Ran jit Singh rises to
eminence,
and
obtains a cession of
Lahore from the Afghan king, 1799.
extremities against neighbours to whom he might soon be left a prey. Some resultless skirmishing took place, but the designs of Mahmud, who had obtained the support of Persia, again withdrew the ill-fated king to the west, and he quitted Lahore in the beginning of 1799. During this second invasion the character of Ranjit Singh seems to have impressed itself, not only on other Sikh leaders, but on the Durrani Shah. He coveted Lahore, which was associated in the minds of men with the possession of power, and, as the king was unable to cross his heavy artillery over the flooded Jhelum, he made it known to the aspiring chief that their transmission would be an acceptable service. As many pieces of cannon as could -be readily extricated were sent after the Shah, and Ranjit Singh procured what he wanted, a royal investiture of the capital of the Punjab. Thenceforward the history of the Sikhs gradually centres in their great Maharaja; but the revival of the Maratha power in Upper India, and the appearance of the English on the scene, require that the narrative of his achievements should be somewhat interrupted.^
1785-8.
The
The power
abilities
of
Madhagi Sindhia restored
the]
Elphinstone (Kabul, ii. 308) states that Shah Zams was exhorted to undertake his expedition of 1795 by a refuge 1
prince of Delhi, and encouraged in it by Tipu Sultan. Th« journey of Ghulam Muhammad, the defeated Rohilla chief and the mission of the Wazir of Oudh, are given on the authority of the Bhawalpur family annals, and from the same source may be added an interchange of deputations on the part] of Shah Zaman and Sindhia, the envoys, as in the other suspicion instance, having passed through Bhawalpur town. of the complicity of Asaf-ud-daula, of Lucknow, does not seem to have occurred to the English historians, who rather dilate on the exertions made by their government to protect their pledged ally from the northern invaders. Nevertheless, the statements of the Bhawalpur chronicles on the subject seem in every way credible.
A
(
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
108 1798-9.
The Shah's second
march to Lahore, 1798-9.
CHAP. V
gating the Shah of Persia to invade the Afghan territories. Shah Zaman renewed his invasion in 1798; a body of five thousand men, sent far in advance, was attacked and dispersed on the Jhelum, but he entered
Lahore without opposition, and renewed his measures of mixed conciliation and threat. He found an able leader, but doubtful partisan, in Nizam-ud-din Khan, a Pathan of Kasur, who had acquired a high local reputation, and he was employed to coerce such of the Sikhs, including the pertinaciously kept aloof.
youthful Ranjit
Singh,
as
They distrusted the Shah's honour; but Nizam-ud-din distrusted the permanence of his power, and he prudently forbore to proceed to
Ran jit Singh rises to
eminence,
and
obtains a cession of
Lahore from the Afghan king, 1799.
extremities against neighbours to whom he might soon be left a prey. Some resultless skirmishing took place, but the designs of Mahmud, who had obtained the support of Persia, again withdrew the ill-fated king to the west, and he quitted Lahore in the beginning of 1799. During this second invasion the character of Ranjit Singh seems to have impressed itself, not only on other Sikh leaders, but on the Durrani Shah. He coveted Lahore, which was associated in the minds of men with the possession of power, and, as the king was unable to cross his heavy artillery over the flooded Jhelum, he made it known to the aspiring chief that their transmission would be an acceptable service. As many pieces of cannon as could -be readily extricated were sent after the Shah, and Ranjit Singh procured what he wanted, a royal investiture of the capital of the Punjab. Thenceforward the history of the Sikhs gradually centres in their great Maharaja; but the revival of the Maratha power in Upper India, and the appearance of the English on the scene, require that the narrative of his achievements should be somewhat interrupted.^
1785-8.
The
The power
abilities
of
Madhagi Sindhia restored
the]
Elphinstone (Kabul, ii. 308) states that Shah Zams was exhorted to undertake his expedition of 1795 by a refuge 1
prince of Delhi, and encouraged in it by Tipu Sultan. Th« journey of Ghulam Muhammad, the defeated Rohilla chief and the mission of the Wazir of Oudh, are given on the authority of the Bhawalpur family annals, and from the same source may be added an interchange of deputations on the part] of Shah Zaman and Sindhia, the envoys, as in the other suspicion instance, having passed through Bhawalpur town. of the complicity of Asaf-ud-daula, of Lucknow, does not seem to have occurred to the English historians, who rather dilate on the exertions made by their government to protect their pledged ally from the northern invaders. Nevertheless, the statements of the Bhawalpur chronicles on the subject seem in every way credible.
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