Tempo:
118 1799-1804.
Ran jit Singh's rise.
Ranjit
Singh masters Lahore, 1799.
Reduces the Bhangi Misal and the Pathans of Kasur, 1801-2.
Allies him-
with Fateh Singh self
Ahluwalia. Ranjit
Singh acquires Amritsar,
1802;
and confines
sar
San-
Chand
to the
hills,
1803-4,
who becomes
in-
volvpf'
with the Gurkhas.
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
CHAP, V
among the Sikh people. His first object was to master Lahore from the incapable chiefs of the Bhangi confederacy who possessed it, and before Shah Zaman had been many months gone, effect was given to his grant by a dexterous mixture of force and artifice. Ranjit Singh made Lahore his capital, and, with the aid of the Kanhayas (or Ghani) confederacy, he easily reduced the whole of the Bhangis to submission, although they were aided by Nizam-tid-din Khan of Kasur. In 1801-2 the Pathan had to repent his rashness; his strongholds were difficult to capture, but he found it prudent to become a feudatory, and to send his best men to follow a new master. After this success Ranjit Singh went to bathe in the holy pool of Taran Taran, and, meeting with Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, he conceived a friendship for him, as has been mentioned, and went through a formal exchange of turbans, symbolical of brotherhood. During 1802 the allies took Amritsar from the widow of the last Bhangi leader of note, and, of their joint spoil, it fell to the share of the master of thy other capital of the Sikh country. In 1803 Sansar Chand, of Katotch, in prosecution of his schemes of aggrandizement, made two attempts to occupy portions of the fertile Doab of Jullundur, but he was repulsed by Ranjit Singh and his confederate. In 1804 Sansar Chand again quitted his hills, and captured Hoshiarpur and Bajwara; but Ranjit Singh's approach once more compelled him to retreat, and he soon afterwards became involved with the Gurkhas, a new people in search of an empire which should comprise the whole range of Himalayas.^ 1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 51, 55. Capt. Murray, the political agent at Ambala, and Capt. Wade, the political agent at Ludhiana, each wrote a narrative of the life of Ranjit Singh, and that of the former was printed in 1834, with a few corrections and additions, and' some notes, by Mr. Thoby Prinsep, secretary to the Indian Government. The author has not seen Capt. Wade's report, or narrative, but he believes that it, even in -a greater degree than Capt. Murray's, was founded on personal recollections and on oral report, rather than on contemporary English documents, which reflected the opinions of the times, and which existed in sufficient abundance ^fter 1803 especially. The two narratives in auestion were, indeed, mainly prepared from accounts drawn up by intelligent Indians, at the requisition of the English functionaries, and of these the chronicles of Buta Shah, a Muhammadan, and Sohan Lai, a Hindu, are the best known, and may be had for purchase. The inquiries of Capt. Wade, in especial, were extensive, and to both officers the public is indebted for the preservation of a continuous narrative of Ranjit Singh's actions. The latter portion of the present chapter, and also chapters
Ran jit Singh's rise.
Ranjit
Singh masters Lahore, 1799.
Reduces the Bhangi Misal and the Pathans of Kasur, 1801-2.
Allies him-
with Fateh Singh self
Ahluwalia. Ranjit
Singh acquires Amritsar,
1802;
and confines
sar
San-
Chand
to the
hills,
1803-4,
who becomes
in-
volvpf'
with the Gurkhas.
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
CHAP, V
among the Sikh people. His first object was to master Lahore from the incapable chiefs of the Bhangi confederacy who possessed it, and before Shah Zaman had been many months gone, effect was given to his grant by a dexterous mixture of force and artifice. Ranjit Singh made Lahore his capital, and, with the aid of the Kanhayas (or Ghani) confederacy, he easily reduced the whole of the Bhangis to submission, although they were aided by Nizam-tid-din Khan of Kasur. In 1801-2 the Pathan had to repent his rashness; his strongholds were difficult to capture, but he found it prudent to become a feudatory, and to send his best men to follow a new master. After this success Ranjit Singh went to bathe in the holy pool of Taran Taran, and, meeting with Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, he conceived a friendship for him, as has been mentioned, and went through a formal exchange of turbans, symbolical of brotherhood. During 1802 the allies took Amritsar from the widow of the last Bhangi leader of note, and, of their joint spoil, it fell to the share of the master of thy other capital of the Sikh country. In 1803 Sansar Chand, of Katotch, in prosecution of his schemes of aggrandizement, made two attempts to occupy portions of the fertile Doab of Jullundur, but he was repulsed by Ranjit Singh and his confederate. In 1804 Sansar Chand again quitted his hills, and captured Hoshiarpur and Bajwara; but Ranjit Singh's approach once more compelled him to retreat, and he soon afterwards became involved with the Gurkhas, a new people in search of an empire which should comprise the whole range of Himalayas.^ 1 Cf. Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 51, 55. Capt. Murray, the political agent at Ambala, and Capt. Wade, the political agent at Ludhiana, each wrote a narrative of the life of Ranjit Singh, and that of the former was printed in 1834, with a few corrections and additions, and' some notes, by Mr. Thoby Prinsep, secretary to the Indian Government. The author has not seen Capt. Wade's report, or narrative, but he believes that it, even in -a greater degree than Capt. Murray's, was founded on personal recollections and on oral report, rather than on contemporary English documents, which reflected the opinions of the times, and which existed in sufficient abundance ^fter 1803 especially. The two narratives in auestion were, indeed, mainly prepared from accounts drawn up by intelligent Indians, at the requisition of the English functionaries, and of these the chronicles of Buta Shah, a Muhammadan, and Sohan Lai, a Hindu, are the best known, and may be had for purchase. The inquiries of Capt. Wade, in especial, were extensive, and to both officers the public is indebted for the preservation of a continuous narrative of Ranjit Singh's actions. The latter portion of the present chapter, and also chapters
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