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Punjab Monarchy and Imperialism
180
Budl1 Singh
Naudli Singh
Charhat Singh
Maha Singh
Dal
Singh
Chanda Singh
Maghi Singh
Chet Singh
Sahaj Singh
D
Tant Singh
Kashmira Singh
I Ranjit Singh
Kharak Siogb
Sher Singh
Ml1ltana Singh
Peshaura Singh
Dalip Singh
Charhat Singh's son, Maha Singh, inherited his father's daring and ambition. He married a daughLer of Gajpat Sing!1 of Jind and thus strengthened his own position among the Sikhs. He caprured the territory north and north-west of Gujranwala and levied tribute on the Muslim tribes of the region. In a short time Maha Singh succeeded in raising his misl from comparative unimportance co one of the leaders of the confederacy. This aroused the envy of Lhe misl then most powerful, the Kanhayas. The two came into conflict over the controJ ofJam.mu and in one of the many skirmishes that 100k place between them, Gurbaksh Singh, son of the leader Jai Singh Kanhaya, was killed. Jai Singh's pride was humbled and he agreed to the betrothal of his deceased son's only child, Mehtab Kaur, to Maha Singh's five-year-old son, Ranjit Singh. Jai Singh died shortly after, leaving the Kanha}'a estates to his widowed daughter-in-law, Sada Kaur, the mother of Mehtab Kaur. Maha Singh died in 1792. The legacy which Ranjit Singh inherited from his ancestors consisted of a large district in the heart of the Punjab and an ambition that knew no bounds. Ranjit Singh was twelve years old when his father died. A virulent attack of smallpox bad deprived him of vision in his left