Tempo:
CHAP. VI
MARCH AGAINST PESHAWAR
145
not without apprehensions that his occupation of the 1823. ~ place would be construed into a breach of the treaty, and he busied himself with defensive preparations. A friendly letter from the superior authorities at Delhi relieved him of his fears, and allowed him to prosecute his designs against Peshawar without further interruption.^
Muhammad Azim Khan disapproved of the pre- The sikhs sentation of horses to Ranjit Singh by Yar Muhammad "^ar^h Khan, and he repaired to Peshawar in January 1823. p^^^Twar Yar Muhammad fled into the Usufzai hills rather than 18^23.^ meet his brother, and the province seemed lost to one branch of the numerous family; but the chief of the Sikhs was at hand, resolved to assert his equality of right or his" superiority of power. The Indus was forded on the 13th March, the guns being carried across on elephants. The territory of the Khattaks bordering the river was occupied, and at Akora the Maharaja received and pardoned the fugitive Jai Singh Atariwala. religious war had been preached, and twenty thousand men, of the Khattak and Usufzai tribes, had been assembled by their priests and devotees to fight for their faith against the unbelieving invaders. This body of men was posted on and around heights near Noshahra, but on the left bank of the Kabul river,
A
while Muhammad Azim Khan, distrustful of his influence over the independent militia, and of the fidelity of his brothers, occupied a position higher up on the right bank of the stream. Ranjit Singh detached a The battle force to keep the Wazir in check, and crossed the river of Noshahra. to attack the armed peasantry. The Sikh 'Akalis' at ^"^^h March. once rushed upon the Muhammadan 'Ghazis', but Phula ^^^^' Singh, the wild leader of the fanatics of Amritsar. was slain, and his horsemen made no impression on masses Cf. Murray. Ranjit Singh, p. 134, where the proceedings are given very briefly, and scarcely with accuracy. Capt. Murray's and Capt. Ross's letters to the Resident at Delhi, from Feb. to Sept. 1822, give details, and other information is obtainable from the letters of Sir D. Ochterlony to Capt. Ross, dated 7th Nov., 1821, and of the Governor-General's Agent at Delhi to Capt. Murray, of 22nd June., and to Government of the 23rd Aug. 1822; and from those of Government to the Governor-General's Agent, 24th April, 13th July, and 18th Oct., 1822. On this occasion the Akali Phula Singh is reported by Capt. Murray to have offered to retake Whadni single-handed, and Ranjit Singh to have commissioned him to embody a thousand of his brethren. Sir Claude Wade (Narrative of Personal Services, p. 10 note) represents Sir Charles Metcalfe to have considered the proceedings of the English with regard to Whadni as unwarranted for with the domestic concerns of the Maharaja they had no political concern. 1
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MARCH AGAINST PESHAWAR
145
not without apprehensions that his occupation of the 1823. ~ place would be construed into a breach of the treaty, and he busied himself with defensive preparations. A friendly letter from the superior authorities at Delhi relieved him of his fears, and allowed him to prosecute his designs against Peshawar without further interruption.^
Muhammad Azim Khan disapproved of the pre- The sikhs sentation of horses to Ranjit Singh by Yar Muhammad "^ar^h Khan, and he repaired to Peshawar in January 1823. p^^^Twar Yar Muhammad fled into the Usufzai hills rather than 18^23.^ meet his brother, and the province seemed lost to one branch of the numerous family; but the chief of the Sikhs was at hand, resolved to assert his equality of right or his" superiority of power. The Indus was forded on the 13th March, the guns being carried across on elephants. The territory of the Khattaks bordering the river was occupied, and at Akora the Maharaja received and pardoned the fugitive Jai Singh Atariwala. religious war had been preached, and twenty thousand men, of the Khattak and Usufzai tribes, had been assembled by their priests and devotees to fight for their faith against the unbelieving invaders. This body of men was posted on and around heights near Noshahra, but on the left bank of the Kabul river,
A
while Muhammad Azim Khan, distrustful of his influence over the independent militia, and of the fidelity of his brothers, occupied a position higher up on the right bank of the stream. Ranjit Singh detached a The battle force to keep the Wazir in check, and crossed the river of Noshahra. to attack the armed peasantry. The Sikh 'Akalis' at ^"^^h March. once rushed upon the Muhammadan 'Ghazis', but Phula ^^^^' Singh, the wild leader of the fanatics of Amritsar. was slain, and his horsemen made no impression on masses Cf. Murray. Ranjit Singh, p. 134, where the proceedings are given very briefly, and scarcely with accuracy. Capt. Murray's and Capt. Ross's letters to the Resident at Delhi, from Feb. to Sept. 1822, give details, and other information is obtainable from the letters of Sir D. Ochterlony to Capt. Ross, dated 7th Nov., 1821, and of the Governor-General's Agent at Delhi to Capt. Murray, of 22nd June., and to Government of the 23rd Aug. 1822; and from those of Government to the Governor-General's Agent, 24th April, 13th July, and 18th Oct., 1822. On this occasion the Akali Phula Singh is reported by Capt. Murray to have offered to retake Whadni single-handed, and Ranjit Singh to have commissioned him to embody a thousand of his brethren. Sir Claude Wade (Narrative of Personal Services, p. 10 note) represents Sir Charles Metcalfe to have considered the proceedings of the English with regard to Whadni as unwarranted for with the domestic concerns of the Maharaja they had no political concern. 1
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