Tempo:
CHAP. VI
DEATH OF SANSAR CHAND
147
—
Sind to tribute from the Amirs of which country he i824 had- already advanced some claims.^ He likewise pretended to regard Shikarpur as a usurpation of the Talpur dynasty; but his plans were not yet matured, and he returned to his capital to learn of the death of sansar Sansar Chand. He gave his consent to the succession chand of of the son of a chief whose power once surpassed his ^^to*'^^ own, and the Prince Kharak Singh exchanged turbans, of^is^" in token of brotherhood, with the heir of tributary
Katotch.-
Ranjit Singh had now brought under his sway the Ranjit three Muhammadan provinces of Kashmir, Multan, Singh's and Peshawar he was supreme in the hills and plains ^"i^cSted'^' of ttie Punjab proper; the mass of his dominion had and the been acquired; and although his designs on Ladakh and mass of his Sind were obvious, a pause in the narrative of his dominion actions may conveniently take place, for the purpose acquired, of relating other matters necessary to a right understanding of his character, and which intimately bear on the general history of the country. Shah Shuja reached jLudhiana, as has been men- MisceUanetioned, in the year 1816, and secured for himself an °"s transhonoured repose but his thoughts were intent on ^^**°'^s. Kabul and Kandahar; he disliked the British notion 33^6x5^that he had tamely sought an asylum, and he wished dition agto be regarded as a prince in distress, seeking for aid ainst shucarto enable him to recover his crown. He had hopes p"'" ^^^ held out to him by the Amirs of Sind when hard ^^shawar. ^^^^"^^• pressed, perhaps, by Fateh Khan, and he conceived that an invasion of Afghanistan might be successfully prosecuted from the southward. He made offers of advantage to the English, but he was told that they had no concern with the affairs of strangers, and desired to live in peace with all their neighbours. He was thus casting about for means when Fateh Khan was murdered, and the tenders of allegiance which he received from Muhammad Azim Khan at once induced him to quit Ludhiana. He left that place in October 1818: with the 'aid of the Nawab of Bahawalpur, he mastered Dera Ghazi Khan; he sent his son Timur to occupy Shikarpur, and he proceeded in person towards Peshawar, to become, as he believed, the king of the Durranis. But Muhammad Azim Khan had, in the meantime, seen fit to proclaim himself the :
'
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1 Capt. Murray to the Governor-General's Agent, Delhi, 15th Dec. 1825, and Capt. Wade to the same, 7th Aug..l823. - Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 141. For an interesting account of Sansar Chand, his family, and his country, see Moorcroft, Travels, i. 126-46.
DEATH OF SANSAR CHAND
147
—
Sind to tribute from the Amirs of which country he i824 had- already advanced some claims.^ He likewise pretended to regard Shikarpur as a usurpation of the Talpur dynasty; but his plans were not yet matured, and he returned to his capital to learn of the death of sansar Sansar Chand. He gave his consent to the succession chand of of the son of a chief whose power once surpassed his ^^to*'^^ own, and the Prince Kharak Singh exchanged turbans, of^is^" in token of brotherhood, with the heir of tributary
Katotch.-
Ranjit Singh had now brought under his sway the Ranjit three Muhammadan provinces of Kashmir, Multan, Singh's and Peshawar he was supreme in the hills and plains ^"i^cSted'^' of ttie Punjab proper; the mass of his dominion had and the been acquired; and although his designs on Ladakh and mass of his Sind were obvious, a pause in the narrative of his dominion actions may conveniently take place, for the purpose acquired, of relating other matters necessary to a right understanding of his character, and which intimately bear on the general history of the country. Shah Shuja reached jLudhiana, as has been men- MisceUanetioned, in the year 1816, and secured for himself an °"s transhonoured repose but his thoughts were intent on ^^**°'^s. Kabul and Kandahar; he disliked the British notion 33^6x5^that he had tamely sought an asylum, and he wished dition agto be regarded as a prince in distress, seeking for aid ainst shucarto enable him to recover his crown. He had hopes p"'" ^^^ held out to him by the Amirs of Sind when hard ^^shawar. ^^^^"^^• pressed, perhaps, by Fateh Khan, and he conceived that an invasion of Afghanistan might be successfully prosecuted from the southward. He made offers of advantage to the English, but he was told that they had no concern with the affairs of strangers, and desired to live in peace with all their neighbours. He was thus casting about for means when Fateh Khan was murdered, and the tenders of allegiance which he received from Muhammad Azim Khan at once induced him to quit Ludhiana. He left that place in October 1818: with the 'aid of the Nawab of Bahawalpur, he mastered Dera Ghazi Khan; he sent his son Timur to occupy Shikarpur, and he proceeded in person towards Peshawar, to become, as he believed, the king of the Durranis. But Muhammad Azim Khan had, in the meantime, seen fit to proclaim himself the :
'
:
1 Capt. Murray to the Governor-General's Agent, Delhi, 15th Dec. 1825, and Capt. Wade to the same, 7th Aug..l823. - Murray, Ranjit Singh, p. 141. For an interesting account of Sansar Chand, his family, and his country, see Moorcroft, Travels, i. 126-46.
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