Tempo:
CHAP. VII
SIKH MISSION TO CALCUTTA
181
was employed against the Afghans of Tak and 1832-6. Bannu, beyond Dera Ismail Khan; but a considerable detachment signally failed in an attack upon a mountain stronghold, and a chief of rank and upwards of 300 men were slain. The ill success vexed the Maharaja, and he desired his agent to explain to the British authorities the several particulars; but lest they should still be disposed to reflect upon the quality of his troops, he reminded Capt. Wade that such things had happened before, that his rash officers did not wait until a breach had been effected, and that, indeed, the instance of General Gillespie and the Gurkhas at Kalanga afforded an exact illustration of what had taken place 1 In 1833 the grandson of Sansar Chand, of sansar Katotch, was induced to return to his country, and on ^^^^^jJ^J^'^j^ liis way through Ludhiana he was received with con- ^tm-ns" force
!
siderable ceremony by the British authorities, for the ^833. fame of Sansar Chand gave to his posterity some semblance of power and regal dignity. A jagir or fief of 50,000 rupees was conferred upon the young chief, for the Maharaja was not disposed from nature to be wantonly harsh, nor from policy to drive any one to desperation.- During the same year Ranjit Singh pro- Ranjit
posed to send a chief to Calcutta with presents for the ^^^sh King of England, and not improbably with the view of ^j^gfo^ ^^ ascertaining the general opinion about his designs on Calcutta. Sind. The mission, under Gujar Singh Majithia, finally 1834-6. took its departure in September 1834, and was absent a year and a half.^ When Mr. Moorcroft was in Ladakh (in 1821, &c.), Ranji* the fear of Ranjit Singh was general in that country, smgh and and the Sikh governor of Kashmir had already de- ^g^gl^'^^' manded the payment of tribute; ^ but the weak and distant state was little molested until the new Rajas of Jammu had obtained the government of the hill principalities between the Ravi and Jhelum, and felt that their influence with Ranjit Singh was secure and commanding. In 1834 Zorawar Singh, Raja Gulab Ladakh Singh's commander in Kishtwar, took advantage of reduced by internal disorders in Leh, and declared that an estate, ^^ ^^"^'^ anciently held by the Kishtwar chief, must be restored. 1334-5. 1 Capt. Wade to Government, ICth May 1834. Dera Ismail Khan and the country about it was not fairly brought into order until two years aftetwards. (Capt. Wade to Government,
7th and 13th July 1836.) 2 Capt. Wade to Government, 9th Oct. 1833, and 3rd Jan. 1835. 3 Capt. Wade to Government, April 1836. 4 Moorcroft, Travels, i. 420.
11th
Sept.
1834,
and 4th
SIKH MISSION TO CALCUTTA
181
was employed against the Afghans of Tak and 1832-6. Bannu, beyond Dera Ismail Khan; but a considerable detachment signally failed in an attack upon a mountain stronghold, and a chief of rank and upwards of 300 men were slain. The ill success vexed the Maharaja, and he desired his agent to explain to the British authorities the several particulars; but lest they should still be disposed to reflect upon the quality of his troops, he reminded Capt. Wade that such things had happened before, that his rash officers did not wait until a breach had been effected, and that, indeed, the instance of General Gillespie and the Gurkhas at Kalanga afforded an exact illustration of what had taken place 1 In 1833 the grandson of Sansar Chand, of sansar Katotch, was induced to return to his country, and on ^^^^^jJ^J^'^j^ liis way through Ludhiana he was received with con- ^tm-ns" force
!
siderable ceremony by the British authorities, for the ^833. fame of Sansar Chand gave to his posterity some semblance of power and regal dignity. A jagir or fief of 50,000 rupees was conferred upon the young chief, for the Maharaja was not disposed from nature to be wantonly harsh, nor from policy to drive any one to desperation.- During the same year Ranjit Singh pro- Ranjit
posed to send a chief to Calcutta with presents for the ^^^sh King of England, and not improbably with the view of ^j^gfo^ ^^ ascertaining the general opinion about his designs on Calcutta. Sind. The mission, under Gujar Singh Majithia, finally 1834-6. took its departure in September 1834, and was absent a year and a half.^ When Mr. Moorcroft was in Ladakh (in 1821, &c.), Ranji* the fear of Ranjit Singh was general in that country, smgh and and the Sikh governor of Kashmir had already de- ^g^gl^'^^' manded the payment of tribute; ^ but the weak and distant state was little molested until the new Rajas of Jammu had obtained the government of the hill principalities between the Ravi and Jhelum, and felt that their influence with Ranjit Singh was secure and commanding. In 1834 Zorawar Singh, Raja Gulab Ladakh Singh's commander in Kishtwar, took advantage of reduced by internal disorders in Leh, and declared that an estate, ^^ ^^"^'^ anciently held by the Kishtwar chief, must be restored. 1334-5. 1 Capt. Wade to Government, ICth May 1834. Dera Ismail Khan and the country about it was not fairly brought into order until two years aftetwards. (Capt. Wade to Government,
7th and 13th July 1836.) 2 Capt. Wade to Government, 9th Oct. 1833, and 3rd Jan. 1835. 3 Capt. Wade to Government, April 1836. 4 Moorcroft, Travels, i. 420.
11th
Sept.
1834,
and 4th
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