Tempo:
Consolidation of the Punjab
231
In the spring of 1812, Durbar troops under the command of Mohkam Chand were ordered towards Kashmir. Jammu and Akhnur, which had already been incorporated in the Punjab, were properly garrisoned. Bhimbar and Rajauri were taken by sudden assault and their chiefs, Sultan Khan and Agar Khan, were brought in custody to Lahore. By the summer, when a campaign against Kashmir could be mounted, Mohkam Chand had secured the eastern approaches to the valley. The Barakzai envoy was then given leave to return to Kabul. A few days later Wazir Fateh Khan marched out with his forces and crossed the Auock into the territories of the Durbar. The Maharajah immediately proceeded northwards and encamped at Rohtas. The Afghans could not now bypass the Punjabis and enter Kashmir. Ranjit Singh sent an emissary to Wazir Fateh Khan to enquire of his motives for entering the Punjab. The Wazir requested a personal meeting with the Maharajah. He came for the interview with bis eighteen brothers, fully armed and prepared to assassinate Ranjit Singh if the latter did not agree to a joint invasion of Kashmfr.K TI1ere was no occasion to commit murder, for the Maharajah readily accepted the offer of an equal division of the loot and Rs 9 lacs per year,u There i.s little doubt that the Durbar meant to honour its commitment and that the Afghans had no intention of abiding by their word. The Durbar provided an army of twelve thousand men under its ablest generals, Dewan Mohkam Chand and Dal Taimur died in 1793. Shah Zaman, one of Taimur's sons. happened to be in tht: capital at the Lime and was able to 1.ake over the government and
all Lbe royal treasures, including the Koh-i-noor. When he was dispossessed and blinded by his brOlher, Mahmud, Lhe diamond was taken by Shah Shuja and his wife Wafa Begam. 8 A. Burnes, Travels into Bokham, Ill, 237, slates that the proposed assassination 'did not enler into t.he policy of Fateh Khan'. 9 The exan terms of the agreement are not known. According to British sources (Metcalfe to governor general, PC 5 ofS.1.1813) Ranjit was to get I 1 lacs per vear or, failing the fulfilment of this engagement, half of Kashmir.
231
In the spring of 1812, Durbar troops under the command of Mohkam Chand were ordered towards Kashmir. Jammu and Akhnur, which had already been incorporated in the Punjab, were properly garrisoned. Bhimbar and Rajauri were taken by sudden assault and their chiefs, Sultan Khan and Agar Khan, were brought in custody to Lahore. By the summer, when a campaign against Kashmir could be mounted, Mohkam Chand had secured the eastern approaches to the valley. The Barakzai envoy was then given leave to return to Kabul. A few days later Wazir Fateh Khan marched out with his forces and crossed the Auock into the territories of the Durbar. The Maharajah immediately proceeded northwards and encamped at Rohtas. The Afghans could not now bypass the Punjabis and enter Kashmir. Ranjit Singh sent an emissary to Wazir Fateh Khan to enquire of his motives for entering the Punjab. The Wazir requested a personal meeting with the Maharajah. He came for the interview with bis eighteen brothers, fully armed and prepared to assassinate Ranjit Singh if the latter did not agree to a joint invasion of Kashmfr.K TI1ere was no occasion to commit murder, for the Maharajah readily accepted the offer of an equal division of the loot and Rs 9 lacs per year,u There i.s little doubt that the Durbar meant to honour its commitment and that the Afghans had no intention of abiding by their word. The Durbar provided an army of twelve thousand men under its ablest generals, Dewan Mohkam Chand and Dal Taimur died in 1793. Shah Zaman, one of Taimur's sons. happened to be in tht: capital at the Lime and was able to 1.ake over the government and
all Lbe royal treasures, including the Koh-i-noor. When he was dispossessed and blinded by his brOlher, Mahmud, Lhe diamond was taken by Shah Shuja and his wife Wafa Begam. 8 A. Burnes, Travels into Bokham, Ill, 237, slates that the proposed assassination 'did not enler into t.he policy of Fateh Khan'. 9 The exan terms of the agreement are not known. According to British sources (Metcalfe to governor general, PC 5 ofS.1.1813) Ranjit was to get I 1 lacs per vear or, failing the fulfilment of this engagement, half of Kashmir.
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