Tempo:
.HAP. VII
THE KABUL CAMPAIGN
199
and, secondly, because it was not deemed prudent to i838-9. place the ex-king in the hands of Ranjit Singh, who might be tempted to use him for Sikh rather than for It was therefore arranged that the British objects.^ Shah himself should march by way of Shikarpur and Quetta, while his son moved on Kabul by the road of Peshawar, and at the head of a force provided by the Maharaja of the Punjab. The British force assembled at Ferozepore towards the close of 1838, and further eclat was given to the opening of a memorable campaign, by an interchange of hospitalities between the English viceroy and the Sikh ruler.- Ostensibly Ranjit RanJit Singh had reached the summit of his ambition; he was p^gn^iy^at acknowledged to be an arbiter in the fate of that em- ^he height pire which had tyrannized over his peasant forefathers, of greatand he was treated with the greatest distinction by the ness; foreign paramounts of India: but his health had become seriously impaired; he felt that he was in truth Cf: the Governor-General's minute of 12th of May 1838, his instructions to Sir William Macnaghten of the 15th of the same month. Ranjit Singh was anxious to get something lasting and tangible as his share of the profit of the expedition, and he wanted Jalalabad, as there seemed to be 1
and
a difficulty about Shikarpur. The Maharaja got, indeed, a subsidy of two hundred thousand rupees a year from the Shah for the use of his troops; a concession which did not altogether satisfy the Governor-General (see letter to Sir William Macnaghten, 2nd July, 1838), and the article became, in fact, a dead letter. The idea of creating a friendly power in Afghanistan, by guiding Ranjit Singh upon Kabul, seems to have been seriously entertained, and it was a scheme which promised many solid advantages. Cf. the Governor-General's minute, 12th May 183S, the author's abstract of which differs somewhat from the copy printed by order of Parliament in 1839, and Mr. Masson (Journeys, iii. 487, 488) who refers to a communication from Sir William Macnaghten on the subject. For the treaty about the restoration of Shah Shuja, see
Appendix XXX. - At one of the several meetings which took place on this occasion, there was an interchange of compliments, which
may be noticed. Ranjit Singh likened the
friendship of the
two states to an apple, the red and yellow colours of which were, he said, so blended, that although the semblance was twofold the reality was one. Lord Auckland replied that the Maharaja's simile was very happy, inasmuch as red and yellow were the national colours of the English and Sikhs respectively; to which Ranjit Singh rejoined in the same strain that the comparison was indeed in every way appropriate, for the friendship of the two powers was, like the apple, fair and delicious. The translations were given in English and Urdu with elegance and emphasis by Sir William Macnaghten and Fakir Aziz-ud-din, both of whom were masters, although in different ways, of language, whether written or spoken.
THE KABUL CAMPAIGN
199
and, secondly, because it was not deemed prudent to i838-9. place the ex-king in the hands of Ranjit Singh, who might be tempted to use him for Sikh rather than for It was therefore arranged that the British objects.^ Shah himself should march by way of Shikarpur and Quetta, while his son moved on Kabul by the road of Peshawar, and at the head of a force provided by the Maharaja of the Punjab. The British force assembled at Ferozepore towards the close of 1838, and further eclat was given to the opening of a memorable campaign, by an interchange of hospitalities between the English viceroy and the Sikh ruler.- Ostensibly Ranjit RanJit Singh had reached the summit of his ambition; he was p^gn^iy^at acknowledged to be an arbiter in the fate of that em- ^he height pire which had tyrannized over his peasant forefathers, of greatand he was treated with the greatest distinction by the ness; foreign paramounts of India: but his health had become seriously impaired; he felt that he was in truth Cf: the Governor-General's minute of 12th of May 1838, his instructions to Sir William Macnaghten of the 15th of the same month. Ranjit Singh was anxious to get something lasting and tangible as his share of the profit of the expedition, and he wanted Jalalabad, as there seemed to be 1
and
a difficulty about Shikarpur. The Maharaja got, indeed, a subsidy of two hundred thousand rupees a year from the Shah for the use of his troops; a concession which did not altogether satisfy the Governor-General (see letter to Sir William Macnaghten, 2nd July, 1838), and the article became, in fact, a dead letter. The idea of creating a friendly power in Afghanistan, by guiding Ranjit Singh upon Kabul, seems to have been seriously entertained, and it was a scheme which promised many solid advantages. Cf. the Governor-General's minute, 12th May 183S, the author's abstract of which differs somewhat from the copy printed by order of Parliament in 1839, and Mr. Masson (Journeys, iii. 487, 488) who refers to a communication from Sir William Macnaghten on the subject. For the treaty about the restoration of Shah Shuja, see
Appendix XXX. - At one of the several meetings which took place on this occasion, there was an interchange of compliments, which
may be noticed. Ranjit Singh likened the
friendship of the
two states to an apple, the red and yellow colours of which were, he said, so blended, that although the semblance was twofold the reality was one. Lord Auckland replied that the Maharaja's simile was very happy, inasmuch as red and yellow were the national colours of the English and Sikhs respectively; to which Ranjit Singh rejoined in the same strain that the comparison was indeed in every way appropriate, for the friendship of the two powers was, like the apple, fair and delicious. The translations were given in English and Urdu with elegance and emphasis by Sir William Macnaghten and Fakir Aziz-ud-din, both of whom were masters, although in different ways, of language, whether written or spoken.
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