Tempo:
CHAP. VIII
NAU NIHAL SINGH'S SCHEMES
207
Nau Nihal Singh's great aim to destroy, or to i84o. reduce to insignificance, the potent Rajas of Jammu, Nau Nihai who wished to engross the whole power of the state, singhs and who jointly held Ladakh and the hill prihcipali- schemes ties betw^een the Ravi and Jhelum in fief, besides Ra^'j^^^oJ^^ numerous estates in various parts of the Punjab. He jammu. took advantage of the repeated dilatoriness of the landi and other Rajput chiefs around Kangra in paying their stipulated tribute, to move a large force into the eastern hills, and the resistance his troops experienced amid mountain fastnesses seemed fully to justify the continuous dispatch of reinforcements. His design was, to place a considerable army immediately to the north-east of Jammu, to be read}' to co-operate with the troops which could reach that place in a few ^.arches from Lahore. The commanders chosen were e skilful General Ventura and the ardent young chief A jit Singh Sindhianwala, neither of whom bore goodwill towards Raja Dhian Singh.' The plans of the youthful prince thus seemed in every way well devised for placing the rajas in his grasp, but his attention was interrupted distracted by disputes with the English authorities ^y discusabout the limits of the expanding dominion of Lahore J^^Engush and of the restored empire of Kabul, and by a direct about Afaccusation not only of encouraging turbulent refugees gharistan. from Shah Shuja's power, but of giving friendly assurances to Dost Muhammad Khan, who was then preparing for that inroad which fluttered the English authorities in Khorasan, and yet paved the way for the
surrender of their dreaded enemy. Shah Shuja claimied all places not specified in the treaty, or not directly held by Lahore; nor can it be denied that the English functionaries about the Shah were disposed to consider old Durrani claims as more valid than the new rights of Sikh conquerors; and thus the vrovince of Peshawar, which the Punjab Government further maintained to have been ceded in form by the Shah separately in 1834, as well as by the treaty of 1838, was proposed to be reduced to strips of land along the banks of its dividing river.Intercepted papers were produced, bearing the seals of Nau Nihal Singh, and promising pecuniary aid to Dost Muhammad; but the charge of treachery was calmly repelled, the seals were alleged to be forgeries, and the British agent for the Punjab admitted that it was not the character of the free and confident Sikhs to resort to secret and traitorous cor1
-
Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 6th Sept. 1840. See particularly Sir William Macnagthen to Govern-
ment, 28th Feb. and 12th March 1840.
NAU NIHAL SINGH'S SCHEMES
207
Nau Nihal Singh's great aim to destroy, or to i84o. reduce to insignificance, the potent Rajas of Jammu, Nau Nihai who wished to engross the whole power of the state, singhs and who jointly held Ladakh and the hill prihcipali- schemes ties betw^een the Ravi and Jhelum in fief, besides Ra^'j^^^oJ^^ numerous estates in various parts of the Punjab. He jammu. took advantage of the repeated dilatoriness of the landi and other Rajput chiefs around Kangra in paying their stipulated tribute, to move a large force into the eastern hills, and the resistance his troops experienced amid mountain fastnesses seemed fully to justify the continuous dispatch of reinforcements. His design was, to place a considerable army immediately to the north-east of Jammu, to be read}' to co-operate with the troops which could reach that place in a few ^.arches from Lahore. The commanders chosen were e skilful General Ventura and the ardent young chief A jit Singh Sindhianwala, neither of whom bore goodwill towards Raja Dhian Singh.' The plans of the youthful prince thus seemed in every way well devised for placing the rajas in his grasp, but his attention was interrupted distracted by disputes with the English authorities ^y discusabout the limits of the expanding dominion of Lahore J^^Engush and of the restored empire of Kabul, and by a direct about Afaccusation not only of encouraging turbulent refugees gharistan. from Shah Shuja's power, but of giving friendly assurances to Dost Muhammad Khan, who was then preparing for that inroad which fluttered the English authorities in Khorasan, and yet paved the way for the
surrender of their dreaded enemy. Shah Shuja claimied all places not specified in the treaty, or not directly held by Lahore; nor can it be denied that the English functionaries about the Shah were disposed to consider old Durrani claims as more valid than the new rights of Sikh conquerors; and thus the vrovince of Peshawar, which the Punjab Government further maintained to have been ceded in form by the Shah separately in 1834, as well as by the treaty of 1838, was proposed to be reduced to strips of land along the banks of its dividing river.Intercepted papers were produced, bearing the seals of Nau Nihal Singh, and promising pecuniary aid to Dost Muhammad; but the charge of treachery was calmly repelled, the seals were alleged to be forgeries, and the British agent for the Punjab admitted that it was not the character of the free and confident Sikhs to resort to secret and traitorous cor1
-
Cf. Mr. Clerk to Government, 6th Sept. 1840. See particularly Sir William Macnagthen to Govern-
ment, 28th Feb. and 12th March 1840.
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