Tempo:
Dreams of Sindh and the Sea
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Punjab rivers. The Maharajah asked them plainly whether they meant to extend their dominion over Sindh. 'No,' replied Bentinck, the object of the negotiations was purely commercial. And what was to happen about the Punjab's dispute with Bahawalpur (who accepted Ranjit Singh's suzerainty) and Durbar's plans to extend its dominion over Sindh? Bentinck did not say so in so many words, but he indicated that the Durbar was to consider its southern boundary finally drawn. All that the Maharajah got out of the week's extravagance at Ropar was an assurance of perpetual friendship. The Maharajah's carousal with Bentinck was by no means looked upon with favour by his people. Many courtiers doubted the wisdom of making an agreement with the English and the nihangs were outspokenly hostile.12 After some time the Maharajah himself came around to the view that Ropar had been a waste of time and expense. In a meeting with Dr. Joseph Wolff, aJew turned evangelist, who visited him a few months later, the Maharaja asked: 'You say, you travel about for the sake of religion: why, then, do you not preach to the English in Hindoostan who have no religion at all?' 1s Dr. Wolff tried to divert the conversation to religious matters and asked: 'How may one come nigh unto God?' The Maharajah replied with biting sarcasm: 'One can come nigh unto God by making an alliance with the British government, as I lately did with the Laard Nawab Sahib at Roopar.' Some months after the Ropar meeting, Burnes was sent to complete his investigation of the lands about the Indus. This 12 A nihang actually attempted to assault the Maharajah. Sohan Lal writes: 'Oul of the adversity of his days and his evil character, one Akali (nihang) drew his sword out of its sheath and rushed towards the Maharajah. The orderlies and state setvants gathered together on the spot, held that Akali in lhe clutches of interference and restraint, and brought him before the Maharajah.' (Daftar m. 93.) 13 Wolffs biographer goes on to relate that when Wolff conveyed this to Lord William Bentinck in Simla, the governor general replied: 'This is, alas! the opinion of all the natives all over India.'
267
Punjab rivers. The Maharajah asked them plainly whether they meant to extend their dominion over Sindh. 'No,' replied Bentinck, the object of the negotiations was purely commercial. And what was to happen about the Punjab's dispute with Bahawalpur (who accepted Ranjit Singh's suzerainty) and Durbar's plans to extend its dominion over Sindh? Bentinck did not say so in so many words, but he indicated that the Durbar was to consider its southern boundary finally drawn. All that the Maharajah got out of the week's extravagance at Ropar was an assurance of perpetual friendship. The Maharajah's carousal with Bentinck was by no means looked upon with favour by his people. Many courtiers doubted the wisdom of making an agreement with the English and the nihangs were outspokenly hostile.12 After some time the Maharajah himself came around to the view that Ropar had been a waste of time and expense. In a meeting with Dr. Joseph Wolff, aJew turned evangelist, who visited him a few months later, the Maharaja asked: 'You say, you travel about for the sake of religion: why, then, do you not preach to the English in Hindoostan who have no religion at all?' 1s Dr. Wolff tried to divert the conversation to religious matters and asked: 'How may one come nigh unto God?' The Maharajah replied with biting sarcasm: 'One can come nigh unto God by making an alliance with the British government, as I lately did with the Laard Nawab Sahib at Roopar.' Some months after the Ropar meeting, Burnes was sent to complete his investigation of the lands about the Indus. This 12 A nihang actually attempted to assault the Maharajah. Sohan Lal writes: 'Oul of the adversity of his days and his evil character, one Akali (nihang) drew his sword out of its sheath and rushed towards the Maharajah. The orderlies and state setvants gathered together on the spot, held that Akali in lhe clutches of interference and restraint, and brought him before the Maharajah.' (Daftar m. 93.) 13 Wolffs biographer goes on to relate that when Wolff conveyed this to Lord William Bentinck in Simla, the governor general replied: 'This is, alas! the opinion of all the natives all over India.'
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