Tempo:
The Himalayas to Tibet
273
Harlan, who had served with the Afghans, to negotiate with Dost Mohammed. Harlan reported his mission in the following words: 'I divided his [i.e., Dost Mohammed's] brothers against him, exciting their jealousy of his growing prosperity. I induced his brother Sultan Mohammed Khan, the lately deposed chief of Peshawar, to withdraw suddenly from his camp about nightfall with ten thousand retainers. The chief accompanied me towards the Sikh camp, whilst his followers fled to their mountain fastnesses.• ◄ Dost Mohammed, continues Harlan, went back to Kabul and in 'bitterness of spirit declaiming ag.ainst the eruptions of military renown, plunged himself in the srudy of the Koran.' Dost Mohammed's disillusionment with worldly ambitions reduced the tension on the north-west frontier for some time. It gave the Durbar time to turn to its southern frontier. The Amirs, who had been reluctant to enter into commercial relations with the English, were being coerced into accepting political domination. They took the only chance they had of avoiding annexation by inciting the Mazaris, a tribe inhabiting the doab between the junction of the Indus and the Sutlej, to attack Punjabi outposts south of Multan, thus inviting the Durbar's interference in Sindhian affairs. Prince Kharak Singh and Sawan Mal were ordered to punish the Mazaris and those who bad provoked them. In the summer of 1836, Durbar troops occupied Mithankot and Rojhan and were on the threshold of Sindh with the gates wide open. Kharak Singh asked for permission to proceed to Shikarpur. Although the Durbar had made no secret of its claims to Shikarpur (and had a good excuse to take it since Nasiruddin, 4 European Adventurers ofNortht:m India, p. 257. Harlan forgot to mention that Dost Mohammed violated all laws of international usage by imprisoning him and the Fakir and turning them over to his brother, Sultan Mohammed, who, be was sure, would never make terms with people who had ejected him from Peshawar. Sultan Mohammed was more willing to trust Ranjit Singh than his own brother. He accepted Ranjit's promise to give him a jagtr in the Puajab, released the two envoys, and withdrew with his army. (Ranjit Singh kept his word.)
273
Harlan, who had served with the Afghans, to negotiate with Dost Mohammed. Harlan reported his mission in the following words: 'I divided his [i.e., Dost Mohammed's] brothers against him, exciting their jealousy of his growing prosperity. I induced his brother Sultan Mohammed Khan, the lately deposed chief of Peshawar, to withdraw suddenly from his camp about nightfall with ten thousand retainers. The chief accompanied me towards the Sikh camp, whilst his followers fled to their mountain fastnesses.• ◄ Dost Mohammed, continues Harlan, went back to Kabul and in 'bitterness of spirit declaiming ag.ainst the eruptions of military renown, plunged himself in the srudy of the Koran.' Dost Mohammed's disillusionment with worldly ambitions reduced the tension on the north-west frontier for some time. It gave the Durbar time to turn to its southern frontier. The Amirs, who had been reluctant to enter into commercial relations with the English, were being coerced into accepting political domination. They took the only chance they had of avoiding annexation by inciting the Mazaris, a tribe inhabiting the doab between the junction of the Indus and the Sutlej, to attack Punjabi outposts south of Multan, thus inviting the Durbar's interference in Sindhian affairs. Prince Kharak Singh and Sawan Mal were ordered to punish the Mazaris and those who bad provoked them. In the summer of 1836, Durbar troops occupied Mithankot and Rojhan and were on the threshold of Sindh with the gates wide open. Kharak Singh asked for permission to proceed to Shikarpur. Although the Durbar had made no secret of its claims to Shikarpur (and had a good excuse to take it since Nasiruddin, 4 European Adventurers ofNortht:m India, p. 257. Harlan forgot to mention that Dost Mohammed violated all laws of international usage by imprisoning him and the Fakir and turning them over to his brother, Sultan Mohammed, who, be was sure, would never make terms with people who had ejected him from Peshawar. Sultan Mohammed was more willing to trust Ranjit Singh than his own brother. He accepted Ranjit's promise to give him a jagtr in the Puajab, released the two envoys, and withdrew with his army. (Ranjit Singh kept his word.)
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