Tempo:
The Himalayas ro Tibet
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did not find it difficult to combine the lust for living with the lust for power. It would seem that Kipling wrote the following lines for Ranjit Singh: Four ll1ings greater lhan all things are Women and Horses and Power and War.
An anecdote told in Punjabi circles to this day relates a dialogue between Ranjit Singh and his Muslim wife, Mohran. She commented on the Maharajah's ugliness and asked: 'Where were you when God was distributing good looks?' 'When you were occupied with your looks, I was busy seeking power,' answered the monarch. Ranjit Singh did not receive any education, and remained unlettered to the last. But he respected men ofleaming and, like the illiterate Akbar, made up the deficiency by seeking the company of scholars and satisfied his craving for knowledge by badgering them with questions, 'His conversation is like a nightmare,' wrote the Frenchman, Jacquemont. 'He is almost the first inquisitive Indian I have seen; and bis curiosity balances the apathy of the whole of his nation. He has asked me a hundred thousand questions about India, the British, Europe, Bonaparte, this world in general and the next, hell, paradise, the soul, God, the devil and a myriad of others of the same kind. •iO In this way Ranjit Singh became acquainted with the affairs of the world, and acquired a speaking knowledge of Persian, in which language Durbar records were kept. He had the same capacity for work as he had for enjoying life. When the feasts were over and the dancers' bells silent, he retired to his bedchamber and spent many hours dictating his correspondence to relays of scribes who were always in attendance.~' Ranjit Singh had the virtues and vices of Punjabi character. He was simple in his habits, utterly outspoken and warm and generous towards people he liked. Although he became a king, 20 Jacquemont, Trawls, n, 22. 21 Shahamat Ali, Sikhs and Afghans, p. 15.
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did not find it difficult to combine the lust for living with the lust for power. It would seem that Kipling wrote the following lines for Ranjit Singh: Four ll1ings greater lhan all things are Women and Horses and Power and War.
An anecdote told in Punjabi circles to this day relates a dialogue between Ranjit Singh and his Muslim wife, Mohran. She commented on the Maharajah's ugliness and asked: 'Where were you when God was distributing good looks?' 'When you were occupied with your looks, I was busy seeking power,' answered the monarch. Ranjit Singh did not receive any education, and remained unlettered to the last. But he respected men ofleaming and, like the illiterate Akbar, made up the deficiency by seeking the company of scholars and satisfied his craving for knowledge by badgering them with questions, 'His conversation is like a nightmare,' wrote the Frenchman, Jacquemont. 'He is almost the first inquisitive Indian I have seen; and bis curiosity balances the apathy of the whole of his nation. He has asked me a hundred thousand questions about India, the British, Europe, Bonaparte, this world in general and the next, hell, paradise, the soul, God, the devil and a myriad of others of the same kind. •iO In this way Ranjit Singh became acquainted with the affairs of the world, and acquired a speaking knowledge of Persian, in which language Durbar records were kept. He had the same capacity for work as he had for enjoying life. When the feasts were over and the dancers' bells silent, he retired to his bedchamber and spent many hours dictating his correspondence to relays of scribes who were always in attendance.~' Ranjit Singh had the virtues and vices of Punjabi character. He was simple in his habits, utterly outspoken and warm and generous towards people he liked. Although he became a king, 20 Jacquemont, Trawls, n, 22. 21 Shahamat Ali, Sikhs and Afghans, p. 15.
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