Tempo:
285
The Himalayas to Tibet
Ranjit Singh's cowt reflected the seailar pattern of his state. His prime minister, Dhian Singh, was a Dogra; his foreign minister, Azizuddin, was a Muslim; his finance minister, Dina Nath, was a Brahmin. Mingling with the Sikh Sardars and Hindus, who predominated, were influential Muslims likeAzizuddin's brothers, Nuruddin and lmamuddin; artillery commanders, Mian Ghausa (whom the Maharajah honoured with the title 'commander and faithful friend'), his son Sultan Mahornmed, General Elahi Baksh, and others; the two sons of the late Nawab of Multan-Sarfaraz Khan and Zulfiqar-and the Tiwana chief, Khuda Yar. There were no forced conversions in Ranjit Singh's time. The Muslim women he married, Bibi Mohran, Gulbahar Begam, and others, retained their faith; Mohran even caused a riot by converting a Hindu servant to Islam. He spent great swns in the repair of mosques. His Hindu wives likewise continued to worship their own gods. 24 This attitude won the loyalty of all his subjects and helped to forge the resurgent feeling of nationalism into a powerful weapon of Puajabi imperialism which, within a short time after Ranjit Singh's death, struck across the mountain frontiers. The colours of the Punjab Durbar were carried by Colonel Shaikh Bassawan's Muslim troops in the victory parade at Kabul. A year later the Dogra, Zorawar Singh, recommenced his conquests across the Himalayas. Thus a small principality around Gujranwala was enlarged to a state of over 200,000 square miles yielding an annual revenue of over three crore rupees,25 24 Ranjit Singh married 22 wives through whom he had 7 sons. 25 The figure given by Sbahamat Ali ( The Sikhs and Afghans, p. 23) is Rs 30,027,762. Dr Sita Ram Kohli (Ranjit Singh, p. 205) estimates the income of the state as follows:
I. Revenue from the provinces of Lahore, Multan, Kashmir, and Peshawar 2. Nazaranas 3. Customs and Excise
1.75,57,741 6,03,657 15,31,634 91,96,000
4. Jagirs
TotaJ
2,88,89,032
The figure of three crore rupees sounds exrremdy modest today. It should, however, be borne in mind that at the time the price of the staple
The Himalayas to Tibet
Ranjit Singh's cowt reflected the seailar pattern of his state. His prime minister, Dhian Singh, was a Dogra; his foreign minister, Azizuddin, was a Muslim; his finance minister, Dina Nath, was a Brahmin. Mingling with the Sikh Sardars and Hindus, who predominated, were influential Muslims likeAzizuddin's brothers, Nuruddin and lmamuddin; artillery commanders, Mian Ghausa (whom the Maharajah honoured with the title 'commander and faithful friend'), his son Sultan Mahornmed, General Elahi Baksh, and others; the two sons of the late Nawab of Multan-Sarfaraz Khan and Zulfiqar-and the Tiwana chief, Khuda Yar. There were no forced conversions in Ranjit Singh's time. The Muslim women he married, Bibi Mohran, Gulbahar Begam, and others, retained their faith; Mohran even caused a riot by converting a Hindu servant to Islam. He spent great swns in the repair of mosques. His Hindu wives likewise continued to worship their own gods. 24 This attitude won the loyalty of all his subjects and helped to forge the resurgent feeling of nationalism into a powerful weapon of Puajabi imperialism which, within a short time after Ranjit Singh's death, struck across the mountain frontiers. The colours of the Punjab Durbar were carried by Colonel Shaikh Bassawan's Muslim troops in the victory parade at Kabul. A year later the Dogra, Zorawar Singh, recommenced his conquests across the Himalayas. Thus a small principality around Gujranwala was enlarged to a state of over 200,000 square miles yielding an annual revenue of over three crore rupees,25 24 Ranjit Singh married 22 wives through whom he had 7 sons. 25 The figure given by Sbahamat Ali ( The Sikhs and Afghans, p. 23) is Rs 30,027,762. Dr Sita Ram Kohli (Ranjit Singh, p. 205) estimates the income of the state as follows:
I. Revenue from the provinces of Lahore, Multan, Kashmir, and Peshawar 2. Nazaranas 3. Customs and Excise
1.75,57,741 6,03,657 15,31,634 91,96,000
4. Jagirs
TotaJ
2,88,89,032
The figure of three crore rupees sounds exrremdy modest today. It should, however, be borne in mind that at the time the price of the staple
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