Fig. 61. Mahárája Ranjít Singh.
(From a picture book said to have been prepared for Mahárája Dalíp Singh.)
British supremacy established in India.—In the first years of the nineteenth century the Marquess of Wellesley had made up his mind that the time was ripe to grasp supreme power in India. The motive was largely self-preservation. India was included in Napoleon's vast plans for the overthrow of England, and Sindhia, with his army trained in European methods of warfare by French officers, seemed a likely confederate. Colonel Arthur Wellesley's hard-won battle at Assaye in September, 1803, and Lord Lake's victories on the Hindan and at Laswárí in the same year, decided the fate of India. Delhi was occupied, and Daulat Rao Sindhia ceded to the company territory reaching from Fázilka on the Sutlej to Delhi on the Jamna, and extending along that river northwards to Karnál and southwards to Mewát. Fázilka and a large part of Hissár then formed a wild desert tract called Bhattiána, over which no effective control was exercised till 1818. In 1832 "the Delhi territory" became part of the North-West Provinces, from which it was transferred to the Panjáb after the Mutiny.
Relations of Ranjít Singh with English.—In December, 1808, Ranjít Singh was warned that by the issue of the war with Sindhia the Cis-Sutlej chiefs had come under British protection. The Mahárája was within an ace of declaring war, or let the world think so, but his statesmanlike instincts got the better of mortified ambition, and in April, 1809, he signed a treaty pledging himself to make no conquests south and east of the Sutlej. The compact so reluctantly made was faithfully observed. In 1815, as the result of war with the Gurkhas, the Rájput hill states lying to the south of the Sutlej came under British protection.
Extension of Sikh Kingdom in Panjáb.—As early as 1806, when he reduced Jhang, Ranjít Singh began his encroachments on the possessions of the Duránís in the Panjáb. Next year, and again in 1810 and 1816, Multán was attacked, but the strong fort was not taken till 1818, when the old Nawáb, Muzaffar Khán, and five of his sons, fell fighting at the gate. Kashmír was first attacked in 1811 and finally annexed in 1819. Called in by the great Katoch Rája of Kángra, Sansár Chand, in 1809, to help him against the Gurkhas, Ranjít Singh duped both parties, and became master of the famous fort. Many years later he annexed the whole of the Kángra hill states. By 1820 the Mahárája was supreme from the Sutlej to the Indus, though his hold on Hazára was weak. Pesháwar became tributary in 1823, but it was kept in subjection with much difficulty. Across the Indus the position of the Sikhs was always precarious, and revenue was only paid when an armed force could be sent to collect it. As late as 1837 the great Sikh leader, Harí Singh Nalwa, fell fighting with the Afgháns at Jamrúd. The Barakzai, Dost Muhammad, had been the ruler of Kábul since 1826. In 1838, when the English launched their ill-starred expedition to restore Sháh Shuja to his throne, Ranjít Singh did not refuse his help in the passage through the Panjáb. But he was worn out by toils and excesses, and next year the weary lion of the Panjáb died. He had known how to use men. He employed Jat blades and Brahman and Muhammadan brains. Khatrís put both at his service. The best of his local governors was Diwán Sáwan Mal, who ruled the South-West Panjáb with much profit to himself and to the people. After 1820 the three Jammu brothers, Rájas Dhián Singh, Suchet Singh, and Guláb Singh, had great power.
Successors of Ranjít Singh.—From 1839 till 1846 an orgy of bloodshed and intrigue went on in Lahore. Kharak Singh, the Mahárája's son, died in 1840, and on the same day occurred the death of his son Nao Nihál Singh, compassed probably by the Jammu Rájas. Sher Singh, and then the child, Dalíp Singh, succeeded. In September, 1843, Mahárája Sher Singh, his son Partáb Singh, and Rája Dhián Singh were shot by Ajít Singh and Lehna Singh of the great Sindhanwália house. The death of Dhián Singh was avenged by his son, Híra Singh, who proclaimed Dalíp Singh as Mahárája and made himself chief minister. When he in turn was killed Rání Jindan, the mother of Dalíp Singh, her brother Jowáhir Singh, and her favourite, Lál Singh, took the reins.
Fig. 62. Mahárája Kharak Singh.
