The result of these interviews was a treaty of commerce and navigation, to which a supplementary treaty was afterwards added, between Runjeet Singh and the British, by which it was agreed, that the merchants and traders should pay a certain fixed duty, in lieu of the former arbitrary exactions.[12]
The meeting at Rooper, in October, 1831, between the Governor-General and Runjeet Singh, caused a great display of British and Sikh troops. An officer who was present on this occasion, told me that the movements of the Sikh battalions were very slow, and to the beat of drum: the cavalry, mostly wearing bright cuirasses, looked glittering and showy; whilst many of the gun carriages seemed as if a long march over a rough road would break them down. The word of command was always given in French.
In March, 1837, the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Henry Fane, G.C.B., visited Lahore, on the occasion of the marriage of Runjeet's grandson, Nou Nehal Singh. The entertainment was on a magnificent scale, and cost between ten and eleven lakhs of rupees, or between £100,000 and £110,000 sterling. Here there was again a grand military display, and feats of arms. On this occasion, Runjeet Singh established an order of Knighthood, called "the Star of the Punjaub." He bestowed the Order upon Colonels Torrens, Churchill, Lumley, and Dunlop; the Adjutants-General, and Quartermasters-General, of the Queen's and Company's armies respectively. The investiture, with the Order, took place afterwards at Simla, at the head-quarters of Sir Henry Fane. All these individuals, donor and receivers, are now dead. It was the setting star of Runjeet Singh, for he died about two years after, in June, 1839.
The appearance and discipline of Runjeet's army, was the admiration of all military beholders. In December, 1838, before the Bengal column marched from Ferozepore to Cabool, viâ Scinde and Candahar, there was a review of the British troops under the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Henry Fane. Several Sikh soldiers who were present, were heard to make very insolent remarks, and twisted their moustachoes, a gross affront to any one, especially to an officer. They asserted that their troops could manœuvre much better, etc. A day or two afterwards the Sikhs gave a review, and actually copied all the British evolutions, with the greatest accuracy and precision. The infantry movements were also more rapid than at Rooper, in 1831.
Lord Auckland, Governor-General of India, in the same month, visited Runjeet Singh, at Lahore, when another display of English and Sikh troops took place. It was on the occasion of the review of our troops, that his Lordship, who was a bad rider, had a serious fall from his horse. His death would have been a great blow.
Lord Auckland, at that time, asked permission of the Maharajah to allow the British troops a free passage through his territory, on their march to Cabool, and to join his forces with those of the British, in this expedition into Affghanistan. This Runjeet Singh acceded to rather as a matter of necessity than of choice. Though only 59 years of age, his mind and body had become so enfeebled by his irregular course of life, that during his interview with Lord Auckland, his speech was already affected. He sank rapidly, from dropsy, and was finally carried off by paralysis.
When the death of their great chief was approaching, the army was drawn up in a line, and the dying monarch was carried in a litter through the ranks. As the procession moved slowly along, his favourite minister, Dhean Singh, appeared, to receive orders from his expiring sovereign, and informed the army, that Runjeet Singh declared, that his son, Khurruk Singh, should succeed him, and that Dhean Singh should be the chief minister of the kingdom. The soldiers received this intimation in perfect silence. According to the custom of the Sikhs, the body of the Maharajah was burnt the next day, before the gates of his palace, in the presence of all the great persons of the kingdom, and of the assembled troops. Four of his wives, two of whom were only sixteen years of age, and endowed with great personal beauty, together with seven of his concubines, committed themselves to the flames with his body. Dhean Singh also made a semblance of profound grief, and appeared to be in the act of throwing himself upon the funeral pile, but was forcibly withheld by the family of the Maharajah.
The death of Runjeet Singh occasioned considerable difficulty in the management of the auxiliary Sikhs under Colonel Wade, the British agent at Lahore who was now with the British army, and had the command of the column that was to force the Khyber pass. This glorious achievement he accomplished from the 22nd to the 27th of June, when he made himself master of Ali Musjid. He was nobly sustained in this campaign by the troops of Runjeet Singh; and on the 6th of August, the army of the Indus entered Cabool and forced Dost Mahomed to fly to Bokhara.
Runjeet Singh was succeeded by his son Khurruk Singh, then thirty-seven years of age. He was a weak and luxurious prince, and was totally incompetent to the affairs of government. Soon after his accession he was seized with a severe illness, of which he died, in November, 1840. His son, Nou Nehal Singh, and the chief minister, Dhean were supposed to have been not altogether innocent of his death.