Nou Nehal Singh, who was nineteen years of age, inherited his grandfather's ambitious spirit, and could scarcely conceal his joy, even at his father's funeral pyre, on finding himself sovereign of Lahore. He hated the English, and dreaded the effect of their policy in procuring a clear passage for their troops through the Punjaub, and thus, by a chain of consecutive alliances, effecting a union between the southern provinces of India and the West of Europe. He was determined to give proof of this on the first favourable opportunity that might present itself; but the royal sceptre which had so long fired his youthful breast soon passed to another, for the same day that elevated him to the throne, saw him a corpse! On leaving the pile he thought to wash away his sins in the Rāvee, and as he was riding through the outer gateway of the palace, a large portion of the archway fell upon him, killed the friend who was riding at his side, and so severely wounded the young prince in the head, that he expired in three hours. For several days his death was kept a secret; by some, in order to give his mother time to come up, and by others, to secure the succession to Shere Singh, the reputed, and afterwards adopted, son of Runjeet Singh. After a fierce contest between the queen mother and Shere Singh, the latter ascended the throne.
Shere Singh, though he had compelled the troops to recognise him as king, was incapable of commanding them. They soon became insubordinate and committed the most violent excesses; and their lawless conduct gave rise to apprehensions of a general insurrection.
This so intimidated the merchants and wealthy inhabitants on both sides of the Sutlej, that they appealed to the English for protection. The Maharajah was fully sensible of the critical state of his position, and though he deprecated the interference of the British power, he considered it best to yield to the necessities of the case and listen to the advice of the British. For though educated at the most magnificent and warlike court in India, amid events which were calculated to call forth a chivalrous spirit, Shere Singh never manifested either valour or firmness of character, but was carried along by the tide of events, and swayed by the dominant minds of the age. He felt his own incapacity as a ruler, and for a long time was completely under the control of Dhean Singh.
During the disastrous campaign of Cabool in 1842, Shere Singh rendered great services to the English in the relief of the distressed garrison of Jellalabad, and provided more than the stipulated corps of 5,000 men on payment of the sum of two lakhs of rupees.
The Governor-General, in consequence of the state of Affghanistan, determined to place an army of reserve at Ferozepore, and took this occasion for proposing an interview with Shere Singh. The Maharajah, however, apprehensive of the result of such an interview, declined the proposed honour. Lord Ellenborough took offence at this, and Shere Singh despatched Dhean Singh and his own son, Perthaub Singh, to make an apology in person, which was accepted; and his Lordship returned the visit of the young prince.
The military Sikh escort which accompanied, them crossed the Sutlej, which was much swollen at the time by the late heavy rains, with a rapidity and skill that excited the admiration of the British officers. The prince was permitted to review the British forces, soon after which the Governor-General broke up the encampment, and Shere Singh was relieved from his dreaded foe.
Shere Singh was addicted to drunkenness and vice, and succumbed to the influence of unworthy favourites. He had become suspicious of Dhean Singh, and, at their instigation, was induced to sign a royal warrant for his execution. This order was shewn to Dhean Singh by the very men who had procured it. Incensed at the treachery and ingratitude of the man whom he had raised to the royal power, Dhean Singh, as prime minister, immediately signed an order for the assassination of Shere Singh himself, and placed it in the hands of Ajeet Singh, the favourite who had supplanted him, and who had before threatened to kill Shere Singh.
Both Shere Singh and his hopeful son, Perthaub Singh were treacherously murdered on the next day, September the 15th, 1843, by Ajeet and Lena Singh; and the wily minister, Dhean Singh, who had joined with them in the conspiracy, met with the same fate, at their hands, before the close of that very day.
Heera Singh, the son of Dhean Singh, called upon the army to avenge his father's murder. Ajeet and Lena Singh were surrounded the same night, and both met with their well-merited fate before the morning's dawn.