A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

CHAPTER IV
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SIKH INDEPENDENCE
1716-64
Decline of the Mughal Empire-Gradual reappearance of the SikhsThe Sikhs coerced by Mir Mannu, and persecuted by Taimur the
son of Ahmad Shah-The Army of the 'Khalsa' and the State
of the ' Khalsa' proclaimed to be substantive Powers-Adina
Beg Khan and the Marathas under Raghuba-Ahmad Shah's
incursions and victories-The provinces of Sirhind and Lahore
possessed in sovereignty by the Sikhs-The political organization
of the Sikhs as a feudal confederacy-The Order of Akalis.
AURANGZEB was the last of the race of Taimfir who pos- 1716-38.
sessed a genius for command, and in governing a large empire The
of incoherent parts and conflicting principles, his weak suc- Mughal
cessors had to lean upon the doubtful loyalty of selfish and empire
rapidly dejealous ministers, and to prolong a nominal rule by opposing cines.
insurrectionary subjects to rebellious dependents. Within Nadir
Shh, the
a generation Muhammadan adventurers had established Marathhs,
separate dominations in Bengal, Lucknow, and Hyderbad; &c.
the Maratha Peshwa had startled the Muslims of India by
suddenly appearing in arms before the imperial city,l and
the stern usurping Nadir had scornfully hailed the long
descended Muhammad Shah as a brother Turk in the heart
of his blood-stained capital.2 The Afghan colonists of
Rohilkhand and the Hindu Jats of Bhartpur had raised
themselves to importance as substantive powers,3 and when
1 This was in A. D. 1737, when Baji Rao, the Peshwa, made an
incursion from Agra towards Delhi. (See Elphinstone, History, ii. 609,
and Grant Duff, History of the Mahrattas, i. 533, 534.)
2 See Nadir Shah's letter to his son, relating his successful invasion
of India. (Asiatic Researches, x. 545, 546.)
3 A valuable account of the Rohillas may be found in Forster's
Travels (i. 115, &c.), and the public is indebted to the Oriental Translation Committee of London for the memoirs of Hafiz Rahmat Khan,
one of the most eminent of their leaders.
The Jats of Bhartpur and Dholpur, and of Hathras and other minor
places, deserve a separate history.