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

CHAP. vii SIKH MISSION TO CALCUTTA

201

took its departure in September 1834, and was absent a 1833-6.
year and a half.1
When Mr. Moorcroft was in Ladakh (in 1821, &c.), the Ranjit
fear of Ranjit Singh was general in that country, and the Singh nd
Sikh governor of Kashmir had already demanded the pay- 1821.
ment of tribute; but the weak and distant state was little
molested until the new Rajas of Jammu had obtained the
government of the hill principalities between the Ravi and
Jhelum, and felt that their influence with Ranjit Singh was
secure and commanding. In 1834 Zorawar Singh, Raja Ladakh
Gulab Singh's commander in Kishtwar, took advantage of reduced by
the Jaminternal disorders in Leh, and declared that an estate, mu Rajas,
anciently held by the Kishtwar chief, must be restored. He 1834-5.
crossed into the southern districts, but did not reach the
capital until early in 1835. He sided with one of the contending parties, deposed the reigning Raja, and set up his
rebellious minister in his stead. He fixed a tribute of
30,000 rupees, he placed a garrison in the fort, he retained
some districts along the northern slopes of the Himalayas,
and reached Jammu with his spoils towards the close of
1835. The dispossessed Raja complained to the Chinese
authorities in Lassa; but, as the tribute continued to be
regularly paid by his successor, no notice was taken of the
usurpation. The Governor of Kashmir complained that
Gulab Singh's commercial regulations interfered with the
regular supply of shawl wool, and that matter was at once
adjusted; yet the grasping ambition of the favourites nevertheless caused Ranjit Singh some misgivings amid all their
protestations of devotion and loyalty.3
But Ranjit Singh's main apprehensions were on the side Ranjit
of Peshawar, and his fondest hopes in the direction of Sind. Sn ghthis
The defeat which the Amirs had sustained diminished their claims on
confidence in themselves, and when Shah Shuja returned Shikdripur,
and his
designs on
Capt. Wade to Government, 11th Sept. 1834, and 4th April 1836. Sind,
2 Moorcroft, Travels, i. 420. 1835-6.
3 Capt. Wade to Government, 27th Jan. 1835, and Mr. Vigne,
Travels in Kashmir and Tibet, ii. 352; their statements being
corrected or amplified from the author's manuscript notes. The
prince Kharak Singh became especially apprehensive of the designs
of the Jammui family. (Capt. Wade to Government, 10th Aug.
1836.)