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

256

HISTORY OF THE SIKHS CHAP. VIII

1843. of power, and he and his uncle Lahna Singh grasped at the
idea of making the minister a party to their own designs.
They appeared to fall wholly into his views; and they
would, they said, take Sher Singh's life to save their own.
Sher Singh On the 15th September (1843), Ajit Singh induced the
tassasinat Maharaja to inspect some levies he had newly raised; he
ted by Ajit
Singh, approached, as if to make an offering of a choice carbine,
Sept. 15, and to receive the commendations usual on such occasions,
but he raised the weapon and shot his sovereign dead. The
remorseless Lahna Singh took the life of the boy Pertab Singh
at the same time, and the kinsmen then joined Dhian Singh,
and proceeded with him to the citadel to proclaim a new
king. The hitherto wary minister was now caught in his
who like- own toils, and he became the dupe of his accomplices. He
hisepUtS was separated from his immediate attendants, as if for the
Singh to sake of greater privacy, and shot by the same audacious
eath5, chief who had just imbrued his hands in the blood of their
Sept. 15,
1843. common master.' The conspirators were thus far successful in their daring and in their crimes, but they neglected
to slay or imprison the son of their last victim; and the
minds of the soldiers do not seem to have been prepared
for the death of Dhian Singh, as they were for that of the
HIra Singh Maharaja. The youthful Hira Singh was roused by his own
avenges his danger and his filial duty; he could plausibly accuse- the
Sindhianwalas of being alone guilty of the treble murder
which had taken place, and he largely promised rewards to
the troops if they would avenge the death of their friend
and his father. The army generally responded to his call,
and the citadel was immediately assaulted; yet so strong
was the feeling of aversion to Jammu ascendancy among the
Sikh people, that could the feeble garrison have held out
for three or four days, until the first impulse of anger and
surprise had passed away, it is almost certain that Hira
Singh must have fled for his life. But the place was entered
on the second evening.; the wounded Lahna Singh was at
once slain; and Ajit Singh, in attempting to boldly escape
over the lofty walls, fell and was also killed.2 Dalip Singh
was then proclaimed Maharaja, and Hira Singh was raised
1 Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 17th and 18th Sept. 1843.
2 Lieut.-Col. Richmond to Government, 20th Sept. 1843.