i ;;;K 
 
 OF
 
 THE 
 
 COURT AND CAMP 
 
 BY 
 
 THE HON. W. G. OSBORNE, 
 
 MILITARY SECRETARY TO THE EAR I. OF AUCKLAND, 
 GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY SKETCH 
 
 OP TIIK 
 
 ORIGIN AND RISE OF THE SIHK STATE. 
 
 tuttl) *i.ttrcn iengvabiuga. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, 
 
 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 1840.
 
 T. C. Knvill, Printer, 107, Sh. Martin's Lane.

 
 
 
 
 
 -IZFTAiN . 
 
 ..- .--.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE Supreme Government of India having 
 determined upon sending a mission to the 
 court of Lahore, for the purpose of endea- 
 vouring to place our alliance with Runjeet 
 Sing on a more secure and decided footing 
 than had hitherto been the case, in May, 
 1838, the following gentlemen left Simla, in 
 company with several of the Maharajah's 
 chief officers, who had been ent to escort 
 them to Adeenanuggur, where his High-
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 ness was then passing the hot weather : 
 Mr. W. H. M c Naghten, Political Secre- 
 tary to Government ; Captain Wade, Poli- 
 tical Agent at Loodhiana ; Hon. Captain 
 W. G. Osborne, Military Secretary to the 
 Governor General ; Captain G. M c Gregor, 
 Aide-de-camp to the Governor General ; 
 Dr. Drummond, Surgeon, to the Governor 
 General. 
 
 It is unnecessary to enter into any details 
 t)f the object of the mission, but will be 
 sufficient to say that it was satisfactorily 
 brought to a conclusion by Mr. M c Naghten, 
 with his usual ability, and that the friend- 
 ship of the two states has been firmly and, 
 it is to be hoped, permanently established. 
 
 Aware of the apathy with which every-
 
 PREFACE. v 
 
 thing connected with India is generally re- 
 garded in England, the following brief ex- 
 tracts from a hasty journal, written to 
 beguile the tedium of a camp life, and 
 without the remotest intention of publica- 
 tion, are offered with the utmost diffidence ; 
 and the author will be more than satisfied 
 if, in the present excited state of* the 
 countries beyond our north-western frontier, 
 this imperfect description of a few weeks 
 spent in familiar intercourse with a ruler, 
 whom the peculiar position of his kingdom, 
 as well as his own extraordinary character, 
 have rendered an object of more than ordi- 
 nary interest, should afford one moment's 
 amusement to those who, biased in the 
 enjoyment of all the comforts of their native
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 land, can little guess the shifts to which 
 their less fortunate and exiled countrymen 
 are reduced, to pass the tedious hours of 
 a hot and sultry day, on the burning plains 
 of the East.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1. SIHK CHIEFTAIN Frontispit-ce 
 
 2. SIHK ARMOUR ---___._ p. 49 
 
 3. ADEENANUGGUR -60 
 
 4. SHER SING .-64 
 
 5. FAQUEER UZEEZOODEEK 69 
 
 6. AJEET SING 70 
 
 7. MAHARAJAH RUNJEET SING ----- 73 
 
 8. DANCING GIRLS OF THE PUNJAB - - - 85 
 
 9. DANCING GIRLS --97 
 
 10. MAHARAJAH RUNJEET SING, ON HORSEBACK 109 
 
 11. THE BURYING FAQUEER _.---. 124 
 
 12. THE SIIALIMAR GARDENS, LAHORE - 140 
 
 13. AKALEES -.- ....... 144 
 
 14. MOUNTED AKALEE - - - - 181 
 
 15. PRIVATE NATIVE DURBAR 202 
 
 16. MAHOMED HUSSAN, SHAH SOOJA'S VAKEEL - 207
 
 ERRATUM. 
 Page 145, line 8, for Moultans" read " Moultan."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE attention which is bestowed upon 
 Indian politics and history, is so rare and 
 superficial, that there are probably many 
 persons to whom the name of Runjeet Sing 
 is sufficiently familiar, who are very im- 
 perfectly acquainted with his origin, and 
 that of the nation which he ruled ; it 
 has, therefore, been thought that a brief 
 introductory sketch of both, might serve to 
 clear the way for, and give additional interest 
 to, the Journal which it precedes. 
 
 B
 
 11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Mogul Empire which was founded 
 by Baber in 1525, upon the ruins of the 
 Gaurian or Affghan dynasty, reached its 
 highest point of splendour under his grand- 
 son, Akbar, who succeeded his father Hu- 
 mayoon in 1555. The commencement of 
 its decline may be dated from the death of 
 this great prince, although the appearance 
 of its former glory was revived by the wis- 
 dom and valour of Aurengzebe, with whose 
 long and prosperous reign its real power 
 may be said to have terminated. A succes- 
 sion of feeble and degenerate princes, desti- 
 tute of civil skill or military prowess, go- 
 verned by favourites, and absorbed in the 
 luxurious indolence of the haram, produced 
 the inevitable results of turbulence and re- 
 bellion among the nobles who were entrusted
 
 INTRODUCTION. Ill 
 
 with the command of distant provinces ; to 
 these causes of disorder was added the rise of 
 the Mahrattas, a race of Hindoos, who threat- 
 ened to retaliate upon their Mahomedan 
 conquerors all the evils which they had 
 suffered from the ancestors of the latter. 
 
 Aurengzebe died in 1707, and after the 
 throne had been occupied by four different 
 princes in the space of thirteen years, Ma- 
 homed Shah was proclaimed King. The 
 weakness of Mahomed's administration was 
 soon felt in the provinces, which became a ge- 
 neral scene of anarchy and civil contest, avail- 
 ing themselves of which, the Mahrattas, who 
 had already reduced Malwa and Guzerat, 
 and continued to make endless encroach- 
 ments, marched towards the capital. The 
 pusillanimous Mahomed was induced to 
 
 u 2
 
 IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 deliver himself from these formidable inva- 
 ders, and to purchase peace, by the payment 
 of the chout, or one-fourth of his revenues. 
 But he was scarcely delivered from this dan- 
 ger, when a more dreadful storm burst upon 
 the unhappy and misgoverned empire. The 
 celebrated Nadir Shah, who had raised him- 
 self from an humble condition to the throne 
 of Persia, and who had made his name ter- 
 rible by his victories and conquests, turned 
 his thoughts towards the invasion of India, 
 an enterprise far more splendid than any 
 which he had yet undertaken. India had 
 been often overrun by the hardy warriors of 
 the North ; and in its present condition, its 
 wealth was inviting to the cupidity, while 
 its weakness offered an easy prey to the 
 ambition, of an invader. 
 
 Having found pretexts sufficiently plau-
 
 INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 sible, and not altogether groundless, for 
 breaking off the relations of amity which 
 he had previously expressed his desire to 
 maintain with the Indian monarch, he 
 began his march in 1738. His progress was 
 rapid and successful, almost all the governors 
 of the principal provinces, deprecating the 
 wrath of the invader by a prompt submis- 
 sion ; having defeated the Imperial army, 
 Nadir advanced to Delhi, upon which de- 
 voted city he levied enormous contri- 
 butions, after commanding a massacre of 
 the inhabitants, in the midst of a tumult 
 which he had vainly endeavoured to prevent. 
 The march of Nadir from India was encum- 
 bered with spoil ; the amount of his plunder, 
 including the treasures and regalia of the 
 Imperial palace, has been variously esti- 
 mated, from thirty to seventy millions ster-
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ling. Of this the most remarkable object 
 was the peacock-throne of the Emperor 
 of Delhi ornamented with precious stones 
 of every description, among which the 
 most splendid was the famous diamond, 
 called the "Koh-i-noor," or mountain of 
 light. 
 
 Having exacted as the condition of peace 
 the cession of all the provinces on the 
 west of the Indus, he replaced Mahomed 
 on his degraded throne, and on the 14th of 
 April, 1739, began his march from Delhi, 
 of which he had been in possession thirty- 
 seven days. Nadir survived his Indian 
 expedition about eight years, during the 
 last five of which, his nature underwent 
 such a fearful change, and his cruelty be- 
 came so intolerable,, that a conspiracy was 
 at length formed by some of the principal
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 officers of his court, who having learnt that 
 they were marked out for his destined vic- 
 tims, to save themselves, resolved upon,, 
 and accomplished his destruction. 
 
 In the confusion which followed upon the 
 death of Nadir, Ahmed Khan, one of the 
 bravest of his officers, got possession of a 
 part of his treasure, with which he escaped 
 into Khorassan ; there he made himself 
 master of a large sum of money which was 
 coming from India for Nadir, proclaimed 
 himself king, and after a slight opposition 
 was crowned at Candahar, assuming the 
 title of King of the Aifghans. The warlike 
 and independent people over whom Ahmed 
 now established his sovereignty, had never 
 been united under a native king, and from 
 the love of equality which was conspicuous 
 in their character, they were not likely to
 
 Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 view without jealousy the sudden exaltation 
 of one of their own nation. 
 
 He took great pains therefore, to secure 
 the affections of his own tribe, by confirming 
 them in the possession of their lands, dis- 
 tributing the great offices among them, and 
 leaving the hereditary chiefs in possession 
 of their privileges ; but it was upon the 
 effect of foreign conquests that he chiefly 
 relied for the consolidation of his power at 
 home. He trusted that 'successful wars 
 would throw a lustre round his name, and 
 afford him the means of attaching the Aff- 
 ghan chiefs by favours and rewards,, and 
 that the manifestation of those military 
 virtues which he really possessed, would 
 impress all ranks with respect, and con- 
 ciliate the affections of the soldiers to his 
 person. The experience and discipline ac-
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 quired in the Persian wars had rendered his 
 Dooraunees the best troops in Asia, and the 
 weakness of the Indian Empire had been 
 exposed and increased by the contest with 
 Nadir. Ahmed had consequently every 
 possible inducement to make an irruption 
 into Hindostan. When he was at Delhi, in 
 the train of Nadir, he had been an attentive 
 observer of the state of that court : the 
 imbecility of Mahomed Shah, the discords 
 and intrigues of the grandees, and the con- 
 tempt into which the royal authority had 
 fallen, did not fail to attract his notice. 
 His first efforts in Affghanistan having been 
 attended with the greatest success, and en- 
 couraged by what he saw and heard of the 
 condition of affairs at Delhi, he deter- 
 mined upon an immediate advance on that 
 capital.
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 He met, however, with such a vigorous 
 resistance from the Vizier Kumoor-ood- 
 deen-Khan, and after his death (which 
 occurred while he was at prayers by a ran- 
 dom shot from the Dooraunee artillery,) 
 from his son, Meer Munoo, that he deemed 
 it necessary to relinquish his design for the 
 present, and he retired precipitately, but 
 without molestation, across the Indus at 
 Attuck. The Punjaub, which had been over- 
 run in his advance, was thus again brought 
 under the authority of the Mogul govern- 
 ment, and the court of Delhi conferred on 
 Meer Munoo the viceroyship of Lahore 
 and Mooltan in acknowledgement and re- 
 ward, of his important services on this 
 occasion. The invasion of the Abdalee, 
 and the occupation of the Imperial forces, 
 were favourable to the progress and depre-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 dations of the Sikhs, who, often chastised, 
 but never entirely suppressed, now ven- 
 tured to appear in large bodies, and Sikh 
 plunderers scoured the country in all 
 directions. By the vigorous measures of 
 Meer Munoo, however, the Sikhs were 
 compelled to fly the country, or hide their 
 heads; proselytes to their sect and faith 
 became rare, and the peace of the country 
 was again restored. 
 
 The Sikhs were so called from a Sanscrit 
 term, denoting a disciple; the founder of 
 the sect was Nanac Shah, a native of a 
 small village in the province of Lahore, 
 where he was born in 1469. From his 
 childhood he was inclined to devotion, and 
 manifested an indifference to all worldly 
 concerns. This disposition was cherished 
 by his intercourse with Fakirs, among whom
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and the poor, he distributed the greatest 
 part of his substance. Many were his 
 trances and visions,, and severe the aus- 
 terities he practised in the progress of the 
 religious career which he undertook, with 
 a view of reforming the worship of the true 
 God, degraded as it had been by the idolatry 
 pf the Hindoos, and the ignorance of the 
 Mahomedans. With this holy purpose he 
 visited the cities of India, preaching to all 
 ranks the great doctrines of the unity and 
 omnipresence of God. 
 
 He professed himself the enemy of dis- 
 cord, and to have no object but that of 
 reconciling the two faiths of the Maho- 
 medans and Hindoos in one religion, which 
 he endeavoured to do by recalling them to 
 that great and original truth which they 
 professed in common, and by reclaiming
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 them from the numerous errors into which 
 they had fallen. Nanac was violently op- 
 posed by the Hindoo zealots, but treated 
 kindly by the Emperor Baber, to whom 
 he was presented in the course of his 
 travels. He was unquestionably a man of 
 uncommon genius, as may be inferred from 
 the eminence he attained, and the success 
 with which he combated the opposition 
 which encountered him, while he laboured 
 unremittingly to inculcate upon Hindoos 
 and Mahomedans, that sublime principle 
 which enjoins devotion to God, and peace 
 towards men. 
 
 Although he left two sons, he did not 
 deem either of them worthy to succeed to 
 his spiritual functions, which he devolved 
 upon a Cshatriya, 'one of the military class,) 
 whom he had initiated in the mysteries of
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his sect, and who was called Angad. He 
 taught the same doctrines as Nanac, and 
 portions of both their writings are contained 
 in a book called " Grunth/' The fame of 
 this book was diffused, and by degrees its 
 votaries became a sect, distinguished by 
 peculiar garb and manners, and living apart 
 from the other inhabitants, in separate 
 villages and communities, where one always 
 presided as head over the rest. Nanac was 
 followed by nine successors in the office of 
 chief, or patriarch of the sect, during which 
 time the Sikhs led peaceable and inoffensive 
 lives. The tenth and last of their spiritual 
 leaders was called Gooroo* Govind, whose 
 plans of ambition were very different from 
 those of his predecessor Nanac. His dis- 
 
 * Gooroo was the title bestowed by a Hindoo on his 
 religious instructor.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 ciples were required to devote themselves to 
 arms, they were divided into troops, mar- 
 shalled under trusty leaders, and incited to 
 plunder the country. 
 
 He is said to have instituted the Gooroo 
 Mata, or State Council, by which he gave 
 a federative form to the commonwealth of 
 the Sikhs. Their progress and excesses at 
 length drew down the vengeance of the 
 Imperial Government, and after some vicissi- 
 tudes of fortune, so active and incessant 
 were the measures of extirpation pursued 
 against them, that for a period of nearly 
 thirty years, (up to the time of Nadir's in- 
 vasion,) they were scarcely heard of. That 
 event again drew them forth, and they once 
 more began to infest the Punjaub ; the 
 weakness of the empire, and the confusion 
 into which the provinces of Lahore and
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Cabool were thrown by the death of Nadir, 
 rendered the Sikhs still more bold, and their 
 numbers having been increased by the 
 conversion of many proselytes, who were 
 attracted to a standard under which plunder 
 was considered a virtue, and robbery a duty, 
 they soon extended their ravages over the 
 greater part of the Punjaub. The evil had 
 spread considerably before the attention of 
 the Viceroy of Lahore was roused to its 
 importance, and he was induced to make 
 an exertion for its suppression. At length, 
 however, he took the field, and inflicted on 
 them a severe chastisement, after which a 
 rigorous proscription gave a check to the 
 spirit of proselytism, and to the enthusiasm 
 of the votaries of the Gooroo. 
 
 In 1751-2 Ahmed Shah again crossed 
 the Indus and marched into the Punjaub ;
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 the Vizir, Meer Munoo, sustained a 
 defeat near the city of Lahore, and finding 
 the fortifications of the place untenable, 
 yielded to circumstances, and tendered 
 his submission to the Shah. That prince 
 was well pleased with such an issue of 
 the campaign, and reinstated Meer Munoo 
 as his own viceroy of Mooltan and Lahore. 
 Upon the death of the Viceroy, which shortly 
 after occurred, his widow assumed the go- 
 vernment in the name of her infant son, 
 but under a female reign little activity was 
 shewn in suppressing the Sikh confederacy ; 
 accordingly their number and audacity 
 daily increased, their depredations grew 
 continually more formidable, and anarchy 
 and confusion gained head in the province. 
 After an interval of four years, Ahmed 
 Shah again appeared in the field, on which 
 
 c
 
 XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 occasion he seized upon the Punjaub and 
 Sirhind, gave the government of both 
 provinces to his son Tymoor, and then re- 
 turned to Cabool. In 1757 the Mahrattas 
 (upon the invitation of a chief called Adeena 
 Beg, who had thrown off the yoke of the 
 Dooraunees,) marched into the Punjaub, 
 from which Prince Tymoor, unable to stem 
 the torrent, was obliged to retire. 
 
 The Mahrattas were now become the 
 ruling power in India, and so great was 
 the alarm of the Mahomedan Subahdars 
 for their principalities and independence, 
 that the reappearance of Ahmed Shah 
 east of the Indus, was joyfully hailed by a 
 large party in Hindostan. Upon the 
 approach of the King, the Mahrattas fled 
 before him, but being distressed for pro- 
 visions, they offered him battle, when their
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 army of 80,000 veteran cavalry was almost 
 wholly destroyed. The Court of Poonah 
 made great exertions to retrieve this dis- 
 aster, and regain the ascendancy ; all the 
 retainers of the state were summoned, and 
 an immense army marched towards Delhi, 
 led by the chiefs of the principal Mahratta 
 families. On the 7th January, 1761, the 
 final struggle took place in the battle of 
 Paniput, the Mahratta host was routed with 
 immense slaughter, and their power was for 
 the moment completely annihilated. 
 
 The conqueror determined upon the 
 permanent annexation of Lahore and Sir- 
 hind to his own dominions; but he made 
 no stay in the Punjaub, and the governor 
 whom he left there with a very feeble de- 
 tachment, retained an imperfect hold of the 
 territory ; the Sikhs profited by the neglect 
 
 c2
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 they experienced, secured strong holds in 
 various parts, and largely augmented their 
 resources and power. Amongst others, the 
 ancestors of Runjeet Sing appeared early 
 in the field, and distinguished themselves 
 by their enterprising character. In 1762, 
 Ahmed Shah, roused by . the intelligence 
 he received of the progress of the Sikhs, 
 again appeared on the Indus, made one of 
 those rapid marches for which he was cele- 
 brated, and attacked and defeated the Sikhs 
 with great slaughter ; after having made 
 the arrangements he deemed necessary for 
 the security of his territories east of the 
 
 Indus, he returned to Cabool. 
 
 He had no sooner retired than the 
 Sikhs again took the field, attacked Sirhind, 
 and fought an action with the Mussulman 
 Governor, in which the latter was de-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 feated and killed ; this bold enterprise re- 
 called Ahmed Shah for the seventh time to 
 Hindostan ; his arrival was the signal for 
 their dispersion, but he found himself un- 
 able effectually to cure the evil, and to put 
 down the Sikhs, who as soon as he was 
 gone, collected again, and made themselves 
 masters of Lahore. Ahmed once more 
 returned to punish this outrage, and the 
 Sikhs again fled before him ; but circum- 
 stances soon compelled him to march back 
 to Cabool, after which they remained un- 
 disputed masters of the Punjaub, and occu- 
 pied the country as a permanent inheritance. 
 The Sikh chiefs had been followed to the 
 field by relations or volunteers, and not by 
 hired retainers ; they considered themselves 
 as partners or associates in each separate 
 enterprise, and regarded the lands acquired
 
 XX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as common property, in which each had a 
 share according to the degree in which he 
 had contributed to the acquisition ; the asso- 
 ciations were called Misuls, of which twelve 
 were originally enumerated, who could bring 
 into the field about 70,000 horse. 
 
 Of these Misuls that of Churut Sing, 
 the ancestor of Runjeet, was one of the least 
 considerable, but so distracted was the state 
 of the nation, so small the authority of the 
 Gooroo Mata or National Council, and such 
 a spirit of intrigue and ambition prevalent 
 among the chiefs, that a large field was 
 open for the aggrandisement of the most 
 able and the most daring among them. 
 Runjeet Sing was born on the 2nd Novem- 
 ber, 1 780 ; his father, Maha Sing, was an 
 active and enterprising chief, who acquired 
 great reputation by early feats in arms, so
 
 INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 much so, that many independent Sirdars 
 attached themselves to him, and chose to 
 follow his standard in war, and live under 
 his countenance and protection. The con- 
 tinual success which attended his under- 
 takings, together with the connections he 
 formed, soon gave him such an ascendency, 
 that none of the Sikh chiefs could compete 
 with him in authority. The result of his su- 
 periority was favourable to the country, and 
 the Punjaub enjoyed a repose and tranquillity 
 to which it had long been a stranger. 
 
 Maha Sing died in 1792, at the early 
 age of twenty-seven, leaving a high cha- 
 racter for bravery, activity, and prudence, 
 and was succeeded by his only son Runjeet, 
 then twelve years old. Little care had been 
 bestowed on the education of the young 
 Rajah, whose early years were spent in
 
 XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 following the sports of the field, and who 
 had never been taught to read or write in 
 any language. On attaining the age of 
 seventeen, Runjeet, as his father had done 
 before him, dismissed the Deewan, and 
 assumed the conduct of affairs. In the 
 course of the years 1795-96-97 the Punjaub 
 was twice exposed to invasion by Shah 
 Zemaun, who had recently succeeded to the 
 throne of Cabool. In 1798 the Shah ad- 
 vanced again, but finding it impossible to 
 make any provision for the permanent 
 occupation of the country, he retraced his 
 steps to his hereditary dominions, and the 
 Sikh Sirdars returned to the territories 
 which they had evacuated at the Shah's 
 approach. On the Shah's retirement, Run- 
 jeet began to entertain the design of obtain- 
 ing Lahore for himself, and by an opportune
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 service rendered to that prince, he obtained 
 from him a grant of the place, with permis- 
 sion to take possession of it. 
 
 He accomplished this object by skilful 
 management rather than by force, and the 
 city remained ever after in his hands. In 
 the course of the next three or four years, 
 his continual encroachments excited the 
 fears and jealousy of all the Sirdars who 
 had hitherto enjoyed independence , they 
 perceived that it was the aim of Runjeet to 
 reduce them to fealty and submission, yet so 
 great were their jealousies and dissensions, 
 that they could devise or attempt nothing 
 to relieve themselves from his arbitrary 
 exactions, and the forfeitures and resump- 
 tions with which he systematically visited 
 the family of every chief that died. 
 
 About this time the deposition of the
 
 XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sons of Tymoor* began to produce such 
 distractions in the Affghan empire, that the 
 royal authority was soon reduced to a very 
 low ebb. Runjeet was encouraged by this 
 state of things to direct his views westward, 
 and in 1804 he determined to seize upon 
 the dependencies of that empire east of the 
 Indus. He accordingly crossed the Ravee, 
 but at his approach several chiefs purchased 
 security from violence and plunder by sub- 
 mission and presents. Relations were then 
 established with many Mussulman families, 
 and the chiefs as far as the Indus, beginning 
 to see to what quarter their hopes and fears 
 must for the future be directed, at once 
 submitted to the ruler of Lahore, and with- 
 
 * Humayoon, Mahmood, Shah Zemaun, and Shah 
 Shooja, the latter of whom has just been seated by 
 British influence on the throne of Cabool.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV11 
 
 drew from all further connection with the 
 Court of Cabool. 
 
 Runjeet Sing continued steadily to pur- 
 sue his career of occupations and usurpa- 
 tions on the eastern and southern banks of 
 the Sutledj, and his authority in the Pun- 
 jaub was so completely established, that it 
 became essential to the policy of the British 
 Government in India to enter into amicable 
 relations with his court, and to accomplish 
 this purpose, in the year 1808, Mr. Metcalf* 
 was despatched to Lahore. He was received 
 with the usual attentions, but the conduct 
 of Runjeet was so unsatisfactory, and he 
 evinced such a strong disposition to continue 
 his encroachments, that it was deemed ex- 
 pedient to advance a body of troops under 
 Colonel Ochterlony, to enforce the de- 
 
 * Now Sir Charles Metcalf, the Governor of Jamaica.
 
 XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mands, and support the negotiation of our 
 agent. 
 
 Runjeet soon became sensible that it 
 would be better policy to conciliate our 
 friendship than to provoke our enmity,, and 
 on the 25th of April, 1809, a treaty of 
 mutual peace and friendship was concluded 
 at Amritseer ; having at length satisfied him- 
 self that the apprehensions he entertained of 
 the designs of the Government of Calcutta 
 were unfounded, and that the ulterior views 
 for which he gave us credit, had no existence, 
 he acquiesced in the connection with a zeal 
 and cordiality which suffered no interruption 
 during the remainder of his life. It was 
 about this time that Runjeet commenced 
 the formation of battalions of troops on the 
 British model, influenced probably in great 
 measure by the efficiency and discipline
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 of the British Sepoys who were with Mr. 
 Metcalf, and of which he had himself had 
 an opportunity of witnessing a very striking 
 example. 
 
 In February, 1810, in the midst of ope- 
 rations which he was carrying on to enforce 
 the resumption of the territorial possessions 
 of a chief who had lately died*, news was 
 brought him that Shah Shooja was approach- 
 ing to seek refuge in his dominions, where, 
 though received with much respect, he made 
 at that time a very short stay. His departure 
 left the Maharajah at liberty to pursue 
 an enterprise against Mooltan, from which, 
 however, he was compelled to retire, greatly 
 exasperated at his ill success. Of the twelve 
 original Misuls, none now remained in the 
 Punjaub but that of Runjeet himself, and 
 * Jodh Sing of Vuzeerabad.
 
 XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 three others, all closely associated with him, 
 and ranged under his standard : and his 
 conduct appears to have been systematically 
 regulated by a determination to level to a 
 condition of vassalage every one who was 
 in a position to assert his independence, or 
 who was in the enjoyment of a patrimony 
 won by his ancestors' valour. 
 
 In the beginning of 1812, the marriage of 
 the heir-apparent, Khuruk Sing, was cele- 
 brated with great pomp at the Court of La- 
 hore, on which occasion an invitation was 
 sent to Colonel Ochterlony to honour the ce- 
 remony with his presence. The distinction 
 and confidence shewn to that officer, pre- 
 senting a marked contrast with the suspicious 
 mistrust which Mr. Metcalf had formerly 
 experienced, afforded a satisfactory proof of 
 the change which had taken place in the
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 sentiments of the Maharajah towards the 
 British Government. 
 
 In March, 1813, Shah Shooja again 
 came to Lahore, his wife (who was already 
 there,) having assured her husband that he 
 would find a friend in the ruler of the Pun- 
 jaub. But he had no sooner arrived, than 
 a demand was made upon him to surren- 
 der the " Koh-i-noor/' or mountain of light, 
 a Jaghire being promised as the price of his 
 compliance. The eagerness of the Sikh to 
 obtain, and the reluctance of the AfFghan 
 to resign, this celebrated jewel*, (alike re- 
 nowned for its magnitude and its migrations,) 
 
 . * This diamond, which is said to be an inch and a 
 half in length, and an inch wide, adorned the peacock 
 throne at Delhi ; it was carried off by Nadir Shah, 
 after whose death, it was seized in the plunder of Nadir's 
 tents by Ahmed Shah, from whom it descended to his 
 son, Shah Shooja.
 
 XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 appear to have been of equal intensity, but 
 not so the power of the contending parties. 
 The character of Runjeet, more unscrupu- 
 lous than cruel, was curiously displayed in 
 the measures he adopted to possess himself 
 of this highly coveted prize. 
 
 No greater severity was employed, than 
 appeared absolutely necessary to vanquish 
 the obstinacy of the Shah, and none was 
 omitted which promised the accomplish- 
 ment of that end. The exiled family was 
 deprived of all nourishment during two 
 days, but when their firmness was found 
 proof against hunger, food was supplied. 
 
 It was in vain that the Shah denied that 
 
 
 
 the diamond was in his possession, and 
 having exhausted remonstrance, resorted to 
 artifice and delay. 
 
 Runjeet was neither to be deceived, nor
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXX111 
 
 diverted from his purpose, and at length 
 Shah Shooja, wearied out by importunity and 
 severity, and seeing that nothing else would 
 satisfy the rapacity of Runjeet, agreed to give 
 up the jewel. Accordingly on the 1st June, 
 1813, the Maharajah waited on the Shah for 
 the purpose of the surrender. 
 
 He was received with great dignity by the 
 prince, and both being seated, there was a 
 solemn silence which lasted nearly an hour, 
 Runjeet then grew impatient, and whispered 
 an attendant to remind the Shah of the 
 object of the meeting. No answer was re- 
 turned, but the Shah made a signal with his 
 eyes to an eunuch, who retired, and brought 
 in a small roll, which he placed on the car- 
 pet at equal distances between the two 
 chiefs. Runjeet ordered the roll to be un- 
 folded, when the diamond was exhibited to 
 
 D
 
 XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his sight. He recognised, seized it, and 
 immediately retired. 
 
 The Shah some time afterwards purchased 
 his release by a payment of 20,000 rupees, 
 He was not yet, however, out of the power 
 of his oppressor, and not long after, Run- 
 jeet being apprised that he had still left 
 some rare and valuable jewels, he seized the 
 most precious of them for his own use, to- 
 gether with all the other costly articles on 
 which he could lay his hands. After suffer- 
 ing various hardships and indignities, Shah 
 Shooja contrived to make his escape, and 
 after some further adventures and misfor- 
 tunes, placed himself under the protection 
 of the British Government, by whom a mo- 
 derate provision was assigned for his main- 
 tenance, and in this asylum he remained 
 until recent events caused a revolution in his
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 favour, and seated him beyond all expectation 
 on the throne of Cabool*. 
 
 It would greatly exceed the purpose for 
 which this sketch was undertaken, to enter 
 into minute details of the various military 
 operations of the Maharajah, and of the 
 territorial acquisitions which were their re- 
 
 * It must be satisfactory to the lovers of legitimacy, 
 to know, that Shah Shooja is the rightful king of Ca- 
 bool, and that his defeated competitor, Dost Mahomed, 
 was not only an usurper, but has not even any blood- 
 royal in his veins. He was one of the numerous and 
 powerful fraternity of Affghan chiefs, called the Ba- 
 rikzye brothers, by whom the sons of Tymoor were dis- 
 possessed, and among whom the Affghan kingdom was 
 divided. After much disagreement and hostility among 
 themselves, Dost Mahomed became the head of his 
 family, and of the Affghan confederacy, and since 
 the year 1823, he has been established in the virtual 
 sovereignty of Cabool ; though the legitimate right of 
 sovereignty is vested, not in the Barikzye, but in the 
 Suddoozye clan or family, of which Shah Shooja, the 
 
 present king, is the head% 
 
 D2
 
 XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 suits. In his first expedition against Cash- 
 meer, he was defeated with some loss, and 
 compelled to retreat; this reverse, however, 
 was soon repaired, and in the following year 
 the Sikh army was again in the field, 
 ravaging, plundering, and confiscating the 
 possessions of their neighbours. The be- 
 ginning of the year 1818, was signalised 
 by the occupation of the province of Mool- 
 tan, and the end of it by the capture of 
 Peshawur. Early in 1819, Runjeet pre- 
 pared for a second expedition against Cash- 
 meer ; in April, the Sikh army advanced to 
 the frontier, routed the forces of Cashmeer 
 on the 5th of July, and the conquest of that 
 province was effected without further re- 
 sistance. 
 
 The same course of petty warfare, sys- 
 tematic aggression, and almost constant
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXV11 
 
 success, was continued for the next ten or 
 twelve years. The desire of the Maharajah 
 to maintain and improve his amicable rela- 
 tions with our Government, led to an inter- 
 change of compliments and presents with 
 the British governors and commanders as 
 often as occasions presented themselves ; and 
 on the 20th of October, 1831, a meeting was 
 arranged between Lord William Bentinck, 
 then Governor-General of India, and the 
 Lahore chief; and though some difficulties 
 were at first started on the score of etiquette, 
 these were all waived by Runjeet with a 
 liberality indicative of the practical good 
 sense which was his peculiar characteristic. 
 
 The interview was conducted with all 
 the pomp and magnificence suitable to the 
 dignity of the ruler of British India, and to 
 the wealth and importance of the sovereign
 
 XXXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the Punjaub; but the details of it were 
 little if at all different from those which have 
 been described in the more recent meeting 
 between Lord Auckland and the Maharajah. 
 A tolerably correct notion of the character 
 of Runjeet Sing may be gathered from 
 this sketch,, and still more from the Journal 
 which it introduces: Brought up, but not 
 educated, in the idleness and debauchery of 
 a Zenana, by the pernicious influence of 
 which, it is marvellous that the stoutest 
 mind should not be emasculated, and the 
 acutest faculties not be irretrievably blunted, 
 he appears from the moment he assumed 
 the reins of government to have evinced 
 a vigour of understanding, on which his 
 habitual excesses, prematurely fatal as they 
 proved to his bodily powers, produced no 
 sensible effect.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 
 
 His was one of that order of minds which 
 seem destined by nature to win their way to 
 distinction, and achieve greatness. His 
 courage was of that cool and calculating 
 sort, which courted no unnecessary danger, 
 and shunned none which his purposes made 
 it expedient to encounter ; and he always 
 observed a just proportion between his 
 efforts and his objects. Gifted 'with an in- 
 tuitive perception of character, and a com- 
 prehensive knowledge of human nature, it 
 was by the overruling influence of a supe- 
 rior mind, that he contrived gradually 
 almost insensibly, and with little resistance, 
 not only to reduce the proud and high- 
 spirited chiefs of his nation to the condition 
 of subjects, but to render them the devoted 
 adherents of his person, and the firm sup- 
 porters of his throne.
 
 Xl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 With an accurate and retentive memory, 
 and with great fertility both of invention 
 and resource, he was an excellent man of 
 business, without being able to write or even 
 to read. As insensible to remorse and pity 
 as indisposed to cruelty and the shedding of 
 blood, he cared neither for the happiness 
 or the lives of others, except as far as either 
 might be concerned in the obstruction or 
 advancement of his projects, from the steady 
 pursuit of which no consideration ever 
 diverted him. His success, and especially 
 the consolidation of his power, are in great 
 measure attributable to the soundness of 
 his views, and the practicable nature of 
 his plans. He never exhausted his strength 
 in wild and hazardous enterprises, but 
 restraining his ambition within the limits of 
 a reasonable probability, they were not only
 
 INTRODUCTION. xl 
 
 so well timed and skilfully arranged as gene- 
 rally to ensure success, but failure, (in the 
 rare instances when they did fail,) never 
 seriously shook his stability, or impaired 
 his resources. 
 
 He seems to have had a lively, fanciful, 
 and ingenious mind, but the ceremonious 
 forms of Indian etiquette, and the figurative 
 and hyperbolical style of Oriental inter- 
 course, are not favourable to the develope- 
 ment of social qualities. Runjeet, however, 
 had a natural shrewdness, sprightliness and 
 vivacity, worthy of a more civilized and 
 intellectual state. He was a devout believer 
 in the doctrines, and a punctual observer 
 of the ceremonies, of his religion. The 
 Grunth, the sacred book of the Sikhs, was 
 constantly read to him, and he must have
 
 Xlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 been familiar with the moral precepts it 
 inculcated. But 
 
 Let observation with extensive view 
 Survey mankind from China to Peru, 
 
 and the same invariable inconsistency will 
 be found between professed belief and 
 habitual conduct : nothing could be more 
 different than the precepts of Nanac and 
 the practices of Runjeet. By the former 
 were enjoined, devotion to God, and peace 
 towards men. The life of Runjeet was 
 an incessant career of war and strife, and 
 he indulged without remorse or shame in 
 sensualities of the most revolting descrip- 
 tion. Nor did the excesses, over which he 
 was at no pains to throw a decent veil, 
 either detract from his dignity, or diminish 
 the respect of his subjects; so depraved
 
 INTRODUCTION. xlili 
 
 was the taste, and so low the state of moral 
 sentiment in the Punjaub. It is no impeach- 
 ment of the sagacity of Runjeet, that 
 he was a believer in omens and charms, in 
 witchcraft and in spells. Such supersti- 
 tion only proves that early impressions were 
 not eradicated, and that his mind did not 
 make a miraculous spring beyond the 
 bounds of his country and his age. 
 
 No greater proof can be afforded of his 
 penetration than his thorough appreciation 
 and comprehension of the character and 
 policy of the British Government. From 
 the moment that he allied himself with us, 
 he appears to have cast away all doubt, 
 jealousy, and fear, to have treated us with 
 uniform cordiality, and have reposed with 
 entire confidence on our friendship and sup- 
 port ; a confidence which is now repaid by
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the exercise of our influence and authority 
 to secure to his legitimate son, and desig- 
 nated heir, the inheritance of the kingdom 
 which was created by the wisdom and the 
 valour of his father*. 
 
 * The reign of Kurruck Sing, (who mounted the 
 throne upon the death of his father Runjeet,) has been 
 of brief duration. For while these sheets are going 
 through the press, intelligence has been received of a 
 resolution in the Court of Lahore, by which Kurruck 
 was dethroned, and his son elevated to the musnud in 
 his stead.
 
 THE 
 
 COURT AND CAMP 
 
 OF 
 
 RUNJEET SING. 
 
 IN May, 1838, a complimentary deputation 
 was sent by Runjeet Sing to the Governor- 
 General at Simla, consisting of some of the 
 most distinguished Sikh chiefs, who were 
 received with all the honours prescribed by 
 Oriental etiquette. 
 
 On the day of reception, the room in 
 which the Durbar was held having been 
 covered with scarlet linen, Lord Auckland 
 took his seat in a large gilt chair in the
 
 46 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 centre. Six Sikh chiefs splendidly attired, 
 sat on his right hand, while a group of 
 twelve others of inferior rank squatted on 
 the floor at a little distance. Behind the 
 Governor-General stood his numerous 
 officers and attendants in full uniform, while 
 in the midst of this brilliant assembly a 
 solemn silence prevailed. Conversation at 
 length commenced through the medium of 
 interpreters, and half an hour was consumed 
 in imparting to the Governor- General satis- 
 factory accounts of the Maharajah's health, 
 and assurances " that the roses had bloomed 
 in the garden of friendship, the nightingale 
 had sung in the bowers of affection more 
 sweetly than ever, since the two powers 
 had approached each other." 
 
 After much interchange of civilities and
 
 RUNJEET SING. 47 
 
 compliments, as well as of presents, the 
 Sikh deputation took its departure, and 
 shortly afterwards Lord Auckland resolved 
 to send a mission to the Court of Lahore, 
 not merely to reciprocate the compliments 
 of the Maharajah, but to treat upon all 
 the important interests which were involved 
 in the existing state of political affairs in 
 that quarter of the world. The recent at- 
 tempts of the Persians on Herat, the am- 
 biguous conduct of Dost Mahomed, and 
 the suspicions which had been excited with 
 respect to the proceedings and ulterior de- 
 signs of Russia, rendered it of the greatest 
 importance to cement the alliance with 
 Runjeet Singh, and engage him to a firm 
 and effective co-operation with us in the 
 establishment of general tranquillity, the
 
 48 RUNJE^T SING. 
 
 resistance of foreign encroachment, and the 
 extension of the benefits of commerce and 
 the blessings of civilization. Accordingly, 
 W. H. Macnaghten, Esq., was deputed on 
 a mission to the Maharajah, accompanied 
 by Dr. Drummond, Captain Macgregor, and 
 the Hon. W. Osborne, Military Secretary 
 to the Governor-General, and author of the 
 following Journal, which he commenced 
 immediately upon his arrival at Rpopur.
 
 
 
 SIKH 

 
 JOURNAL, 
 
 < < 
 
 19^, 1838. Arrived at Rooper, 
 accompanied by Captains Wade and M 
 Gregor, and found our camp pitched upon 
 the banks of the Sutlege. Mr. M c Naghten 
 and Dr. Drummond joined us in the 
 evening. 
 
 20th May. Crossed the Sutlege to our 
 advanced camp on the opposite bank, where 
 we were met by Sirdars Ajeet and Kurrum 
 Sing, who conducted us to our tents, and 
 

 
 50 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 after making the necessary arrangements 
 for the next morning's march, presented us 
 with a zeafut (gift of welcome) of twelve 
 hundred rupees* on entering the Maha- 
 rajah's country, and took their leave. 
 
 21 st May. Commenced our march to 
 Adeenanuggur, where Runjeet Sing is now 
 holding his court. We were accompanied 
 by two companies of the 20th regiment, 
 two horse artillery guns, and a squadron 
 of Heausay's horse as an escort. 
 
 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th May. Short, hot, 
 and uninteresting marches. The country 
 between the Sutlege and Adeenanuggur is 
 one continued flat and open plain, with 
 here and there a grove of trees, and a few 
 mud villages scattered over the surface. 
 
 * About 130.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 51 
 
 Every village, however contemptible it 
 may be in size and appearance, possesses 
 a small round mud fort or turret in tbe 
 centre, resembling an overgrown Martello 
 tower, loop-holed for musketry, and the 
 generality of them with a dry and shallow 
 ditch, but without guns. 
 
 Until the last few years, since when the 
 supremacy of Runjeet's power has been too 
 firmly established to admit of such occur- 
 rences taking place with impunity, these 
 little forts were constantly made the scenes 
 of plunder and petty warfare by the different 
 Sihk chieftains. 
 
 The soil appears to be rich and prolific, 
 
 as far as it is possible to judge from the 
 
 small quantity of ground under cultivation ; 
 
 and with a more enlightened government, 
 
 E 2
 
 52 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 there can be little doubt of the Punjab be- 
 coming one of the richest provinces of 
 India. 
 
 It is a melancholy thing to contemplate 
 the future probable state of this beautiful 
 country. On the death of Runjeet Sing, 
 which in the common course of nature must 
 take place in a very few years, his throne 
 will become an object of contention between 
 two rival candidates of equal power and 
 pretensions, Sher Sing, his natural son, 
 a good and proved warrior, supported by all 
 the influence, wealth, and talents of Runjeet 
 Sing's present minister, Deean Sing ; and 
 Kurruck Sing, his rightful son and heir, 
 with little talent or courage, but supported 
 by all the Sihk chiefs whom gratitude for 
 past favours to Runjeet, and jealousy and
 
 RUNJEET SING. 53 
 
 hatred of his minister, would bind to the 
 
 
 cause of his legitimate son and successor. 
 
 The whole country between the Sutlege and 
 the Indus must become the scene of a pro- 
 tracted and bloody war, only to be ter- 
 minated by the interference of a third and 
 stronger power, with an army and resources 
 sufficiently strong to bid defiance to all 
 hope of resistance, and that that army must 
 be the British army, and that power the Bri- 
 tish government, there can be little doubt. 
 During the lifetime of Runjeet, who, what- 
 ever may have been his real feelings towards 
 us, has preserved all the appearances of 
 friendship, the invasion and conquest of the 
 Punjab would be indefensible ; but at his 
 death the case will be altered. Self-preser- 
 vation requires that the government of the
 
 54 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 Punjab should be either our own or friendly 
 to us. Friendship from a country torn to 
 pieces by civil warfare and the rival claims 
 of two pretenders to a throne united but in 
 one feeling, that of hatred to the British, 
 it would be but folly to expect. We have 
 therefore, both looking to our own situation 
 as regards the present policy of Russia, and 
 to the future welfare of the country itself, 
 but one course to pursue on Runjeet Sing's 
 death the instant occupation of the 
 Punjab by an overwhelming force, and the 
 establishment of our north-western frontier 
 on the Indus. The East India Company 
 have swallowed too many camels to strain 
 at this gnat ; and to judge from the appear- 
 ance of the country, they will derive more 
 nourishment from the smaller insect than
 
 RUNJEET SING. 55 
 
 they have done from many of the larger 
 quadrupeds they have swallowed of late 
 years ; at all events, their throats will be 
 well oiled by the rapidly-increasing revenue 
 consequent upon the introduction of a mild 
 and equable form of government in a 
 country where at present the only recog- 
 nised law appears to be 
 
 " That they should take who have the power, 
 And they should keep who can."* 
 
 * Upon the death of Runjeet, Kurruck Sing was 
 immediately acknowledged by the British government, 
 and he is (for the present at least) seated upon the 
 throne of his father. But there can be little doubt 
 that he owes his peaceable accession to the predomi- 
 nating influence of British authority, and to the course 
 of events which occasioned the presence of a British 
 army on the noi'th of the Sutlege at the moment of 
 Runjeet's death. This alone prevented those civil 
 commotions and rival contests which would other- 
 wise have infallibly taken place.
 
 56 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 26th May. Two marches from Adeena- 
 nuggur. Here we met Pertaub Sing, a boy 
 of seven years of age, son of Sher Sing, 
 and grandson of the Maharajah. He had 
 been sent by his father to accompany us on 
 our march through his district. This was 
 the first instance we noticed of Runjeet's 
 jealousy of European influence over his 
 chiefs. According to all precedent and 
 custom, Sher Sing himself, and not his son, 
 should have been sent to meet us ; and the 
 excuse for this apparent breach of etiquette 
 was highly characteristic of the customs of 
 the court of Lahore -- namely, that the 
 Shah Zadah Sher Sing had been a little 
 overcome at a drinking party with the Ma- 
 harajah the evening before, and was, in 
 consequence, unable to travel.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 57 
 
 Pertaub Sing was handsomely dressed, 
 armed with a small ornamented shield, 
 sword, and matchlock, all in miniature, 
 covered with jewels, and escorted by a small 
 party of Sihk cavalry and some guns. His 
 horse was naturally of a white colour, but 
 dyed with henna to a deep scarlet. 
 
 He is one of the most intelligent boys I 
 ever met with, very good looking, with 
 singularly large and expressive eyes. His 
 manners are in the highest degree attractive, 
 polished, and gentlemanlike, and totally free 
 from all the mauvaise honte and awkward- 
 ness so generally found in European chil- 
 dren of that age. 
 
 In the course of conversation I asked him 
 if his matchlock was a real one, and if he 
 ever shot with it. He jumped off' his chair,
 
 58 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 highly indignant at the question, and after 
 rapidly loading his musket, exclaimed, 
 " Now, what shall I shoot ? I replied that 
 I saw nothing in the camp at present it 
 would be safe to shoot at, and asked him 
 if he thought he could hit a man at a hun- 
 dred yards' distance ; to which he replied, 
 without a moment's hesitation, pointing to 
 the crowd of Sihk chiefs and soldiers that 
 surrounded the tent, " These are all your 
 friends ; but shew me an enemy to the 
 British government, and you shall soon see 
 what I can do." 
 
 His father is said to be dotingly fond of 
 this boy ; and when he was deputed last 
 year by the Maharajah to escort Sir Henry 
 Fane to the frontiers of the Punjab, took 
 him with him ; but such is Runjeet's
 
 RUNJEET SING. 59 
 
 jealousy of Europeans, that before they had 
 got three marches, a regiment of cavalry 
 was sent after them, with orders from the 
 Maharajah to bring Pertaub Sing back with 
 them, in order that he might remain as a 
 hostage until his father's return to the court. 
 During the whole of our march through 
 Sher Sing's district, all our servants, camp 
 followers, escort, and cattle, were found in 
 supplies at his expense. 
 
 27th May. One march from Adeena- 
 nuggur. Here we took leave of our young 
 and very interesting friend, Pertaub Sing, 
 after presenting him with a gold watch and 
 chain as a token of remembrance on the 
 part of the Governor General. He ex- 
 pressed his thanks in graceful terms, and 
 concluded by saying, " You may tell Lord
 
 60 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 Auckland that the British government will 
 always find a friend in the son of Sher 
 Sing." Then mounting his horse, covered 
 with plumes and jewels, he gracefully 
 raised his hand to his forehead and gal- 
 loped off with his escort, curvetting and 
 caracoling round him in circles till he was 
 out of sight. 
 
 28th May. This morning's march brought 
 us to Adeenanuggur, the present place of 
 residence of the Maharajah. It is a large 
 garden with a canal running through the 
 centre. There are also several small 
 buildings and a moderate-sized plain palace 
 and zenana scattered about the grounds. 
 By means of constant irrigation, the bor- 
 ders and shrubs are kept always green and 
 fresh ; and here Runjeet Sing generally
 
 RUNJEET SING. 61 
 
 passes the hot weather, amusing himself 
 with drilling and manoeuvring his troops, 
 a large body of which always accompanies 
 him. 
 
 The garden communicates through a 
 handsome gateway with a fine level plain. 
 A short distance in front of it is the parade 
 ground, between which and the gateway a 
 small scarlet and gold embroidered shawl 
 tent is always pitched. It is entirely open 
 in front, and here, soon after dark, Runjeet 
 retires to rest, sleeping in the open air, and 
 guarded only by a few Sihk sipahis. His 
 sword and shield are always laid by his 
 pillow, and a horse saddled stands con- 
 stantly ready in front of his tent. At sun- 
 rise the next morning he will be found 
 mounted either on horseback or on his
 
 62 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 elephant, inspecting his troops or superin- 
 tending the practice of his artillery. 
 
 Five miles from our camp we were met 
 by Rajah Sher Sing, and Soocket Sing, 
 sent by the Maharajah to conduct us to our 
 tents ; they were seated upon elephants in 
 golden howdahs, and escorted by about 
 500 of Runjeet's Goorcherras, or body 
 guards, splendidly dressed in chain armour 
 and thick quilted jackets made of rich silk, 
 of all the colours of the rainbow. 
 
 Rajah Soocket Sing, or Malek Adhel, as 
 he was named by the ladies of Sir Henry 
 Fane's camp, is the brother of the minister, 
 Dheean Sing, and one of the handsomest of 
 the Sihk chiefs, who are all eminently good- 
 looking. He is high in Runjeet's favour, as 
 well as much respected and admired by all the
 
 RUNJEET SING. 63 
 
 Sihks, and about twenty-eight years of age. 
 His dress was magnificent; a helmet or scull 
 cap of bright polished steel inlaid with gold, 
 and a deep fringe of chain mail, of the same 
 material, reaching to his shoulders, three 
 plumes of black heron's feathers waving on 
 his crest, and three shawls of lilac, white, 
 and scarlet, twisted very round and tight, in- 
 terlaced with one another and gathered round 
 the edge of the helmet, a chelenk of rubies 
 and diamonds on his forehead. Back, breast- 
 plates, and gauntlets of steel, richly em- 
 bossed with gold and precious stones, worn 
 over a rich, thick-quilted jacket of bright 
 yellow silk, with magnificent armlets of 
 rubies and diamonds on each arm, a shield 
 of the polished hide of the rhinoceros, em- 
 bossed and ornamented with gold, a jewelled
 
 64 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 sabre and matchlock, with his long and 
 glossy black beard and mustachoes, he 
 looked the very beau ideal of a Sihk chief. 
 
 Sher Sing is also a fine, manly-looking 
 fellow, and was richly dressed after the 
 same fashion. He is a supposed son of the 
 Maharajah, though the latter strongly denies 
 the paternity.* He, however, grants him 
 the privilege of a chair in his presence 
 an honour he shares with Kurruck Sing, the 
 heir apparent to the throne, and Heera Sing, 
 
 * He is a twin son of one of Runjeet's wives, named 
 Mehtab Koonwur, who, in 1807, (on his return to 
 Lahore, after an absence of some duration,) presented 
 him with two boys, Sher and Tara Sing. The lady's 
 conjugal fidelity had been already suspected, and her 
 husband would not own them. He appears, however, 
 in some degree to have acknowledged Sher Sing, by 
 the distinction with which he treated him ; but Tara 
 Sing experienced uniform neglect.
 

 
 RUNJEET SING. 65 
 
 the son of the minister, the only individuals 
 of the court who are so distinguished. 
 
 I have before adverted to Runjeet's 
 jealousy of Europeans, and Slier Sing has, 
 unfortunately for himself, shewn so much 
 attention to them, and such attachment to 
 their manners and customs, as effectually to 
 rouse his master's vigilance ; and whilst in 
 his presence he hardly dared openly to ac- 
 cost us, which we all saw with much regret, 
 as, when removed from observation, he, of 
 all the Sihk chiefs, appeared most inclined 
 to be on friendly and intimate terms with 
 us. He is supposed to be in rather more 
 than usual mauvaise odeur at this moment, 
 in consequence of an occurrence which 
 took place at this morning's Durbar. It 
 appears that Runjeet, anxious that the de- 
 F
 
 66 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 putation sent to meet the mission from the 
 Governor General should do credit to his 
 court by the splendour of their dress and 
 appearance, ordered them all to attend him 
 in the morning previous to their setting off 
 to meet us. After complimenting Soocket 
 Sing upon the beauty of his dress and 
 jewels, he addressed Sher Sing, and asked 
 the reason why he was without his usual 
 magnificent ornaments ; who replied, touch- 
 ing the hilt of his sword, " I am a soldier, 
 and this is the only jewel I value." Runjeet 
 angrily insisted upon knowing what had 
 become of them, and at last elicited the 
 truth from Sher Sing, that they were in 
 his own treasury, having been presented to 
 him as a nuzzur, or complimentary gift, by 
 Sher Sing, on the occasion of his paying
 
 RUNJEET SING. 67 
 
 him a friendly visit at his palace some 
 months previous. Runjeet pretended to be 
 very much annoyed, and immediately of- 
 fered to restore them ; but Sher Sing, 
 soldier as he is, was much too clever and 
 politic to accept them. 
 
 The deputation accompanied us to our 
 tents, which were pitched in a grove of 
 mango trees, on the banks of a canal, and 
 only a few hundred yards from the garden 
 where Runjeet himself was encamped. 
 
 They were received in camp by a salute 
 from the guns of our escort, which was im- 
 mediately returned from the Sihk batteries 
 in the proportion of about a hundred guns 
 to one ; and after presenting the customary 
 zeafut of twelve hundred rupees, took their 
 leave, and left us with lively impressions of
 
 68 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 the wealth and splendour of the court of 
 Lahore. 
 
 After a bath in the canal, and breakfast, 
 we located ourselves in sundry small build- 
 ings which had been prepared by the Ma- 
 harajah's orders for our accommodation, and 
 which, by the aid of tatties,* we contrived 
 to make cooler than our tents had hitherto 
 been. In each of these small buildings we 
 found a comfortable native bedstead, with 
 handsome silk coverlets, and mattresses, 
 and embroidered quilts, which, with a large 
 silken chatta or umbrella, were presented 
 to each of us as marks of Runjeet's atten- 
 tion to our comforts. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon, Faqueer 
 Uzeez-ood-deen came to inform us that 
 
 * Blinds.
 
 
 TAOVET.'R UZEEZOODZEN. 
 
 ColliTini., Great l
 
 RUNJEET SING. 69 
 
 the mission would be received by the Ma- 
 harajah at his Durbar on the following 
 morning. 
 
 Uzeez-ood-deen is, with Dheean Sing, 
 supposed to possess more influence over 
 Runjeet Sing than any other of the Sihk 
 chiefs. He is a fine-looking man, of about 
 five and forty, not over clean in his person, 
 but with a pleasant and good-humoured, 
 though crafty-looking countenance, and his 
 manners are so kind and unassuming that 
 it is impossible not to like him. 
 
 In the evening, the presents from the 
 Governor General to the Maharajah were 
 unpacked and got ready for the morning's 
 interview. They consisted of Lord Auck- 
 land's picture set in a star of very hand- 
 some diamonds, suspended to a string of
 
 70 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 large pearls ; a pair of gold-mounted pistols ; 
 a splendid Damascus sword in a golden 
 scabbard, inlaid with precious stones ; and 
 two thorough-bred Cape horses, with 
 housings and accoutrements of gold richly 
 studded with turquoise and enamel. 
 
 29th May. About seven in the morning, 
 Rajah Soocket Sing and Sirdar Ajeet Sing 
 arrived in camp to escort us to the presence 
 of the Maharajah. We mounted our ele- 
 phants without delay, and, accompanied by 
 our escort and all the state we could mus- 
 ter, proceeded to the gate of the garden 
 palace. We found two battalions of his 
 disciplined infantry drawn up in front of 
 the gateway, as a guard of honour, with 
 some of his artillery, from whom we re- 
 ceived a salute of upwards of a hundred
 
 V,, 
 
 o..T 
 
 SING 
 
 IbHjLli. r ! - '.iUrnn^., Chreai MjixIborcm^L ^
 
 RUNJEET SING. 71 
 
 guns. Dismounting from our elephants at 
 the gateway, and entering the garden on 
 foot, we were conducted by the two Sihk 
 chiefs up a broad gravel walk about three 
 hundred yards in length, lined on each 
 side by Runjeet's Goorcherras, handsomely 
 dressed in chain armour and quilted jackets, 
 made of rich silk of either a bright yellow, 
 green, or scarlet colour, giving the walk, 
 from the gateway to the palace, the ap- 
 pearance of a border of gaudy and gigantic 
 tulips. On reaching the verandah, Run- 
 jeet's minister, Dheean Sing, came forward 
 and conducted us round the palace to the 
 hall of audience, at the entrance of which 
 we found the Maharajah himself in waiting 
 to receive us. After a friendly embrace, 
 he led us to the upper end of the hall, and
 
 72 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 seated us on golden chairs opposite himself. 
 Rajah Sher Sing was seated on his right 
 hand, and Rajah Heera Sing, his minister's 
 son, upon his left, the only two individuals 
 who are allowed a seat in his presence on 
 public occasions, with the exception of his 
 son and heir, Kurruck Sing, though in 
 private that privilege is sometimes ac- 
 corded to the three Gooroos, or priests, 
 who act as his spiritual advisers. The floor 
 was covered with rich shawl carpets, and 
 a gorgeous shawl canopy, embroidered with 
 gold and precious stories, supported on 
 golden pillars, covered three parts of the hall. 
 The coup d'ceil was most striking; every 
 walk in the garden was lined with troops, 
 and the whole space behind the throne was 
 crowded with Runjeet's chiefs, mingled with
 
 
 
 - -. 
 
 j .-\ - , - ;' 
 
 S1INJZET 
 
 OoUmra, Cm^axMaaiborOBghSc. 18*0 .
 
 RUNJEET SING. 73 
 
 natives from Candahar, Caubul, and Aff- 
 ghanistan, blazing with gold and jewels, 
 and dressed and armed in every conceivable 
 variety of colour and fashion. 
 
 Cross -legged in a golden chair, dressed 
 in simple white, wearing no ornaments 
 but a single string of enormous pearls 
 round the waist, and the celebrated Koh- 
 y-nur, or mountain of light, on his arm, 
 (the jewel rivalled, if not surpassed, in 
 brilliancy by the glance of fire which every 
 now and then shot from his single eye as it 
 wandered restlessly round the circle,) sat 
 the lion of Lahore. 
 
 On Runjeet's seating himself, his chiefs 
 all squatted on the floor round his chair, 
 with the exception of Dheean Sing, who re- 
 mained standing behind his master.
 
 74 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 Though far removed from being hand- 
 some himself, Runjeet appears to take a 
 pride in being surrounded by good-looking 
 people, and I believe few, if any other courts 
 either in Europe or the East could shew 
 such a fine looking set of men as the prin- 
 cipal Sihk Sirdars. 
 
 Rajah Dheean Sing is a noble specimen 
 of the human race ; rather above the usual 
 height of natives, with a quick and intelligent 
 eye, high handsome forehead, and aquiline 
 features, dressed in a magnificent helmet 
 and cuirass of polished steel, embossed with 
 gold, a present from King Louis Philippe 
 of France, he looked a model of manly 
 beauty and intelligence. He is about thirty 
 years of age, and is very high, and by all 
 accounts justly so, in his master's confi-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 75 
 
 dence. He is active, clever, and intelligent, 
 possessed of great influence over the Sihk 
 people, and in all probability will be one, 
 and not the least powerful or deserving can- 
 didate for the throne of the Punjab on Run- 
 jeet's decease. With enormous wealth and 
 property, and a large tract of country, 
 which he rules with mildness and justice, 
 he presents a singular instance of a favourite 
 and a man in power, whose talents and 
 virtues are more appreciated than his power 
 and influence are envied. Gentlemanlike, 
 manly, and unassuming in his manners, he 
 is still cold and repulsive to Europeans, 
 whom he both fears and hates with more 
 than common rancour, and against whom 
 he loses no opportunity of exerting his 
 influence with the Maharajah.
 
 76 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 Rajah Heera Sing, the son of the mi- 
 nister, a boy of eighteen years of age, is a 
 greater favourite with Runjeet Sing than 
 any other of his chiefs, not even excepting 
 his father. His influence over Runjeet is 
 extraordinary ; and though acquired in a 
 manner which in any other country would 
 render him infamous for ever, here he is 
 universally looked up to and respected. 
 
 He is the only individual who ever ven- 
 tures to address Runjeet Sing without being 
 spoken to, and whilst his father stands be- 
 hind his master's chair, and never presumes 
 to answer him with unclasped hands, this 
 boy does not hesitate to interrupt and con- 
 tradict him in the rudest manner. One 
 instance of the way in which he presumes 
 upon the kindness of Runjeet Sing was the
 
 RUNJEET SING. 77 
 
 subject of public conversation at Adeena- 
 nuggur upon our arrival. The yearly tribute 
 from Cachemire had arrived, and was, as 
 usual, opened and spread upon the floor in 
 the Durbar for the inspection of the Ma- 
 harajah. It consisted of shawls, arms, 
 jewels, &c., to the amount of upwards of 
 thirty thousand pounds. Young Heera 
 Sing, without the slightest hesitation, ad- 
 dressed Runjeet and said, " Your Highness 
 cannot require all these things ; let me have 
 them." The answer was, " You may take 
 them." 
 
 Heera Sing is strikingly handsome, 
 though rather effeminate in appearance. 
 He was magnificently dressed, and almost 
 entirely covered from the waist upwards 
 with strings of pearls, diamonds, emeralds,
 
 78 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 and rubies ; he is intelligent and clever, 
 and has taken a fancy to learn English, 
 which he studies for some hours every day, 
 and in which he has already made consider- 
 able progress, being perhaps the only indi- 
 vidual who would venture to do such a 
 thing openly. Good-tempered, gentleman- 
 like, and amusing, he is certainly one of the 
 most amiable and popular persons at the 
 court of Lahore. 
 
 As soon as all were seated, and we had 
 replied to Runjeet's inquiries after Lord 
 Auckland's health, &c., the presents were 
 produced, and apparently received with 
 great satisfaction. Contrary to the usual 
 native custom, Runjeet condescended to 
 examine them very minutely, and appeared 
 to count every pearl and jewel before he 
 gave them into the hands of his treasurer.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 79 
 
 As this was merely an audience of intro- 
 duction, the object of the mission was not 
 touched upon, and our time was principally 
 occupied in answering Runjeet's innumer- 
 able questions, but without the slightest 
 chance of being able to satisfy his insatiable 
 curiosity. It is hardly possible to give an 
 idea of the ceaseless rapidity with which 
 his questions flow, or the infinite variety 
 of subjects they embrace. " Do you drink 
 wine ?" " How much ?" " Did you taste 
 the wine which I sent you yesterday ?" 
 " How much of it did you drink ?" " What 
 artillery have you brought with you ?" 
 " Have they got any shells ?" " How 
 many ?" "Do you like riding on horse- 
 back?" "What country horses do you 
 prefer ?" " Are you in the army ?" 
 " Which do you like best, cavalry or
 
 80 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 infantry ?" " Does Lord Auckland drink 
 wine?" "How many glasses?" "Does 
 he drink it in the morning?" " What is 
 the strength of the Company's army ?" 
 " Are they well disciplined ?" &c. 
 
 He introduced one of his Sirdars to us, 
 Liana Sing, who is a clever mechanic, and 
 in great favour with Runjeet from his suc- 
 cess in casting shrapnell shells ^ an instru- 
 ment of war he has been very anxious to 
 possess ever since his interview with Lord 
 William Bentinck at Hooper,* where he first 
 saw them used. They are made of pewter, 
 and answer the purpose very well. He 
 asked us to come and see his troops on 
 parade, and begged we would tell him can- 
 didly what we thought of their discipline. 
 
 * In October, 1831.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 81 
 
 After thus passing upwards of an hour in 
 desultory conversation, Runjeet Sing rose, 
 and, according to custom, having half 
 smothered us with sandal-wood oil, em- 
 braced and allowed us to depart with the 
 same ceremonies which had attended our 
 entrance. 
 
 Ill-looking as he undoubtedly is, the 
 countenance of Runjeet Sing cannot fail to 
 strike every one as that of a very extraor- 
 dinary man ; and though at first his appear- 
 ance gives rise to a disagreeable feeling 
 almost amounting to disgust, a second look 
 shews so much intelligence, and the restless 
 wandering of his single fiery eye excites so 
 much interest, that you get accustomed to 
 his plainness, and are forced to confess that 
 there is no common degree of intellect and 
 
 G
 
 82 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 acuteness developed in his countenance, 
 however odd and repulsive its first appear- 
 ance may be. 
 
 His height is rather beneath the usual 
 stature of the Sihks, and an habitual stoop 
 causes him to look shorter than he really is. 
 He is by no means firm on his legs when 
 he attempts to walk, but all weakness dis- 
 appears when he is once on horseback. He 
 has still a slight hesitation in his speech, 
 the consequence of a paralytic stroke about 
 three years ago ; but those about him assert 
 that his health is much improved within 
 the last twelvemonth. His long white 
 beard and mustachoes give him a more 
 venerable appearance than his actual age 
 would lead you to expect ; and at fifty- 
 eight years of age he is still a hale and
 
 RUNJEET SING. 83 
 
 hearty old man, though an imaginary in- 
 valid. 
 
 Runjeet Sing possesses great personal 
 courage, a quality in which the Sihks are 
 supposed to be generally deficient ; and 
 until the last few years, always led his 
 troops into action himself. 
 
 His character was formerly that of a 
 generous and liberal master, and it was his 
 custom to go into action with his arms 
 covered with golden bracelets, and to re- 
 ward with a pair of them any act of per- 
 sonal courage on the part of his soldiers 
 which might happen to meet his observa- 
 tion. But the vice of old age, avarice, is 
 fast creeping upon him ; and at this mo- 
 ment, two out of three of his regular infan- 
 try regiments at Peshowar are in a state of 
 o 2
 
 84 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 open mutiny for want of their pay, one 
 of them being eighteen, and the other 
 twenty-two months in arrears. 
 
 With six millions sterling in his treasury 
 at Amritsir, such is his love of money, that 
 he will risk the loss of his kingdom rather 
 than open his hoards, and disgusts his 
 people and army by this ill-timed and cruel 
 parsimony ; at a time, too, when his most 
 bitter enemies, Dost Mahommed Khan 
 and the Afghans, are only watching for the 
 first favourable opportunity to attempt his 
 destruction. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon, the Ma- 
 harajah's head man came by his master's 
 orders to know if we should like to see his 
 dancing girls, adding, that four of them who 
 had latelv arrived from Cachemire were
 
 i IjTTt 
 
 . 
 . 
 

 
 RUNJEET SING. 85 
 
 very handsome. Accordingly, after dinner, 
 we repaired to a terrace on the banks of 
 the canal, where we found eight young 
 ladies assembled, and a display of fire-works 
 prepared for our amusement on the oppo- 
 site bank. 
 
 The four Cachemirian girls were very 
 pretty ; and one of them, Sabhoo by name, 
 would have been thought beautiful any- 
 where. They were richly and gracefully 
 dressed in scarlet and gold embroidered 
 shawl dresses, with large and enormously 
 loose petticoats of handsomely worked 
 silk. Their head ornaments were singular 
 and very becoming; their glossy black 
 hair hanging down the back in a num- 
 ber of long plaits, with gold coins and 
 small bunches of pearls suspended to the
 
 86 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 ends, enormous strings of pearl for ear- 
 rings, and large gold rings, with several 
 pearls and emeralds attached to them, passed 
 through their noses. They are very fair, 
 with expressive countenances, and large 
 and lovely eyes, but their beauty is much 
 disfigured by the custom which prevails 
 amongst all the Mogul women of covering 
 the lower eyelid with gold leaf, which gives 
 them a ghastly appearance. 
 
 One of these girls, called the Lotus, is 
 rather a celebrated character at the court of 
 Lahore. Runjeet Sing received her with 
 the tribute from Cachemire about two years 
 ago, when she was said to have been very 
 beautiful. He fell violently in love with 
 her, and fancied that his affection was as 
 violently returned. One evening, in the
 
 RUNJEET SING. 87 
 
 course of conversation with Monsieur Ven- 
 tura, an Italian officer in his service, when 
 the girl was dancing before them, he made 
 some remark upon her attachment to him, 
 which he declared was purely disinterested, 
 and too strong to be shaken by any offers 
 of advantage or affection she might receive 
 from other quarters. Ventura was incre- 
 dulous ; and Runjeet Sing, highly indignant 
 at this doubt of his powers of attraction, 
 defied him to seduce her, and promised to 
 put no obstacles in his way, further than 
 stipulating that she should be placed in the 
 customary seclusion of his zenana. After 
 several polite speeches on the part of Ven- 
 tura upon the impropriety of his attempting 
 to rival his sovereign, the challenge was 
 accepted, and the young lady immediately
 
 88 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 transferred to the royal seraglio, with every 
 precaution to ensure her safety. 
 
 " Shakspeare described the sex in Desdemona 
 
 As very fair, but yet suspect in fame ; 
 And to this day, from Venice to Verona, 
 Such matters may be probably the same." 
 
 They are so in the Punjab most certainly, 
 for scarce had eight-and-forty hours elapsed 
 ere the hoary old lion of Lahore was aroused 
 from his happy dreams of love and affection 
 by the intelligence that his guards were 
 faithless, his harem violated, and himself 
 deserted, and that the lovely Lotus had, 
 nothing loth, been transplanted from her 
 royal lover's garden to the Italian's, where 
 she was then blooming in all her native 
 beauty. 
 
 Runjeet Sing bore her desertion with
 
 RUNJEET SING. 89 
 
 great equanimity, and in a short time she 
 returned to her allegiance, and is now 
 enrolled in his corps of Amazons. She has 
 lately been very ill, and is said to be much 
 altered in appearance, but is still a very 
 lovely girl. 
 
 30th May. Returning home from a con- 
 stitutional canter before breakfast, I was 
 overtaken by one of Runjeet's Goorcherras, 
 with a message from his master, begging 
 me to meet him at his artillery practice 
 ground, where he was then waiting for me. 
 On reaching the spot, I found him sitting 
 in a sort of gilded litter with glass doors 
 and windows, accompanied by a few Sihk 
 horsemen, and young Heera Sing, who was 
 in the litter with him. 
 
 He immediately commenced his usual
 
 90 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 string of questions : " Did you see my 
 Cachemirian girls ?" " How did you like 
 them ?" " Are they handsomer than the 
 women of Hindostan ?" " Are they as 
 handsome as English women ?" " Which 
 of them did you admire most ?" I replied, 
 that I admired them all very much, and 
 named the two I thought the handsomest. 
 He said, " Yes, they are pretty ; but I have 
 got some more who are handsomer, and I 
 will send them this evening, and you had 
 better keep the one you like best." I of 
 course expressed my gratitude for such un- 
 bounded liberality ; and his answer was, 
 " I have got plenty more." He then led 
 the conversation to the subject of horses, 
 and I took the opportunity of asking him 
 about the celebrated horse Leili, to attain
 
 RUNJEET SING. 91 
 
 which he had embroiled himself in a tedious 
 and expensive war with a neighbouring 
 province. He told me that the horse was 
 the most perfect animal he had ever seen, 
 but that he was now very old and almost 
 worn out, but that he would send for him 
 in order that I might see him. 
 
 Runjeet's passion for horses amounts 
 almost to insanity, at least such was the 
 case a few years ago, though at present, age 
 has tamed that as well as other less harm- 
 less passions. Avaricious as he is, he did 
 not appear to regret the enormous sum he 
 had squandered to obtain possession of this 
 animal, (upwards of thirty thousand pounds,) 
 and still less does he regret the vast loss of 
 life to his people, or of character to himself, 
 which this barefaced and unjustifiable rob-
 
 92 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 bery entailed upon him. So determined 
 was he to obtain Leili, that he kept the son 
 of the chief in whose possession the animal 
 was supposed to be, a boy of twelve years 
 of age, a close prisoner in his court. In 
 vain he was assured that the horse was 
 dead ; his answer was, " You will remain a 
 prisoner till he is found." He kept his 
 word ; and not until the horse was delivered 
 to him was the boy permitted to depart. 
 
 The more I see of Runjeet Sing, the more 
 he strikes me as an extraordinary man. 
 Cunning and distrustful himself, he has 
 succeeded in inspiring his followers with a 
 strong and devoted attachment to his per- 
 son ; with a quick talent at reading men's 
 minds, he is an equal adept at concealing 
 his own ; and it is curious to see the sort
 
 RUNJEET SING. 93 
 
 of quiet indifference with which he listens 
 to the absurd reports of his own motives 
 and actions which are daily poured into his 
 ears at the Durbar, without giving any 
 opinion of his own, and without rendering 
 it possible to guess what his final decision 
 on any subject will be, till the moment for 
 action has arrived. 
 
 Though he is by profession a Sihk, in 
 religion he is in reality a sceptic, and it is 
 difficult to say whether his superstition is 
 real, or only a mask assumed to gratify and 
 conciliate his people. 
 
 He is mild and merciful as a ruler, but 
 faithless and deceitful ; perfectly uneducated, 
 unable even to read or write, he has by 
 his own natural and unassisted intellect 
 raised himself from the situation of a private
 
 94 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 individual to that of a despotic monarch 
 over a turbulent and powerful nation. By 
 sheer force of mind, personal energy, and 
 courage, (though at the commencement of 
 his career he was feared and detested rather 
 than loved,) he has established his throne 
 on a firmer foundation than that of any 
 other eastern sovereign, and but for the 
 watchful jealousy of the British govern- 
 ment, would long ere this have added 
 Scinde, if not Affghanistan, to his present 
 kingdom. 
 
 He rules with a rod of iron, it is true ; 
 but in justice to him it must be stated, that 
 except in actual open warfare he has never 
 been known to take life, though his own 
 has been attempted more than once, and 
 his reign will be found freer from any
 
 RUNJEET SING. 95 
 
 striking acts of cruelty and oppression than 
 those of many more civilized monarchs. 
 
 In the evening, a detachment of the 
 Amazons arrived with music and fireworks. 
 The establishment of this corps was one of 
 Runjeet Sing's capricious whims, and the 
 result of one of those drinking bouts which 
 it was his delight, a few years ago, so fre- 
 quently to indulge in ; though latterly, the 
 state of his health and the earnest remon- 
 strances of his medical advisers have in- 
 duced him to limit his potations within 
 more moderate bounds. There were origi- 
 ginally about one hundred and fifty of these 
 fair warriors, who were selected from the 
 prettiest girls from Cachemire, Persia, and 
 the Punjab. They were magnificently 
 dressed, armed with bows and arrows, and
 
 96 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 used frequently to appear on horseback, 
 mounted en cavalier, for the amusement of 
 the Maharajah. They are allowed a small 
 sum daily for subsistence, and there are few 
 of them who have not succeeded in obtain- 
 ing grants of small villages from Runjeet 
 Sing, the rents of which they receive and 
 many contrive to realize a considerable sum 
 of money. The Lotus told me she was the 
 owner of seven good villages, received at 
 different times from Runjeet as marks of 
 his favour. During our visit to Lahore, a 
 considerable degree of excitement prevailed 
 amongst this fairer portion of the Sihk 
 army, owing to a report having arisen that 
 the Maharajah intended to follow the ex- 
 ample of the Company, and resume all 
 grants for which no formal title deeds could
 
 RUNJEET SING. 97 
 
 be produced ; the report, however, proved 
 to be premature ; and I believe Runjeet 
 would sooner face Dost Mahommed and his 
 Afghans, than a single individual of his 
 Amazonian body-guard. 
 
 Some of the detachment who attended 
 this evening, though not more than twelve 
 years of age, were very handsome, and their 
 dancing is the first I have seen in this 
 country that has a shade of anything ap- 
 proaching to graceful in it, one dance by 
 the young Cachemirian girls, with single- 
 sticks in their hands, particularly so ; the 
 clatter of the sticks, as they met in the 
 mimic combat, keeping time to a slow and 
 graceful movement of their feet, had the 
 effect of castanets, and was altogether both 
 pretty and singular. At the conclusion of 
 H
 
 98 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 the evening's entertainment, the Mahara- 
 jah's head man informed us that it was his 
 master's wish that we should take such of 
 them as pleased us best, and retain them in 
 our service. 
 
 3\st May. - - Faqueer Uzeez-oodeen 
 called to say that the Maharajah would 
 receive the mission this morning, for the 
 purpose of hearing Lord Auckland's letter 
 read ; and at 9 o'clock we accordingly pro- 
 ceeded to the palace, where we found Run- 
 jeet seated as on the former occasion. 
 After a few inquiries and compliments, he 
 proceeded to his private apartments, and in 
 the course of a few minutes we were re- 
 quested to follow him. He was sitting 
 cross-legged in a large silver chair, very 
 much resembling in shape what is called a
 
 RUNJEET SING. 99 
 
 hip bath, with Heera Sing seated at his side, 
 and Dheean Sing standing behind his chair. 
 Rajah Govind Juss, (his vakeel* to our resi- 
 dent at Loodhiana,) the old Faqueer, and 
 Sirdar Liana Sing, were sitting at his feet. 
 
 The Governor General's letter was then 
 read to him by Mr. M c Naghten, and the 
 part he was expected to take in concert 
 with the British Government, for the res- 
 toration of Shah Sooja-ool-mulk to the 
 throne of Cabul explained to him, giving 
 him to understand, at the same time, that if 
 he preferred taking his own course, and re- 
 lying solely upon his own military force, he 
 was at perfect liberty to do so ; but that if 
 he should choose the other line, a British 
 force would be ready to march, and co- 
 
 * Vakeel, agent or envoy. 
 H 2
 
 100 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 operate with his own. Dheean Sing here 
 shewed manifest tokens of disapprobation ; 
 and though not daring to make any remark, 
 could not refrain from expressing, both by 
 his countenance and sundry ominous shakes 
 of the head, his dissatisfaction at the idea 
 of any alliance with us. 
 
 Runjeet Sing, on the contrary, agreed to 
 the arrangement with the greatest appa- 
 rent cordiality and eagerness ; and after an 
 audience of two hours, we took our leave of 
 him, it having been settled that all minor 
 arrangements should be made hereafter. 
 
 We have broken the ice, and so far pro- 
 ceeded with flying colours, and may venture 
 to hope that our visit will not be prolonged 
 many more days ; but Runjeet is, I fear, far 
 too selfish not to endeavour to obtain an
 
 RUNJEET SING. 101 
 
 equivalent, in some shape or other, for his 
 promised assistance, and the permission to 
 march an army through his country. His 
 hatred of Dost Mahommed, and the hope of 
 seeing him driven from his kingdom, may 
 do much, but I have little doubt that, 
 cordial and willing as he now appears, he 
 will yet find some difficulty to throw in the 
 way of any final arrangement. After our 
 departure, all his chiefs endeavoured to 
 persuade him to reject all co-operation with 
 or assistance from us, and to take his own 
 independent course ; to which he replied, 
 that having made up his mind, he wished 
 to hear nothing more said on the subject. 
 In the course of the evening, we had the 
 usual music and fireworks. 
 
 1st June. Agreeably to invitation, we re-
 
 102 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 paired this morning to meet the Maharajah, 
 and see some of his regular infantry upon 
 their parade. We found about two thousand 
 men under arms, and some foot artillery. 
 They are a fine-looking body of men, dressed 
 in white jackets and trowsers, with black 
 belts and pouches, and wear the yellow 
 Sihk turban. They submit willingly to the 
 same discipline and regulations as our own 
 Sipahis, but have a prejudice against wear- 
 ing a cap or shako, and previous to their 
 enlistment make an agreement that they 
 shall not be required to do so, or to 
 shave. 
 
 They work in three ranks, and do every- 
 thing by beat of drum, according to the 
 French fashion ; are not what is called well 
 set up, but beautifully steady on parade,
 
 RUNJEET SING. 103 
 
 and fire with greater precision and regu- 
 larity, both volleys and file firing, than any 
 other troops I ever saw. They are paid the 
 same as the Company's Sipahis, or rather 
 are promised that such will be the case, 
 though they are frequently upwards of a 
 year, and seldom less than ten months, in 
 arrears. When they are half-starved, and 
 growing desperate, and Runjeet thinks they 
 will bear no more, he makes a compromise 
 with them, and giving half or one-third of 
 what is due to them, half frightens and half 
 cheats them into giving up all further 
 claims. They are finer men, I think, than 
 the Company's Sipahis, have fewer preju- 
 dices than most natives, and are more 
 easily managed ; and though, as a nation, 
 the Sihks are generally supposed to be
 
 104 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 wanting in courage, it is impossible to 
 deny that Runjeet's troops have occa- 
 sionally fought well. They are tall, rather 
 slight, but very manly-looking men, with 
 great length of limb, and broad, open 
 chests ; are excellent marchers, both as re- 
 gards speed and bottom, for they are ca- 
 pable of making very long marches, not 
 only on emergencies, but have done so 
 with cheerfulness and alacrity for days to- 
 gether. They are hardy far beyond the 
 generality of natives, and seem a merry, 
 light-hearted race of people. All their 
 movements on parade are very steady, but 
 much too slow ; they have but one pace for 
 everything, and the double step is unknown 
 to them. 
 
 The Sihk army possesses one great ad-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 105 
 
 vantage over our own the ease with which 
 it can be moved. No wheel carriage is al- 
 lowed on a march, their own bazars carry 
 all they require ; and thirty thousand of 
 their troops could be moved with more fa- 
 cility, and less expense and loss of time, 
 than three Company's regiments on this 
 side the Sutlege. 
 
 At the conclusion of the field day, I ac- 
 companied Runjeet for some distance on his 
 usual morning's excursion. He asked me 
 if I had ever seen any Burmese troops ; on 
 my replying in the negative, he said, I have 
 heard that they fight well, and beat your 
 Sipahis. I told him that they fought well 
 behind their stockades, but could not face 
 us on a fair field ; and that the Goorkhas 
 were, I thought, a braver race and better
 
 106 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 soldiers. " True," he remarked ; " they 
 are fine fellows. I have got a regiment of 
 them at Lahore which I will shew you." 
 " How many troops have you got in this 
 country altogether ?" " About two hun- 
 dred thousand." "So I have been told ; 
 but you could not bring that number into 
 the field at once, or at any one place?" 
 " Certainly not ; it is unnecessary. Twenty, 
 or at the most, thirty thousand British 
 troops could march from one end of India 
 to the other, and no power in the country 
 could stop them." " You are fine fellows ; 
 how many Frenchmen can an Englishman 
 beat?" " At school, in England, the boys 
 are always taught to consider themselves 
 equal to three Frenchmen." " And how 
 many Russians ?" " The French beat the
 
 RUNJEET SING. 107 
 
 Russians, and we beat the French." " If 
 the Russians cross the Indus, what force 
 could you bring against them?" " Quite 
 enough to drive them back, with your High- 
 ness for our ally." " Wah ! wah ! so we 
 will." I asked him some particulars about 
 his Goorkha regiments, and how he managed 
 to recruit for them, as we found the greatest 
 difficulty in keeping our own two regiments 
 complete, from the jealousy of the Nepau- 
 lese. He replied, that he found difficulty 
 himself ; but that by paying them much 
 higher than any other troops, he managed 
 to keep his regiment in very serviceable 
 order. The truth I afterwards ascertained 
 to be, that not above one man in twenty is a 
 real Goorkha, but they come principally 
 from Cachemire ; and as they are small and
 
 108 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 active men, they answer very well for the 
 purpose of hill warfare. 
 
 At the conclusion of our interview, Run- 
 jeet asked me to come and see his artillery 
 practice on the following morning, which I 
 promised to do ; and making my salaam, 
 galloped off to my tent to breakfast. It is 
 quite impossible to recollect the number of 
 his questions with sufficient accuracy to 
 write them down ; but those I do remem- 
 ber I have written in his own words. 
 
 2nd June. In the course of my ride this 
 morning I met Sher Sing with about two 
 hundred horsemen, galloping off to a jungle 
 about ten miles from Adeenanuggur. to look 
 for a tiger, which was said to be committing 
 great depredations in the neighbourhood. 
 He promised to send me word in the even-
 
 
 
 rflif j l 
 
 . 
 
 . . .
 
 RUNJEET SING. 109 
 
 ing if the intelligence proved true, and to 
 wait for me the following morning if I liked 
 to join him, and have a shot at it. The 
 usual corps de ballet, music, and fireworks, 
 appeared in the evening. 
 
 3rd June. Accompanied the Maharajah 
 to his artillery practice ground, where we 
 found twelve horse artillery guns, of differ- 
 ent calibres, but tolerably well horsed and 
 equipped. These guns are the refuse of his 
 artillery, and only used to accompany him 
 when he marches. His great depot is at 
 Lahore, and is said to be very superior, and 
 decidedly his best arm, and the one he 
 takes most interest in. He was trying his 
 own shells ; at five hundred yards the prac- 
 tice was indifferent, but at eight and twelve 
 hundred it was excellent. Many of the
 
 110 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 shells exploded exactly over the curtain ; 
 and when one burst with more than usual 
 accuracy, he turned round and remarked, 
 " I think that will do for Dost Mahommed." 
 At the conclusion of the practice, we rode 
 with him for a short time, and the sun 
 getting hot, returned to our tents to a late 
 breakfast. 
 
 Sher Sing returned in the evening, and 
 told me it was a false alarm about the tiger, 
 and that he had been out all day deer and 
 partridge shooting, and was half dead with 
 the heat and glare. 
 
 Faqueer Uzeez-oodeen called upon Dr. 
 Drummond this afternoon with a written 
 abstract of the Maharajah's health, and with 
 directions from his master to consult with 
 him upon the subject, and to ask for some
 
 RUNJEET SING. Ill 
 
 medicine. He invariably consults every 
 medical man he may meet with, and almost 
 as invariably neglects their advice. Their 
 medicine is always given to some of his 
 Sirdars, who are forced to swallow it in his 
 presence, and are then shut up that he may 
 be able to judge of its effects. This was 
 the case in this instance, for we heard the 
 next morning, that on the arrival of some 
 mild aperient medicine which Dr. Drum- 
 mond had sent in compliance with his 
 request, one of his favourite chiefs was sent 
 for, and directed to take it immediately, 
 and the victim was then sent home, with 
 orders to send his master the earliest pos- 
 sible intelligence of the state of his health 
 on the following morning. 
 
 4th June. At six o'clock this morning,
 
 112 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 Capt. M c Gregor and myself were sent for 
 by the Maharajah to accompany him in his 
 morning's excursion ; but before we could 
 get dressed, and our horses saddled, he was 
 five miles off. After a hard gallop, how- 
 ever, we succeeded in overtaking him, and 
 found him proceeding across the country in 
 his litter, with apparently no definite object 
 but that of getting an appetite for his break- 
 fast. About a hundred and fifty of his 
 Goorchur guard, and a horse artillery twelve- 
 pounder, accompanied him as an escort ; 
 and, as usual, young Heera Sing was in the 
 litter with him, and Rajahs Soochet and 
 Ajeet Sing on horseback. Every morning 
 at sunrise this escort is paraded in front of 
 his tent, with several of his favourite horses 
 saddled and bridled, his litter, and his riding
 
 RUNJEET SING. 113 
 
 elephant ; two spare elephants also accom- 
 pany him, one laden with a small shawl tent 
 and awning, the second with his batterie de 
 cuisine. A little after sunrise he leaves 
 his tent, either in his litter or mounted 
 on horseback, and goes straight across 
 the country in whatever direction his 
 fancy leads him, and generally remains 
 out about four hours, when he returns to 
 his palace and sits in Durbar till twelve 
 o'clock, and then generally retires to the 
 privacy of his zenana till the evening. 
 This morning we rode with him for some 
 miles, gossiping and chatting, and endea- 
 vouring in vain to satisfy his insatiable 
 curiosity upon subjects of the most opposite 
 nature. 
 
 " Are you fond of riding?" " Yes." 
 i
 
 114 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 " Are you fond of shooting?" " Very." 
 "Have you been out lately?" " Yes ; 
 about two months ago." " Where?" " In 
 the Terai and Dehra Dhoow." " What did 
 you shoot?" "Twelve tigers." "Are 
 you married?" " No." " Why don't 
 you marry ?" " I can't afford it." " What 
 horse is that you are on?" " An Arab." 
 " Where did you get him ?" "He was 
 given to me." " How long were you out 
 shooting?" " Fourteen days." " Do you 
 like my wine ?" " Yes ; but it is very 
 strong." " Have you breakfasted ?" " Not 
 yet." " Then we will breakfast here." 
 And in a small grove of trees a beautiful 
 shawl tent was immediately pitched, with 
 an awning supported by silver poles, and a 
 rich shawl carpet spread ; and in less than
 
 RUNJEET SING. 115 
 
 five minutes, we found ourselves seated on 
 golden chairs opposite Runjeet, who re- 
 mained in his litter supported on the 
 bearers' shoulders. Five minutes more 
 sufficed to produce breakfast. Runjeet's 
 table was formed by one of his servants 
 standing up close to his litter with his back 
 towards him, and then stooping till his 
 shoulders were on a level with its floor. A 
 tray containing different sorts of curry, rice, 
 sweetmeats, and milk, was then placed upon 
 the man's shoulders ; and the Maharajah 
 commenced his breakfast with an appa- 
 rently good appetite. The different eatables 
 were served up in the nicest and coolest 
 little vessels possible, about the size of tea- 
 cups, made of fresh green leaves, so closely 
 sewn together as to be capable of retaining 
 i 2
 
 116 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 liquids, and beautifully cool and clean. A 
 tray was brought to M c Gregor and myself, 
 upon each of which was arranged about six 
 of these little cups, containing different 
 sorts of curry, rice, curds, and some re- 
 markably fat quails, with all the bones 
 taken out, and highly spiced and seasoned. 
 We set to work with our fingers, (following 
 our host's example,) and though from want 
 of practice not quite so expert, contrived to 
 make a very hearty breakfast, which we 
 wound up with a delicious draught of iced 
 sherbet. 
 
 We then accompanied Runjeet home to 
 his palace, where he desired me to send for 
 my guns, and on their arrival ordered a 
 small lota, or brass drinking cup, to be 
 placed upon a pole, at about sixty yards
 
 RUNJEET SING. 117 
 
 distance, in one of the garden walks, and 
 said, " Now, hit that." I humbly suggested, 
 that as the garden was crowded with 
 people I should probably hit something 
 else. His reply was, " Never mind ; they 
 will soon get out of the way." I delayed 
 as long as possible till the walk was toler- 
 ably clear, and then had the good luck to 
 hit the lota three times running, when I 
 thought it would be prudent to desist, and 
 surrendered my guns to Rajah Dheean Sing, 
 and Soochet Sing, who, luckily for my 
 credit as a shot, failed in all their attempts, 
 and I was lauded in proportion. 
 
 We then retired with Runjeet to his 
 favourite seat in the verandah, and re- 
 mained gossiping with him for upwards of 
 an hour. He asked me if I had been at
 
 118 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 Bhurtpore with Lord Combermere, in 1826. 
 I told him that I had. He immediately 
 commenced a string of questions ahout the 
 siege, and asked if it were true that British 
 troops would attack a breach after being 
 once repulsed ; and added, " I have heard 
 that they will not hesitate, even if they had 
 to advance over the dead bodies of their 
 comrades." I told him that it was perfectly 
 true, and that they had done so on many 
 occasions. He remarked, " Ah ! my Sihks 
 wont do that. He mentioned a curious 
 circumstance relative to himself and the 
 siege of Bhurtpore that I had heard before, 
 but did not believe, though upon inquiry I 
 found, from Captain Wade, that it was 
 perfectly true. When the army marched 
 to invest Bhurtpore under Lord Comber-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 119 
 
 mere, Runjeet Sing had upwards of fifty 
 thousand men in arms, preparing for some 
 expedition against Cachemire ; and some 
 apprehensions were entertained by the 
 government, lest he should take the oppor- 
 tunity, when our hands were full, of throw- 
 ing off the mask of friendship for us, and 
 giving his assistance to Doorjun Saul, the 
 then reigning Rajah of Bhurtpore. He said 
 that on that occasion the Rajah had sent to 
 him, and offered him one hundred thousand 
 rupees for every day's march, and fifty 
 thousand for every day he remained with 
 him, if he would bring twenty thousand 
 men to his assistance. Runjeet asked, 
 " What would you have done if I had 
 acceded to his request ?" " Detached five 
 thousand men from the army we had before
 
 120 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 the fortress, and driven your twenty thou- 
 sand Sihks back again across the Sutlege." 
 He looked up and said, " Do you really 
 think they could have done it ?" " Yes ; 
 and perhaps it is all the better for your 
 Highness and your country that you did 
 not try the experiment." " I believe it has 
 turned out so ; but at the time all my 
 people were very anxious that I should have 
 done it." 
 
 June 5th This morning the Maharajah 
 came to our camp, to see the practice of the 
 Company's artillery, and I afterwards ac- 
 companied him a short distance on horse- 
 back. I took the opportunity of mentioning 
 
 how anxious I was to visit Lahore, and 
 
 * 
 
 Umritsir, if he would give me his permis- 
 sion ; to which he replied, " Don't go yet ;
 
 RUNJEET SING. 121 
 
 I am going myself in a few days, and then 
 we will have burr a tomacha," (great fun.) 
 
 Symptoms of cholera began to appear in 
 our camp, and the heat was dreadful, the 
 thermometer varying from 100 in the day- 
 time to 90 at night ; and being all of us 
 bored to death at Adeenanuggur, we voted 
 that Runjeet should, if possible, be aggra- 
 vated into going to Lahore immediately. 
 We accordingly set the old Faqueer Uzeez- 
 oodeen to work with him, and much to our 
 satisfaction heard, in the course of the 
 evening, that on his mentioning our wishes 
 to the Maharajah, he had consulted the 
 Grunth, or sacred volume of the Sihks, and 
 that, as the oracle was propitious, we might 
 be prepared to set off for Lahore in four 
 days' time.
 
 122 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 Runjeet Sing rarely undertakes any ex- 
 pedition of importance without consulting 
 this holy book. When unable to make up 
 his mind upon the probable success of any 
 measure he has in contemplation, he takes 
 a very simple method of solving his doubts, 
 by placing between the leaves of the Grunth 
 two slips of paper, on one of which is 
 written the object of his wishes, and on the 
 other the reverse. The papers are selected 
 by one of his Gooroos or priests, without 
 being looked at, and should the one first 
 presented to him prove propitious to the 
 expedition he may contemplate, he under- 
 takes it with the greatest confidence of 
 success, if otherwise, all idea of prosecuting 
 it is immediately given up. 
 
 Daily messages had been sent to Mr.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 123 
 
 M c Naghten, since his interview at the 
 palace, on the subject of the treaty ; all 
 tending, as we suspected they would, more 
 or less to create delay, and as it is neces- 
 sary to wait for answers from Simla to seve- 
 ral of these communications, there is every 
 probability of our visit being prolonged for 
 an indefinite period ; and the prospect of a 
 change of scene, and a visit to Lahore, is 
 more satisfactory. 
 
 6th June. The monotony of our camp 
 life was broken this morning by the arrival 
 of a very celebrated character in the Pun- 
 jab, and a person we had all expressed 
 great anxiety to see, and whom the Ma- 
 harajah had ordered over from Umritsir on 
 purpose. 
 
 He is a Faqueer by name, and is held in
 
 124 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 extraordinary respect by the Sinks, from 
 his alleged capacity of being able to bury 
 himself alive for any period of time. So 
 many stories were current on the subject, 
 and so many respectable individuals main- 
 tained the truth of these stories, that we all 
 felt curious to see him. He professes to 
 have been following this trade, if so it may 
 be called, for some years, and a consider- 
 able time ago, several extracts from the 
 letters of individuals who had seen the man 
 in the upper provinces, appeared in the 
 Calcutta papers, giving some account of his 
 extraordinary powers, which were, at the 
 time, naturally enough, looked upon as 
 mere attempts at a hoax upon the inhabit- 
 ants of Calcutta. Captain Wade, political 
 agent at Loodhiana, told me that he was
 
 
 
 ' t -r 
 
 
 THE BURYING 
 
 iieioT- CoBrart^ <Jre*.tlrtrll>oroajii. St. 134-0 .
 
 RUNJEET SING. 125 
 
 present at his resurrection after an inter- 
 ment of some months, General Ventura 
 having buried him in the presence of the 
 Maharajah and many of his principal Sir- 
 dars ; and, as far as I can recollect, these 
 were the particulars as witnessed by Gene- 
 ral Ventura .-After going through a regular 
 course of preparation, which occupied him 
 some days, and the details of which are too 
 disgusting to dilate upon, the Faqueer re- 
 ported himself ready for interment, in a 
 vault which had been prepared for the pur- 
 pose by order of the Maharajah. On the 
 appearance of Runjeet and his court, he 
 proceeded to the final preparations that were 
 necessary, in their presence, and after stop- 
 ping with wax his ears, nostrils, and every 
 other orifice through which it was possible
 
 126 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 for air to enter his body, except his mouth, 
 he was stripped and placed in a linen 
 bag ; and the last preparation concluded by 
 turning his tongue back, and thus, closing 
 the gullet, he immediately died away into a 
 sort of lethargy. The bag was then closed, 
 and sealed with Runjeet's own seal, and 
 afterwards placed in a small deal box, which 
 was also locked and sealed. The box was 
 then placed in a vault, the earth thrown in 
 and trod down, and a crop of barley sown 
 over the spot, and sentries placed round it. 
 The Maharajah was, however, very sceptical 
 on the subject, and twice in the course of 
 
 the ten months he remained underground 
 
 * 
 
 sent people to dig him up, when he was 
 found to be in exactly the same position, 
 and in a state of perfectly suspended ani-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 127 
 
 mation. At the termination of the ten 
 months, Captain Wade accompanied the 
 Maharajah to see him disinterred, and 
 states that he examined him personally and 
 minutely, and was convinced that all ani- 
 mation was perfectly suspended. He saw 
 the locks opened, and the seals broken by 
 the Maharajah, and the box brought into 
 the open air. The man was then taken out, 
 and on feeling his wrist and heart, not the 
 slightest pulsation was perceptible. The 
 first thing towards restoring him to life was 
 the forcing his tongue back to its proper 
 position, which was done with some little 
 difficulty by a person inserting his finger 
 and forcibly pulling it back, and continuing 
 to hold it until it gradually resumed its 
 natural place. Captain Wade described
 
 128 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 the top of his head to have been considerably 
 heated ; but all other parts of the body, 
 cool and healthy in appearance. Pouring a 
 quantity of warm water over him constitutes 
 the only further measure for his restoration, 
 and in two hours' time he is as well as ever. 
 He is apparently about thirty years of 
 age, with a disagreeable and cunning ex- 
 pression of countenance. We had a good 
 deal of conversation with him, and he 
 volunteered to be interred for any length of 
 time we pleased, in order to convince us 
 that he is no impostor. We took him at 
 his word, and he is to be buried on our 
 arrival at Lahore, and to remain under- 
 ground during our stay there, which will 
 probably be three weeks or a month ; and 
 though he complains that the period is too
 
 RUNJEET SING. 129 
 
 short, and that it is hardly worth his while 
 to undergo all the trouble of the prepara- 
 tion, if he comes out alive I will willingly 
 give him credit for being able to remain a 
 hundred years if he chooses it. 
 
 He states that his thoughts and dreams 
 are most delightful, and that it is painful to 
 him to be awoke from his lethargy. 
 
 His nails and hair cease growing, and 
 on his first disinterment he is for a 
 short time giddy and weak, but very soon 
 recovers his natural health and spirits. 
 His only fear whilst in his grave is that of 
 being attacked by insects, which he ob- 
 viates by having his box suspended from 
 the ceiling.* 
 
 * On ray return to Simla, accident placed in my 
 hands the appendix to a medical topography of
 
 130 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 7th June. Uzeezoodeen came this 
 morning in a great state of excitement, 
 saying that the Maharajah had consulted 
 the Grunth a second time, and found the 
 oracle so favourable to a change of air that 
 he had determined to set off for Lahore that 
 evening, and hoped we would be able to 
 proceed on the following morning. He 
 
 Loodhiania, by Dr. Me Gregor, of the Home Artillery, 
 by whose permission I have extracted the following 
 account of one of the former interments and resur- 
 rections of the Faqueer : 
 
 " A Faqueer who arrived at Lahore engaged to 
 bury himself for any length of time, shut up in a box, 
 and without either food or drink. Runjeet naturally 
 disbelieved the man's assertions, and was determined 
 to put them to the test. For this purpose the Faqueer 
 was shut up in a wooden box, which was placed in a 
 small apartment below the middle of the ground ; there 
 was a folding door to his box, which' was secured by a 
 lock and key. Surrounding this apartment there was 
 the garden house, the door of which was likewise
 
 RUNJEET SING. 131 
 
 accordingly moved his camp about five 
 miles on the road to Lahore, and our ad- 
 vanced camp was sent off a few miles 
 further. 
 
 8th June. Left Adeenanuggur this morn- 
 ing, delighted at the prospect of a change 
 of scene ; found our tents awfully hot ; we 
 passed Runjeet's camp about half way. 
 
 locked, and outside the whole, a high wall, having its 
 doorway built up with bricks and mud. In order to pre- 
 vent any one from approaching the place, a line of sen- 
 tries was placed, and relieved at regular intervals. The 
 strictest watch was kept up for the space of forty days 
 and forty nights, at the expiration of which period the 
 Maharajah, attended by his grandson and several of his 
 sirdars, as well as General Ventura, Captain Wade, and 
 myself, proceeded to disinter the Faqueer. The bricks 
 and mud were removed from the outer doorway ; the 
 door of the garden house was next unlocked, and 
 lastly that of the wooden box, containing the Faqueer ; 
 the latter was found covered with a white sheet, on 
 removing which, the figure of the man presented itself 
 
 K 2
 
 132 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 9th June. The thermometer at 112 all 
 day in our tents, notwithstanding tatties, 
 phermanticlotes, and every possible inven- 
 tion that was likely to lessen the stifling 
 heat. Runjeet Sing sent us word that he 
 could not stand the heat any longer, and 
 was going off at once to Lahore, which he 
 did, taking his whole camp and about five 
 
 in a sitting posture ; his hands and arms were pressed 
 to his sides, and his legs and thighs crossed. The 
 first step of the operation of resuscitation consisted in 
 pouring over his head a quantity of warm water ; 
 after this, a hot cake of otta was placed on the crown 
 of his head ; a plug of wax was next removed from one 
 of his nostrils, and on this being done, the man 
 breathed strongly through it. The mouth was now 
 opened, and the tongue, which had been closely 
 applied to the roof of the mouth, brought forward, 
 and both it and the lips anointed with ghee; during 
 this part of the proceeding, I could not feel the pulsa- 
 tion of the wrist, though the temperature of the body 
 was much above the natural standard of health. The
 
 RUNJEET SING. 133 
 
 thousand troops with him ; he marched up- 
 wards of fifty miles that night. 
 
 The thermometer after ten o'clock A.M. 
 at 113. All sorts of experiments to keep 
 themselves cool are tried by the different 
 unhappy individuals in camp ; I think mine 
 the most successful. Dig a large hole in 
 the ground, in the centre of your tent, and 
 
 legs and arms being extended, and the eyelids raised, 
 the former were well rubbed, and a little ghee applied 
 to the latter ; the eyeballs presented a dimmed, suffused 
 appearance, like those of a corpse. The man now 
 evinced signs of returning animation, the pulse became 
 perceptible at the wrist, whilst the unnatural tempera- 
 ture of the body rapidly diminished. He made several 
 ineffectual efforts to speak, and at length uttered a few 
 words, but in a tone so low and feeble as to render 
 them inaudible. By and by his speech was re-estab- 
 lished, and he recognised some of the bystanders, and 
 addressed the Maharajah, who was seated opposite to 
 him, watching all his movements. When the Faqueer 
 was able to converse, the completion of the feat was
 
 134 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 then place your table over it to form a sort 
 of inner roof, and prevent the sun from 
 shining down upon you. Make your 
 bheestie water the whole floor of the hut, 
 and then hang a wet sheet over the hole 
 like a hammock, pegged to the ground on 
 the edges of the pit to prevent its touching 
 the bottom ; take off all your clothes, and 
 
 announced by the discharge of guns, and other de- 
 monstrations of joy. A rich chain of gold was placed 
 round his neck by Runjeet, and ear-rings, baubles, 
 and shawls were presented to him. However ex- 
 traordinary this feat may appear, both to Europeans 
 and natives, it is difficult, if not impossible, to explain 
 it on phrenological principles. The man not only 
 denied his having tasted food or drink, but even main- 
 tained that he had stopped the function of respiration, 
 during a period of forty days and forty nights. To 
 all appearance, this long fasting had not been pro- 
 ductive of its usual effects, as the man seemed to be 
 in rude health, so that digestion and assimilation had 
 apparently proceeded in the usual manner; but this he
 
 RUNJEET SING. 135 
 
 get into it, and by having a skin of water 
 thrown over you every ten minutes, you 
 may perhaps get the temperature down to 
 100, which would be a perfect heaven to 
 what we are now enduring. 
 
 10^, llth, 12th, 14th, \5tti. The heat 
 perfectly intolerable ; we are unable to eat, 
 drink, or sleep, and support existence by 
 
 likewise denied, and piously asserted, that during the 
 whole time he had enjoyed a most delightful trance. 
 It is well known that the natives of Hindostan, by 
 constant practice, can bring themselves to exist on 
 the smallest portion of food for several days, and it is 
 equally true, that by long training, the same people 
 are able to retain the air in their lungs for some 
 minutes ; but how the functions of digestion and res- 
 piration could be arrested for such a length of time 
 appears unaccountable. The concealment of the 
 Faqueer during the performance of his feat, so far 
 from rendering the latter more wonderful, serves but 
 to hide the means he employs for its accomplishment, 
 and until he can be persuaded to undergo the confine-
 
 136 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 suction alone. We heard from the Maha- 
 rajah this morning, from Lahore, offering a 
 choice of residences there, one of his palaces 
 in the city, or the Shalimar Gardens, about 
 four miles from it, the latter of which we 
 gratefully accepted. 
 
 16th June. Entered Lahore this morn- 
 ing ; found the Maharajah's carriage waiting 
 
 ment in a place where his actions may be observed, it 
 is needless to form any conjectures regarding them. 
 It is well known to physiologists that the heart beats 
 and the function of the lungs is performed, even after 
 an animal's head has been removed ; but to suppose 
 for an instant, that the functions of the body can be 
 performed for any length of time, without a supply of 
 fresh arterial blood, which necessarily implies the 
 action of respiration, is absurd, and though in cases of 
 asphyxia, from drowning and hanging, or the inhala- 
 tion of noxious gases, both circulation and respiration 
 cease for a time ; still there is a limit to this, beyond 
 which life becomes extinct, and no power with 
 which we are acquainted is able to recall it. My
 
 RUNJEET SING. 137 
 
 for us about five miles from our camp, but the 
 whole concern looked so rickety and unsafe, 
 that in defiance of the heat we preferred 
 riding : found our camp pitched close to the 
 Shalimar Gardens, and in the very hottest 
 corner in the whole Punjab. I never felt 
 anything like the heat. We started before 
 three o'clock this morning, and even then 
 
 own opinion is, that the man enjoyed the functions of 
 respiration, circulation, and assimilation, in a degree 
 compatible with the existence of life, and that by long 
 training he had acquired the art of retaining the air 
 in the lungs for some minutes during the time he was 
 being shut up, and when he was again exposed. How 
 he managed to get a supply of food and drink I by 
 no means wish to hazard a guess. It is said that, pre- 
 vious to undergoing the confinement, this man 
 gradually overcomes the power of digestion, so that 
 milk received into the stomach undergoes no change. 
 He next forces all the breath in his body into the 
 brain, which is described as thereby imparting the 
 feeling of a hot coal to the head ; the lungs now col-
 
 138 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 the thermometer must have been upwards 
 of 100; not a breath of air, and a sort of 
 sultry stifling atmosphere, that made it a 
 painful exertion to breathe. Found Cap- 
 tain Alexander Barnes (who had just arrived 
 from Cabul) at our tents, and Dr. Ford. 
 Barnes mentions having left Dost Ma- 
 hommed Khan in a high state of excite- 
 ment ; his last words to him were, " I can't 
 do that brute any real harm, but I will tor- 
 lapse, and the heart, deprived of its usual stimulus, to 
 ..use a homely phrase, 'shuts up shop.' Having thus 
 disposed of digestion, assimilation, respiration, and 
 circulation, all the passages of the body are next 
 stopped, the legs and thighs are crossed, the hands 
 and arms are pressed to the sides ; in short, the man 
 presents the same appearance as when his box was 
 opened. However childish this may all appear, the 
 explanation was quite satisfactory to the good people 
 of Lahore. The same individual exhibited at Jessul- 
 mere with success ; an account of his feat there is 
 given in Lieut. Boileau's work, lately published."
 
 RUNJEET SING. 139 
 
 ment him a good deal yet before I have 
 done with him," the brute meaning Runjeet 
 Sing. He is represented as a clever, enter- 
 prising man. He has about three thousand 
 splendid cavalry, Affghans, and the pick of 
 them, mounted on his own horses, in which 
 he takes the greatest interest, personally 
 inspecting them, and visiting their stables 
 daily. He has no infantry or artillery 
 worth mentioning. 
 
 1 7th June. Hard at work all day endea- 
 vouring to make ourselves cool and comfort- - 
 able in our new quarters a work of consider- 
 able difficulty and trouble. I succeeded toler- 
 ably well by pitching a tent about twelve feet 
 square, made entirely of the fresh cuscus 
 grass, and lined with yellow muslin, very 
 thin, to prevent the water from the outside
 
 140 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 wetting the furniture, and yet sufficiently 
 fine to allow of a free current of air. This I 
 have pitched in the middle of the large 
 marble hall in the centre of the gardens, the 
 roof of which prevents the sun from striking 
 down, and all four sides being open, the hot 
 wind is able to blow freely through it, 
 which, by keeping the tent constantly wet 
 on the outside, is converted from some- 
 thing resembling the blast from a furnace 
 into a cool and refreshing, though damp 
 breeze, and the thermometer brought down 
 to eighty-four. 
 
 These gardens are very beautiful, and are 
 said to have cost three hundred thousand 
 pounds, but for many years have been 
 totally neglected, and Faqueer Uzeezood- 
 een tells me that within his recollection
 
 142 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 square tank in the middle of the gardens, 
 from which some hundred fountains are 
 constantly throwing water, and adding con- 
 siderably to the coolness of the atmosphere. 
 The buildings are few and insignificant, and 
 what there are of them are much deteriorated 
 in appearance by Runjeet Sing having ab- 
 stracted all the marble of which they were 
 composed, to ornament his palace in the 
 city, replacing it with bad stone and chu- 
 nan work. 
 
 18^ June. Received a visit from Uzeez- 
 oodeen, who informed us that we might 
 begin making our preparations for leaving 
 Lahore, as the Maharajah had made up 
 his mind to put his name to the treaty, and 
 that everything would be very shortly con- 
 cluded. During my evening's ride I unfor-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 143 
 
 tunately got amongst a band of Akalees, 
 and had to endure the usual quantity of 
 abuse and blackguardism they make a point 
 of so lavishly distributing to every one they 
 meet. They are, without any exception, the 
 most insolent and worthless race of people 
 in all India. They are religious fanatics, and 
 acknowledge no ruler and no laws but their 
 own ; think nothing of robbery, or even 
 murder, should they happen to be in the 
 humour for it. They move about constantly, 
 armed to the teeth, and it is not an un- 
 common thing to see them riding about 
 with a drawn sword in each hand, two more 
 in their belt, a matchlock at their back, and 
 three or four pair of quoits fastened round 
 their turbans. 
 
 The quoit is an arm peculiar to this
 
 144 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 race of people ; it is a steel ring, varying 
 from six to nine inches in diameter, and 
 about an inch in breadth, very thin, and the 
 edges ground very sharp ; they are said to 
 throw it with such accuracy and force, as to 
 be able to lop off a limb at sixty or eighty 
 yards' distance ; but I have several times 
 invited them to shew their dexterity, with- 
 out witnessing any proof of it that could 
 convince me of the truth of this supposed 
 accuracy. In general, the bystanders have 
 been in greater danger than the object 
 aimed at. Runjeet Sing has done much 
 towards reducing these people to a state of 
 subjection, (though they are still very trou- 
 blesome,) by breaking up the large bands of 
 them that were accustomed to congregate in 
 all parts of the Punjab. He has raised
 
 
 '
 
 RUNJEET SING. 
 
 some irregular regiments composed entirely 
 of Akalees, which he always employs on 
 any dangerous or desperate service ; and 
 as they fight like devils, he continues to 
 make them useful, as well as to expend a 
 great number of them in this way. In 
 1815, when the Maharajah's army was in- 
 vesting the city of Moultans, the Affghans 
 made so protracted and determined a de- 
 fence, that Runjeet Sing was induced to 
 offer very advantageous terms, compared to 
 what he was in the habit of doing under 
 similar circumstances ; and during the pro- 
 gress of the negotiations, an Akalee, named 
 Sadhoo Sing, with a few companions, ad- 
 vanced to the fausse braye, and without 
 orders, in one of their fits of enthusiasm, 
 attacked the Affghans, who were sleeping or 
 L
 
 146 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 careless on their watch, and killed every 
 man ; the Sihk army took advantage of the 
 opportunity, and rushing on, in two hours 
 carried the citadel, Muzuffer Khan and his 
 four sons being all cut down in the gateway, 
 after a gallant defence. 
 
 Though Runjeet Sing has considerably 
 moderated the nuisance, he has by no 
 means exterminated it, and has signally 
 failed in emancipating himself from their 
 insults and abuse, for at any review where 
 any of these regiments may be paraded, it 
 is still a common occurrence for them, on 
 marching past him, to throw handfuls of 
 musket balls at his feet, and abuse and in- 
 sult him in every sort of manner, frequently 
 threatening his life a threat which in more 
 than one instance they have attempted to
 
 RUN.IEET SING. 147 
 
 fulfil. The Maharajah bears it all with the 
 greatest coolness, and they proceed with 
 perfect impunity until they are detected in 
 any great crime, such as robbery or murder, 
 when he shews no mercy, and they are imme- 
 diately deprived of either their noses, ears, 
 arms, or legs, according to the degree of 
 their offence. During our sojourn at Adee- 
 nanuggur, an individual, supposed to be a 
 servant of Rajah Golaub Sing's, was de- 
 tected by one of the sentries concealed in a 
 mango tree, overlooking Runjeet's Zenana. 
 After a couple of shots the Sipahis brought 
 him down, and he was kept in close con- 
 finement till the hour the Durbar assembles, 
 when he was sent for by the Maharajah, and 
 in five minutes dismissed without either ears 
 or nose, and died in a few hours. 
 L 2
 
 148 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 June. All chance of our departure 
 for Simla postponed for a month at least. 
 The old lion has turned sulky, and refuses 
 to sign the treaty, wishing to stipulate for 
 all sorts of concessions which cannot he 
 granted, and thus reference to head quarters 
 is rendered necessary. 
 
 Went out this morning for my usual ride, 
 very much disgusted at this delay ; and 
 cordially wishing the Maharajah a speedy 
 return to a better humour, and the recovery 
 of his usual sense. His principal sirdars 
 are those who, for the gratification of their 
 own ambitious projects, exert all their influ- 
 ence to make him declare himself our 
 enemy instead of our friend ; but though 
 they may prevail upon him for a time to hesi- 
 tate, Runjeet has too much sense not to feel
 
 RUNJEET SING. 149 
 
 that all his power nay, his very kingdom 
 itself depends upon his being on good 
 terms with us. 
 
 Found myself on the parade ground close 
 under the walls of the city ; a beautiful 
 green plain, with some fine trees scattered 
 about, and a small building in a grove of 
 mangoes, where Runjeet sits to inspect his 
 troops. There were about four thousand 
 men dispersed about in different parts of 
 the field at drill, and a brigade of horse 
 artillery drawn up under the walls. Whilst 
 talking to the officers commanding them, 
 I was sent for by the Maharajah, whom I 
 found sitting in the small building already 
 mentioned, overlooking the different ma- 
 noeuvres of his troops. 
 
 I asked him how many troops he had
 
 150 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 at present at Lahore ; he told me about 
 twelve thousand infantry, and two thousand 
 cavalry, and added, " you shall see them all 
 out in a day or two." He asked several 
 questions about our mode of paying troops, 
 and mentioned his having been obliged to 
 disband some hundreds of men from the 
 regiments at Peshowar for mutiny. I asked 
 when they had been last paid. " Eighteen 
 months ago, and yet they were discon- 
 tented." "Very odd," I replied. "What 
 should you do in such a case ?" I explained 
 that it could not have happened in our 
 service, where the men were regularly paid. 
 He replied, " So are mine, and more than 
 that, the rascals have been living on plunder 
 for the last six months." I tried in vain to 
 impress upon him that I did not see exactly 
 how else they could live.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 151 
 
 20th June. Several of his European offi- 
 cers came to breakfast with us this morn- 
 ing. They do not seem very fond of his 
 service, which is not to be wondered at, for 
 they are both badly and irregularly paid, 
 and are treated with little respect or con- 
 fidence. He exacts written agreements 
 from them when they join, and some of these 
 are curious documents. In one, the indi- 
 vidual is bound to marry a native of the 
 Punjab ; to serve faithfully against all Run- 
 jeet's enemies, whoever they may be ; and 
 never to quit his country or his service 
 without special leave obtained for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 This is one of the many instances in 
 which Runjeet sacrifices his own interests 
 to his unconquerable avarice. With the 
 finest material in the world for forming an
 
 152 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 army, requiring nothing but European offi- 
 cers to make them equal to the Company's, 
 his love of money opposes an obstacle that 
 habit has now rendered him unable to 
 overcome. His distrust and jealousy of 
 Europeans is also another reason that his 
 army, with all its advantages over other native 
 troops, is not in the state of training its ap- 
 pearance would lead you to expect. Run- 
 jeet, however, is too advanced in life, and 
 his habits of avarice are grown too strong, 
 to be easily altered, and unless some unfore- 
 seen accident occurs, which,, by proving to 
 him how little his present force is to be de- 
 pended on in cases of emergency, shall 
 induce him to follow a more liberal line of 
 conduct, his army will continue as it is, 
 utterly useless and inefficient.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 153 
 
 2\st June. The weather intolerably close 
 and oppressive ; the rains evidently ap- 
 proaching, which will make our return to 
 Simla a more disagreeable, as well as far 
 longer business, than our march here. I 
 find sitting for an hour at daybreak under 
 the great fountain very comfortable, as the 
 water is then cool, and it refreshes me for 
 the whole day. The Sihk guard regu- 
 larly turn out and present arms in the most 
 soldierlike manner the moment I am seated 
 under the water, and there they persist in 
 remaining under arms during the whole 
 time I am bathing ; and considering my 
 dress, or rather the absence of it, at the 
 moment, it is a matter of considerable diffi- 
 culty to return the salute with the proper 
 degree of dignity.
 
 154 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 The Maharajah sent us in the evening a 
 new set of dancing girls, as they were called, 
 though they turned out to be twelve of the 
 ugliest old women I ever saw, and who were 
 highly indignant at being sent away on 
 account of their looks, without being 
 permitted to display their talents in 
 screaming. 
 
 22nd June. Went to the parade ground 
 soon after sunrise ; Runjeet came to meet 
 us on his elephant about a mile from it, and 
 we accompanied him to the right of his line 
 of infantry. It consisted of about twelve 
 thousand men, and reached to the city 
 gates, above two miles. I never saw so 
 straight or beautiful a line with any troops. 
 They were all dressed in white with black 
 cross belts, and either a red or yellow silk
 
 RUNJEET SING. 155 
 
 turban ; armed with muskets and bayonets 
 of excellent manufacture, from Runjeet's 
 foundry at Lahore. Their movements are 
 very steady, but much too slow, and an 
 European light infantry regiment would find 
 little difficulty in working round them. 
 This might be easily remedied, by having a 
 proper proportion of active European offi- 
 cers, but nothing can be worse than the 
 system now in vogue. The commanding 
 officer abuses and beats the major, the 
 major the captains, the captains the subal- 
 terns, and so on till there is nothing left for 
 the privates to beat but the drummer boys, 
 who catch it accordingly. 
 
 They tell rather an amusing story of 
 some of Runjeet's crack regiments during 
 one of his actions with Dost Mahommed,
 
 156 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 which will shew how little dependence can 
 be placed on their discipline, in a case of 
 emergency. During a very critical period 
 of the action, Runjeet saw an advantageous 
 opening for the advance of part of his re- 
 serve, which was composed of his best regi- 
 ments, and he accordingly gave the order 
 for one of the brigades to come to the sup- 
 port of his advance, and to which order the 
 only reply he received was an universal 
 shout from the men that drill and ma- 
 noeuvres did very well in peace time and on 
 parade, but that they could not stand it 
 now when they were really in action, and 
 that they must fight their own way, or they 
 would not fight at all. They accordingly 
 all broke from their ranks, every man 
 fighting for himself, and of course in
 
 RUNJEET SING. 157 
 
 a few minutes were completely routed and 
 beaten. 
 
 The reports from different persons on the 
 efficiency of the Sihk army, who have been 
 witnesses to its conduct in action, vary so 
 much, that it is difficult to come at the real 
 truth ; but from what I have myself wit- 
 nessed of its discipline on parade, I should 
 say that it only requires good officers and 
 regular pay to make it a very powerful and 
 serviceable army. The Sihks are generally 
 accused of want of courage, of the truth of 
 which accusation I am unable to judge, but 
 that they have fought the Affghans hand to 
 hand, and beaten them on more than one 
 occasion, there is no doubt ; what they 
 would do against our own Sipahis must 
 remain a matter of uncertainty ; though I
 
 158 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 confess I think, if equally well officered and 
 led, they would prove efficient troops in 
 every way. 
 
 As they are at present constituted, Run- 
 jeet Sing's own opinion of them is the most 
 correct ; though, perhaps, he is the only 
 individual in his dominions who estimates 
 them at their real value. He is well aware 
 that the knowledge of the fact of his main- 
 taining upwards of twenty thousand regular 
 infantry, armed and disciplined like Euro- 
 peans, has done more towards keeping his 
 refractory Sirdars in order, than the fear of 
 ten times their number of irregular forces 
 would have done ; and he is also well aware 
 of the moral influence he derives from 
 the reputation of being able to bring into 
 the field, at a moment's notice, a body of
 
 RUNJEET SING. 159 
 
 infantry which, compared with those of other 
 native powers, may be called highly disci- 
 plined and effective, and while he relies 
 much on this influence, he places little confi- 
 dence in their actual services. 
 
 His own individual influence over them 
 is most extraordinary ; and turbulent and 
 discontented as they are by nature, hard- 
 worked and badly paid, nothing but the 
 awe inspired by the master mind, great in- 
 formation, and powerful resources of Run- 
 jeet Sing, could have enabled him with im- 
 punity (imitating the example of Nadir 
 Shah after the capture of Delhi) to 
 compel a numerous and victorious army, 
 flushed too with recent success, to disgorge 
 their hard-won plunder, and restore it 
 for his own individual emolument. Such
 
 160 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 was the case, however, after his capture of 
 Moultan, for, on the arrival of his army 
 at Lahore after the siege, he issued a pro- 
 clamation, that all the plunder was to 
 become the property of the state, and by 
 dint of threats and punishment succeeded 
 in obtaining the restoration of almost every 
 article of value. 
 
 After going down the line of infantry, we 
 crossed the river with Runjeet Sing, in 
 order to inspect his artillery, which we 
 found drawn up on the opposite bank. It 
 consisted of a battery of fifty-three horse 
 artillery, nine pounders, cast in brass in his 
 own foundry at Lahore, from the patterns of 
 those presented to him by Lord William 
 Bentinck. The only discreditable part of 
 his artillery in appearance is the harness,
 
 RUNJEET SING. 161 
 
 which is patched and shabby, but the horses, 
 though small, appeared to be active, and in 
 very tolerable condition. He is very proud 
 of the efficiency and admirable condition of 
 his artillery, and justly so, for no native 
 power has yet possessed so large and well- 
 disciplined a corps. Rajah Dheean Sing 
 feels a great interest in all pertaining to this 
 branch of his master's army, and under 
 his active superintendence it is daily im- 
 proving, and has already become by far the 
 best and most powerful arm of the Sihk 
 nation. 
 
 His regular infantry have been all raised 
 and drilled by General Ventura, an Italian 
 officer in his service, and to whom this pre- 
 sent soldierlike appearance and state of disci- 
 pline are entirely due. The raising of the 
 M
 
 162 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 regular cavalry was entrusted to General 
 Allard, a French officer ; but from all I can 
 hear, his intentions have been so thwarted, 
 and his means so limited, by the parsimony 
 of the Maharajah, that the same success 
 has not attended his efforts with the cavalry 
 which General Ventura appears to have met 
 with in the infantry. They are both in- 
 valuable officers to the Maharajah ; and 
 he is acting contrary to his own best in- 
 terests by not treating them with more 
 liberality and confidence than he is said 
 to do. 
 
 23rd June. This morning, after break- 
 fast, took a stroll round the gardens for the 
 purpose of selecting a proper spot for the 
 interment of our friend the Faqueer, and 
 fixed on a small circular room on the ground-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 163 
 
 floor of one of the round towers in the gar- 
 den wall, about twenty feet in diameter, 
 with a brick arched roof and floor. We set 
 the bricklayers to work, and in the centre 
 of this room built a small vault about five 
 feet square, with a door just sufficiently 
 large to admit the box which contains the 
 Faqueer, made of strong planks of wood, 
 about two inches thick, with staples and 
 hasps, and a strong padlock; and then, having 
 prepared bricks and mortar to wall up the 
 doorway of the outer room, we sent him 
 word that all was ready, and he promised 
 to make his appearance in the evening or 
 the following morning. 
 
 24th June. At sunrise waited on the 
 Maharajah, according to appointment, to 
 see the practice of his artillery. There were 
 M 2
 
 164 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 thirteen brass nine pounders on the ground, 
 protected by two squadrons of his regular 
 cavalry, under the command of Rajah 
 Dheean Sing. After manoeuvring for about 
 an hour, and executing several of the more 
 simple movements with considerable preci- 
 sion and steadiness, and at a tolerable pace, 
 they commenced practising with grape at a 
 curtain, at two hundred yards' distance ; the 
 practice would have been creditable to any 
 artillery in the world. At the first round 
 of grape, the curtain was cut clean away, 
 and their shells at eight and twelve hundred 
 yards were thrown with a precision that is 
 extraordinary, when the short period of 
 time since they have known of even the 
 existence of such a thing is taken into con- 
 sideration. I rode up to the curtains with
 
 liUNJEET SING. 165 
 
 Dheean Sing at the conclusion of the prac- 
 tice, and found them almost cut to pieces. 
 The Rajah appeared highly delighted at his 
 success, and remarked to Runjeet Sing, that 
 he wished Dost Mahommed could have been 
 present, as a witness to his proficiency. 
 
 I took the opportunity of looking at the 
 two squadrons of General Allard's cavalry, 
 who were on the ground. They were the first 
 of them I had yet met with, and I was much 
 disappointed in their appearance. They do 
 not look to advantage by the side of the in- 
 fantry. They are men of all ages, ill-looking, 
 ill-dressed, and worse mounted, and neither 
 in appearance or reality are they to be com- 
 pared to the infantry soldier of the Punjab. 
 One reason for this is, that Runjeet person- 
 ally inspects every recruit for his infantry,
 
 166 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 whilst the cavalry is generally recruited from 
 the followers of the different Sirdars, and 
 most of them owe their appointments to 
 favour and interest, more than to their fitness 
 and capability. 
 
 25th June. We were all disturbed before 
 sunrise this morning by a tremendous can- 
 nonade, and found, upon inquiry, that 
 Kurruck Sing, the heir apparent, had ar- 
 rived from Peshowar in the course of the 
 night, and that to do him honour, all the 
 heavy guns on the city walls, as well as the 
 whole park of artillery, had been fired by 
 the Maharajah's orders a compliment which 
 he seldom, if ever, causes to be paid to him- 
 self. 
 
 26th June. This morning, at sunrise, 
 ordered our elephants, and went out to try
 
 RUNJEET SING. 167 
 
 and relieve the monotony of our life by a 
 few hours' shooting. Proceeded straight to a 
 rumna, or preserve, of the Maharajah's, 
 which we supposed to abound in wild hog, 
 hares, and black partridges. The Sihks, in 
 contradiction to the religious tenets of most 
 of the other castes in India, are very fond of 
 pork, and Runjeet cultivates grain and sugar- 
 cane round this preserve for the wild hog who 
 frequent it to feed upon. Beef is as much 
 a forbidden food in the Punjab as pork is in 
 Hindostan to the natives ; and to kill a cow 
 across the Sutlege would subject the perpe- 
 trator of the deed to almost certain death. 
 We found a considerable quantity of wild 
 hog, and a few black partridges, in the 
 rumna, and had altogether two hours' very 
 tolerable shooting.
 
 168 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 The Maharajah met our servants return- 
 ing home with the produce of their sport, 
 and after examining most critically every pig, 
 he counted the number of balls each had 
 received, and when he found one killed by 
 a single shot, asked who killed it, and said, 
 " that was a good shot ;" whilst to some 
 who had been a good deal mangled, he re- 
 marked, " Bad that, very bad." He gave 
 each of the servants ten rupees, and dis- 
 missed them with a civil message to us, to 
 go and shoot there whenever we pleased. 
 
 I received a note from Sher Sing in the 
 evening, requesting me to ask the Maha- 
 rajah to allow him to accompany me the 
 next time I went there, with a warning that, 
 on no account, was I to let Runjeet know 
 that I had had any communication with
 
 RUNJEET SING. 169 
 
 him. I sent a civil answer, to the effect 
 that I could not trespass so far on the 
 Maharajah's kindness as to presume to ask 
 leave for any one to shoot on ground he 
 preserved for his own amusement, and to 
 which I was only admitted as a particular 
 favour, much less, one of his own court and 
 family ; but that I should be happy to make 
 a party with him to look for sport in any 
 other direction. His reply was civil and 
 gentlemanlike, saying that I was right, and 
 that as we should probably meet in the 
 morning, we could then make arrangements 
 for a shooting expedition to a jungle at a 
 few miles' distance. 
 
 This morning was fixed upon for the 
 interment of our friend the Faqueer, who 
 had arrived the evening before, and having
 
 170 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 undergone the necessary purgation, both of 
 body and mind, professed himself eager for 
 the moment when he hoped to convince us 
 he was no impostor. I went to see him at 
 sunrise, and found him sitting on the bare 
 floor praying, and evidently more nervous 
 and frightened than he was at all inclined 
 to acknowledge, and by no means so confi- 
 dent as he had hitherto been ; he however 
 insisted that at twelve o'clock the hour 
 originally settled he would be ready, and, 
 in short, seemed determined to keep up the 
 farce to the last moment. 
 
 At the appointed hour we accordingly 
 all assembled, and found a crowd of priests 
 and Gooroos collected at the spot, to witness 
 the interment of the holy man. His courage 
 had much evaporated since the morning,
 
 RUNJEET SING. 171 
 
 and he commenced the interview by saying 
 that we had promised him no reward. We 
 told him that we feared a man of his sanctity 
 would have been offended at any such offer, 
 but as it was not so, we would agree to 
 give him fifteen hundred rupees if he came 
 out alive at the end of a week, and that we 
 were also empowered to promise him a 
 jaghir of two thousand rupees yearly, on 
 the part of Runjeet Sing. 
 
 He then requested to know what precau- 
 tions we meant to take to prevent his being 
 disturbed, and to keep away all chance of 
 communication from without. We pro- 
 duced two padlocks for his box, and two 
 more for the door of the inner vault, one 
 key of each of which we told him should be 
 given to any one he might appoint to receive
 
 172 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 it, and the others we should keep ourselves ; 
 that all the locks should be sealed with our 
 own seals ; that the entrance to the outer 
 room in which the vault was built should 
 be walled up ; that sentries from our 
 own troops should be posted night and day 
 round the tower, and that if at the end of 
 the period specified one week he was alive 
 to claim them, the money and the villages 
 should both be made over to him. He was 
 evidently frightened, and made objections 
 to arrangements that he himself had pro- 
 posed the day before, and insisted that he 
 must have a duplicate key to each lock, 
 which he must leave in charge of his own 
 people ; that the seals should be only placed 
 upon a particular part of each lock, which 
 he pointed out, and where they would have
 
 RUNJEET SING. 173 
 
 been perfectly useless, and also insisted 
 upon no Mussulmen sentries being placed 
 near the spot. 
 
 After an hour's wrangle, he professing 
 himself ready to fulfil his engagement on 
 these conditions, and we firm in our resolu- 
 tion not to be humbugged, we rose to go 
 away. He immediately broke out into the 
 most violent abuse against all Englishmen 
 generally, and ourselves individually, who, 
 he said, had come all the way to Lahore on 
 purpose to endeavour to lower him in the 
 opinion of his own people, and to make 
 them believe he was an impostor. " But," 
 he added, "you will not succeed; my sanctity 
 is too firmly established to be called in 
 question by you who believe in nothing, 
 and are feringees and heretics." In vain we
 
 174 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 assured him that the whole business had 
 originated in a volunteer on his part to per- 
 form what we had all along felt convinced 
 was impossible, but that we were still open 
 to conviction, and that if we were allowed 
 to witness what he stated so many other 
 persons had done, we were willing to give 
 our testimony to the fact, but before doing 
 so, that conviction must be firm and com- 
 plete. He however continued very violent 
 and abusive, and, after a short time spent 
 in trying to soothe him, we left him, with 
 no doubt on our minds of his being an 
 impostor. In the course of the evening he 
 sent me a message by one of the Maha- 
 rajah's Sirdars, to say that Runjeet Sing 
 was very angry with him, and that unless 
 he could succeed in convincing us, he
 
 RUNJEET SING. 175 
 
 should now lose all the credit he had 
 formerly gained, and should be looked upon 
 by his own countrymen and brother priests 
 as an impostor, and that rather than this 
 should occur, he would agree to the pro- 
 posed terms, though he felt sure that our 
 object was only to destroy him, and that 
 we knew very well that he never would 
 come out alive. 
 
 I told him, in reply, that I was as certain 
 as himself of the latter fact, and that though 
 there were no coroner's inquests in the 
 Punjab, I had still a strong objection to 
 having his death laid at my door ; and 
 that, as he himself now allowed the 
 danger of the attempt, I must decline 
 having anything more to do with it. 
 
 28th June. Took my usual ride this
 
 176 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 morning to the parade ground, and found 
 Runjeet Sing inspecting a brigade of infantry 
 and some guns. It is called Heera Sing's 
 brigade, but the youngster is much too idle 
 ever to assume the command himself. 
 
 Reports had been received the day before 
 from Heerat, of Mr. M c Neil's having left 
 the Persian camp, and (though the for- 
 tress still held out) that twelve thousand 
 Russians were on their march to assist at 
 its reduction. Runjeet Sing was very much 
 excited, and could talk of nothing else. 
 " What number of troops does the Emperor 
 of Russia keep in pay ?" " Are they good 
 soldiers ?" " Can the English beat them ?" 
 "Can the Sipahis beat them?" &c., &c. 
 I told him that the French had often beat 
 them, and that we had beaten the French
 
 RUNJEET SING. 177 
 
 quite as often. " If they wished to invade 
 India, what number of men could they bring 
 across the Indus ?" " Fifty thousand 
 would be the smallest number they would 
 attempt an advance with, and probably one 
 hundred thousand would be sent." " What 
 should you do if they were actually to attempt 
 an invasion?" "Join your highness with 
 thirty thousand British troops, which, with 
 seventy thousand of your Sihks, would be 
 quite sufficient to drive them back again." 
 " Wah, wah, so we will." "Do you wish 
 them to come ?" "Of course I do ; it 
 would be burra tomacha," (great fun.) " So 
 do I," he replied, " I am sure we could beat 
 them. Have they much money ?" " No ; 
 very little'." "Then there would be nothing 
 but fighting; no plunder?" "Certainly 
 
 N
 
 178 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 not." He looked very sulky for a few 
 moments, and then giving a deep sigh, said, 
 " Perhaps it will be better if they do not 
 come, after all ;" and his anxiety for the 
 advance of the Russians appeared to have 
 diminished considerably. I asked him, 
 among other questions, whether he ever 
 worked his troops in large bodies, cavalry 
 and infantry together, and whether they 
 were taught anything of light infantry move- 
 ments. He told me, that since the period 
 of Sir Henry Fane's visit to him, he had 
 constantly had his infantry drilled as light 
 infantry, and that I should see them out in 
 a day or two. 
 
 29th June. We received a visit from the 
 old Faqueer Uzeezoodeen this morning, 
 who gladdened our hearts by informing us
 
 RUNJEET SING. 179 
 
 that we might commence our preparations 
 for a return to Simla, as the Maharajah had 
 at last made up his mind to put his name to 
 the treaty without any further delay. Sent 
 off my horses in the evening to be laid at 
 intervals on the road, as the whole country 
 is under water, and it is very doubtful whe- 
 ther we shall be able to carry our tents, and 
 therefore marching would be out of the 
 question ; but I hope, in spite of weather, 
 and bad, or rather no roads, by the aid of 
 plenty of horses, to be able to reach Simla 
 in three days. Sent a Shuta surwar (camel - 
 rider) off with an express to Simla, to say 
 that our business was coming to a conclu- 
 sion, and that we hoped on the following 
 morning to see the Maharajah, and induce 
 him to fix an early day for our audience of 
 N 2
 
 180 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 leave. The rains having set in, have 
 brought out all the musquitoes and reptiles 
 that swarm in the gardens ; and what with 
 the buzzing and stinging of the former, and 
 the dread of finding one of the latter in one's 
 bed, it is by no means a pleasant residence. 
 Captain Stuart of the escort killed two 
 large cobra capellas this morning in his 
 room, and two of the Sipahis were found 
 dead, having been bitten by a snake whilst 
 asleep. They brought the snake to me 
 alive, it having been caught by one of the 
 poor fellow's comrades : it was a small dark- 
 green one, about eighteen inches in length, 
 and not so thick as my little finger. They 
 both appeared to have died instantaneously, 
 and without even awaking. The only wound 
 was a small puncture on the sole of the foot.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 181 
 
 30th June. Was awakened this morning, 
 at three o'clock, by the return of the Shuta 
 surwar we had dispatched the evening be- 
 fore ; he came back covered with blood, 
 and stripped to the skin, with the account 
 of his having been attacked about seven 
 miles from Lahore by a band of Akalees. 
 They had cut off one of his fingers, taken 
 his camel, carbine, and pistols, all his 
 clothes and his dispatches, and then told 
 him he might return as fast as he pleased. 
 
 Sent him off to the Maharajah to make 
 his complaint to him ; he returned in the 
 course of the afternoon, having received one 
 hundred rupees for his camel, another hun- 
 dred for his arms and clothes, and fifty for 
 his finger, and upon the whole seeming very 
 well satisfied. Runjeet has sent some of
 
 182 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 his cavalry after the Akalees, and if he 
 catches any of them they will lose one, if 
 not both of their arms, or perhaps a leg in- 
 stead. His executions are very prompt 
 and simple, and follow quickly on the sen- 
 tence : one blow of an axe, and then some 
 ( 
 
 boiling oil to immerse the stump in, and 
 stop all effusion of blood, is all the ma- 
 chinery he requires for his courts of justice. 
 He is himself accuser, judge, and jury ; 
 and five minutes is about the duration of 
 the longest trial at Lahore. 
 
 At six o'clock mounted our elephants 
 and proceeded to a jungle a few miles off, 
 where I had promised to meet Sher Sing 
 and have a few hours' wild hog and deer 
 shooting. Found him waiting our arrival 
 with an immense establishment of elephants,
 
 UUNJEET SING. 183 
 
 and we fell in with a great many wild hogs, 
 some deer, and a few black partridges and 
 hares. The Sihks have a curious way of 
 catching the wild hog, which I never saw 
 practised in any other part of India. They 
 make a kind of snare of strong withy s, and 
 setting them in runs of the hogs, generally 
 succeed in catching the finest boars, who, 
 when once disturbed, rush blindly on, till 
 brought up by these snares, when a man 
 goes up, and generally at a single blow of 
 his sword puts an end to them. We caught 
 five and twenty in this manner in the course 
 of a few hours. On our arrival at home, 
 found that yesterday's good intelligence 
 was correct, and that we might really hope 
 to be able to set off for Simla in the course 
 of a week.
 
 184 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 1st July. Proceeded as usual to the 
 parade ground, and, as usual, found the 
 Maharajah inspecting a brigade of infantry, 
 cavalry, and horse artillery ; they were 
 under the command of Sirdar Goolab Sing, 
 one of his best and most intelligent native 
 officers, and went through a common field- 
 day with great readiness and precision. 
 Runjeet Sing was most particular in his 
 inquiries as to whether his system of tactics 
 was the same as ours, and repeatedly begged 
 I would point out anything I observed that 
 was different from our own drill. I men- 
 tioned to him the only mistakes that came 
 to my notice ; one, the system of making 
 his skirmishers fire together in volleys by 
 word of command. He replied that it en- 
 abled them to fire more regularly. I ex-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 185 
 
 plained to him that we considered the ob- 
 ject of all skirmishing defeated by it, and 
 that each man should fire individually, as 
 soon as he had taken his aim, and felt 
 certain of his mark, without waiting for his 
 comrades. He considered for a few minutes, 
 and then said, " I think it would be better 
 and I will try it ;" and the next morning 
 I saw his light infantry practising individual 
 firing, and skirmishing as well as any com- 
 pany's regiment could have done. There was 
 only one other mistake which I pointed out 
 to him, and suggested that the cavalry pro- 
 tecting his guns should be on the flanks and 
 not in the rear. He saw the propriety of 
 this at once, and the order for the change 
 was given on the spot. 
 
 He was in high good humour, and talked
 
 186 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 of our approaching departure from his court, 
 and asked how I meant to travel on my re- 
 turn, now that the rainy season had com- 
 menced. I told him that marching was out 
 of the question, and travelling in a palan- 
 quin nearly as difficult ; but that I should try 
 to ride as far as I could, and hoped by that 
 means to reach Loodhiana in the course of 
 four and twenty hours ; and that from 
 thence, once in our own territories, I should 
 find no difficulty in getting to Simla. He 
 offered his carriage, and said he would 
 order his different Sirdars to provide relays 
 of horses the whole way to Loodhiana if I 
 liked. I could not well refuse, so made the 
 best of it, and expressed the greatest grati- 
 tude for his consideration and kindness ; 
 though judging from the appearance of the
 
 RUNJEET SING. 187 
 
 carriage, (an enormous old English family 
 state coach, I felt little hope of its not 
 falling to pieces the first stage, to say 
 nothing of the harness, to repair which 
 it was generally found necessary to stop 
 several times even in the short distance 
 between the city and our camp. The 
 only horses, too, I shall have to depend 
 upon will be those of his artillery, and 
 they are not the quietest race of creatures 
 in the world ; but anything is better than 
 travelling three hundred miles in a palan- 
 quin, even over the best of roads, and in the 
 finest weather ; but now, with the country 
 all under water, if we got on at all, it would 
 be hopeless expecting to reach Loodhiana 
 under a week by that mode of conveyance ; 
 so Mackerson and myself have made up our
 
 188 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 minds to make the experiment of posting in 
 the Punjab, which, if it has nothing else, will 
 at all events have the advantage of novelty 
 to recommend it. 
 
 July 2nd. Started before sunrise this 
 morning to pay a visit to ShaK Doora, and 
 see the celebrated mausoleum of Jehan- 
 geer. It is a magnificent building, enclosed 
 with a wall of some height, and occupying 
 a space of about six hundred yards square ; 
 the tomb is kept in excellent repair, and 
 though far inferior to the Taj at Agra, is well 
 worth the gallop of a few miles from Lahore 
 to see. On my return home, I met the 
 Maharajah taking his usual ride. He was 
 very inquisitive as to where I had been, and 
 I never saw him in so good a humour or 
 such high spirits. After a good deal of
 
 RUNJEET SING. 189 
 
 gossip upon various subjects, he said, " You 
 have never been at one of my drinking 
 parties ; it is bad work drinking now the 
 weather is so hot ; but as soon as we have 
 a good rainy day, we will have one." I 
 sincerely trust it will not rain at all during 
 our stay, for, from all accounts, nothing can 
 be such a nuisance as one of these parties. 
 His wine is extracted from raisins, with a 
 quantity of pearls ground to powder, and 
 mixed with it, for no other reason (that 
 I can hear) than to add to the expense 
 of it. It is made for himself alone, and 
 though he sometimes gives a few bottles 
 to some of his favourite chiefs, it is very 
 difficult to be procured, even at the enor- 
 mous price of one gold mohur for a small 
 bottle. It is as strong as aquafortis, and as
 
 190 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 at his parties he always helps you himself, 
 it is no easy matter to avoid excess. He 
 generally, on these occasions, has two or 
 three Hebes in the shape of the prettiest of 
 his Cachemirian girls to attend upon him- 
 self and guests, and gives way to every 
 species of licentious debauchery. He fell 
 violently in love with one of these fair cup- 
 bearers about two years ago, and actually 
 married her, after parading her on a pillion 
 before himself on horseback, through the 
 camp and city, for two or three days, to the 
 great disgust of all his people. The only 
 food allowed you at these drinking bouts 
 are fat quails stuffed with all sorts of spices, 
 and the only thing to allay your thirst, 
 naturally consequent upon eating such heat- 
 ing food, is this abominable liquid fire.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 191 
 
 Runjeet himself laughs at our wines, and 
 says that he drinks for excitement, and 
 that the sooner that object is attained the 
 better. Of all the wines we brought with 
 us as a present to him from the governor- 
 general, consisting of port, claret, hock, 
 champagne, &c., the whiskey was the only 
 thing he liked. During these potations he 
 generally orders the attendance of all his 
 dancing girls, whom he forces to drink his 
 wine, and when he thinks them sufficiently 
 excited, uses all his power to set them by 
 the ears, the result of which is a general 
 action, in the course of which they tear one 
 another almost to pieces. They pull one 
 another's nose and earrings by main 
 force, and sometimes even more serious 
 accidents occur ; Runjeet sitting by encour-
 
 192 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 aging them with the greatest delight, and 
 exclaiming to his guests, " Burr a tomacha, 
 burr a tomacha" (great fun.) 
 
 He told me that he had fixed on the 12th 
 as the day on which he would receive the 
 mission, to give them their dresses of 
 honour and their audience of leave, and 
 promised that we should then see the cele- 
 brated diamond the mountain of light, and 
 a nearly as celebrated topaz, and his other 
 jewels. Kurruck Sing, his son and heir, 
 was with him this morning. He is the 
 worst looking of the Sihks I have yet seen, 
 and if report speaks true, is little better 
 than an imbecile ; but of this I had no op- 
 portunity of personally judging, it being the 
 only time I ever saw him, and our conver- 
 sation consisting merely of a few common-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 193 
 
 place questions and answers. His manners, 
 however, appear to be awkward and uncon- 
 ciliatory, and he is but little liked or re- 
 spected in the Punjab. 
 
 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th July. The rain so 
 violent and unceasing as to render it im- 
 possible to go out. By great good fortune, 
 Runjeet Sing's medical advisers would not 
 allow him to have his promised drinking 
 party, so we escaped that horrible nuisance, 
 though much against the Maharajah's incli- 
 nation, who even hinted at the propriety of 
 our postponing our departure for a few days, 
 with the hope that he should become suffi- 
 ciently strong to indulge again in his cus- 
 tomary debauchery. But against this we all 
 strongly remonstrated, and with some diffi- 
 culty succeeded in making him adhere to
 
 194 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 the day originally appointed for our de- 
 parture. 
 
 July 8th. The rain continued all yester- 
 day, and I was forced to send an apology 
 for not having gone according to promise to 
 meet the Maharajah. It however held up 
 for some hours this morning, and soon after 
 sunrise I found him riding on horseback 
 with young Heera Sing, in the neighbour- 
 hood of our tents. He was in a most 
 facetious humour, which rather surprised 
 me, as reports had been received over-night 
 from Peschowar, by no means favourable to 
 the success of his arms in that quarter. 
 His old enemy, Dost Mahommed Khan, 
 with his Affghans, had attacked and utterly 
 defeated a large body of the Sihk army 
 under one of Runjeet's favourite generals,
 
 RUNJEET SING. 195 
 
 and had killed and taken prisoners upwards 
 of five hundred of them. The Maharajah 
 seemed to bear the reverse with great equa- 
 nimity, and, in answer to some questions I 
 ventured to put to him on the subject, said 
 that a trifling defeat now and then was use- 
 ful, as it taught both men and officers cau- 
 tion. He asked many questions about the 
 proficiency and courage, as soldiers, of the 
 different castes of natives of Hindostan, and 
 remarked, that he considered the Sihks the 
 bravest nation of the east, adding, " Do 
 you not think I am right?" " Hardly ; if 
 they are as brave a nation as you represent 
 them to be, how happens it that your high- 
 ness at the commencement of your career 
 found so little difficulty in conquering all 
 the other Sihk chiefs, and reducing them 
 o 2
 
 196 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 with few superior forces to such abject 
 obedience as you did ?" " Ah ! that was my 
 destiny ; it was written on my forehead, and 
 must, have come to pass. My disciplined 
 troops, too," he added, " gave me an im- 
 mense superiority over all cotemporaries." 
 Here I could only bow and laugh ; for at the 
 time he had not twelve hundred men he 
 could depend on, and they the most irregu- 
 lar and undisciplined in the Punjab. " Do 
 you find more difficulty in keeping up the 
 discipline of your European regiments in 
 this country than in England ?" " Our 
 discipline is always the same wherever we 
 may be ; and with good officers, change of 
 country or climate should make no differ- 
 ence in the discipline or efficiency of an 
 army." " True ; I get on very well with
 
 RUNJEET SING. 197 
 
 all mine ; but there is one regiment I cannot 
 manage," he added, with a laugh ; " they 
 give me more trouble than all the rest of 
 my army put together, and those are the 
 Amazons. How do you manage them at 
 home ?" " We have nothing of the sort 
 with us." " I hope Lord Auckland will 
 think them in good order, and I trust he 
 will like to see them." " No doubt." " I 
 have got some beautiful recruits from Cache- 
 mire on their road, and I will have it perfect 
 before his visit ; but they are very difficult 
 to manage." " Perhaps if your highness 
 would allow me to take with me to Simla 
 the non-commissioned officers of the corps 
 and the new recruits which you expect, by 
 the time Lord Auckland goes to visit you 
 I might be able to drill them into something
 
 198 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 like order." " Should you like to take them 
 with you ?" " Very much." " No ; I can't 
 do that ; I have not seen them myself yet." 
 " Your highness will find if they remain 
 here that they will be corrupted by commu- 
 nication with the rest of the corps, and you 
 may rely upon it, the best plan will be to 
 make them over to me." " Do you think 
 so ? Well, I will think about it. Is Lord 
 Auckland married ?" "No." "What! has 
 he no wives at all ?" " None." " Why 
 don't he marry ?" " I don't know." " Why 
 don't you marry ?" " I can't afford it." 
 "Why not? Are English wives very ex- 
 pensive ?" " Yes ; very." " I wanted one 
 myself some time ago, and wrote to the 
 government about it, but they did not send 
 me one." " It would be difficult to find
 
 RUNJEET SING. 199 
 
 one in this country that would suit your 
 highness." " Are there any in England ?" 
 " Plenty." " Ah! I often wish for one." 
 I recommended him to send young Heera 
 Sing to England to look out for one 
 for him, but he did not at all seem to 
 like to trust him on such a mission ; 
 though, if report speaks true, he is fre- 
 quently his companion in his licentious 
 orgies even in the zenana, and some months 
 ago he succeeded in abducting one of its 
 favourite inmates ; but Runjeet either did 
 not know it, or at all events pretended 
 not to do so, for he took no notice of it, 
 though at the time it created a great deal 
 of disgust among his people, and occa- 
 sioned a quarrel between Heera Sing and 
 his father.
 
 200 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 9th July. Heavy and continued rain 
 impossible to go out, and the heat stifling 
 and insufferable. If this weather lasts an- 
 other week, Heaven knows when the escort 
 and our baggage will be able to move. The 
 tents are so heavy from the wet that it will 
 be impossible to move them, even with 
 double the allowance of elephants ; and that 
 part of our expedition which must be per- 
 formed in palanquins will be dreadful work ; 
 the Sutlege, too, and the Ravee are said as 
 it is to be impassable at present, from the 
 tremendous current coming down from the 
 hills. In short, everything seems to con- 
 spire against our comforts. 
 
 10th July. The weather is clearing up, 
 and we have some hope that if it remains as 
 mild as it now is for eight-and-forty hours,
 
 RUNJEET SING. 201 
 
 we may be able to send off some of our 
 people to-morrow. Runjeet Sing sent word 
 that he had ordered relays of horses for us 
 for five stages, and that from thence his 
 chiefs would find some means of forwarding 
 us to Loodhiana. 
 
 llth July. Rain again heavy and unceas- 
 ing ; half our servants and palanquins, &c., 
 were sent off yesterday, so that we must go 
 to-morrow, whatever the state of the wea- 
 ther may be. 
 
 13th July. Soon after sunrise, Sirdar 
 Ajeet Sing arrived in camp to conduct us to 
 the city, where the Maharajah held a public 
 durbar in his palace, for the purpose of in- 
 vesting us with the usual dresses of honour, 
 and giving us leave to depart from his court. 
 We found him sitting with most of his
 
 202 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 chiefs around him, in a small marble hall in 
 the garden of his palace, and after half an 
 hour's gossip on various subjects, I put him 
 in mind of his promise to shew me the 
 Koh-i-noor, which he immediately sent 
 for. It certainly is a most magnificent dia- 
 mond, about an inch and a half in length, 
 and upwards of an inch in width, and stands 
 out from the setting, about half an inch : it 
 is in the shape of an egg, and is set in a 
 bracelet between two very handsome dia- 
 monds of about half its size. It is valued 
 at three millions sterling, is very brilliant, 
 and without a flaw of any kind. Runjeet 
 was anxious to know what it would be valued 
 at in England, and whether we had ever 
 seen so fine a one, &c. His string of pearls 
 was, I think, if possible, even handsomer
 
 RUNJEET SING. 203 
 
 than the diamond ; they are about three hun- 
 dred in number, and literally the size of small 
 marbles, all picked pearls and round, and 
 perfect both in shape and colour. The pre- 
 sents from the Maharajah to the officers of the 
 mission were then produced, and delivered 
 with his own hands ; mine consisted of a 
 string of pearls, a chelenk of diamonds, six 
 pair of shawls, and several pieces of gold 
 embroidered silk, a pair of diamond armlets, 
 a sword, and horse, with gold and velvet 
 housings and accoutrements ; the others 
 in the same proportion. To the men of the 
 escort he gave 1200 rupees, and the same 
 to our servants.* Runjeet then embraced 
 
 * All these things were duly deposited in the coffers 
 of the Honourable Company, much to our disgust, as 
 well as to that of the Maharajah.
 
 204 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 us all, and wishing us all sorts of health and 
 prosperity, retired to his palace. Imme- 
 diately after breakfast, Captain Mackison 
 and myself commenced our journey to Lood- 
 hiana. The sight of the carriage and horses 
 at once convinced us that we must be in the 
 possession of more than common good- 
 fortune, if we succeeded in getting safe even 
 to the end of the first stage ; but there was 
 nothing left for us but to take our chance. 
 The old coach looked so rickety, and the 
 horses so little inclined to do their work, 
 that it appeared almost hopeless ; however, 
 after a considerable deal of plunging, and 
 having to repair the ropes which composed 
 the harness, we managed to make a start. 
 Four extra horses accompanied us in case of 
 accidents ; and it proved lucky that we had
 
 RUNJEET SING. 205 
 
 this resource, for before we had got half 
 way, our first team was completely knocked 
 up, and we were six hours doing the first 
 ten miles. The whole country was under 
 water, and in some places it was over the 
 axletrees of the wheels. Both doors of the 
 carriage parted company with us, being 
 broken clean off the hinges. However, we 
 did arrive at our first stage, and, to our 
 great delight, found there a very good Eng- 
 lish britchka, belonging to Sher Sing, which 
 took us the next fifteen miles, to Umritsir, 
 in two hours' time. Here we had another 
 set of horses, and by eleven o'clock at night 
 found ourselves on the banks of the Ravee, 
 having completed about fifty miles of our 
 journey. We crossed the Ravee in an open 
 boat, and as the current was tremendously
 
 206 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 strong, and the boat much overladen, 
 (having about thirty of Runjeet's cavalry on 
 board with us as an escort,) it was a very 
 nervous operation ; but by going with the 
 stream, we managed to reach the opposite 
 bank without accident, though we were 
 carried some miles below the usual landing- 
 place. We reached Loodhiana the follow- 
 ing morning at daybreak, and after break- 
 fast I started for Simla, where I arrived in 
 the course of the next forty-eight hours 
 without difficulty.
 
 \ 
 
 
 MAHOMED 
 
 Sooja's 
 
 Colbwrn, 
 
 Ifli'O .
 
 RUNJEET SING. 207 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 THE object of the Governor General's 
 mission to Lahore having been accom- 
 plished, and the concurrence, and, if neces- 
 sary, the co-operation, of Runjeet Sing in the 
 restoration of Shah Soojah secured, Mr. 
 M c Naghten repaired to Loodhiana, for the 
 purpose of submitting to the Shah the trea- 
 ties that had been concluded, and announc- 
 ing to him the approaching change in his 
 fortunes. The envoys seem to have been 
 much struck with the majestic appearance
 
 208 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 of the old pretender, especially with the 
 flowing honours of a black beard descending 
 to his waist, always the most cherished ap- 
 pendage of oriental dignity. He had lived 
 for twenty years in undisturbed seclusion, 
 if not " the world forgetting," certainly " by 
 the world forgot," consoling himself for the 
 loss of his kingdom in a domestic circle of 
 six hundred wives, but always " sighing his 
 soul" towards the mountains and valleys of 
 AfFghanistan, and patiently awaiting the 
 kismet, or fate, which was to restore him to 
 
 his throne. The preparations thenceforward 
 
 
 went rapidly on. The contingent raised by 
 
 the Shah was united (more for form than 
 use) to the British force, and in three 
 months the expedition began its operations. 
 A meeting had meanwhile been arranged
 
 RUNJEET SING. 209 
 
 between the Governor General and Runjeet, 
 which took place on the 30th November, at 
 Ferozpoor. Notwithstanding the enfeebled 
 state of the Maharajah's health, who had 
 been recently attacked with a severe and 
 dangerous illness, he displayed his wonted 
 spirit and intelligence upon this occasion ; 
 the interview was accompanied with all 
 those varied and picturesque exhibitions of 
 military pomp and courtly splendour which 
 never fail to excite and gratify European 
 curiosity, whilst on the display of the 
 Governor Genewl, and the honours paid to 
 him, the mind of an Englishman rests with pe- 
 culiar complacency, as a manifestation and 
 acknowledgment of our national grandeur 
 and power. Of all human conditions, per- 
 haps the most brilliant, and at the same 
 p
 
 210 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 time the most anomalous, is that of Governor 
 General of British India. A private English 
 gentleman, and the servant of a joint-stock 
 company, during the brief period of his 
 government he is the deputed sovereign of 
 the greatest empire in the world ; the ruler 
 of a hundred millions of men ; while depen- 
 dent kings and princes bow down to him 
 with deferential awe and submission. There 
 is nothing in history analogous to his posi- 
 tion, except perhaps that of the early Roman 
 emperors, while they were still only the first 
 citizens of the state, invested with the mani- 
 fold attributes of republican authority, 
 claiming no social, while possessing every 
 political pre-eminence over their fellow- 
 countrymen. Nor would it be easy to de- 
 vise any other system so well adapted to
 
 RUNJEET SING. 211 
 
 the end of governing a people widely differ- 
 ing in race, language, and religion; cemented 
 by no common ties, and only resembling 
 each other in the pride and the prejudices 
 which obstruct the diffusion of that civiliza- 
 tion which it is the object of Great Britain 
 to bestow as a compensation for the liberty 
 of which she has deprived them. A field 
 of boundless extent is open to the most ex- 
 alted ambition, and a rich harvest of im- 
 provement to be reaped by the moralist, the 
 philosopher, and the statesman. While the 
 great principles of administration are too 
 accurately defined to leave room for caprice 
 or uncertainty in their general application, 
 a wholesome severity of regulation circum- 
 scribes the power of rulers for all purposes of 
 exaction or oppression, but leaves it unfet- 
 p2
 
 212 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 tered for the discharge of the high functions 
 of government, which they may exercise 
 with scarcely any limit or hindrance, upon 
 their own personal responsibility. Gene- 
 rally men of tried honour and capacity, 
 they carry out to India the sound and well- 
 regulated principles, the love of order and 
 of freedom, the love of justice and humanity, 
 in which British statesman are educated ; 
 and while their reign lasts too short a time 
 to allow of any relaxation in the energy of 
 their zeal, or of that supineness which is 
 apt to attend the satiety of long-enjoyed 
 power, every incentive that can stimulate 
 the exertions of a generous mind urges each 
 successive governor to mark his adminis- 
 tration by some signal benefit conferred 
 upon the people committed to his charge.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 213 
 
 This was the spirit which animated both 
 the late and the present Governors, Lord 
 William Bentinck, and Lord Auckland. Re- 
 sembling each other in the unostentatious 
 simplicity of their personal tastes and habits, 
 and those sterling qualities of mind and 
 character, which inspire attachment and 
 command respect, they both devoted (the 
 latter continues to devote) their unwearied 
 energies to the discharge of their high func- 
 tions ; nor did the former scruple to risk 
 the sacrifice of his popularity with the army 
 he commanded, in obedience to a hard neces- 
 sity which the supreme authority imposed 
 upon him. 
 
 In the champ de drap d'or of Ferozpoor, 
 Lord Auckland appeared with the imposing 
 magnificence of an Indian potentate; and
 
 214 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 though the uniforms of the vice -regal staff 
 were eclipsed by the jewels and chain 
 armour of the Sihk Sirdars, the Governor 
 General, with his immense retinue and his 
 escort of fifteen thousand men, was quite a 
 match for the monarch of the Punjab. Be- 
 sides the ceremonious interchange of visits, 
 the principal objects of attraction appear to 
 have been the splendid illuminations of the 
 great mosque and city of Ferozpoor, and the 
 military manoeuvres of the troops of both 
 nations, in which none made so superb a dis- 
 play as the body-guards of Runjeet. They 
 were formed in a lane through which the 
 Governor General and his court had to pass, 
 one troop dressed in yellow satin, with gold 
 scarfs and shawls, the other in cloth of gold, 
 scarlet, purple, or yellow ; their arms all of
 
 RUNJEET SING. 215 
 
 gold ; they had long beards down to their 
 waists ; and their heads were enveloped in 
 a drapery of silver or gold tissue, which was 
 brought over their beards to protect them 
 from the dust.
 
 216 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 The friendly disposition of Runjeet to the 
 English will be shewn by the following ex- 
 tract of a letter from Mr. Osborne, written 
 during the Governor General's visit to the 
 Maharajah, in December 1838. 
 
 Gov. Gen.'s Camp, 
 Lahore, 3rd January, 1839. 
 
 WE leave this to-morrow on our return to 
 our own countries. We took leave of Run- 
 jeet Sing yesterday. He has been very ill, 
 but is better. It was thought at one time 
 that he would have died; and though better, 
 he cannot last much longer. We are going 
 from here to Delhi, and expect to be at 
 Simla about March. Our army of the Indus 
 is progressing on its way to Affghanistan.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 217 
 
 The sights and shows during our stay here 
 were very splendid, but there were too many 
 of them. Runjeet has entertained us most 
 handsomely. No one in the camp is allowed 
 to purchase a single thing, and a list is sent 
 round once a week in which you put down 
 what you require, and it is furnished at his 
 expense. It costs him twenty-five thousand 
 rupees a day ; and as it will have been more 
 than a month when we re-cross the Sutlege, 
 it will have been an expensive business to 
 him. Among other proofs of his friendship, 
 he took us one evening to see his famous fort 
 of Gorind Ghur at Umritsir ; we expected 
 merely to be allowed to look at it from the 
 outside, as no European, and but very few 
 of his principal chiefs have ever been allowed 
 to enter it. But to our surprise, after going
 
 218 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 round it, on reaching the last gate, he or- 
 dered it to be opened, and to the astonish- 
 ment of all his own people, took us over the 
 whole of it, and shewed us the building 
 which contains his treasure chests, about 
 twelve millions in gold. He gave me some 
 magnificent presents when I came away ; 
 but I am allowed to keep nothing but the de- 
 coration of the military order of the " Run- 
 jeet Star of the Punjab," of which order he 
 made me a knight, and invested me him- 
 self. It is a diamond and enamelled star, 
 with his picture in the centre. He gave 
 me also a suit of armour, sword, and match- 
 locks, bow and arrows, all inlaid with gold, 
 but they are given up to the Company. 
 Nothing could exceed his liberality and 
 friendship during the whole of the Governor
 
 RUNJEET SING. 219 
 
 General's visit. I will write again from 
 Delhi. I fear I shall soon have to tell you 
 of the old man's death. 
 
 THE apprehensions excited by the altered 
 appearance of the Maharajah were speedily 
 justified by the event. The frightful excesses 
 in which he had so long indulged had at 
 length completely destroyed his constitution, 
 and in the beginning of July, 1839, it be- 
 came evident to all his court that his disso- 
 lution could not long be delayed. But so deep 
 and sincere were the feelings of respect and 
 attachment with which he was universally 
 regarded, that to the last the most implicit 
 obedience was paid to his commands, and 
 (when he could no longer speak) to the signs 
 by which his will was expressed. Early in
 
 220 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 July, he ordered that his son, Kurruck Sing, 
 should hold durbar, and decide cases, and the 
 prime-minister, Dheean Sing, was directed, 
 in conjunction with Kurruck, to regulate 
 the affairs of the state. Upon the repre- 
 sentation of Faqueer Uzeez-oodeen, (who 
 seems of all his ministers to have had the 
 greatest influence with Runjeet,) a title of 
 " Vizarut" was granted to Dheean Sing, of 
 which all the officers of the state were ap- 
 prised the title bestowed on him was, " the 
 second person in the great dominions, the 
 hearty well wisher of the great prosperity, 
 the principal minister, the chief vizir, and 
 the omnipotent manager, Rajah Dheean Sing 
 Bahadoor." 
 
 On the night of the 20th July, the illness 
 of the Maharajah increased, to the great dis-
 
 RUNJEET SING. 221 
 
 tress of his ministers and immediate atten- 
 dants. They all resolved, in consequence 
 of his hopeless condition, that the heir ap- 
 parent, Kurruck, should be proclaimed ruler, 
 and Dheean Sing, vizir, on the following 
 day ; and accordingly the next morning, 
 Kurruck Sing and Dheean Sing went to 
 parade, took Nuzzurs from the officers and 
 commandants of troops, and proclaimed 
 that the Maharajah had raised Kurruck to 
 the Guddhee, and named Dheean his vizir. 
 On the 22nd, the Maharajah was attacked 
 by a violent fever, but recovering a little in 
 the afternoon, in the presence of his minis- 
 ters, he .signified his pleasure that Kurruck 
 and Dheean should conduct the affairs of the 
 state. On the 23rd, he was so much worse 
 that he appeared to be breathing his last,
 
 222 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 and he was laid upon the floor, which, ac- 
 cording to the Hindoos and Sihks, is the 
 proper place to die upon. He lingered, 
 however, till the 27th, on which day he 
 breathed his last, having sunk under a 
 gradual decay of the system, exhibiting 
 itself in total loss of the powers of speech 
 and of motion in the lower limbs, but retain- 
 ing his mental faculties unimpaired to the 
 last. According to the arrangements he had 
 made, his son Kurruck Sing succeeded 
 quietly, and without the slightest opposition, 
 to the throne.
 
 RUNJEET SING. 223 
 
 Extract of a letter from the HON. W. OSBORNE, 
 with an account of the FUNERAL OBSEQUIES 
 of RUNJEET SING. 
 
 Simla, July 12th, 1839. 
 
 Runjeet Sing is dead, poor fellow ! and 
 died as like the old Lion as he had lived. 
 He preserved his senses to the last, and 
 was (which is unusual with native princes) 
 obeyed to the last by all his chiefs, though 
 he tried them high, as you will think, when 
 I tell you that two hours before he died he 
 sent for all his jewels, and gave the famous 
 diamond, called the " Mountain of Light," 
 said to be the largest in the world, to a 
 Hindoo temple, his celebrated string of 
 pearls to another, and his favourite fine
 
 224 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 horses, with all their jewelled trappings, 
 worth 300,000, to a third. 
 
 His four wives, all very handsome, hurnt 
 themselves with his body, as did five of his 
 Cachmerian slave girls, one of whom, who 
 was called the Lotus, or Lily, I often saw 
 last year in my first visit to Lahore. Every- 
 thing was done to prevent it, but in vain. 
 They were guaranteed in their rank and in 
 all their possessions, but they insisted upon 
 it ; and the account from the European offi- 
 cers who were present describes it as the 
 most horrible sight. The four wives seated 
 themselves on the pile with Runjeet Sing's 
 head upon their laps ; and his principal 
 wife desired Kurruck Sing, Runjeet 's son 
 and heir, and Dheean Sing, the late prime 
 minister, to come to her upon the pile, and
 
 RUNJEET SING. 225 
 
 made the former take the Maharajah's dead 
 hand in his own, and swear to protect and 
 i'avour Dheean Sing as Runjeet Sing had 
 done ; and she made the latter swear to bear 
 the same true allegiance to the son which he 
 had faithfully borne to his father. She then 
 set fire to the pile with her own hands, and 
 they are dead nine living beings having 
 perished together without a shriek or a 
 groan. Dheean Sing threw himself twice 
 on the pile, and said he could not survive 
 his master, but was dragged away by main 
 force. You have no idea what a sensation 
 the poor old man's death has caused. All 
 our treasure and supplies to the army of 
 the Indus must go through the Punjab, and 
 there are so many powerful and almost in- 
 dependent chiefs in the country, that the 
 Q
 
 226 COURT AND CAMP OF 
 
 risk will be great without Runjeet Sing's 
 master-mind to rule them. Kurruck Sing 
 is well intentioned and well inclined towards 
 us, but wants the courage and energy of his 
 father. I send you a letter from the poor 
 old man, nearly the last he ever wrote, 
 which as an original of the Lion of Lahore 
 (a great man here) may be considered a 
 curiosity. 
 
 W. O. 
 
 Letter from RUNJEET SING to the HONOURABLE 
 WILLIAM OSBORNE. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING our established ties of 
 a friendship formed during your residence 
 at my court, a friendship which was as 
 apparent to the world as the sun at noon
 
 RUNJEET SING. 227 
 
 day, and my great anxiety to hear from you, 
 you have never, for a long time, gratified me 
 with a favourable account of your health ; 
 which has been a source of sorrow and sur- 
 prise to me. I beg, however, that you will 
 now furnish me with a full account of the 
 fall of Candahar a circumstance which has 
 been highly satisfactory to all friends, and 
 with the welcome tidings of your good 
 health ; for the tree of friendship, unless 
 encouraged by the husbandman of good 
 will and affection, cannot flourish, but 
 withers and dies like the cedar of the desert. 
 Send to me for anything you may require 
 from hence, and the fulfilment of your 
 wishes will contribute to my satisfaction 
 and to the increase of our friendship, which 
 is to me a source of unceasing comfort, for 
 Q2
 
 228 COURT AND CAMP, ETC. 
 
 the friendship of an English gentleman is 
 the envy of all our nation. You will, I 
 trust, gratify me with occasional accounts 
 of your health and happiness till the time 
 I have the pleasure of meeting with you, 
 which I trust will not be far distant. 
 
 Maharajah Runjeet Sing of Lahore. 
 To the Honourable W. Osborne.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ADEENA BEG overcomes Tymoor 19 
 
 Adeenanuggur, the residence of Runjeet - - 60 
 
 Ahmed Khan made King of the Affghans - - 7 
 
 advances on Delhi ------- 10 
 
 abandons the expedition ----- 10 
 
 again crosses the Indus ----- 17 
 
 defeats Meer Munoo - 17 
 
 reinstates Meer Munoo ------ 18 
 
 seizes the Punjab and Sirhind - - - 18 
 appoints his son Tymoor viceroy - - 18 
 
 routs the Mahrattas 19, 20 
 
 routs the Sihks 21 
 
 Affghans, Ahmed, King of the ----- 7 
 Akalees, an armed band of fanatics, 143, 146, 181, 182 
 Alard, General, his discipline of the cavalry, 162, 165 
 
 Amazons, Runjeet's corps of 95, 197 
 
 Army, Runjeet's ---------- 104
 
 230 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Artillery 109, 160, 164 
 
 Auckland, Lord, his appearance at Ferozpoor, 209, 213 
 Aurengzebe - 3 
 
 Bentinck's, Lord William, meeting with Runjeet, 39 
 
 Bhurtpoor, proposal to Runjeet from the Rajah of, 119 
 
 Britain, Great, sends Mr. Metcalf to Runjeet - 28 
 
 sends Colonel Ochterlony 29 
 
 treaty of, with Runjeet - - - - 29 
 
 confidence in, by Runjeet ----- 45 
 
 Burmese troops ---------- 105 
 
 Cashmere, conquest of, by Runjeet - - - - 28 
 
 Cavalry, Runjeet's 162, 165 
 
 Churut Sing, ancestor of Runjeet - - - - 33 
 
 Cholera in Runjeet's camp 121 
 
 Cups, vegetable -- 116 
 
 Dancing girls 85, 86, 191 
 
 Departure from Lahore, preparations for - - 179 
 
 Dheean Sing, Rajah 74, 221 
 
 Discipline of crack regiments ------ 156 
 
 Dost Mohammed Khan 138 
 
 Dresses of honour, investiture of 201 
 
 Drinking parties, Runjeet's 189 
 
 European officers, Runjeet's - ..-.151
 
 INDEX. 231 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Faqueer, capacity of one to be buried alive - - 124 
 
 his interment and resuscitation - - - - 125 
 
 his appearance --------- 129 
 
 his former interment and resuscitation - - 130 
 
 vault built for his interment ----- 163 
 
 preparations for his interment - - - - 1 70 
 
 Forts resembling Martello towers 51 
 
 Goorkha regiments 107 
 
 Gooroo Govind, tenth and last successor of Nanac, 15 
 institutes the Gooroo Mata, or State 
 
 Council --------- 15 
 
 his excesses -----...- 16 
 
 Governor General's meeting with Runjeet 39,209,213 
 
 Grunth, the sacred book of the Sihks - - - 14 
 
 Runjeet's consultation of the .... 122 
 
 Gun-shooting- 117 
 
 Heat, great 121, 133, 139 
 
 Hebes, Runjeet's ----190 
 
 Heera Sing, Rajah 76, 199 
 
 Hogs, Sihk's way of catching wild - ... 183 
 Horse, Runjeet's celebrated, Lcili - - - 90, 223 
 
 Jehangeer, mausoleum of ------- 188 
 
 Infantry, review of Runjeet's ------ 102
 
 232 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Koh-i-noor, the Mountain of Light, or great 
 
 diamond - - ' 33 
 
 means used by Runjeet to procure it 
 from Shah Sooja .... 33, 34, 35 
 
 its description and value 202 
 
 bequeathed by Runjeet to a Hindoo 
 
 temple 223 
 
 Kurruck Sing, Runjeet's son and heir, 32, 166, 193,221 
 
 Lahore, review of troops at - - 154 
 
 Lotus, a dancing girl 86, 87, 226 
 
 Maha Sing, Runjeet's father - ... - 23 
 
 his success and reputation 24 
 
 death 24 
 
 Mahrattas, their rule in India - - - - - 19 
 
 beaten by Ahmed 19, 20 
 
 Mausoleum of Jehangeer ------- 188 
 
 Meer Munoo, viceroy of Lahore 11 
 
 overcomes the Sihks ------ H 
 
 death 18 
 
 his widow assumes power ----- 18 
 
 Metcalf, Mr., sent on a mission to Runjeet - - 28 
 Misuls, associations of------- 23, 31 
 
 Mogul Empire, foundation of 2 
 
 Mahomed Shah 3 
 
 restored by Nadir - 6
 
 INDEX. 233 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mooltan, Runjeet's enterprise against - - - 81 
 Mountain of Light, or Koh i-noor, the great 
 
 diamond 33, 202, 222 
 
 Nadir Shah 4 
 
 invades India 4 
 
 advances to Delhi -- 4 
 
 returns from India with great treasures - 6 
 
 death of----- 7 
 
 Nanac Shah, founder of the Sinks .... 12 
 
 endeavours to reconcile Mahomedaus 
 
 and Hindoos -------- 13 
 
 succeeded by Angad - - ... 14 
 
 his other successors - -.--.- 15 
 
 Ochterlony, Colonel, sent against Ilunjeet - - 29 
 invited to Kurruck's marriage ... 32 
 
 Pearls, Runjeet's 203, 223 
 
 Pertaub Sing, son of Sher Sing - - 56, 57, 58, 60 
 Presents from Governor- General to Runjeet - 69 
 Punjab, future probable state of the - - - - 52 
 
 Quails at Runjeet's drinking parties - - 190 
 
 Quoits used by the Akalees 143 
 
 Review of Runjeet's troops - - - 102, 154, 184 
 Russian troops, Runjeet's inquiries respecting - 176
 
 234 INDEX. 
 
 RUNJEET SING, Maharajah of Punjab : PACE 
 
 first appearance of his ancestors - - - 21 
 
 Churut Sing, his ancestor --..'-,- 23 
 
 born ------ 23 
 
 his father, Maha Sing 23 
 
 succeeds his father - - 25 
 
 obtains Lahore 26 
 
 seizes empire east of the Indus - - - 29 
 
 mission of Mr. Metcalf to 29 
 
 conciliates friendship with Great Britain, 29 
 his treaty of peace and friendship with 
 
 Great Britain 29 
 
 invites Col. Ochterlony to his son's mar- 
 riage ---------- 29 
 
 forms his troops on British model 30 
 deprives Shah Sooja of his famous dia- 
 mond and other jewels - - - 33, 34, 35 
 
 his military operations ------ 37 
 
 conquers Cashmere ------ 38 
 
 his meeting with Lord Wm. Bentinck - 39 
 his character ------- 39 to 45 
 
 his confidence in Great Britain - - - 45 
 his jealousy of Europeans - - - - 56,59 
 
 his residence (Adeenanuggur) - - - 60 
 
 presents of Governor-General to - - - 69 
 
 his hall of audience 72 
 
 questions put by - 79, 93, 106, 114, 176, 195
 
 INDEX. 235 
 
 RUNJEET SING continued. PA CK 
 
 his appearance - 81, 82 
 
 his character 83, 92 
 
 his love of money ------- 84 
 
 his passion for horses ------ 90 
 
 his reception of mission 98 
 
 consults all medical men - - - - - 111 
 
 tries his medicine on his attendants - - 111 
 
 his morning rides 113 
 
 his breakfasts 115 
 
 proposal from Rajah of Bhurtpoor to - 119 
 
 his consultation of the Grunth - - - 122 
 
 insulted and abused by the Akalees - - 146 
 
 his European officers - - - - - - 151 
 
 his avarice --------- 151 
 
 his drinking parties ------ 189 
 
 his opinion of defeats 195 
 
 audience of leave ------- 204 
 
 meeting with Lord Auckland - - 209, 213 
 
 his imposing position - - - - - - 210 
 
 friendly disposition to the English - - 216 
 
 his illness 219 
 
 his death 222 
 
 his wives and dancing girls burnt with his 
 
 body 224 
 
 his letter to Hon. W. Osborne - - 226 
 
 Shah Sooja .- 207,203
 
 236 INDEX. 
 
 TAOF, 
 
 Shalimar gardens 149 
 
 Sher Sing 64, 66 
 
 Shooting game 167, 182 
 
 Shah Sooja seeks refuge with Runjeet - - - 30 
 deprived by Runjeet of his famous dia- 
 mond, the Mountain of Light, and 
 other jewels - - - - 32, 33, 34, 35 
 
 escapes from Runjeet ------ 36 
 
 ascends the throne of Cabool - ... 36 
 his appearance on restoration - - - 207, 208 
 
 Sihks, overcome by Meer Munoo 11 
 
 their founder (Nanac) 12 
 
 infest the Punjab - ... 11,16,21,22 
 routed 16, 18, 20, 21, 22 
 
 Sihk army -- - - 157 
 
 Soocket Sing, or Malek Adhel 62 
 
 Tymoor, Ahmed's son, viceroy of Lahore - - 18 
 overcome by Adeena Beg ----- 19 
 his sons deposed 27 
 
 Uzeezoodeen -------..-- 69 
 
 Ventura, General - 87, 161 
 
 Wine banquets of Runjeet 189 
 
 Whiskey preferred by Runjeet to wines - - - 191 
 
 Zemaun, Shah, invades the Punjab - - 30

 
 118476