ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BHA&#7750&#7692&#256R&#298 PAPERS</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BHAF R*,PAPERS"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279BHA&#7750&#7692&#256R&#298 PAPERS, a large collection of sundry papers, letters and documents preserved in the Punjab State Archives, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, and named after the collector, R&#257i Indarj&#299t Si&#7749gh Bha&#7751&#7693&#257r&#299 of Ba&#7789&#257l&#257. Little is known about the life of Indarj&#299t Si&#7749gh beyond a conjecture based upon some of the letters in the collection itself that he was a descendant or a relation of one of the Sikh kingdom's <i>vak&#299ls</i> or agents at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, namely R&#257i Kishan Chand, R&#257i R&#257m Dial, and R&#257i Gobind D&#257s.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bha&#7751&#7693&#257r&#299 collection is a huge miscellany of 4103 items, mostly letters in Persian exchanged between the Sikh government at Lahore or its agents and the officers of the British agency at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257. They also contain some MSS. , records of court cases, revenue and civil, documents such as promissory notes, mortgages, registered deeds, family papers, land grants and a vast variety of administrative notes. There is very little that sheds new light on important political events. Yet the documents in the collection may be useful in making a general assessment of relations between the Lahore Darb&#257r and the East India Company and understanding the approach and attitude of both the powers to matters diplomatic and administrative. For example, a letter written by George Russell Clerk, the British political agent at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, to R&#257i Kishan Chand on 24 December 1838 about the programme of Sh&#257h Shuj&#257's artillery moving from Kas&#363r to F&#299rozpur shows that the fugitive king was allowed to keep a private force of his own during his stay at Lahore. A proclamation from the Governor-General's Council at Calcutta, dated 2 June 1829, forbids the offering of <i>nazars</i> or presents to British officers. There are letters to show strained relations between Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and Sard&#257r Fateh Si&#7749gh &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 as a result of which the latter approached the British, promising allegiance to them if his claims to cis-Sutlej areas given him by the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 were upheld. Some letters concerning the British campaign in Afghanistan contain complaints to the Darb&#257r against R&#257j&#257 Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh for not giving them his full support.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">B. J. Hasrat<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>