ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>EVENTS AT THE COURT OF RANJIT SINGH (1810-1817)</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 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">&#65279<i>EVENTS AT THE COURT OF RANJIT SINGH (1810-1817)</i>, edited by H.L.O. Garrett and G.L. Chop&#7771&#257, is a rendition in English of Persian newsletters comprising 193 loose sheets and forming only a small part of a large collection preserved in the Alienation Office, Pune. This material was brought to the notice of the editors by Dr Muhammad N&#257zim, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India. <i>Events at the Court of Ranjit Singh</i> was first published in 1935 by the Punjab Government Records Office, Lahore, as their monograph No.17, and reprinted, in 1970, by the Languages Department, Punjab, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The newsletters, entitled "A<u>kh</u>b&#257r Deo&#7771h&#299 Sard&#257r Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur" cover the period from 1 November 1810 to 8 August 1817, with a sprinkling of a few supplementary ones written up to 2 September 1817 from Sh&#257hpur, Mult&#257n, Amritsar and R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299. Additionally, there is one brief piece which bears the date 10 June 1822. The newswriter lived in Lahore and his informant was one <u>Kh</u>ush&#257l Si&#7749gh whom the editors identify as Jam&#257d&#257r <u>Kh</u>ush&#257l Si&#7749gh, the chief chamberlain or <i>deo&#7771h&#299</i> officer at the court of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. Probably written for the Peshav&#257's <i>daftar</i> which secured and recorded news from several different Indian courts, this set of newsletters from the Sikh court at Lahore is an important source of information on the early period of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's career and provides intimate glimpses into his civil, military and judicial administration. What comes out strikingly from these papers is the efficient intelligence service the Lahore Darb&#257r had established. The Darb&#257r sent out special messengers to Kashm&#299r, K&#257bul, Sindh, Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, and the cis-Sutlej, British-protected principalities of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, N&#257bh&#257, J&#299nd, Kaithal and Kals&#299&#257. These messengers, called <i>jau&#7771&#299s</i> or pairs, brought daily reports from newswriters stationed in those places.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The newsletters relate to a period when Mult&#257n had not yet been conquerred, nor had been Kashm&#299r and Pesh&#257war. The newsletter dated 19 September 1813 reports that Sard&#257r Fateh <u>Kh</u>&#257n Waz&#299r had left K&#257bul with sufficient troops intent on proceeding towards Mult&#257n. It also mentions that he was hatching, through correspondence, a conspiracy with Naw&#257b Muzaffar <u>Kh</u>&#257n of Mult&#257n. News was received that Hazrat Muhm&#363d Sh&#257h, marching from Jal&#257l&#257bad, was expected to enter Pesh&#257war. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh forestalled the move and was able to stem the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n advance. These reports however do not contain any account of the impending Sikh-Af<u>gh</u>&#257n struggle for supremacy in the north which culminated in the battle of Haidar&#363 in 1813 in which the Sikhs routed the Af<u>gh</u>&#257ns.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's own designs to expand the limits of his kingdom unfold tellingly. Muzaffar <u>Kh</u>&#257n, Naw&#257b of Mult&#257n, was liable to an annual tribute of Rs 80,000. Plans were set in motion for the conquest of Mult&#257n. Likewise, for that of Kashm&#299r. No account is forthcoming of the successive Sikh invasions of Mult&#257n in 1810, 1816, and 1817. Similarly, these papers tell little about the joint Sikh-Af<u>gh</u>&#257n campaign against Kashm&#299r in 1812 which aborted or about Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's even more disastrous expedition of 1814. There are, nevertheless, some interesting sidelights. A newsletter, for instance, relates that Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh Ak&#257l&#299 was levying contributions --- 1,000 rupees and a horse --- on the Ak&#257l&#299s of the Darb&#257r S&#257hib at Amritsar. The Koh-i-N&#363r diamond wrested from Sh&#257h Shuj&#257' ul-Mulk was evaluated by the jewellers who reported : "It was found in weight equal to three hundred and a few more "Surakhs" and in value it was declared priceless as no other similar jewel existed anywhere else." References occur to the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's administration of justice. A <i>daro<u>gh</u>&#257-i-ad&#257lat</i> or judge, charged with harshness, was warned to administer justice in accordance with the principles of religion and equity. R&#257m&#257 Nand S&#257h&#363 of Amritsar held charge of justice within his area for an annual payment of "rupees thirteen lakhs" but he was under warning to administer it with mercy and honesty.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Muslims enjoyed full freedom of worship. The newsletter of 9 January 1811 relates how they were exhorted by beat of drum to offer Eid-day prayers at the Royal Mosque, Lahore. Lawlessness and dacoity were not tolerated. Those in charge of police stations were warned that failure to apprehend culprits within a reasonable time would discredit them. On Eid-day, men were posted in the streets and bylanes of Lahore to watch for anyone misbehaving or intimidating others. Totally, this Persian intelligence record is of much historical and sociological value.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">B. J. Hasrat<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>