ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>LAIL&#298</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="LAIL*"> <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">&#65279LAIL&#298 or LAIL&#256, a famous horse of superb beauty and grace, was originally owned by Y&#257r Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n B&#257rakza&#299, the Sikh tributary governor of Pesh&#257war. It was much coveted by Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, whose love for horses was proverbial. With the romantic name given it, Lail&#299 was known throughout Central Asia for its breed and deportment --- dark-grey in colour, 13 years of age in 1835, and reportedly 16 <i>haths</i> in height equivalent to 16 widths of hand. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh informed Baron Charles Hugel, a contemporary traveller who visited his court, that he had never seen such a horse before --- so perfect was it in every respect; further, that it cost him the price of a kingdom (Rs 60,00,000) and 12,000 soldiers to obtain it.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The story of this legendary horse has found its way into the accounts of most of the contemporary European travellers visiting the Punjab. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh who had set his heart on Lail&#299 sent in 1823 a message to the B&#257rakza&#299 chief through Faq&#299r 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n demanding surrender of the animal Y&#257r Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n denied the existence of the horse and the Sikh emissary returned to Lahore empty-handed. In 1826, a Sikh army commanded by Buddh Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 marched to Pesh&#257war to seize the horse as well as to quell the disturbance raised by Sayyid Ahmad Barelav&#299 in the valley. To Buddh Si&#7749gh Y&#257r Muhammad's reply was that the horse had died.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1829, another force was sent by the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 under Prince Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh and General Ventura with instructions to secure Lail&#299 and depose Y&#257r Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n in case he refused to part with the animal. Y&#257r Muhammad fled into the Y&#363sufza&#299 hills on the approach of the Sikh army. His brother, Sult&#257n Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n, who was installed in his place, was put under arrest by General Ventura, who eventually secured possession of Lail&#299.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 was highly gratified to possess the famous horse. He showed this horse to Lord William Bentinck at Ropa&#7771 in 1831. The great German traveller, Baron Charles Hugel, who saw the horse in the royal stables at Lahore in 1835, records : "It is the finest horse belonging to the Maha Raja.... and round his knees he has gold bangles : he is a dark grey, with black legs, thirteen years old, and full sixteen hands high."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some writers, including Lepel Griffin, are of the view that this horse was not the real Lail&#299. They hold that Lail&#299 means a mare and not a stallion.Further Lail&#299 implies black colour and qualities of femininity. But Ventura and Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh were sure that it was the real Lail&#299. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's court historian, Sohan L&#257l, holds that the horse was surrendered by Y&#257r Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n in October 1827, while others are of the view that it was Sult&#257n Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n who gave the horse to General Ventura.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel, <i>Ranjit Singh</i>. Oxford, 1905<BR> <li class="C1"> Osborne, W.G., <i>The Court and Camp of Runjeet Sing</i>. London, 1840<BR> <li class="C1"> Hugel, C.A. Von, <i>Travels in Kashmir and the Country of the Sikhs</i>. London, 1845<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, <i>Life and Times of Ranjit Singh</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1977<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sard&#257r Si&#7749gh Bh&#257&#7789&#299&#257<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>