193 



RUNJEET SINGH. 



KUPERT, PRINCE ROBERT. 



200 



Singh gave him the name of Ranjcet, or Runject, signifying the "field 

 of battle." When Maha Singh died in 1792, hu sou was Btill in his 

 twelfth year. 



During Runjeet's minority, his mother, who was still young and 

 handsome, was intrusted with the government of the missul, con- 

 jointly with the youthful Sirdar. She appears to have been a woman 

 of very irregular life, and whilst she shared her authority with her 

 paramour Lukput Singh, she sought by the most vicious allurements 

 to corrupt her son, that he might be rendered unfit to discharge his 

 duties, when he had grown up. She succeeded in corrupting the 

 mind of her son, but not in her chief object. As he grew up he 

 sho\ve I a strong disinclination to remain in a subordinate position, and 

 his known feelings gave rise to reports on his mother's sudden death in 

 1797 that she had been poisoned by his direction. Runjeet was then 

 seventeen, and from that time he gave unrestrained vent to his ambi- 

 tion and love of power. He began to extend hia possessions by 

 quarrelling and making war with his more inert and weaker neigh- 

 bours ; or by lending his band of followers as an auxiliary force to some 

 powerful ruler. The great province of Lahore was bestowed upon 

 him in 1799 by Sunain, shah of Afghanistan, for the services he had 

 rendered that prince in a military expedition. 



Soon after, Runjeet commenced his long series of conquest. Seal- 

 kate was taken ; Dclawurgur surrendered ; Nuoshuhur and Pindee- 

 putteean fell into his hands ; and after a siege of two months, the fort 

 of Bund submitted to his arms. Many places of less note were 

 captured within the first five years of the century. In ] 806, he took 

 the strong fort of Loodianah; in 1807 he got possession of Kussoor 

 by stratagem, for his cunning was equal if not superior to his prowess; 

 in the same year he captured and pillaged Moultan for the first time ; 

 but relinquished the place on payment of 70,000 rupees. In October 

 1808, Ruujeet Singh marched his army through the Bist, crossed the 

 Sutlej, and seized the cities of Jagram and Rhaeekakote. In the 

 course of his progress, he exacted tributes from all the Sirdars of the 

 Doab. 



Surrounded by Oriental princes, inert, effeminate, fond of repose, 

 he had already acquired a large dominion in 1809, at the age of 

 twenty-nine. Then as he drew nearer the British possessions, finding 

 himself confronted by opponents of a different character, over whom 

 neither his courage nor his craft could be availing, he submitted with 

 a pood grace to the necessity of his position. During the same year 

 (1809), Mr. Metcalfe arrived at Umritsir, having been despatched from 

 Delhi, as the British envoy to Runjeet Singh, with instructions to 

 negociate a treaty. Mr. Metcalfe remained two months with the Maha 

 Rajah. In the early part of his sojourn, whilst his band of 500 

 sepoys were occupied in pitching their tents, the Ukalees collected to 

 the number of 3000, and attempted to drive off the escort of the 

 British envoy. A skirmish ensued in which the sepoys succeeded with- 

 out much difficulty in dispersing their opponents, though six times as 

 numerous as themselves. Runjeet, who had watched the affair, compli- 

 mented the envoy on the bravery and discipline of his soldiers. This 

 little incident made a deep impression on his mind, and first suggested 

 that adoption of the arms and discipline of more civilised nations, 

 by which Runjeet afterwards raised his power to so great a height. 

 He now treated the British envoy with marked attention, presented 

 him with a dress of honour of costly materials, and concluded a treaty 

 with him, whereby he undertook " to preserve peace and amity with 

 the British ; not to keep more troops on the left bank of the Sutlej 

 than were necessary for preserving his territories : and to abstain 

 from making further inroads on the Sikh chiefs." This important 

 treaty having been concluded, April 25, 1809, was faithfully observed 

 by Runjeet until the day of his death, upwards of thirty years after. 



Immediately after this negociation with the British, Runjeet 

 resumed his military aggressions. He captured Kote Kangra and 

 other places in 1809. In 1810 he became master of Goojerat, then of 

 Kooshah, then besieged and pillaged Moultan a second time. In 1811 

 the whole of the Nukee country between Moultan and Manju was 

 annexed to his possessions. In 1812, Koolloo and Sookhet, and after- 

 wards Mandhee, were attacked, the rajahs of which all became tribu- 

 taries of Lahore. It was in this year that Runjeet, having been 

 applied to by Futteh Khan to assist him with troops in his invasion of 

 Cashmere, got possession, by very artful means, of the great diamond, 

 the famous Koh-i-noor, now the property of the English crown. In 

 1814 Runjeet determined to effect the conquest of Cashmere, but a 

 violent snow-storm discouraged his soldiers, who were put to flight 

 and dispersed. Undismayed by this reverse, he besieged and took 

 Noorpoor in 1815, and then Rajour, which the Sikhs first pillaged, 

 then burned to the ground. 



Moultan was captured for the third time in 1817, and retained; 

 the following year Peshawur fell into his hands. Finally, in 1819, he 

 captured the rich city of Cashmere, and annexed the whole province 

 to his dominions. In consequence of this addition to his dominions, 

 he assumed the title of Maha Rajah (king of kings). 



In the course of 1822, the growing fame of Runjeet, and his well- 

 known partiality to foreigners, induced two European officers of merit, 

 Messrs. Allard and Ventura, to visit the Punjab. Having met with a 

 flattering reception from the Maha Rajah, they agreed to enter his 

 service at a fixed salary of 50,000 rupees, and to introduce a general 

 system of reform into the Sikh army. It was chiefly to the exertions 



of these gentlemen, and M. Court, who afterwards joined them, that 

 Runjaet's celebrated army of Sikhs owed its high state of discipline. 

 Ahmed Shah, a pretended reformer, fomented a petty rebellion in the 

 Punjab in 1827 ; but Runjeet, having taken the field against him, 

 defeated him soon after. This was the only revolt against his 

 authority which is mentioned in the annals of his long rule. 



In October 1831, Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India, 

 had a meeting with Runjeet Singh at Roopur, which was attended on 

 both sides wifcli great pomp and ceremony. On this occasion a new 

 treaty was signed by the Maha Rajah and the governor-general. The 

 life of Runjeet, in spite of his active occupations, had always been 

 blemished by excesses and low indulgence ; his health had in con- 

 sequence already been seriously affected. At fifty he was completely 

 broken down by premature old age. During the last few years of his 

 life he was disabled by palsy and other bodily ailments, and could not 

 stand without assistance. In 1836 his army was totally defeated by 

 the Afghans; but, in spite of this and other reverses, he retained to 

 the last his authority over his subjects. He died on the 27th of June 

 1839, at the age of fifty-nine, shortly before the capture of Ghuznee. 

 After his demise, the treasure he had hoarded was estimated at 

 8,000,OOOJ. sterling, besides jewels, shawls, horses, elephants, &c., 

 valued at some millions more. It is said that no less than 1300 rich 

 bridles, ornamented with gold and silver, were found in the royal 

 treasury. After his death, his four wives and seven female slaves 

 were, according to the barbarous usage of his people, permitted to 

 burn themselves along with him. 



RUPERT, PRINCE ROBERT, of Bavaria, better known by the 

 title of Prince Rupert, was born in 1619. His mother, Elizabeth, the 

 eldest daughter of James I. of Engla.ud, married Frederic V., elector 

 palatine, who was banished and deprived of his estates in consequence 

 of his unsuccessful attempt to seat himself upon the throne of Bohemia. 

 Rupert, an exile from his youth, received little education ; his dispo- 

 sition was active ; he had a taste for military pursuits, and as the 

 civil wars in England presented an opportunity for employment, he 

 offered his services to Charles I., who put him in command of a regi- 

 ment of cavalry. He took Cirencester, Hereford, and Lichfield, and 

 was engaged in the battles of Worcester, Edgehill, and Chalgrove 

 Field ; but he was 'remarkable rather for his rash courage and im- 

 petuosity than for prudence or military knowledge. His resolute 

 vigour however compensated in part for his want of judgment as a 

 leader, and the king continued to employ him, endeavouring to insure 

 a continuance of his services by creating him a Knight of the Garter 

 and Duke of Cumberland. He took Bristol, dispersed tbe parlia- 

 mentary army at Newark, and was afterwards successful in the north ; 

 but at Marston Moor his indiscretion ruined the king's hopes : his 

 want of concert with the Marquis of Newcastle and the hasty with- 

 drawal of his troops from the field of battle are gravely ceusxired by 

 Lord Clarendon. Had Prince Rupert "stayed with the army he 

 marched away with, at any reasonable distance, it would have been 

 long before the jealousies and breaches which were between the English 

 and Scotch armies, would have been enough composed to have agreed 

 upon the renewing the siege." As it was, in two days after the battle 

 they returned to the posts they had occupied before it took place. 

 ('Hist. Rebel.,' vol. iv., 512.) The king's confidence in him however 

 did not dimmish : on the contrary, Rupert, who had been commander 

 only of the horse, was soon after appointed general of all the king's 

 forces, with which he forced Sir Robert Pye to surrender Leicester, 

 after a gallant defence. He gave the first charge in the battle of 

 Naseby, and repulsed the troops with which he was engaged, but here 

 again his rash pursuit of that portion of the parliamentary forces which 

 he had defeated, while the main portion of their army uuder Cromwell 

 remained on the field, gave the victory to his opponents. After the 

 day was lost, he accompanied the king and some remnant of their 

 forces to Hereford, the king hoping to join Gerrard, who had a body 

 of royalist troops in South Wales, and thus to muster a new army. 

 At Hereford, before it was agreed what should be done next, Rupert 

 left the king, and went hastily to Bristol that he might put that city 

 in condition to resist an attack, which there was reason to expect 

 would soon be made upon it. The reverses that the king had lately 

 sustained rendered his continuing in possession of Bristol a point of 

 the most vital consequence. Rupert wrote so confidently of his opera- 

 tions, that the king marched to Chepstow with the intention of 

 joining him. He was dissuaded however ; fortunately, as it proved, 

 for after a short defence, Rupert surrendered the city to the parlia- 

 mentary army. This pusillanimity justly disappointed and irritated 

 the king, who signified his pleasure to the lords of the council that 

 they should require Prince Rupert to deliver his commission into their 

 hands. He likewise wrote the following letter to him, depriving him 

 of his command : 



" Nephew, Though the loss of Bristol be a great blow to me, yet 

 your surrendering it as you did is of so much affliction to me, that it 

 makes me not only forget the consideration of that place, but is like- 

 wise the greatest trial of my constancy that hath yet befallen me ; 

 for what is to be done, after one that is so near me as you are, both 

 in blood and friendship, submits himself to so mean an action ? (I 



give it the easiest term) such I have so much to say, that I will 



say no more of it : only, lest rashness of judgment be laid to my 

 charge, I must remember you of your letter of the 12th of August, 



