THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST, I15 



murder his uncle, the brave Rajah Soochet Sing, for which 

 he wanted an army of 20,000 men, although his antagonist 

 was only assisted by forty valiant mountaineers." This 

 murder happened in a small mosque, five miles from 

 Lahore. Jellah, the idol of Heera Sing, intrigued as a 

 decided fanatic against the high priest of the Sikhs, 

 Gooroo Baba Beer Sing. Under the pretext that this holy 

 man was on good terms with the rebels and fugitives, and 

 collected them in his camp, in order to surrender the coun- 

 try to the English, he spurred the minister on to send a 

 part of his troops to the residence of the priest, and to take 

 the fugitives prisoners. At this expedition, accompanied 

 by great bustle, the Gooroo was shot, together with a great 

 number of horned cattle ( holy beast, sacred among the 

 Hindoos ind Sikhs ), and numerous poor people supported 

 by the charity of the priest ; part of them were driven 

 into the river Sutlej, near to Hurekee-ke-Puttun ( a ferry on 

 the Sutlej ), where they perished. Among the slain there 

 was also Cashmere Sing, son to Runjeet Sing, who had 

 been driven from the fortress of Seealkote, which was given 

 to him and his brother, Peshora Sing, as an appanage from 

 their father. 



Jellah impaired the civil list of the king, Dulleep Sing, 

 and his mother, ranee Chund, and that of his uncle Jewahir 

 Sing, to such an extent that they could not live in a style 

 due to their rank. This prompted the brother of the ranee, 

 Jewahir Sing, to allure Dulleep Sing out of the fortress on 

 an elephant, and to take refuge with the troops of ""General 

 Avitabile, but the kidnapper was received by the general 

 in command, Misser Jodaram, a Brahmin, and father-in-law 

 to Jellah, with, instead of friendly salutation, a stroke ia 

 the face, and he imprisoned them both, for which he lost his 

 nose when sirdar Jewahir Sing became wuzeer. In the city 

 the rumour was current that Jewahir Sing intended to 

 convey Dulleep Sing to Ferozepore, to deliver him to 

 the English. Early in the morning Heera Sing went out 

 on horseback, and brought both the fugitives back to the 

 city. According to custom, a salute of hundreds of cannons 

 19 



