1837.] Lodiana to Mithankot by the Satlaj river. 17? 



he commenced a system of depredations on the country. Many needy 

 adventurers flocked to him, till by degrees he found himself at the 

 head of a formidable band ; he then raised the standard of indepen- 

 dence, proclaimed himself a Sirdar or chief, and commenced adding 

 to his small patrimony by preying* upon the weaker of his neighbors. 

 Village after village submitted to his rule, till, by fraud and force, he 

 became master of a large tract of country on both sides of the river. 

 He had scarcely time, however, to enjoy his good fortune, when the 

 extent of his territory attracted the notice of the Lah6r chief, who did 

 not long want a pretext to dispossess him. The whole of his ill 

 acquired possessions fell into the hands of the Maha-raja, by whom 

 Fattehgarh was confirmed in jdghir to Hari Singh, the same person 

 who had held it under Tara Singh Ghaiba. At a subsequent period 

 Harri Singh became disaffected toward the Lahor chief, and in 1825- 

 26 was one among the Sirdars who openly threw off their allegiance 

 to him, and, in virtue of their possessions on the left bank of the 

 Satlaj, claimed the protection of the British Government, whom they 

 wished to acknowledge as lord paramount. The others were Sirdar 

 Fatteh Singh Alawalla, Sirdar Chet Singh of Kot Kapara, and 

 Qutub-u'-din Kha'n Kasaria, the Pathan chief, whose family are 

 now in possession of Mamdot. It was not thought expedient to comply 

 with their wishes, and they were directed to return to their allegiance 

 to the Khalsa Ji. Sirdar Hari Singh dying soon after, the territory 

 of Fattehgarh was taken possession of by the Lah6r chief, and has since 

 continued to be khalsa land. 



On the 14th we left Mahdraj-wdla. The river pursues a very 

 winding course from this place till it passes between Mundhidla on 

 the right and Wdla Kali Raon on the left hand • from thence it runs 

 in a straight direction past Asappura Tibbi and Pipal on the right, 

 and Malha Jungh Lulu-wdla and Tibbi Kusaine'-iodla on the left. 

 These villages are all small and insignificant, averaging from thirty to 

 sixty mud hovels. 



The current to-day was so sluggish and the wind so foul, that where 

 the deep channel ran under high banks we had recourse to the track- 

 ing rope. There was too great a depth of water to admit of using 

 the bamboo, and where the banks were unfavorable to tracking we 

 had recourse to the oar. The boatmen only used one at a time, and 

 that alone required the services of more than half the crew; the rest 

 were occupied at the stern oar (which is used for a rudder) in coun- 

 teracting the efforts of the rowers. We made but little way by these 

 2 A 



