Runjeet Singh

“ Since the death, in 1839, of the famous Runjeet Singh, when the sacred waters of the Ganges received the ashes of the greatest of the Sikhs, it is impossible for language to exaggerate the anarchy, the depravity, the misery of the Punjaub. ”

“ A friend of mine in India, a young man, odd but clever, passed some time with Runjeet Singh, and kept a sort of diary. Curious and odd. You may have heard of Runjeet Singh,—Victor Jacquemont’s [460] friend, you know; only one eye and quantities of paint. I wish I could show you the little work, etc.” And so, eventually, you know, it might come out with great éclat. I think William may write a second part of the Interview at Ferozepore, which might be very gorgeous, taking our army into account, as well as the meeting of the two great people. ”

“ He had been a wanderer, on the verge of starvation, a pedlar, and a bandit, who raised money by plundering caravans. His courage was lightly reputed, and it was as a mere creature of circumstance that he reached the throne. His reign was perturbed, and in 1809 he was a fugitive and an exile. Runjeet Singh, the Sikh ruler of the Punjaub, defrauded him of the famous Koh-i-noor, which is now the most precious of the crown jewels of England, and plundered and imprisoned the fallen man. ”

“ Runjeet Singh, though owing the greater portion of his acquisitions to craft of the lowest kind, and of the most unjustifiable nature, is possessed of talents of no common order, which, if properly cultivated, would have secured for him an ascendancy based upon a more honourable foundation ”

“ By giving them full scope for the indulgence of these passions, and by punishing all disobedience with merciless severity, Runjeet Singh had governed his turbulent subjects for forty years: but, when he died, they broke loose from all control; and the weak Government of Lahore found that they could only save their own capital from being plundered by the Khalsa army by sending it to seek plunder in British territory. Thus began the first Sikh war." T. R. E. Holmes, History of the Indian Mutiny, chapter 1. ALSO IN: Sir L. Griffin, Ranjit Singh. L. J. Trotter, The Earl of Auckland, chapters 4-13. ”

“ Nothing more being procurable, and some feeling of policy or remorse preventing him from taking the lives of those whom he had so shamefully pillaged, Runjeet Singh allowed the females to escape to Loodianah, where they were some time afterwards rejoined by their husbands, on whom the British government settled 50,000 rupees, (five thousand pounds a year,) which they continue to enjoy. ”

“ His Highness the maha-rajah, Runjeet Singh, the great Seik chieftain, who is Lord of the Punjab, or Country of Four Rivers, the conqueror of Cashmere and Moultan, and undisputed master of the most fertile country of India, and of revenues to the amount of two crores (millions) a year, may be styled the only independent prince throughout the whole peninsula. ”

“ Whenever he dies, this great kingdom, which he has raked together, will probably fall to pieces again. His prime minister, Dhian Singh, will probably take Cashmere and the hill provinces, and, they say, is strong enough to take all the rest. But the people generally incline to the foolish son Kurruck Singh, and he will have the Punjâb. The army is attached to our dear friend Shere Singh; but Runjeet has deprived him of most of his income, or it is just possible his dear fat head will be chopped off, unless he crosses to our side of the river. ”

“ Lord Minto's main work was to keep Napoleon and the French out of India. The north-west frontier was still vulnerable, but the Afghans had retired from the Punjab, and the once famous Runjeet Singh had founded a Sikh kingdom between the Indus and the Sutlej. As far as the British were concerned, the Sikhs formed a barrier against the Afghans; and Runjeet Singh was apparently friendly, for he had refused to shelter Jaswant Rao Holkar in his flight from Lord Lake. But there was no knowing what Runjeet Singh might do if the French found their way to Lahore. ”

“ Nearly half the garrison has marched across the Ravee, and not more than 5,000 or 6,000 British troops now hold the far-famed capital of Runjeet Singh.
You must not be alarmed by the accounts you will see in the papers by this mail of the advance of two forces from Lahore and Jullunder towards Jummoo. They are not to take any active part in the operations of Gholab Singh for the recovery of Cashmere from the rebellious Sheikh Imaumoodeen; our troops are to hold the Maharaja's country for him while he advances with his whole disposable force, augmented by a Sikh auxiliary army. ”

“ The soldiers are the lords of the Punjaub. Runjeet Singh's policy was to strengthen the army, which under its foreign officers was always faithful to him. After his death there was no strong hand, and the force which the Old Lion had trained to conquer his foes turned upon the country and became its master. They clamoured for the dismissal of all foreign officers, for increase of pay, for the right to choose their own leaders, and all these things they obtained. There is no longer discipline or order. They oppress the people, they dictate terms to the court, they can make or unmake maharajahs. ”

“ During the Dost's absence in the south, Runjeet Singh's troops crossed the Attock, occupied the Afghan province of Peshawur, and drove the Afghans into the Khyber Pass. No subsequent efforts on Dost Mahomed's part availed to expel the Sikhs from Peshawur, and suspicious of British connivance with Runjeet Singh's successful aggression, he took into consideration the policy of fortifying himself by a counter alliance with Persia. As for Shah Soojah, he had crept back to his refuge at Loodianah. Lord Auckland succeeded Lord William Bentinck as Governor-General of India in March, 1836. ”

“ Runjeet sent word that he considered him ‘his best-beloved son,’ and hoped somebody of consideration would be sent to fetch him. Dhian Singh, the prime minister, and the ruler of one-third of the Punjâb, was coming at the same time to see G. in a private manner. He is Heera Singh’s father, but Runjeet sent ‘the best-beloved son’ with quantities of elephants, and two regiments, to take care of him, while Dhian Singh came on horseback, with only four soldiers riding behind him. He is a very striking-looking man, and his manners are much more pleasing than his son’s. ”

“ Each man as he laid down his arms received a rupee to enable him to support himself while on his way to his home. The greater number of [73] the old men especially, when laying down their arms, made a deep reverence or salaam as they placed their swords on the heap, with the muttered words 'Runjeet Singh is dead to-day!' This was said with deep feeling; they are undoubtedly a fine and brave people. ”

“ The Sikh deputation came on Monday. There are six principal people, one of them a young cousin of Runjeet Singh’s, and another a fakeer who is Runjeet’s chief confidant and adviser, and a clever man. He is dressed outwardly as a fakeer ought to be, in coarse brown cloth; but if that opens a little, there is underneath a gold dress embroidered in seed pearl. Captain M. and I arranged the rooms according to our own fancy, and we made out a much better-looking durbar than when —— takes our house in hand, and desecrates it with ugly white cloth, to ensure the natives taking off their shoes. ”

“ It was well for the British that Runjeet Singh was in his grave and not commanding the invading army.
The column of twenty thousand Sikhs was encountered and defeated by fourteen thousand British troops at Moodkee. The Sikhs lost heavily in men, and among the spoils of battle were seventeen guns which they were forced to abandon. The British army remained in camp for two days, until joined by reinforcements from the south, and then advanced upon the Sikh camp, having previously arranged for the division in Ferozepore to join at a point opposite the Sikh camp. ”

“ The Sikh soldiery used to assemble in groups round the tomb of Runjeet Singh, vowing to defend with their lives all that belonged to the commonwealth of Govind—that they would never suffer the kingdom of Lahore to be occupied by the British strangers, but stand ready to march, or give the invaders battle on their own ground. ”

“ Even in the days of Runjeet Singh this was so; for although his hand was a heavy one, it was easy to bribe those about him to place the matter in a favourable light, and a handsome present would do the rest. But since the Lion has passed away there has been no power in the land. The government has been feeble, and the great sirdars have done as it pleases them, so there is everywhere rapine and confusion. Those who are strong take from those who are weak; the traders who prospered and grew rich in the old days now fly the land or bury their wealth, and assume the appearance of poverty ”

“ We had supplanted the Mahrattas on the banks of the Jumna, and brought ourselves into proximity with the Sikhs. A group of petty principalities were being rapidly consolidated into a great empire by the strong hand and capacious intellect of Runjeet Singh, and it had become apparent to the British that thenceforth, for good or for evil, the will of the Sikh ruler must exercise an influence over the councils of the rulers of Hindostan. ”

“ When we recollect the difficulties of travelling in Eastern countries, and particularly in the then less known portions of Runjeet Singh's dominions, unassisted by a single companion, as was the case with Baron Hügel, we can well appreciate the energy with which he carried out his plans, and the perseverance which enabled him so faithfully to record what he had seen. ”

“ Runjeet Singh is at the head of the most warlike nation of the East, the Seiks being a brave and adventurous race, equalling the Rajpoots in their spirit and enterprise, and more fortunate in the independence of their sovereign, which permits them to follow the bent of their inclination in the pursuit of foreign conquests. The Seiks, or Singhs, are a modern sect of Hindoos, differing considerably from their more orthodox brethren, since they will eat the flesh of any animal, excepting that of the cow. ”

“ That an ordinary Hindoo who has eaten beef cannot be readmitted to his own caste, even if the eating is involuntary, is certain, as witness the tradition of the Tagore family; but the rights of the Royal are, even in Hindooism, extraordinarily wide, and we fancy that, had Dhuleep Singh succeeded in his enterprise, Sikh doctors of theology would have declared his re-admission legal. He did not, however, succeed. He set out for the Punjab intending, it can hardly be doubted, if the Sikhs acknowledged him, to make a stroke for the throne, if not of India, at least of Runjeet Singh ”

“ Five Maharajahs in this brief period, "all murdered," have been sacrificed to the ambition of profligate courtiers, or the rapacity of a debauched soldiery. Kurruck [Pg 626] Singh, the son of Runjeet Singh, and the inheritor of an overflowing treasury and a disciplined and numerous army, was an uneducated idiot, and easily induced to frown upon his father's able favourite, the Rajah Dhyan Singh, and to invest his own confidential adviser, the Sirdar Cheyk Singh, with the authority, if not the title, of his prime-minister. ”

“ The successors of Runjeet Singh, however, did not look with an eye of favour upon men who were not to be bought, and whose sense of personal dignity revolted at the treatment to which the unbridled Sikh chieftains were inclined to subject them. The greater part accordingly resigned their commissions; some of them retiring with ample fortunes, and others seeking honourable employment elsewhere. ”

“ Not content with the usual number of female attendants, Runjeet Singh has a band of amazons armed, and equipped as a guard to the Zenana; these women are splendidly dressed, and many are said to be very handsome, and great favourites of their sovereign. ”

“ In close vicinity to the Shish Mahal was a large mosque, very similar in style and appearance to the Jumna Musjid at Delhi; it was now occupied as a magazine. Thence we proceeded to the gateway where a few years ago Rajah Nao Nehal Singh lost his life,—​whether by accident or design is still by some few persons considered doubtful. Adjoining that gate stands the tomb of Runjeet Singh, on entering which we found two priests ready to give whatever aid the Feringhee might stand in need of. Under a coverlet of green cloth the Grunth, or Holy Book of the Sikhs, was carefully preserved ”

“ The description of the route from Attock to Lahore is peculiarly interesting at the present moment, associated as it is with the proceedings of the late campaign against the Sikhs.
At Lahore Baron Hügel remained some time enjoying the hospitality of Runjeet Singh, of whom and his government he gives us a lively and interesting account. His description of Runjeet's troops, of his officers, and especially of his powerful artillery—powerful even in that day (1836) , is particularly worthy of remark. ”

“ He would probably regard the empire of Runjeet Singh as divided into small districts—an assumption which inverts no doubt the true historical order, the smaller group being generally more ancient than the larger. But provided that the other conditions prevail, the mere fact that the law is administered by local tribunals for minute areas should make no difference to the theory. ”

“ These heroic women still holding out, the Seik was ashamed of continuing a system likely to end in the death of the parties who had claimed his hospitality, and was fain to be content with a promise of the jewel, to be redeemed when the imprisoned monarch should be put in possession of Rotas. Runjeet Singh now set seriously to work, and having entered into an alliance with the ruler of Affghanistan, they agreed to send a large force into Cashmere, which had rebelled, to subdue the country, and to obtain the person of Shah Sujah. ”