THE KABUL DISASTER-GARDNER ACCOMPANIES THE DOGRA TROOPS TO PESHAWAR - BRIGADIER-GENERAL WILD DELAYED BY GULAB SINGH-SIR HENRY LAWRENCE-BAD NEWS-MURDERS OF MAHARAJA SHER SINGH AND OF DHYAN SINGH-SATI OF HIS WIDOW AND THIRTEEN SLAVES-CHARACTER OF HIRA SINGH RANI JINDAU-DEATH OF SUCHET SINGH-GARDNER DISGUISED AS AN AKALI DEATHS OF HIRA SINGH AND JAWAHIR SINGH OUTBREAK OF WAR WITH THE ENGLISH.

THE month of January 1842 was disastrous to the British, for of a large force which was compelled to leave Kabul on the 6th of that month but one single man reached the city of Jalalabad, where a garrison under Sir Robert Sale with difficulty held its own. The few survivors of the Kabul force were prisoners in the hands of Muhammad Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Muhammad.

Shortly before this time Maharaja Sher Singh, who was a staunch supporter of the British, ordered the Dogra force, of some 10,000 men, to proceed to Peshawar, and appointed Raja Gulab Singh

SIR HENRY LAWRENCE.

241

governor of that province in the room of General Avitabile, who shared in the unpopularity of Ranjit Singh's old foreign officers. I accompanied the Dogra troops in my capacity of commandant of artillery.

It is recorded in history that General Wild, who commanded the first body of troops, hurried up through the Panjab on the news of the disasters of Kabul, was delayed at Peshawar, and rendered unable to advance through the Khaibar Pass to reinforce Sale's beleaguered garrison of Jalalabad ; but it is perhaps reserved for me to explain clearly how this was brought about.

1

It was on this occasion that I was first brought in contact with Sir Henry Lawrence, then a young "political" officer. I have often since expressed my admiration of that great and good man, and of the tact and ability he brought to bear on his political duties.

The Dogra force was encamped on the west bank of the Indus, and Gulab Singh obviously had no wish to go to Peshawar in accordance with his orders. Under the pretext that his rear was

1 Sir Henry Lawrence was born in 1806, and was consequently thirty-five at this time. Gardner was, of course, twenty or twentyone years older.

threatened, he sent frequent messages by myself and others to Peshawar to say that he was unable to advance thither. Meanwhile I was aware that he was receiving daily letters from Kabul. He was, indeed, in constant communication with Muhammad Akbar Khan. These messages were brought by men whom Gulab Singh used to represent as paupers and refugees.

One day an English doctor in the disguise of a Pathan came into camp, requesting aid, in the shape of boats, from Gulab Singh. This assistance was promised, and the doctor departed to Brigadier Wild's camp. Directly he had gone Gulab Singh sent me and another commandant in his confidence (who, like myself, was intimately acquainted with the Yusufzai country and people), and directed us to go all along the Indus and conceal every boat we could lay hands on. He pretended that these boats were required for his own force, and for great British reinforcements coming up in rear. Thus the army of succour of the unfortunate Wild, who was making every effort to get on, was delayed for ten days at Attock instead of two, and in that period the destruction of the army at Kabul was consummated. At last Wild got across, and Gulab Singh then took charge of the ferry at Attock.

A HAZARDOUS JOURNEY.

243

Daily rumours of disasters at Kabul arrived, and news now came, to add to the confusion, that the whole Sikh garrison of Peshawar was in open rebellion.

Over and over again did Lawrence write to Gulab Singh, who returned him no answer. The road from Peshawar to Attock, moreover, was beleaguered by mutinous troops.

One day I heard that a sahib had come into camp, and seeing one or two persons under a tree, I went forward and found Lawrence dressed, not very successfully, as a Pathan. He had had the courage to travel right through the Yusufzai country, had crossed the river at a dangerous place (Bazar-ka-patan), and here he was in the midst of the camp asking for Gulab Singh. That astute chief at once ordered large tents to be prepared for the British official, gave him a warm reception, and declared that he had written at least five times a-day, and that his notes must have been intercepted. Lawrence was then closeted two hours with Gulab Singh, and I could see at once on the close of the interview that the wonderful tact of the rising "political" had prevailed, and that he was master of the situation.

It was amusing to listen to the verbal fence of

the two when I was admitted into the audiencetent. Lawrence had got some valuable news from down country, and he was well aware that Gulab Singh's direct news from Kabul would be of the greatest interest to the British. He jocularly offered to swap news. Gulab Singh laughed and agreed. "Give and take," said he; "let it be fair barter: you tell the truth, and so will I."

The bargain was struck, and Lawrence led off by telling Gulab Singh that his expedition to Thibet had utterly failed, and that his agent, Wazir Zorawar Singh, with 9000 soldiers, had been cut off nearly to a man.

"I also have some news," said Gulab Singh in his turn, and then told Lawrence the horrid truth that all was over with the British at Kabul, and that Akbar Khan was pressing Jalalabad with terrific vigour. Lawrence, shocked at the intelligence, demanded proofs, when the two retired once more to a private conference, and Gulab Singh showed him the letter he had received.1

1 The conversation between Sir Henry Lawrence and Gulab Singh, as related by Gardner, agrees sufficiently closely with the account in the Life of Sir Henry written by Sir Herbert Edwardes. The fact that information was given to Lawrence by Gardner is also mentioned, with the explanation that Gardner was exceptionally wellinformed in Sikh affairs, because "he had married a native wife, given to him by Rajah Dhyan Singh out of his own house; and