ACCIDENT OR MURDER?

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even to the fort there was none, still less into the Maharaja's apartment. None of the female inmates, not even his wives, were suffered to see him.

The palki-bearers who had carried Nao Nihal Singh to his palace were sent to their homes; they were servants in my own camp of artillery, and were five in number. Two were afterwards privately put to death, two escaped into Hindustan, the fate of the fifth is unknown to me. One of the palki-bearers afterwards affirmed that when the prince was put into the palki, and when he was assisting to put him there, he saw that above the right ear there was a wound which bled so slightly as only to cause a blotch of blood about the size of a rupee on the pillow or cloth on which Nao Nihal Singh's head rested while in the palki. Now it is a curious fact that when the room was opened, in which his corpse was first exposed by Dhyan Singh, blood in great quantities, both in fluid and coagulated pools, was found around the head of the cloth on which the body lay. Be this as it may, when the doors were thrown open the Sindhanwalias found the young Maharaja dead, Dhyan Singh prostrate in affliction on the ground, and Fakir Nuruddin, the

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royal physician, lamenting that all remedies had been useless.1

Thus perished Maharaja Nao Nihal Singh on the day following the death of his father.

It was at the time commonly believed that the death of Nao Nihal Singh was brought about by the Dogra brothers, but it is at least equally probable that it really resulted from an accident. Syad Muhammad Latif, the author of 'The History of the Panjab,' points out very sensibly that had the fall of the parapet been foreseen, some other companion than Udam Singh would have been chosen for the doomed prince. Dhyan Singh himself also appears to have narrowly escaped being crushed, his arm being severely contused. This certainly points to an accident.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE.

THE RIVAL CLAIMANTS-SHER SINGH PROPITIATES THE ARMY-DEFENCE OF THE FORTRESS GARDNER'S DEFENCE OF THE GATE

WAY-TERMS OF PEACE-MURDER OF THE MAHARANI AND ACCESSION OF THE MAHARAJA SHER SINGH.

WITH Nao Nihal Singh expired the legitimate line of Ranjit Singh. All that remained to thwart the ambition of the Dogra brothers were Sher Singh and the other princes whom Ranjit Singh had from time to time, for reasons of his own, chosen to acknowledge.

Sher Singh, the eldest of the princes, was very popular with the army, and would in ordinary course have now succeeded to the throne; but to further their deep-laid plot, the Dogra family set up a rival claimant in the person of Maharani Chand Kour. This lady was the widow of Kharrak Singh and mother of Nao Nihal Singh, and she based her claim to the throne on the

assertion that a widow of Nao Nihal Singh would in due time give birth to an heir. Chand Kour claimed the regency of the kingdom pending the birth of her grandchild, and her pretensions were by no means without the support of precedent among the Sikhs. Still further to complicate matters, and with the intention of eventually destroying both claimants, the Dogra family now pretended to be divided among themselves. Raja Gulab Singh and his nephew Hira Singh espoused the cause of the queen, while Raja Dhyan Singh declared for the party of Sher Singh, who assumed the title of Maharaja.

Sher Singh remained for a time at his estate of Batala, but by the end of the year considered himself strong enough to assert his claim, and marched on Lahore at the head of a small body of troops. This took place early in the month of January 1841, and on the approach of Sher Singh, Chand Kour, Gulab Singh, and Hira Singh threw themselves into the fortress of Lahore. The Dogra troops of Gulab Singh were on this occasion all placed under my immediate orders, but in the event of a battle it was arranged that Gulab Singh himself should take supreme command, while I should devote myself

66 FIVE BROTHERS."

to my especial charge, the artillery.

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Until the

actual fighting commenced Gulab Singh could better aid our side by giving his full attention to diplomacy. I must mention that Dhyan Singh did not accompany Sher Singh to Lahore, but withdrew for a time to Jammu, the capital of the Dogra dominions.

On approaching Lahore Maharaja Sher Singh summoned the whole Khalsa army to join him, and in his proclamation made use of a traditional Panjabi expression, which may be translated "five brothers." The meaning of this term was that every soldier was to take four relations with him on the campaign, to share in the pillage that would ensue. Such was the ancient custom of the Khalsa army, and the magnitude of the assembly on this occasion may be imagined: to the very horizon the plains and the hills were one blaze of camp-fires. To strengthen his influence with the army Sher Singh made great concessions to them, giving them leave to execute lynch-law, and do all that they thought fit for their private enemies. To this flagrant weakness be attributed the mutinies and violence which occurred during Sher Singh's reign, and particularly the atrocities inflicted on the detested pay officials.

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