Lehal Library

The Indus to the Ganges 171 the monsoon failed completely, and the whole of southem Punjab up to Delhi was gripped by famine. Sikh horsemen brought their families with them and scoured the impoverished countryside for food. The famine and an epidemic of cholera that followed took a heavy toll of life. The famine of these years made the Sikh freebooters more ravenous. In January 1784 over thirty thousand horsemen under the leadership of Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and Karam Singh forded the Jumna and began to collect rakhi from the towns and villages between the two rivers. These Sardars, who dared so much in the field of battle, showed surprising timidity in the political field; when sounded by the Emperor they shrank from taking the imperial city under their protection. In this instance the Emperor turned for help to the English and Marathas. The English in India did not have the confidence that the Directors of the East India Company in London would approve of extending power beyond the Ganges. The best that the governor general, Warren Hastings, could do was to preserve the status quo and try to keep the Sikhs and Marathas apart without committing his government in any way. He wrote: 'It is certainly not for the interest of either the Company's or the Vizier's Government that the chiefs of the Seikh tribes should form any friendly connections with the Mahrattas. On the contrary, a disunion between them is much to be desired; and if any assurances to the Seikhs of our determination not to interfere in such disputes could foment or add to them, such assurances ought to be conveyed.' 111 By the winter of 1784, Shah Alam Il concluded that the English were not willing to take over the administration. He turned to the Marathas, who had earlier brought him back to the capital. In December, he invested Madhaji Sindhia with the title of Vakili-mu.tl.aq (regent plenipotcmi.ary) and requested him to put in order whatever remained of the Empire. Baghel Singh and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia again crossed the Jumna. This incursion was more serious than the previous ones because following in the wake of the Sikhs were Gujjar herdsmen 10 SC 20 of 19.4.1785.