Lehal Library

Punjab Monarchy and Imperialism 180 Budl1 Singh Naudli Singh Charhat Singh Maha Singh Dal Singh Chanda Singh Maghi Singh Chet Singh Sahaj Singh D Tant Singh Kashmira Singh I Ranjit Singh Kharak Siogb Sher Singh Ml1ltana Singh Peshaura Singh Dalip Singh Charhat Singh's son, Maha Singh, inherited his father's daring and ambition. He married a daughLer of Gajpat Sing!1 of Jind and thus strengthened his own position among the Sikhs. He caprured the territory north and north-west of Gujranwala and levied tribute on the Muslim tribes of the region. In a short time Maha Singh succeeded in raising his misl from comparative unimportance co one of the leaders of the confederacy. This aroused the envy of Lhe misl then most powerful, the Kanhayas. The two came into conflict over the controJ ofJam.mu and in one of the many skirmishes that 100k place between them, Gurbaksh Singh, son of the leader Jai Singh Kanhaya, was killed. Jai Singh's pride was humbled and he agreed to the betrothal of his deceased son's only child, Mehtab Kaur, to Maha Singh's five-year-old son, Ranjit Singh. Jai Singh died shortly after, leaving the Kanha}'a estates to his widowed daughter-in-law, Sada Kaur, the mother of Mehtab Kaur. Maha Singh died in 1792. The legacy which Ranjit Singh inherited from his ancestors consisted of a large district in the heart of the Punjab and an ambition that knew no bounds. Ranjit Singh was twelve years old when his father died. A virulent attack of smallpox bad deprived him of vision in his left