Lehal Library

182 Punjab Monarchy and hnperialism empire. Abdali's attempts to treat it as such had been frustrated by the Sikhs. His son and successor, Taimur, kept up his father's pretensions, but all he could do was co hold on to Kashmir and eject the Bhangis from Multan. Taimur's sons were not lacking in ambition and as soon as Shah Zaman took his father's place he proclaimed his intention of re-establishing the Afghan empire in India. Zaman's first attempt to conquer India brought him as far as Hassan Abdal; he had to return to Afghanistan to put down a revolt by his brother, Mahmud. Two years later he was back in the Punjab again and in addition to retaking Hassan Abdal he captured Rohtas from the Sukerchakias. Raajit Singh was thus the first Sikh chieftain to suffer at his bands. Once more Zaman had to return home, this time to prevent an invasion of bis own country from the west. Ranjit Singh did not have much difficulty in taking back Rohtas. But the Punjab had not yet seen the last of Zaman and his Afghan hordes. Among the princes upon whom Zaman relied for collaboration was Sansar Chand of Kangra. Sansar Chand had already taken areas adjacent to his domains from the Sikh chiefs and had discovered that their disunity made them an easy prey. There were three other powers who had their eyes on the Punjab. The Gurkhas, hitherto known only as a warrior race, had, under Amar Singh Thapa, become a formidable power in the eastern Himalayas. They had begun to move westwards along the mountain ranges until they came to the territory of Sansar Chand of Kangra. The choice for the Gurkhas and Rajputs lay between fighting each other or joining hands to take the Punjab and share the spoils. The wretched state of the mists made the latter alternative seem more profitable. The Marathas had recovered from the defeat they had suf. fered in 1761 0'1 the field of Panipat. They had taken Agra, reduced the Mughal emperor at Delhi to subservience, and reentered southern Puajab. Their troops were trained by Europeans and were better disciplined than the Sikhs. In the north they