Lehal Library

184 Punjab Monarchy and Imperialism men whose territories lay on the Afghans' route to l..a.hore were Sahib Singh Bhangi and Ranjit Singh. Sahib Singh made a feeble attempt to halt the invaders, then lost his nerve and fled eastwards. Ranjit Singh, who could barely raise ten thousand undisciplined horsemen, also left his district and repaired posthaste to Amritsar. The majority of the chieftains who met in Amritsar felt that the best they could do was to retreat to the hills, allow their deserted towns and cities to be plundered, and close in on the Afghans when they tried to take the loot back to their country. Ranjit Singh exhorted them to stay in the plains to defend the people from whom they had taken a protection cax for many years. His boldness turned the scales. Many chiefs agreed to support him. He took command of the Sikh forces, cleared the Afghans from the Lahore countryside, and threw a cordon round the city. Every night he organized raids on different suburbs and kept the Afghans on the defensive. In January 1797, Zaman received intelligence that his brother, Mahmud, was again trying to usurp his throne. He left his ablest officer, Shabancbi Khan, with twelve thousand Afghan soldiers in the Punjab and took the road back to Kabul. The Sikhs followed on his heels and harassed him all the way up to the Jhelum. Shabanchi Khan, who tried to waylay the Sikhs at their rear, was thoroughly trounced at Ram Nagar; Ranjit Singh decimated Shahanchi's columns fleeing towards Gujarat, and his prestige rose from that of an obscure Sikh chieftain to that of the hero of the Punjab. The humiliation of their defeat rankled in Zaman's mind and as soon as he had settled his domestic problems, he tumed his footsteps to the Punjab. In command of his troops was the son of Shahancbi Khan, thirsting to avenge the death of his father. In order to induce his countrymen to join his army, Zaman made a proclamation that they would be given pennission to plunder Indian homes.2 2 PC 17 of 24.12.1798.