his back on an enemy. His courage so impressed the Mahárájá that he dismissed the chief with honour, rich presents, and an addition to his estates. So far the story is as creditable to Ranjít Singh as to the Sirdár; but when, shortly afterwards, Jodh Singh died, leaving only infant sons, the Mahárájá seized all his possessions; and although he promised to restore Wazírábád when the eldest son should have reached his majority, he never kept, and probably never intended to keep, the promise.
It was not well for a chief to make too ostentatious a display of his wealth. When the young chief of Batálah married his sister to Sirdár Sher Singh, the families spent two lakhs of rupees on the festivities, the like of which had never before been seen in the Gujránwála district. But when the Mahárájá heard of it, and of the boasts of the girl's mother that she had two parolahs[1] of rupees, he at once sent and said that a family which could spend so much on a marriage must be able to afford him a contribution of Rs. 50,000.
With all his rapacity Ranjít Singh was not cruel or bloodthirsty. After a victory or the capture of a fortress he treated the vanquished with leniency and kindness, however stout their resistance might have been, and there were at his Court many chiefs despoiled of their estates but to whom he had given suitable employ, and who accepted their position with the resignation born of Eastern fatalism, which takes the sharpest
- ↑ Parolah, a Punjábi word for a large basket of clay and wickerwork used for storing grain.
