Singh, he became for a time the most important person in the Lahore State, and his services to the British during the first Sutlej campaign were such that he was granted the independent sovereignty of the Province of Kashmír by the Governor-General. There are, perhaps, no characters in Punjab history more repulsive than Rájás Dhyán Singh and Ghuláb Singh; their splendid talents and undoubted bravery only render more conspicuous their atrocious cruelty, their treachery, their avarice, and their unscrupulous ambition. The third brother, Suchet Singh, was the handsomest man in the Sikh army and a very splendid figure at court. He had little of the ability of his brothers, and played altogether a subordinate part in Lahore politics. Rájá Hira Singh, the nephew of Rájá Dhyán Singh, was a young man of great promise; he succeeded his father as Prime Minister, but like him, was assassinated during the troubles which preceded the first Sikh War.
Among the men who rose to power during the latter days of the Mahárájá's life, no one was more remarkable than Rájá Dina Náth. He has been well and happily styled the Talleyrand of the Punjab, and his life and character bear a strong resemblance to those of the European statesman. Revolutions in which his friends and patrons perished passed him by; dynasties rose and fell but never involved him in their ruin; in the midst of bloodshed and assassination his life was never endangered; while confiscation and judicial robbery were the rule of the State, his
