it was able, the following year, to conquer the province of Sirhind, and to found on a secure basis the great chiefships of the Cis-Sutlej.
Zin Khán had been appointed by Ahmad Sháh, in 1761, as his governor at Sirhind. But no sooner had the Afghan turned his face homeward than the Sikhs, collecting in great numbers, besieged Zin Khán in his fort and would certainly have taken it and annihilated the garrison had not help come in the form of the Mussulman Khán of Máler Kotla. When Ahmad Sháh returned, the following year, to India, he resolved to punish the Sikhs for their insolent attack on Sirhind. They had assembled near Barnála, then the principal town in Patiála territory, and, in addition to the chiefs of the Cis-Sutlej, there were many of the leaders of the Mánjha Sikhs who had crossed the Sutlej as Ahmad Sháh advanced. The movements of the Afgháns had been so rapid that the Sikhs were surprised, surrounded and compelled to give battle, and were defeated with the loss of 20,000 men and many prisoners, among whom was Ala Singh the chief of Patiála, for whose ransom five lakhs of rupees were demanded. This sum was paid with great difficulty, and Ahmad Sháh, who was a man of great sagacity, thinking it would be wise to conciliate the Sikhs after having given them so convincing a proof of his power, embraced Ala Singh and bestowed on him a dress of honour with the title of Rájá.
This unwonted dignity aroused against Ala Singh
