occupied it as a permanent inheritance, every one of them according to his strength seizing what fell in his way and making himself independent. After a quarter of a century of fierce contest the Sikhs were now relieved from religious persecution. They had survived many a stricken field. Their dogged faith in themselves and in Govind's prophecy that they would become a nation was brought out strongly in the long years of adversity which determined and developed the character of their resistance. The tide had turned at last, and taken at the flood it carried them on to the success which they never doubted would be theirs. They were left undisturbed by their mortal foes the Afghans for the next thirty years, during which time they built up a strong body of clan confederacies, with Amritsar as their central headquarters.
The redoubtable Ahmad Shah of Kabul died in 1773 and was succeeded by his son Tymur, who, deeming it beyond his power
