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ON THE SIKHS.
His son Charat Sing became a petty chief himself, and levied a small troop of horse with which he plundered the country. Being successful in his incursions he built a fort near Gajraulí, at no great distance from Lahore, and compelled the villages in the vicinity to pay to him the government assessments. The Afghán governor of Lahore attempted to dislodge him, but the Sikhs flocked to his succour in such numbers that the Afghán was glad to desist from the enterprise and shelter himself in Lahore. These events enabled Charat Sing to extend his acquisitions, and while reserving to himself the Sirdárí portion lie distributed among his principal associates the remainder of the districts whose revenues lie had appropriated. He was thenceforward the head of a Misal, that of Sukarchak, the name of the village in which his ancestors had resided. His Misal was one of the least considerable of the twelve, being able to send but 2500 horse into the field, while several of the others furnished 10,000 or 12,000.
The son and successor of Charat Sing, Mahá Sing, distinguished himself by his military and political talents, and greatly extended the power of the confederacy of which he was the leader, although he died in 1792 at the early age of twenty-seven.
He was succeeded bis his only son RAŃJIT, then in his twelfth year, under the regency of his mother, but at the age of seventeen he put her to death for alleged misconduct, and assumed the direction of affairs. His resources were much improved bis his
