New History of the Marathas v2.c28.14

v2.c28.14

2. The Marathas reach Attock.—Here the Marathas for the first time came into contact with the Sikhs who had been bitter enemies of the Pathans of the trans-frontier regions, and who had the ambition of creating an independent Punjab as their motherland. During the ten years 1755-65 there appeared three powerful leaders of the Sikhs, Jasasinh Ahluwalia, the founder of the present State of Kapurthala, Alasinh Jat (Ala Jat of the Maratha papers) founder of Patiala, and Jasasinh Ramgadia, who all successfully fought and resisted the aggression of Ahmad Shah Abdali, whom they hated more than they did the Marathas. During 1757 Ahmad Shah Abdali after demolishing the Hindu shrines of Mathura, pulled down on his way back through the Punjab the golden temple of the Sikhs at Amritsar and filled up with earth the sacred lake in front of it. But no sooner did the Afghan King turn his back, than the Sikhs rebuilt the temple and restored the lake which we see to this day. Abdali had left his son Taimur Shah and his general Jahan Khan at Lahore for the government of the province with a fairly large army of occupation. At Sarhind Raghunathrao discussed the question whether he should proceed to Lahore or turn back without caring to subjugate the Punjab, which the Sikhs were disputing with the Pathans. But the Emperor and Ghazi-ud-din were anxious to recover the Punjab, and Adina Beg the Mughal Governor of the Jalandar Doab between the Satlaj and the Bias, was already waging a relentless war against the Pathans with the help of the Sikhs and encouraged R'rao in that project. This appeared in a way a mad venture particularly as the Marathas thereby lengthened their line of communication with their base at Poona, while they had no means of holding a territory extending to the Indus. This would have been possible if the Maratha position at Delhi had been made perfectly secure as against their antagonists Najib Khan and Malika Zamani.