New History of the Marathas v2.c28.17

v2.c28.17

The territory between the Satlaj and Attock was in those days distributed for administrative purposes into three divisions, the southern, the middle and the northern, with their capitals at Multan, Lahore and Srinagar. When Raghunathrao with his valiant bands was so enthusiastically welcomed at Lahore and Prince Taimur and Jahan Khan had returned precipitately in great discomfiture, Abdali became almost hopeless of recovering that land, particularly as the Sikhs were his worst enemies. From subsequent events one is apt to ridicule this as an audacious venture of the Marathas trying to hold such an extensive country from Poona. But the conditions of 1758 did not warrant any such fears. Abdali was then finding extreme difficulty even in holding his own. In 1758 he was threatened by the Persians from the west; his own nephew Abdur Rahman rose against him and went to Poona seeking the Peshwa's support in regaining his inheritance. The three Sikh chiefs mentioned above were brave leaders and allies commanding a considerable following of the best soldiers in Asia.