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130 dants in Darbár, must be mentioned the Sikh priests, Bhai Rám Singh, Bhai Govind Rám and Bhai Gúrmukh Singh. The first two of these were the grandsons of a famous Sikh priest and prophet who lived at Lahore, the object of universal respect on the part of the Sikhs during the greater part of the eighteenth century, and who died at nearly a hundred years of age, two years after the Mahárájá captured the city of Lahore in 1802. Ranjít Singh had the greatest respect for this holy man and granted estates to his grandsons. Of these, Rám Singh had the most influence, and during a campaign his tent was regularly pitched next to that of Ranjít Singh. A messenger from the Mahárájá was always sent to escort them to Darbár, and they were treated with high honour. Bhai Gúrmukh Singh, the son of Sant Singh, the guardian of the sacred temple of the Darbár Sáhib at Amritsar, was a soldier as well as a priest and served with the army on several occasions with great credit. When he gave up worldly affairs and devoted himself to the reading and expounding of the Sikh scriptures, he sent his son Gúrmukh Singh to court. The youth soon became as great a favourite as his father had been, although his influence was never equal to that of his enemy and rival, Bhai Rám Singh.

Other men of importance at Lahore were Misr Rallia Rám, Chief of the Customs Department, with his son, afterwards Rájá Sáhib Dyál; the Sirdárs of the great house of Attáriwala, Sirdárs Chatar Singh, Sher Singh and Shám Singh; the two former of