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164 Singh, who flattered and cajoled him in every way, building his new fort of Govindgarh at Amritsar on the plan of the Rámgarhia fortress. He accompanied the Mahárájá on many of his expeditions. It was only on Jodh Singh's death, in 1816, when his successors began to quarrel, that Ranjít Singh marched against Amritsar, and after some severe fighting captured the fortress, which he razed to the ground, and then reduced the minor forts, about one hundred in number, and annexed all the vast territory of the confederacy in Amritsar, Jálandhar, and Gurdáspur. To the heads of the conquered family he assigned respectable jagírs, and gave them honourable appointments in command of troops or about his person.

The Nakkai confederacy was ruined in the year 1810. It will be remembered that Ranjít Singh had married a Nakkai girl, in 1802, who became the mother of his only child. But this alliance did not do the relations any good. When Káhn Singh, the nephew of Ráni Ráj Kour, became the head of the family in 1807, the Mahárájá tried to induce him to come and reside at court. But Káhn knew that he should not be allowed to leave it again. Vestigia nulla retrorsum, and stoutly declined the honour. This did not save him, for the Mahárájá annexed all his estates, which were too close to Lahore, in Kasúr, Chúnian, and Gogaira, to be successfully defended. This incident is a fair example of the Mahárájá's methods. There was no pretended excuse, and Káhn