Page:The Imperial Durbar Album of the Indian princes, chiefs and zamindars.djvu/86

 Patiala.

PATIALA is the largest of a!) the Sikh states in the Punjab. A peasant named Chaudhari Phul established a small village in the territory of Nabha about the middle of the 17th century. He had two sons, Tiloka and Rama. The descendants of the former are the rulers of Nabha and Jhind, while those of the latter are the rulers of Patiala. The history of Patiala, as a separate power, may be said to date from 1 762 A.D., in which year Ahamad Shah Durani conferred the title of ' Raja ' upon Ala Singh, its chief; but it may be more justly regarded as dating from 1763 A.D. when the Sikh confederation took the fortress of Sirhind with its surrounding country from Ahmad Shah's governor. Ala Singh died in 1765 A.D. and was succeeded by his grandson Amar Singh, whose half-brother Himmat Singh also laid claim to the throne. After a hard contest the latter was allowed to retain possession of the Bhawni- garh pargana. In 1767 A.D. Amar Singh met Ahamad Shah, on his last invasion of India, at Karabawana and received the title of ' Raja-i'Rajgan ' from him.

After Ahmad Shah's departure from India, Amar Singh undertook several expeditions and largely extended his dominions. In one of these Amar Singh turned his arms against the fortress of Govindgarh, which commanded the town of Bhatinda. After a protracted siege it was taken in 1771 A.D. Soon after this Himmat Singh got possession of Patiala itself, but was induced to give it to Amar Singh in 1774 A.D. Amar Singh died in 1781 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Sardar Singh during whose reign the neighbouring chiefs, who owned allegiance to Saheb Singh, rose up in arms, but they were all vanquished by him.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore determined upon seizing all the tranS'Sutlej principalities. It became clear to the cis^Sutlej chiefs that they had to choose between absorption by Ranjit Singh and the protection of the British. Accordingly in 1808 A.D. Patiala, Jhind, and Kaithal made overtures to the British Resident at Delhi. No definite promise of protection was given at the time; but in 1809 A.D., the treaty with Ranjit Singh secured the cis-Sutlej territory from further aggression on his part, and a week later the desired proclamation of protection ' was issued. After two years it became necessary to issue another proclamation of protection, this time to protect the ciS'Sutlej chiefs against one another. Meanwhile internal confusion in Patiala led to the armed interposition of the British Agent, who established Maharani As Kaura as Regent with sole authority. She showed administrative ability and an unbending temper, and managed the State till the death of Maharaja Saheb Singh, which took place in 1813 A.D. He was succeeded by Maharaja Karam Singh, who was largely influenced at first by his mother, and then by his minister Missar Naudha.

The Gurkha War broke out in 1814 A.D., between the English and the Gurkhas, a hardy race of mountaineers in the Himalayan tracts, in which the Patiala contingent served under Colonel Ochterlony and rendered good assistance. In reward for this the British Government made a grant of sixteen paraganas in the Simla Hills to Patiala on payment of a nazarana of Rs. 2,80,000. Karam Singh's government was much hampered by misunderstandings, first, with his mother and later on, with his younger brother, Ajit Singh. In the hostilities between the British and the Maharaja