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86 made arrangements to secure his authority as governor of the capital. His success alarmed other misls, and a powerful coalition was formed in 1800 to wrest Lahore from him. He went out to meet the confederates, broke them up, seized the possessions of the most powerful, and defeated in detail his declared enemies in other parts of the country. A king had now appeared among the lions. Lahore was ever after left in his undisturbed possession. In the following year, 1801, he formally assumed the title of Maharaja, going through the Hindu equivalent of a coronation ceremony, proclaimed that he was now to be styled "Sarkar," signifying power and state, established a mint, and issued in token of sovereignty a coin in his name bearing the inscription, "Hospitality, the Sword, Victory, and Conquest unfailing from Guru Govind Singh to Nanak."

The Sikhs had now reached nationhood under an able king fully equipped with confidence and energy, who, by