Page:The Sikhs (Gordon).djvu/205

Rh the victorious Greek assault, he was severely wounded. The Mahomedan tribes in the neighbourhood had no love for the Sikh rule. They rallied to the summons of a young English officer, Lieutenant Edwardes, then in charge of the Derajat frontier, and twice sorely defeated the rebels, shutting them up in the city and fort. Sardar Sher Singh, one of the Court of Regency, sent down with 12,000 men and 12 guns, joined Edwardes; but they were unreliable.

The very hot summer was on in that hottest of hot localities in the Punjab; the proceedings of the Durbar were dilatory, and when told by the British Resident that the rebellion must be put down they professed their inability to undertake the task. A division of British troops was then sent: they reached the scene in August, when after some severe fighting they found the fort too strong to be successfully attacked, and took up a position awaiting reinforcements. Sher Singh with