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Machine transcription
136
SHAH MAHMUD
(AGAIN FROM 1809—1818)
At this time Mahmud sent a force to Kashmir
under Vazier Fateh Khan. Atta Mohammed
Khan advanced to give battle, but being deserted
by most of his followers, he fell back on Srinagar.
Ultimately, seeing resistance useless, he made his
submission to Fateh Khan. Shah Shuja, released
from captivity, left for Lahore. Ranjit Singh
received him warmly, but it soon became clear
that he too coveted the famous Diamond.
Shortly after his arrival, the Maharaja sent
Ram Singh to him demanding the Koh-i-noor.
Shah Shuja replied that when real friendship was
established he would give it to him. Ranjit Singh
was in no mood to brook delay. He resorted
to other means to extort it from the luckless
King. He offered assistance in troops and
treasure if the Shah wanted to recover his throne.
Then an exchange of turbans took place and the
Shah gave him the coveted precious stone.
Ranjit Singh did not fulfil his part of the
contract. On the contrary, as time advanced,
the condition of the King became still more
hopeless. At last he decided to fly away and find
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.