Singh were sent with 8000 men, under pretence of demanding enhanced tribute, to seize the city. By a ruse, pretending a wish to inspect the walls, the Prince obtained possession; the Bárakzái Sirdárs fled, after brief resistance, and the Sikhs occupied the coveted position. But the Afgháns were not disposed to allow them to hold it without opposition. In 1835, Amír Dost Muhammad Khán invaded the district with the intention of retaking the city; but Fakír Azizuddin, who was sent ahead of the army to delay his advance, was so successful in his mission that the Sikhs arrived in great force, and so nearly surrounded the Afgháns that the Amír had hastily to retreat beyond the passes.
The reduction of the frontier was a matter beyond the Sikh strength. After the capture of Pesháwar, Prince Nao Nihál Singh made a military promenade in force through the districts, burning, plundering, and collecting what revenue he could, and Diwán Hákim Rai, the most prominent of rebels in 1849, was appointed governor of Bannu, Tank, Dera Ismáil Khán and Isákhel; but the Sikhs never obtained any real control of this wild strip of country, and their influence ceased beyond the range of their forts. They never collected revenue except by armed force, and every two or three years marched an army through the districts to sweep up their arrears. This was amusingly shown when, in 1847, after the war, the attention of Colonel Lawrence, the British Resident, was called by Rájá Dina
