effected in a short time, and proved a valuable ally to her son-in-law. Under her counsel Ranjit Singh looked to alliances before he went to war. At the age of seventeen heredity asserted itself: he freed himself from the control of his guardians, and engaged in operations against the Mahomedan tribes and in defence of his mother-in-law's possessions, showing the marked ability of his bold father which had so impressed the sardars.
When the Shah of Kabul invaded the Punjab for the last time in 1798 he, to show his power, formed a coalition and proceeded to subdue distant tribes and exact tribute. He subsequently came in to pay his respects to the Shah, with the result, as has been related, of attracting his attention and gaining by diplomacy what he desired, the royal grant of the governorship of Lahore, which place he occupied in 1799, loyally aided by his astute mother-in-law. Firmly established there, he consolidated his possessions and
