Ranjit Singh’s relations with the hill-chiefs in the Panjab are one of his policies of expansionism and annexation. It was the similar policy adopted in the plains. Ever since he occupied Lahore, it was his ambition to unify the small and petty States of the Panjab into a great empire and rule over it. And this ambition of his increased after every conquest.
Ranjit Singh came into contact with the hill chiefs as early as in 1802 A.D. The Kangra chief, Sansar Chand Katoch, performed the dominant personality in the hills. The imperialist designs of Sansar Chand had also made the Lahore ruler his rival. The Katoch chief had clarified his imperialist policy, when he attacked the possessions of Sada Kaur and annexed some. Alarmed by the policy, being followed by Sansar Chand, he responded to the call of request made by the Rani and attacked the Kangra territories. Sansar Chand, finding it impossible for himself to check Ranjit, made peace with him, and agreed to pay nazrana fixed by the Maharaja.
But Ranjit was not content with all this. However, the opportunity he sought was found in 1804. The relations had once again estranged. After having overcome the fear of the Maharaja, he attacked Hoshiarpur and Bajwara. Ranjit Singh ousted the Katoch ruler very easily from these places with the help of his artillery.
All that Ranjit now did was, he kept a vigilant eye over the plans and activities of the Katoch chief. On the other side, the latter smelled danger not only from Ranjit Singh’s side, but the Nepalese under their able general, Amar Singh Thapa, ere on advance towards the Panjab hills. Thapa had established his sovereignty over Chamba, Nurpur, Kotla, Jasrota, Basauli, Jaswan, Mandi, Suket and Kullu. Thus the hill-territories were likely to become an open battlefield among Sansar Chand, Ranjit Singh and Amar Singh Thapa.
Being aware of the danger at the doors, Sansar Chand pretended to establish the relations of friendship and amity with the Sikh ruler. The former opened negotiations with the latter, but had his own dice to play. He promised Ranjit to hand over the fortress of Kangra to him as a reward of driving the Gorkhas away from the Katoch territory. Should Ranjit not be suspected and assuring his goodwill towards him, he sent his son, Anrudh Chand to him as a hostage. In the meantime, Sansar Chand was defeated by the joint forces of Amar Singh and other petty hill-chiefs. So he made a similar offer to Amar Singh provided he ousted the Sikhs. Sansar Chand hoped that in their armed clash, the Sikhs and the Gorkhas would destroy each other, thus keeping the field open for himself.
Ranjit was, however, not a man to fall so easily in the trap lay down by Sansar Chand. The moment he came to know of Sansar Chand’s duplicity, he put his son under arrest. After a fierce battle that ensued between the Gorkhas and the Sikhs, the former were forced to retreat. Thapa opened negotiations for peace. During the negotiations, he proposed to the Maharaja a joint attack against the Rajput hill-chiefs. He also offered the fortress of Kangra as the Sikh ‘share of spoil’. On Ranjit’s denial, he agreed to pay a nazrana of Rs. 1,00,000 and to leave the country, abandoning his conquests on the right side of the Sutlej.
After the expulsion of the Gorkhas, Ranjit Singh asked Sansar Chand to hand over the fort to him. As the Katoch ruler was hesitant to fulfill his promise, he also failed to check the Sikhs occupying it. On August 24, 1809, the Sikhs entered the fort without any sort of resistance and occupied it. Desa Singh Majithia was appointed the Governor of Kangra and other adjoining States.
The annexation of Kangra by the Sikh chief ended the supremacy of the Katochs in the hills. However, the Anglo-Sikh relations also affected Ranjit Singh’s relations towards the hill-states. The treaty of Amritsar (1809) signed between the British and Ranjit Singh had debarred the latter of all his conquests on the eastern side of River Sutlej, but was allowed to extend his domination in the North. Now although Sansar Chand had yielded before the Sikhs, yet he continued to intrigue against them. He secretly opened negotiations with the British government and pleaded them to interfere in his case, and also help him recover him recover his lost possessions. “My object is,” wrote Sansar Chand, “to get my former possessions together with the fort of Kangra restored to me and the administration of justice left in my hands.” The British Government, who did not want to lose the goodwill of his old ally, who held a buffer State between their and the Afghan dominions, however, paid no heed to Sansar Chand’s requests and the matter ended. Thus the intriguous efforts of Sansar Chand had no affect upon the imperialist policy of Ranjit Singh.
William Moorcroft commented in 1823, “He is now poor, and in danger of being wholly subjected to Ranjit Singh. His misfortunes are mainly owing to himself and his decline presents a remarkable contrast to the rise of his neighbour, and now paramount lord, Ranjit Singh.”
Ranjit willed to establish the relations of cordiality with the Katochs. Till his death in 1824, Sansar Chand was allowed to rule over his territories as a tributary of Lahore. His son, Anrudh Chand succeeded him. The Maharaja anted to bring him very close to him by establishing matrimonial relations with the Katochs. In 1828 A.D., the Maharaja offered a proposal for Hira Singh’s (son of Dhian Singh) marriage with Anrudh’s sister. As Anrudh was hesitant, he arranged her marriage with the Raja of Garhwal. After his death, the entire Katoch territories were annexed and the Maharaja assigned suitable jagirs to the legitimate heirs of the Katoch family.
The Maharaja himself established the matrimonial alliance with the Katoch family, when he married two of the daughters of late Raja Sansar Chand at Jawalamukhi. According to the Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, one of those, called Katochan, performed sati at the death of the Maharaja.
