Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 3
THE REN AISSANCE OF ISLAM 3 in great distress, across the River Beas to Begowal where Sardar Fateh Singh Ahluvalia, ancestor of the Maharaja of Ka purthala, treated them with kindness and extended to them a practical sympathy that they had neither solicited nor expected. He made them an allowance which was by no means adequate for their needs, but which was greatly appre- ciated. The family remained there for about fifteen years. Mirza Ata Muhammad's death was brought about by poison administered to him at the instance of his enemies. His son, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, brought his father's body to Qadian for burial in the family graveyard. The Sikhs were opposed to this, but the local population became so excited that the Sikhs, apprehending a repudiation of their authority, gave in. At that time Maharaja Ranjit Singh had consolidated his authority and had brought all the petty chiefs under his sway. About 1818 he permitted Mirza Ghulam Murtaza and the members of his family to return to Qadian. Mirza Ghulam Murtaza and his broth~rs joined the army of the Maharaja and rendered excellent service to the Maharaja in several places, including the frontier of Kashmir which was annexed by the Maharaja in 1819. During the period of his military service under the Mahar- aja, the burden of affliction upon Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was to some degree reduced but the family continued in a state of adversity. It was not till 1834 that the Maharaja, being impressed with the goodness and loyalty of Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, restored to him five villages out of his ancestral estate. This was about the time when, on 13 February 1835, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was blessed with a second son whom he named Ghulam Ahmad. Thus the child's very birth became a signal of the good fortune of his family. Their period of extreme adversity came to an end. and an era of peace and prosperity appeared to open out before them. Maharaja Ranjit Singh died in 1839, the Sikh power broke up and within a few years the British established their author- ity in the Punjab. The Punjab Chiefs, compiled by Sir Lepel Griffin and