“—if Bharit has no reservations I would like to adopt her as my daughter. I shall be proud to have such a daughter,” Hari Singh announced.

The news was relayed to her. “I wish I could see how parents looked like. I lost my father and mother. I have no brother. My tribe gave me up as dead. He (Hari Singh) may be a Sikh but he is welcome if he thinks he is like father to me,” she said.

Hari Singh entered the house. He gifted her Rs100 and five pieces of cloth and caressed her head. “Child,” he said, “I am a Panj Kakka Sikh (devout) and not in habit of calling someone’s girl my daughter. But I am so impressed with what you have done that I declare you my daughter. If you are my daughter, then Mubara is my son-in-law. And any lord worth his salt shall order his son to face a mortal danger, not his son-in-law lest his daughter becomes a widow. He shall allow his son to be killed, not his son-in-law. I have served Ranjit Singh for forty years. The moment I reach Lahore, I shall request him to release Mubara in lieu of my pension. I don’t know whether or not the king will accept my request. But if Mubara is killed, my severed head will lie close to his dead body.

Remember dear child if Mubara is killed and I too am killed, you will hear the news that Nalwas have destroyed the Lahore Darbar. My death won’t be a mere trifle. It will shake the crown. Now I leave”.

She got up and gripped his arm. “I longed for long to have my parents as my guests. Hitherto you stayed at my place as an official, now stay another night as my father,” she besieged him.

The Sikh lord with tears in eyes said, “It’s a matter of great regret for me to say no but you know I am a Sikh from Nalwa tribe. Even a glass of water from the villages where our married daughters live is forbidden for us. After declaring you my daughter if I partake of food at your place, the stigma will haunt my tribe”.

He came out the house and addressing his fellow Sikhs said, “You too like me have enjoyed the hospitality”. And told them what transpired between him and Bharit. “What will you do now?” he asked.

“If she is your daughter that means she is our daughter. If we don’t die with you, we would be unworthy of being called the true sons of Sikhs” they replied.

When they were about to enter Lahore, Hari Singh ordered: “Go to your homes. Come when summoned by Ranjit Singh”. After three days, Ranjit Singh was informed that the contingent had already arrived. He was surprised as to why they didn’t report to him. He sent a messenger with the instructions that Hari Singh should present himself along with his platoon.

Hari Singh came leading the soldiers. Brandishing their swords, they displayed their swordsmanship. It was a great offence on the part of troops to unsheathe their swords and brandish them without the king’s order. The Darbar was shaken and there was a great commotion. Ranjit Singh said, “Hari Singh, why are the swords unsheathed?”

“Pity the swords! Their time has come. They will now remain unsheathed,” replied Hari Singh.

Ranjit Singh thought that the guy was not in his senses. “Well, you had gone to Kot Bhai Khan?”

“Yes” came the reply.

“Did you capture the men?”

“No.”

“Did you plunder the properties?”

“No I didn’t.”

“Did you sell his lands?”

“I didn’t do any such thing.”

“Why didn’t you do as I commanded?”

“Mubara’s wife is from Bharat tribe,” replied Hari Singh.

“She treated and served me so well that I declared her my daughter. If you were in my place, you would have gifted her dowry. That is the difference between you and me. I have been in your service for the last forty years. This flesh of mine has faced the guns, the spears and the swords fearlessly. Today could be my last day. Release Mubara in lieu of my pension, otherwise I shall die along with him.”

A hundred soldiers standing behind him raised a cry: “Your Majesty, it’s just one hundred thousand, peanuts for you. If Mubara dies, Hari Singh will have to die with him. And if he dies, we will have to die with him”.

Ranjit Singh realized that this could lead to sedition. Addressing Hari Singh he said: “If I set Mubara free, you think you got your pension? Idiot! You don’t know your worth. Your slipper is worth more than a hundred thousand for me. That’s all you wanted?”

He ordered that Mubara be presented. Mubara was petrified when he heard that he had been summoned by Ranjit Singh. Death stared him in the face. He came shaking all over and saluted the king.

“I had dispatched one hundred Sikhs with the instructions to take your wife into custody, sell your lands and forfeit your properties but I don’t know what your wife did to them. They have declared her their daughter knowing well that she is a Muslim. If she is their daughter, she becomes my daughter. Now you are as much Nalwa’s son-in-law as mine. I wave one hundred thousand, set you free. And a horse and a robe of honour for you! One has to bestow some gift on one’s son-in-law,” said Ranjit Singh.

Mubara, realising his own callousness and his wife’s enduring patience, had tears in his eyes. He rued the day he refused to have anything with his wife against the wishes of his father who had died crying over lack of his son’s conjugal happiness.

Hari Singh said: “Men don’t cry. Come to my house. My wife wants to meet you”.

As they entered the house, Hari Singh announced to his wife: “Here is Mubara Khan, your son-in-law”. She came and caressed his head.

“This show of affection will not suffice. The son-in-law has to be honoured with gifts”, said Hari Singh. She plucked the gold necklace hanging around her neck and handed it to Mubara. “This is for my daughter (Mubara’s wife),” she said.

Hari Singh went into the inner quarters and arranged a dowry befitting a King’s daughter. As the camel drivers left Lahore carrying the dowry, the news reached Kot Bhai Khan that Mubara had been released.