ABSTRACT
Ghazni was a large town, surrounded by a high wall, and with a lofty citadel. The Afghans thought the place secure against any invaders, and it certainly would have been against any of their tribes. A garrison was left at Ghazni and our army marched on to Kabul. Ghazni was betrayed by a nephew of Dost Mahommed. He told Keane that the Kabul gate was less strongly defended than the other gates, and since the lack of a battering train precluded any attempt to lay siege to the fortress, it could only be captured by a coup-de-main after blowing in one of the gates. Ghazni was stormed in the early hours of 23 July 1839. Maharajah Runjeet Singh (1780-1839) rose from comparative obscurity to become ruler of the Punjab. He was known as the 'lion of the Punjab' and made the Sikhs the most formidable power in India after the British.
