HARSARAN DĀS was newswriter of the British government at the Sikh capital of Lahore who sent his reports to the political agent at Ludhiāṇā. His despatches cover the period of political turmoil at Lahore from the death of Kaṅvar Nau Nihāl Siṅgh, 8 November 1840, to the assassination of Mahārājā Sher Siṅgh, 15 September 1843. He refers to the differences that arose between the Sikh Darbār and the British government, particularly on account of the Darbār's plans to occupy the two frontier territories of Swāt and Buner. Harsaran Dās had reported in his diaries that Sikhs had received a secret agent from Nepāl and that the Gorkhā general, Matābar Siṅgh, had paid a clandestine visit to Lahore.