raped, their temples desecrated, and cows slaughtered. Efforts by the Sikhs to keep peace in far-flung regions pressed them to close mosques and ban the call to prayer because the Muslim clergy charged the population to frenzy with a call for 'jihad' at every pretext. Cow-slaughter (Holy Cow) offended the religious sentiments of the Hindu population and therefore it met with capital punishment in the Sikh empire. In Peshawar, keeping in view "the turbulence of the lawless tribes ... and the geographical and political exigencies of the situation" Hari Singh's methods were most suitable. Diplomatic mission In 1831, Hari Singh Nalwa was deputed to head a diplomatic mission to Lord William Bentinck, Governor-General of British India. The Ropar Meeting between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the head of British India followed soon thereafter. The Maharaja saw this as a good occasion to get his son, Kharak Singh, acknowledged as his heir-apparent. Hari Singh Nalwa expressed strong reservations against any such move. The British desired to persuade Ranjit Singh to open the Indus for trade. Death Hari Singh Nalwa Sahib was severely wounded while fighting the forces of Dost Mohammad Khan of Afghanistan. He died of his injuries and was cremated in the Jamrud Fort built at the mouth of the Khyber Pass in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to Afghan chronicle Siraj al-Tawarikh, he was killed in a duel with Wazir Akbar Khan. According to historian Hari Ram Gupta, Hari SIngh rallied his men and rode to the front where he was struck by two bullets and later expired after being rushed inside the fort. Babu Gajju Mall Kapur, a Hindu resident of Peshawar, commemorated his memory by building a memorial in the fort in 1892. Legacy Nalwa was also a builder. At least 56 buildings were attributed to him, which included forts, ramparts, towers, gurdwaras, tanks, samadhis, temples, mosques, towns, havelis, sarais and gardens. He built the fortified town of Haripur in 1822. This was the first planned town in the region, with a superb water distribution system. His very strong fort of Harkishengarh, situated in the valley at the foothill of mountains, had four gates. It was surrounded by a wall, four yards thick and 16 yards high. Nalwa's presence brought such a feeling of security to the region that when Hügel visited Haripur in 1835–6, he found the town humming with activity. A large number of Khatris migrated there and