This assurance allayed his apprehensions and jealousy, of the influence and power of the British. He continued incessantly engaged in extending his dominions and increasing his army. Sword in hand, he conquered Mooltan and Cashmere; while his warfare with his formidable foes, the Affghans, was unabated, till he finally succeeded in obtaining possession of Peshawur, through the treachery of the brother of Dost Mahomed, whom Runjeet had bribed with the large promise of an annual pension of two lakhs. The continued intestine disputes of the minor states, induced the British government to issue the proclamation of 1811.[10] It was in 1822, that Runjeet first received into his service two foreign officers, MM. Allard and Ventura; the former being a Frenchman, the latter an Italian. After the fall of Napoleon, these officers had in vain sought an honourable employment in Persia, and, therefore, turned to the warlike chief of Lahore. He gave them a most cordial and brilliant reception, and commissioned them to organize his army on the French system; which they did with great success. Each of these officers had a salary of 50,000 rupees, or £5,000. sterling annually. Four years afterwards, they were followed by Generals Court and Avitabile. It was to these officers that the Sikh chief owed the highly efficient state of his army, which consisted of a well disciplined body of 50,000 men, besides 100,000 Irregulars. Lahore and Umritsur were made the depôts of arms; and here cannon foundries, powder magazines and arsenals were established. At times Runjeet, and still more his chiefs, felt jealous, lest too much authority should be given to these European officers; for which reason he rather wished them to instruct than to command,[11] fearing they might prove dangerous to the state. In the summer of 1831, his late Majesty King William IV. despatched Sir Alexander Burnes to Lahore, to take charge of a splendid present of horses from His Britannic Majesty to the Maharajah. Runjeet Singh was then at the height of his power; respected by his friends, and dreaded by his foes. The veteran hero was flattered by receiving this distinguished honour from the monarch of a nation which he highly venerated, and whose superiority in every respect he acknowledged. He gave Sir Alexander Burnes a brilliant reception; and the esteem which he thus manifested for the English, led to several interviews between himself and the Governor-General, Lord William Bentinck, at Rooper, in October, 1831. The result of these interviews was a treaty of commerce and navigation, to which a supplementary treaty was afterwards added, between Runjeet Singh and the British, by which it was agreed, that the merchants and traders should pay a certain fixed duty, in lieu of the former arbitrary exactions.[12]