Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Table of Contents
Who was Ranjit Singh?
Ranjit Singh was the 1st Maharaja of the sovereign independent Sikh Kingdom of Punjab. He was born in 1780. In his childhood, he lost his left eye’s sight due to smallpox. He was also known as Sher-e-Punjab meaning Lion of Punjab. While he was a teenager, he along with his father fought many wars with the Afghans.
How he established the Sikh Empire?
After the death of his father Guru Teg Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh (last sikh guru) transformed Sikhs into a military force by establishing the body of Khalsa in 1699.
In 1708, while he was sleeping, he was killed by an Afghan. After this, the leadership was transferred to Sikh Military General Banda Bahadur. But he was also killed by Farukhsiyar.
Later Sikh empire got fragmented in a number of jathas. These jathas slowly absorbed into 12 misls or regional confederacies. Sikh Empire continued to function in a decentralised way till 1799 when Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Shukarchakiya Misl united all the misls and laid the foundation of powerful Sikh Empire
In 1809, he signed treaty of Amritsar with British in which River Satluj was set as the border between the Sikh Empire and British India.
Punishment to Ranjit Singh by Akal Takht
In 1802, Ranjit Singh married a Muslim girl. This upset the orthodox sections of Sikhs. Ranjit Singh was called to appear before the Akal Takht where he was made to apologize for his activities. He was also beaten by leather belt.
Governance of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
He did not discriminate people on the basis of religion, rece or caste. In fact, he had people from all religions in his army. Moreover he employed a few Europeans in his court.
He generally kept himself away from the British as he was aware about the modus operandi of British in other kingdoms of the Indian suncontinent. However, he still maintained a diplomatic channel with British to avoid any communication gaps.
Death of Ranjit Singh and Aftermath
He died in 1839 due to severe health complications. After his death, succession struggle started in the Sikh kingdom. Taking advantage of the situation, British fought 2 Anglo Sikh wars and finally annexed Punjab in the territory of British India as a separate province.
FAQs
He is buried in a tomb in Lahore, Pakistan near Badshahi mosque.
He laid the foundation of sovereign independent Sikh Kingdom in India at a time when almost whole of India was under the British rule.
Ranjit Singh was a secular ruler. He respected all religions, all castes as well as all races. His army had soldiers from all castes and communities.
He signed Treaty of Amritsar with the British in 1809 which fixed River Satluj as the boundary between Sikh Empire and British India.
He was punished by Akal Takht for being involved in non religious and anti Sikh activities. He married a Muslim girl. For this, he was made to apologize and was beaten by a leather belt.
The descendants of Maharaja Ranjit Singh are presently very politically active in Punjab.