Ranjit Singh

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Ranjit Singh
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Emperor of the Sikh Empire.jpg
Maharaja of Sikh Empire
PredecessorRanjit Singh Was the Founder of the Sikh Empire
SuccessorKharak Singh
Born1780
Died1839 (aged 58)
ReligionSikhism

Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which came to power in the Punjab from the 18th-19th century. Ranjit was born into the ruling house of the Sukerchakia Misl, which was one of the states of the Sikh Confederacy. He would capture Lahore in 1799, and gradually annexed all the Misls into his empire. The rulers of these Misls, including Ranjit, were usually from established Jat families.[1]

Ranjit moved his capital from Gujranwala to Lahore. His forces continued fighting the Durrani garrisons in Punjab, and conquered many cities through his general, Hari Singh Nalwa. At its height, the Sikh Empire stretched from Jamrud in the west, Amritsar in the east, Multan in the south and Srinagar in the north.[2]

Ranjit modernized his army according to European standards,[3] and so the British East India Company chose to sign the Treaty of Amritsar in order to limit Ranjit's expansion to north and west of the Sutlej, rather than risk direct confrontation over the cis-Sutlej Sikh princely states.[4]

After Ranjit Singh's death, the empire quickly fragmented due to weak successors and rival factions in the court. In 10 years, the empire was conquered by the British East India Company, and was then incorporated into the British Raj.[5]

Legacy

Ranjit's military reforms had properly equipped the Sikh army, and so some major battles of the Anglo-Sikh wars are sometimes considered pyrrhic victories for the British, enabled primarily because of the treachery of certain Sikh generals rather than the incompetence of the army.[6][7]

Most Punjabi Muslims generally disapprove of Ranjit due to him subduing local Muslim polities such as the Sial state,[8] and enforcing discriminatory policies in parts of his empire.[9] The Sikhs are often characterized as plunderers.[10] However, some have begun to view him as a 'son of the soil' who resisted Afghan occupation.[11]

Most Sikhs generally approve of Ranjit. However, some Sikhs such as Patwant Singh have accused him of lacking foresight, arguing that he "[ignored] the republican temper of the Khalsa and [left] its fate to monarchial whims".[12]

Ranjit Singh Media

  • Painting of a young Ranjit Singh from the Iqbalnama-i-Maharaja Ranjit Singh

  • Maharaja Ranjit Singh c. 1810–1820

  • Coins were issued under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

  • Maharaja Ranjit Singh on horseback (with black hairs still visible in his beard), circa 1830–1839

  • Maharaja Ranjit Singh with two British officers, artist unknown, 19th century, gouache and gold on paper

  • In 1835, Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated 1 tonne of gold for plating the Kashi Vishwanath Temple's dome.

  • Maharaja Ranjit Singh listening to Guru Granth Sahib being recited near the Akal Takht and Golden Temple, Amritsar.

References

  1. ↑ McLeod, W. H.. Sikhs and Sikhism (2004)Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-19-566892-6.
  2. ↑ Lafont, Jean Marie. Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers (in en) (2002)Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-566111-8.
  3. ↑ Kaushik Roy. War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849 (2011)Routledge. p. 143–144. ISBN 978-1-136-79087-4.
  4. ↑ Archbold, W. A. J.. The Cambridge History of India V: British India, 1497–1858 (1929)Cambridge University Press.
  5. ↑ Sheikh, Mohamed. Emperor of the Five Rivers: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (2017)I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78673-095-4. doi:10.5040/9781350986220.0008.
  6. ↑ Singh, Patwant. The Sikhs (1999). New Delhi: Rupa Publications. p. 170–171. ISBN 8171676243.
  7. ↑ Singha, H.S.. The Encyclopedia of Sikhism (Over 1000 Entries) (2000)Hemkunt Press. p. 196. ISBN 9788170103011.
  8. ↑ Grewal, J. S.. The Sikhs of the Punjab (1998)Cambridge University Press. p. 4, 102–10, 248. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  9. ↑ Chida-Razvi, Mehreen. The Friday Mosque in the City: Liminality, Ritual, and Politics (in en) (2020-09-20)Intellect Books. p. 91–94. ISBN 978-1-78938-304-1.
  10. ↑ Clive Dewey. Political Inheritance of Pakistan (1991)Palgrave Macmillan. p. 263–265. ISBN 978-1-349-11556-3.
  11. ↑ "Dawn". Is Ranjit Singh’s statue in Lahore worth celebrating?. https://www.dawn.com/news/1491672. "For a section of Punjabi activists in Pakistan and most Sikhs, Ranjit Singh is a local hero — 'son of the soil' — who successfully thwarted aggressors from the north and established a strong centralised government that provided relief to the people of Punjab after decades of chaos and violence.". 
  12. ↑ Singh, Patwant. The Sikhs (1999). New Delhi: Rupa Publications. p. 169–174. ISBN 8171676243.
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