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| Ranjit Singh | |
|---|---|
| Maharaja of Punjab Maharaja of Lahore Sarkar-i-Wallah (Head of Government)[1] Sarkar Khalsaji Singh Sahib[2] | |
.jpg) Company School portrait painting of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lucknow, Awadh, ca.1810–20 | |
| 1st Maharaja of Sikh Empire | |
| Reign | 12 April 1801 – 27 June 1839 |
| Investiture | 12 April 1801 at Lahore Fort |
| Predecessor | Position established |
| Successor | Kharak Singh |
| Wazir | Khushal Singh Jamadar (1801 – 1818) Dhian Singh Dogra (1818 – 1839) |
| Maharaja of Kashmir | |
| Reign | 3 July 1819 – 27 June 1839 |
| Predecessor | Position established (Ali Shah as the Emir of Kashmir) |
| Successor | Kharak Singh |
| Governor | List
|
| Sardar of Sukerchakia Misl | |
| Reign | 15 April 1792 – 11 April 1801 |
| Predecessor | Maha Singh |
| Successor | Position abolished |
| Born | Buddh Singh 13 November 1780[3] Gujranwala, Sukerchakia Misl, Sikh Confederacy (present-day Punjab, Pakistan) |
| Died | 27 June 1839 (aged 58) Lahore, Sikh Empire (present-day Punjab, Pakistan) |
| Burial | Cremated remains stored in the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh, Lahore |
| Spouse | Mehtab Kaur Datar Kaur Jind Kaur See list for others |
| Issue among others... | Kharak Singh Sher Singh Duleep Singh |
| House | Sukerchakia |
| Dynasty | Sikh empire |
| Father | Maha Singh |
| Mother | Raj Kaur |
| Religion | Sikhism |
| Signature (handprint) |  |
Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839.
Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia Misl, Ranjit Singh survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at the age of 10. After his father died around Ranjit's early teenage years, he became leader of the Misl. Ranjit was the most prominent of the Sikh leaders who opposed Zaman Shah, the ruler of Durrani Empire, during his third invasion. After Zaman Shah's retreat in 1799, he captured Lahore from the Sikh triumvirate which had been ruling it since 1765. At the age of 21, he was formally coronated at Lahore.[4][5][6][7]
Before his rise, the Punjab had been fragmented into a number of warring Sikh (known as misls), Muslim and Hindu states.[8] A large part of Punjab was under the direct Durrani control.[9][5] By 1813, Ranjit Singh had successfully annexed the Sikh misls and taken over the local kingdoms;[10] following decades saw the conquest of Durrani Afghan-ruled territories of Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar into his expanding Sikh Empire. Ranjit Singh established friendly relations with the British.[11]
Ranjit Singh's reign introduced reforms, modernisation, investment in infrastructure and general prosperity.[12][13] His Khalsa army and government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Europeans.[14] His legacy includes a period of Sikh cultural and artistic renaissance, including the rebuilding of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar as well as other major gurdwaras, including Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Bihar and Hazur Sahib Nanded, Maharashtra under his sponsorship.[15][16] He also founded the Order of the Propitious Star of Punjab in 1837. Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son Kharak Singh after his death in 1839.
- ^ सरकार. collinsdictionary.com.
- ^ A history of the Sikhs by Kushwant Singh, Volume I (p. 195)
- ^ S.R. Bakshi, Rashmi Pathak (2007). "1-Political Condition". In S.R. Bakshi, Rashmi Pathak (ed.). Studies in Contemporary Indian History – Punjab Through the Ages Volume 2. Sarup & Sons, New Delhi. p. 2. ISBN 978-81-7625-738-1.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
eos-rswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Singh2008p9was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Grewal, J. S. (1990). "Chapter 6: The Sikh empire (1799–1849)". The Sikh empire (1799–1849). The New Cambridge History of India. Vol. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ Gupta 1991, p. 22: "In 1799 between the Indus and the Satluj there were 68 territories quite independent of one another. They consisted of 25 Muslim states, 27 Hindu states and 16 Sikh states".
- ^ Gupta, Hari Ram (1991). The Sikh Lion of Lahore (Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1799–1839). History Of The Sikhs. Vol. V. Munshiram Manoharlal. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-8-121-50515-4.
- ^ Sarkar, Sir Jadunath (1960). Military History of India. Orient Longmans. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-86125-155-1.
- ^ Patwant Singh (2008). Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Peter Owen. pp. 113–124. ISBN 978-0-7206-1323-0.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
tejasingh65was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
kaushikroyp143was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kaushik Roy (2011). War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849. Routledge. pp. 143–147. ISBN 978-1-136-79087-4.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
lafontp95was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kerry Brown (2002). Sikh Art and Literature. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-134-63136-0.