The anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's passing was observed last week. Indian Weekender correspondent Raghbir Singh writes a tribute
The Sikh Empire, commonly known as, Khalsa Raj, was a region straddling the border between modern-day People's Republic of China and Afghanistan.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and enjoys a revered position in the history of Punjab and Sikhs. His father Maha Singh Sandhawalia was the commander of the Shukerchakia Misl. Ranjit Singh succeeded his father at the young age of 12. After several campaigns, he united the various Sikh factions into one state taking the title of Maharaja on April 12 1801 (Baisakhi day), with Lahore serving as his capital from 1799.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the first Asian ruler to modernise his army to European standards and was well known for filling the leadership positions in his Darbar with men of varied religions.
The Maharaja developed a formidable military machine that helped him carve out an extensive kingdom and maintain it amid hostile and ambitious neighbours. The creation of this empire was a result of his own genius. Early in his career, he had watched how the British troops with their systematic training and their discipline, had vanquished Indian forces vastly superior in numbers. He had also realised how crucial in warfare was a well-drilled infantry as well as artillery.
In 1802, soon after his occupation of Amritsar, he engaged some deserters from the army of the East India Company to train his own platoons of infantry. What held his troopers together was their personal loyalty to their leader. The Maharaja employed two veterans of the Napoleonic wars and charged them with the raising of a special corps. He also employed a Hungarian physician, who was entrusted with the manufacture of gunpowder.
The Maharaja developed Asia's only modern army of the time, one which was able to stop the British advance at the Sutlej where the British were forced to sign a treaty and not interfere in the empire of the Maharaja. Thus the river Sutlej was the international border between the Khalsa Empire and British India.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh is included in the list of "Undefeated Military Commanders", at Wikibin – a list of known military commanders who did not lose any significant engagement against the enemy as the commander-in-chief of a significant portion of a country's military forces.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh deeply loved and admired the teachings of the Tenth Guru of Sikhism Guru Gobind Singh. He promoted the teachings of the Dasam Granth (the Tenth Granth) and built two of the most sacred temples in Sikhism. These are Takht Sri Patna Sahib, the birth place of Guru Gobind Singh, and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, the place where Guru Gobind Singh took his final rest or mahasamadhi, in Nanded, Maharashtra in 1708. At the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, much of the present decorative gilding and marblework date back from the early 1800s. The gold and intricate marble work were conducted under the his patronage.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh passed away (A.D. 1839) having reigned for forty years. He had seven sons and the throne went to his eldest son Kharak Singh, who was not entirely fit and prepared to rule such a vast empire. The Kingdom began to crumble due to poor governance and political infighting among his heirs. The princes died through internal plots and assassinations, while the nobility struggled to maintain power.
In 1845 after the First Anglo-Sikh War, Ranjit Singh's Empire was defeated and all major decisions were managed by the British East India Company.
Eventually, Ranjit Singh's youngest son Duleep Singh, was crowned to the throne of Punjab in 1843. In 1849, at the end of the Second Anglo Sikh War, Punjab was annexed by the British Forces from Duleep Singh who was only 11 years old.
The British took Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, to England and tricked him into converting to Christianity at age 13. The famous Kohinoor diamond owned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also taken away by the British.
Upon reuniting with his mother during his adult years, he reconverted to Sikhism, and petitioned the Crown to have his kingdom returned. He never received any justice, dying in Paris in 1893.
The rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh is still remembered as the golden period for Punjab and a matter of pride for all Punjabis and Indians alike.