Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Sher-e-Panjab, Emperor of Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, 
Kangra, Peshawar, Multan, Hazara, Jamrud, from 1799 to 1839

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (13th November 1780 - 27 June^*1, 1839) also called "Sher-e-Punjab" ("The Lion of Punjab"), Became the first Sikh Emperor, after uniting the 11 Sikh Kingdoms of Punjab together to form an Empire, from 1799-1839.

Early life

Ranjit Singh was born on 13th November 1780 in Gujranwala City, Punjab, now in modern day Pakistan, into a Sikh Jatt family of Sandhawalia Clan, to Sardar Maha Singh Sukerchakia (d. 1792), and Sardarni Mai Raj Kaur, the daughter of the Raja Gajpat Singh, of Jind Kingdom. At the time, large parts of the Punjab was ruled by the Sikhs, who had divided the territory among factions known as misls, each having their their own powerful Sikh Chieftains. His grandfather was Sardar Charat Singh Sukerchakia (d. 1770), and great grandfather Sardar Naudh Singh (d. 1752), also a Sikh Warrior, and the great great grandson of Sarda Budha Singh (d. 1718), the first in line to take Amrit Sachaar.

Ancestors

• Sardar Budh Singh (1670-1718), He owned 25 Acres of land, where he founded the village of Sukerchak, in Amritsar District.
• Sardar Naudh Singh (d. 1752) Married, Sardarni Lali Kaur, daughter of Sardar Gulab Singh of Majitha.
• Sardar Charat Singh (d. 1770) Married, Sardarni Desan Kaur, daughter of Sardar Amir Singh Waraich, of Gujranwala District.
• Sardar Maha Singh (d. 1792) Married, Sardarni Raj kaur, of Jind State. Sardarni Mai Kaur daughter of Sardar Jai Singh Maan.
• Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839). Had 20 wives, Sikh, Hindu, and 2 Muslim.

• Name and Name of Mother.
• 1. Prince Kharak Singh Rani Raj Kaur also known as (1801-1840) : Datar Kaur or Mai Nakkain.
• 2. Prince Ishar Singh } (1804-1805) }
• 3. Prince Sher Singh } Rani Mehtab Kaur (1807-1843 AD) }
• 4. Prince Tara Singh (1807-1859 AD) }
• 5. Prince Kashmira Singh*(1819-1844) } Rani Daya Kaur
• 6. Prince Peshaura Singh* (1823-1845) } (* adopted sons of Maharaja Ranjit Singh)
• 7. Prince Multana Singh Rani Rattan Kaur (1819-1846 AD)
• 8. Prince Duleep Singh Rani Jind Kaur (Rani (1838-1893 AD) Jindan)

Contemporaries: Mughal Emperors at Delhi

• 1. Shah Alam II (Mirza Abdullah Ali Gohar) (1759-1806 AD)
• 2. Akbar Shah II (1806-1837 AD)
• 3. Bahadur Shah II ‘Zafar’ (1837-1858 AD ) Deposed and deported (1858 AD )

         Died at Rangoon in exiIe (1862 AD)

Contemporaries: English Sovereigns

• 1. George III (1760-1820 AD)
• 2. George IV (1820-1830 AD)
• 3. William IV (1830-1837 AD)
• 4. Queen Victoria (1837-1901)  

Ranjit Singh's father Maha Singh was the misaldar ("commander", "misl leader") of theSukerchakia misl and controlled a territory in west Punjab based around his headquarters at Gujranwala. As a child he suffered from smallpox. This consequently resulted in the loss of sight in his left eye. His father died while Ranjit Singh was 12 years old. After the death of his father, Ranjit Singh was raised by Sada Kaur of the Kanheya misl. He took over as misaldar of the Sukerchakia misl at the age of 18. He was married to Sardarni Mehtab Kaur (d. 1813), daughter of Sardar Gurbakash Singh Sandhu (d. 1785), of Kanhaiya Sikh Misl, in 1796, at the age of 16. In 1798, he got married to Sardarni Raj Kaur, alias Maharani Datar Kaur (d. 1838), the daughter of Sardar Ran Singh Sandhu (d. 1781), of Nakai Sikh Misl.

A fearless warrior

This great warrior, fearless soldier, able administrator, clement ruler, statesman and liberator of Punjab died on 27 June 1839. His Samadhi(memorial) is located in Lahore, Pakistan.

After several campaigns, his rivals accepted him as their leader, and he united the Sikh factions into one state and he took the title of Maharajaon April 12 1801 (to coincide with Baisakhi day), with Lahore serving as his capital from 1799.

In 1802 he took control of the holy city of [[Amritsar] from the Bhangi Sikh Misl, ruler Mai Sukhan, widow of Sardar Gulab Singh Dhillon. He brought law and order, yet was reluctant to use the death penalty. He stopped India's non-secular style and practises. He treated both Hindusand Muslims equally. He banned the discriminatory religious tax the "jizya" on Hindus and Sikhs which had been imposed by the various Muslim rulers.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh is included in the list of "Undefeated Military Commanders", [1] 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.

Respect from all quarters

The majority of Ranjit Singh's subjects were Muslim and yet they had an intense loyalty towards him and his Sikh's who showed tolerance, even respect towards their religion, its practises and its festivals. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the first Asian ruler to modernize his army to European standards and was well known for filling the leadership positions in his Darbar with men of varied Religions. People were recognized and promoted on their ability and not their religion.

During the Rule of Sher-e-Panjab, the Sikh Population, was 10 million, Sikhism, was mainly based in the central parts of the Punjab, such as areas of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Lahore, Kasur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur.

The respect shown by those who worked for the Maharaja is best highlighted, perhaps, by the Sikh Empire's foreign minister, a Muslim namedFakir Azizuddin, who when meeting with the British Governor-General George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland was asked, which of the Maharaja's eyes was missing, he replied, "the Maharaja is like the sun and the sun has only one eye. The splendour and luminosity of his single eye is so much that I have never dared to look at his other eye." (The Maharaja had lost the sight of one eye from an attack of smallpox as a child. In a land and time when being blinded disqualified one from ruling, having the sight of only one eye was never a problem for Ranjit Singh, who remarked that it gave him the ability to see things more acutely.)

Truly secular leader

The Governor General was so pleased with the reply that he gave his gold wrist-watch to the Maharaja's Minister during their meeting at Simla. The Empire was effectively secular as it did not give preference to Sikhs, or discriminate against Muslims, Hindus or even atheists.

It was relatively modern and had great respect for all religions and non-religious traditions of the Empire's citizens. The only main prominent religious symbols of the empire were the Maharaja and royal family being Sikh (but not Khalsa) and the Army being dominated by Sikh nobles and the Khalsa warriors.

The Maharaja never forced Sikhism on his subjects. This was in sharp contrast with the attempted ethnic and religious cleansing of past Muslim rulers - Afgani or Mughal. Ranjit Singh had created a state based upon Sikhi's noble traditions, where everyone worked together, regardless of their background. One where its citizens looked at the things they shared in common, e.g. being Punjabi traditions, rather than any religious differences.

Muslims and the Sarkar-i-Khalsa

Shah Mohammed (a famed Sufi poet of the Punjab) writes in his, Jang Namah on the decline of Ranjit Singh’s kingdom:

"Ranjit Singh was a born warrior-king who gave his feel to the country. He conquered Kashmir, Multan, Peshawar and made Chamba, Kangra and Jammu bow before him. He extended his territories upto Ladakh and China and struck his coin there. O Shah Mohammed! For fifty years he ruled with satisfaction, glory and power."

For Shah Mohammed, Punjabi Muslims became part and parcel of the Sarkar-i-Khalsa (the Sikh Kingdom of Ranjit Singh), where in the past they had depended on the Afghans, Arabs, Pashtuns, Persians and Turks, who had consistantly betrayed them.


Source : http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Maharaja_Ranjit_Singh