Ranjit Singh: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|First Maharaja of the Sikh Empire (1780–1839))}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}

| image        = Maharaj Ranjit Singh.jpg

| succession2  = 3rd Chief of [[Sukerchakia Misl]]

| spouse       = [[Mehtab Kaur|Maharani Mehtab Kaur]]<br /> [[Maharani Datar Kaur]]  <br>

[[Sher Singh|Maharaja Sher Singh]]<br />[[Tara Singh (Sikh prince)|Tara Singh]]<br /> Fateh Singh<ref name="Postscript: Maharaja Duleep Singh">{{Citation|title=Postscript: Maharaja Duleep Singh|date=2017|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350986220.0008|work=Emperor of the Five Rivers|publisher=I.B.Tauris|doi=10.5040/9781350986220.0008|isbn=978-1-78673-095-4|access-date=20 October 2021}}</ref><br />[[Multana Singh]]<br /> [[Kashmira Singh]]<br />[[Peshaura Singh]]<br />[[Duleep Singh|Maharaja Duleep Singh]]

'''Ranjit Singh''' (13 November 1780&nbsp;– 27 June 1839),<ref name=britranjit/> popularly known as '''Sher-e-Punjab''' or "Lion of Punjab", was the first [[Maharaja]] of the [[Sikh Empire]], which ruled the northwest [[Indian subcontinent]] in the early half of the 19th century. He survived [[smallpox]] in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10. After his father died, he fought several wars to expel the [[Afghans]] in his teenage years and was proclaimed as the "Maharaja of Punjab" at age 21.<ref name=eos/><ref name="Singh2008p9"/> His empire grew in the [[Punjab region]] under his leadership through 1839.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name="Grewal6">{{cite book|last=Grewal|first=J. S.|title=The Sikh empire (1799–1849) |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|series=The New Cambridge History of India|volume=The Sikhs of the Punjab|chapter=Chapter 6: The Sikh empire (1799–1849)|chapter-url=http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521268844_CHOL9780521268844A008}}</ref>

Ranjit Singh's reign introduced reforms, modernisation, investment into infrastructure and general prosperity.<ref name=tejasingh65/><ref name=kaushikroyp143/> His [[Sikh Khalsa Army|Khalsa army]] and government included [[Sikhs]], [[Hindus]], [[Muslims]] and [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europeans]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Kaushik Roy|title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC&pg=PA147 |year=2011|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-79087-4 |pages=143–147 }}</ref> 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 [[gurudwaras]], including [[Takht Sri Patna Sahib]], [[Bihar]] and [[Hazur Sahib Nanded]], [[Maharashtra]] under his sponsorship.<ref name=lafontp95/><ref>{{cite book|author=Kerry Brown|title=Sikh Art and Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddgO-DldmSwC |year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-63136-0 |page=35}}</ref> Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son [[Kharak Singh]].  

In 2020, Ranjit Singh was named as "Greatest Leader of All Time" in a poll conducted by ‘BBC World Histories Magazine'.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/maharaja-ranjit-singh-named-greatest-world-leader-in-bbc-poll/articleshow/74497790.cms?from=mdr | title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh named greatest world leader in BBC Poll | newspaper=The Economic Times }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sikh-warrior-maharaja-ranjit-singh-voted-the-greatest-leader-of-all-time-2v8b9f86c | title=Sikh warrior Maharaja Ranjit Singh beats Winston Churchill as the greatest leader of all time }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/greatest-leaders-bbc-poll-095652054.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJaMwBAAE288T_HclBWkzwsLxPweg2Nn8WPfbosMaAhXIKRoTSHXmpZgh8N51m4_bO-TwyRstziCh5e8n87VnxTorf66A3WGQ_SfJgnLH-iyehO555eB_h0YRjxGHDbjpkS7gRfTABKz0XlHVu1dKEk1x0lhZB64e4z7d8CT3yqB | title=Sikh warrior voted greatest leader of all time in BBC poll }}</ref>

According to the chronicles of Ranjit Singh's court historians and the Europeans who visited him, Ranjit Singh took to alcohol and [[opium]], habits that intensified in the later decades of his life.<ref>{{cite book|author=Khushwant Singh|title=Ranjit Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D068dKeyGW4C  |year=2008|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-306543-2 |pages= 6, 253–254 }}</ref><ref name="Macintyre2008p154"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Aditya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5McDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |title=Defending British India Against Napoleon: The Foreign Policy of Governor-General Lord Minto, 1807–13 |date=2016 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-78327-129-0 |pages=133 |language=en}}</ref> However, he neither smoked nor ate beef,<ref name=eos/> and required all officials in his court, regardless of their religion, to adhere to these restrictions as part of their employment contract.<ref name="Macintyre2008p154">{{cite book|author=Ben Macintyre|title=The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6XLFu1xMOMC |year=2008|publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4668-0379-4|pages=154–157 }}</ref>

==Personal life==

===Wives===

In 1789, Ranjit Singh married his first wife [[Mehtab Kaur]],<ref name="Atwal">{{Cite journal|last=Atwal|first=Priya|date=1 November 2020|title=Royals and Rebels|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197548318.001.0001|doi=10.1093/oso/9780197548318.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-754831-8}}</ref> the muklawa happened in 1796.<ref name="Lafont2002p33" /> She was the only daughter of [[Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya]] and his wife [[Sada Kaur]], and the granddaughter of [[Jai Singh Kanhaiya]], the founder of the [[Kanhaiya Misl]].<ref name="eos" /> This marriage was pre-arranged in an attempt to reconcile warring Sikh ''misls'', wherein Mehtab Kaur was betrothed to Ranjit Singh in 1786. However, the marriage failed, with Mehtab Kaur never forgiving the fact that her father had been killed in battle with Ranjit Singh's father and she mainly lived with her mother after marriage. The separation became complete when Ranjit Singh married [[Datar Kaur]] of the [[Nakai Misl]] in 1797 and she turned into Ranjit's most beloved wife.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |title=Mahitab Kaur (d, 1813) |author=Sardar Singh Bhatia |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref> Mehtab Kaur had three sons, [[Ishar Singh (Sikh prince)|Ishar Singh]] who was born in 1804 and twins [[Sher Singh]] and [[Tara Singh (Sikh prince)|Tara Singh]] born in 1807. According to historian Jean-Marie Lafont, she was the only one to bear the title of [[Maharani]]. She died in 1813, after suffering from a failing health.<ref name="Singh2008p300">{{cite book|author=Khushwant Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D068dKeyGW4C|title=Ranjit Singh|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2008|isbn=978-0-14-306543-2|pages=300–301 footnote 35}}</ref>

His second marriage was to, [[Datar Kaur]] (Born ''Raj Kaur'') the youngest child and only daughter of [[Ran Singh Nakai]], the third ruler of the [[Nakai Misl]] and his wife [[Karmo Kaur]]. They were betrothed in childhood by Datar Kaur's eldest brother, ''Sardar Bhagwan Singh,'' who briefly became the chief of the Nakai Misl, and Ranjit Singh's father Maha Singh. The ''[[Anand Karaj|anand karaj]]'' took place in 1792<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hügel|first=Karl Alexander Freiherr von|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z34EAAAAQAAJ&q=raj+kunwar|title=Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab: Containing a Particular Account of the Government and Character of the Sikhs|date=1845|publisher=J. Petheram|language=en}}</ref> and the muklawa happened in 1797;<ref>{{Cite book|last=Atwal|first=Priya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiA3ygEACAAJ|title=Royals and Rebels: The Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire|date=24 September 2020|publisher=C. Hurst (Publishers) Limited|isbn=978-1-78738-308-1|language=en}}</ref> this marriage was a happy one. Ranjit Singh always treated Raj Kaur with love and respect.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Vaḥīduddīn, Faqīr Sayyid|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/52691326|title=The real Ranjit Singh|date=2001|publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University|isbn=81-7380-778-7|oclc=52691326}}</ref> Since Raj Kaur was also the name of Ranjit Singh's mother, she was renamed Datar Kaur. In 1801, she gave birth to their son and heir apparent, [[Kharak Singh]].<ref name="Singh2008p7" /> Datar Kaur bore Ranjit Singh two other sons, [[Prince Rattan Singh|Rattan Singh]] and Fateh Singh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc0L06O1eac|title=Mahanian Koharan Tehsil .Amritsar District .AmritsarState .Punjab|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Yudhvir Rana|date=1 May 2015|title=Descendants of Maharaja Ranjit Singh stakes claim on Gobindgarh Fort {{!}} India News – Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/descendants-of-maharaja-ranjit-singh-stakes-claim-on-gobindgarh-fort/articleshow/47123514.cms|access-date=22 September 2021|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Yudhvir Rana|date=18 August 2021|title=Seventh generation descendent of Maharaja Ranjit Singh writes to Imran {{!}} India News – Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/seventh-generation-descendent-of-maharaja-ranjit-singh-writes-to-imran/articleshow/85432426.cms|access-date=22 September 2021|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> Like his first marriage, the second marriage also brought him strategic military alliance.<ref name="Singh2008p7" /> She was exceptionally intelligent and assisted him in affairs of the State.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2021|title=Tuberculosis: Poor Awareness Leads to Poor Control|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.47883/jszmc.v11i03.158|journal=Journal of Sheikh Zayed Medical College|volume=11|issue=3|pages=1–2|doi=10.47883/jszmc.v11i03.158|s2cid=236800828|issn=2305-5235}}</ref> During the [[Siege of Multan (1818)|expedition to Multan in 1818]], she was given command alongside her son, [[Kharak Singh]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2FRAAAAYAAJ&q=datar+kaur|title=Journal of Sikh Studies|date=2001|publisher=Department of Guru Nanak Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University.|language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite book|last=Atwal|first=Priya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPcTEAAAQBAJ&q=royals+and+rebels|title=Royals and Rebels: The Rise and Fall of the Sikh Empire|date=15 January 2021|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-756694-7|language=en}}</ref> <ref name="Postscript: Maharaja Duleep Singh">{{Citation|title=Postscript: Maharaja Duleep Singh|date=2017|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350986220.0008|work=Emperor of the Five Rivers|publisher=I.B.Tauris|doi=10.5040/9781350986220.0008|isbn=978-1-78673-095-4|access-date=20 October 2021}}</ref>Throughout her life she remained Ranjit Singh's favorite <ref>{{Cite book|last=Tibbetts|first=Jann|title=50 Great Military Leaders of All Time|publisher=VIJ Books (India) PVT Limited|year=2016|isbn= <!--9789386834195-->9386834197}}</ref> and for no other did he have greater respect for than Datar Kaur, who he affectionately called ''Mai Nakain.''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |title=Raj Kaur (d, 1838) |last1=Sardar Singh Bhatia |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Khushwant Singh|url=http://archive.org/details/ranjitsinghmahar0000khus_h0y2|title=Ranjit Singh Maharajah Of The Punjab 1780–1839|date=1962|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd|others=Servants of Knowledge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fakir|first1=Syed Waheeduddin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DEnRAAAAMAAJ&q=the+real+ranjit+singh|title=The Real Ranjit Singh|last2=Vaḥīduddīn|first2=Faqīr Sayyid|date=1965|publisher=Lion Art Press|language=en}}</ref>  Even though she was his second wife she became his principal wife and chief consort.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sood|first=D. R.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/499465766|title=Ranjit Singh.|date=1981|publisher=National Book Trust|oclc=499465766}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Patwant|last=Singh|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/841311234|title=Empire of the Sikhs : the life and times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh|date=2013|publisher=Peter Owen Publishers|isbn=978-0-7206-1524-1|oclc=841311234}}</ref> During a hunting trip with Ranjit Singh, she fell ill and died on 20 June 1838.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Khurana|first=Gianeshwar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMUtAAAAMAAJ&q=umdat-ut-tawarikh+mai+nakain|title=British Historiography on the Sikh Power in Punjab|date=1985|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-0-8364-1504-9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Lala Sohan |last=Lal Suri|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/163394684|title=Umdat-ut-tawarikh ['Umdat at-tawārīh, engl.] An outstanding original source of Panjab history by Lala Sohan Lal Suri.|date=1961|oclc=163394684}}</ref>[[File:Maharaja Ranjit Singh with wives Wellcome V0045197.jpg|thumb|Maharaja Ranjit Singh with some of his wives.

Ratan Kaur and Daya Kaur were wives of Sahib Singh Bhangi of Gujrat (a ''misl'' north of Lahore, not to be confused the state of Gujarat).<ref name="Smith1920p690">{{cite book|author=Vincent Arthur Smith|title=The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=p2gxAQAAMAAJ |year=1920|publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=690–693 }}</ref> After Sahib Singh's death, Ranjit Singh took them under his protection in 1811 by marrying them via the rite of ''chādar andāzī'', in which a cloth sheet was unfurled over each of their heads. The same with Roop Kaur, Gulab Kaur, Saman Kaur, and Lakshmi Kaur,  looked after Duleep Singh when his mother Jind Kaur was exiled. Ratan Kaur had a son [[Multana Singh]] in 1819, and Daya Kaur had two sons [[Kashmira Singh]] and [[Pashaura Singh]] in 1821.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |title=Daya Kaur, Rani (died 1843) and Ratan Kaur, Rani |first=Sardar |last=Singh Bhatia |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref>

Ranjit Singh married many times, in various ceremonies, and had twenty wives.<ref name="Anand2015p13">{{cite book|author=Anita Anand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cd4yBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13|title=Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|year=2015|isbn=978-1-63286-081-1|page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Patwant Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr4VAQAAIAAJ|title=Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh|publisher=Peter Owen|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7206-1323-0|page=69}}</ref> [[Lepel Griffin|Sir Lepel Griffin]], however, provides a list of just sixteen wives and their pension list. Most of his marriages were performed through chādar andāz.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Griffin|first=Lepel Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0ABAAAAQAAJ&dq=raj+&pg=PA468|title=The Panjab Chiefs: Historical and Biographical Notices of the Principal Families in the Territories Under the Panjab Government|date=1865|publisher=T.C. McCarthy|language=en}}</ref> Some scholars note that the information on Ranjit Singh's marriages is unclear, and there is evidence that he had many concubines. Dr. Priya Atwal presents an official list of Ranjit Singh's thirty wives.<ref name="auto" /> The women married through chādar andāzī were noted as concubines and were known as the lesser title of [[Rani]] (queen).<ref>{{Citation|title=Postscript: Maharaja Duleep Singh|date=2017|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350986220.0008|work=Emperor of the Five Rivers|publisher=I.B.Tauris|doi=10.5040/9781350986220.0008|isbn=978-1-78673-095-4|access-date=6 October 2021}}</ref> While Mehtab Kaur and Datar Kaur officially bore the title of [[Maharani]] (high queen), Datar Kaur officially became the Maharani after the death of Mehtab Kaur in 1813. Throughout her life was referred to as [[Empress consort|Sarkar Rani]].<ref>{{Cite book|first=Lala Sohan |last=Lal Suri|title=Umdat Ul Tawarikh}}</ref> After her death, the title was held by Ranjit's youngest widow Jind Kaur.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lafont|first=Jean Marie|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49618584|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: lord of the five rivers|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-566111-7|location=New Delhi|oclc=49618584}}</ref> According to Khushwant Singh in an 1889 interview with the French journal ''[[:fr:Le Voltaire (journal)|Le Voltaire]]'', his son Dalip (Duleep) Singh remarked, "I am the son of one of my father's forty-six wives."<ref name="Singh2008p300" /> Dr. Priya Atwal notes that Ranjit Singh and his heirs entered a total of 46 marriages.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Atwal|first=Priya|title=Royals and Rebels|year=2020}}</ref> But Ranjit Singh was known not be a "rash sensualist" and commanded unusual respect in the eyes of others.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book|last=Duggal|first=Kartar Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4udb8LsF3-oC&q=rash|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Last to Lay Arms|date=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-410-3|language=en}}</ref> Faqir Sayyid Vaḥiduddin states: "If there was one thing in which Ranjit Singh failed to excel or even equal the average monarch of oriental history, it was the size of his harem."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vaḥīduddīn|first=Faqīr Sayyid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaQGAQAAIAAJ|title=The Real Ranjit Singh|date=1965|publisher=Lion Art Press|language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1" /> George Keene noted, “In hundreds and in thousands the orderly crowds stream on. Not a bough is broken of a wayside tree, not a rude remark to a woman”.<ref name="auto1" />

In 1802, Ranjit Singh married [[Moran Sarkar]], a Muslim [[nautch girl]]. This action, and other non-[[Sikh]] activities of the Maharaja, upset orthodox Sikhs, including the [[Nihang]]s, whose leader [[Akali Phula Singh]] was the [[Jathedar]] of the [[Akal Takht]].<ref name="Kartar">{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Kartar|title=Stories from Sikh History: Book-VII|date=1975|publisher=Hemkunt Press|location=New Delhi|page=160}}</ref> When Ranjit Singh visited [[Amritsar]], he was called outside the Akal Takht, where he was made to apologise for his mistakes. Akali Phula Singh took Ranjit Singh to a tamarind tree in front of the Akal Takht and prepared to punish him by flogging.<ref name="Kartar" /> Then Akali Phula Singh asked the nearby Sikh pilgrims whether they approved of Ranjit Singh's apology. The pilgrims responded with ''[[Sat Sri Akal]]'' and Ranjit Singh was released and forgiven. An alternative holds that Ranjit went to visit Moran on his arrival in [[Amritsar]] before paying his respects at [[Harmandir|Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara]], which upset orthodox Sikhs and hence was punished by Akali Phula Singh. [[Iqbal Qaiser]] and [[Manveen Sandhu]] make alternative accounts on the relationship between Moran and the Maharaja; the former stating they never married, while the latter state that they married. Court chronicler, Sohan Lal Suri makes no mention Moran's marriage to the Maharaja or coins being struck in her name. Bibi Moran spent the rest of life in Pathankot.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Graham|first=Ian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=azwhCwAAQBAJ&q=moran+sarkar&pg=PA206|title=Scarlet Women: The Scandalous Lives of Courtesans, Concubines, and Royal Mistresses|date=26 January 2016|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-1-250-06263-5|language=en}}</ref> Duleep Singh makes a list of his father's queens which also does not mention Bibi Moran.

 

* [[Kharak Singh]] (22 February 1801 – 5 November 1840) was the eldest and the favorite of Ranjit Singh from his second and favorite wife, Datar Kaur.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Khushwant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D068dKeyGW4C&q=favourite+wife|title=Ranjit Singh|date=24 March 2009|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-306543-2|language=en}}</ref> He succeeded his father as the Maharaja.  

* [[Rattan Singh]] (1805–1845) was born to Maharani Datar Kaur.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Yudhvir Rana|date=1 May 2015|title=Descendants of Maharaja Ranjit Singh stakes claim on Gobindgarh Fort {{!}} India News – Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/descendants-of-maharaja-ranjit-singh-stakes-claim-on-gobindgarh-fort/articleshow/47123514.cms|access-date=17 September 2021|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Yudhvir Rana|date=18 August 2021|title=Seventh generation descendent of Maharaja Ranjit Singh writes to Imran {{!}} India News – Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/seventh-generation-descendent-of-maharaja-ranjit-singh-writes-to-imran/articleshow/85432426.cms|access-date=10 September 2021|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> He was granted the [[Jagatpur, Punjab|Jagatpur Bajaj]] estate as his jagir.  

According to the pedigree table and [[Duleep Singh]]'s diaries that he kept towards the end of his life mention another son Fateh Singh was born to Mai Nakain, who died in infancy.<ref name="Postscript: Maharaja Duleep Singh"/> According to Henry Edward only Datar Kaur and Jind Kaur's sons are Ranjit Singh's biological sons.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-rZFAAAAIAAJ&q=colburn+%22five+years+in+india%22&pg=PR1 |title=Five Years in India, Volume 1, Chapter VII, page 120 |last1=Fane |first1=Henry Edward |year=1842 |publisher=Henry Colburn |access-date=4 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/ladyloginsrecoll00logirich#page/n9/mode/2up |title=Lady Login's Recollections, Chapter VII, page 85 |year=1916 |publisher=Smith, Elder & Co, London |access-date=4 August 2016}}</ref>

It is said that [[Ishar Singh (Sikh prince)|Ishar Singh]] was not the biological son of Mehtab Kaur and Ranjit Singh, but only procured by Mehtab Kaur and presented to Ranjit Singh who accepted him as his son.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Griffin|first=Lepel Henry|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/777874299|title=The Panjab chiefs : historical and biographical notices of the principal families in the Lahore and Rawalpindi divisions of the Panjab|date=1890|publisher=Civil and Military Gazette Press|oclc=777874299}}</ref> [[Tara Singh (Sikh prince)|Tara Singh]] and [[Sher Singh]] had similar rumors, it is said that Sher Singh was the son of a chintz weaver, Nahala and Tara Singh was the son of Manki, a servant in the household of [[Sada Kaur]]. Henry Edward Fane, the nephew and aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief, India, General Sir Henry Fane, who spent several days in Ranjit Singh's company, reported,

Henry Edward Fane, London, 1842{{full citation needed|date=June 2022}}{{pn|date=June 2022}}

==Establishment of the Sikh Empire==

In 1807, Ranjit Singh's forces attacked the Muslim ruled Kasur and, after a month of fierce fighting in the [[Battle of Kasur]] defeated the Afghan chief Qutb-ud-Din, thus expanding his empire northwest towards Afghanistan.<ref name=eos>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |title=Ranjit Singh (1780–1839) |first=Kushwant |last=Singh |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref> He took [[Multan]] in 1818, and the whole [[Bari Doab]] came under his rule with that conquest. In 1819, he successfully defeated the Afghan Sunni Muslim rulers and annexed Srinagar and [[Kashmir]], stretching his rule into the north and the Jhelum valley, beyond the foothills of the Himalayas.<ref name=eos/><ref name=iahmed1998/>

In 1813–14, Ranjit Singh's first attempt to expand into Kashmir was foiled by Afghan forces led by General Azim Khan, due to a heavy downpour, the spread of cholera, and poor food supply to his troops.{{cn|date=June 2022}}

In July 1818, an army from the Punjab defeated Jabbar Khan, a younger brother of governor of Kashmir Azim Khan, and acquired Kashmir, along with a yearly revenue of Rs seventy lacs. Dewan Moti Ram was appointed governor of Kashmir.<ref name="lee">{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Jonathan |title=Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2019 |isbn=9781789140101 |pages=170–190 |language=English}}</ref>

The Sikh Empire, also known as the Sikh Raj and Sarkar-a-Khalsa,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |title=Khalsa |first=Ganda |last=Singh |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref> was in the Punjab region, the name of which means "the land of the five rivers". The five rivers are the [[Beas River|Beas]], [[Ravi River|Ravi]], [[Sutlej]], [[Chenab]] and [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]], all of which are tributaries of the river [[Indus]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Jean Marie Lafont|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjduAAAAMAAJ |year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-566111-8 }}</ref>

Ranjit Singh allowed men from different religions and races to serve in his army and his government in various positions of authority.<ref>Kartar Singh Duggal (2001). Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Last to Lay Arms. Abhinav Publications. pp. 125–126. {{ISBN|978-81-7017-410-3}}.</ref> His army included a few Europeans, such as the Frenchman [[Jean-François Allard]], though Singh maintained a policy of refraining from recruiting Britons into his service, aware of British designs on the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kuiper|first1=Kathleen|title=The culture of India|date=2010|publisher=Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1615301492|page=136}}</ref> Despite his recruitment policies, he did maintain a diplomatic channel with the British; in 1828, he sent gifts to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and in 1831, he sent a mission to Simla to confer with the British Governor General, [[Lord William Bentinck|William Bentinck]];<ref name=prinsep152>{{cite book|author=Henry Thoby Prinsep|title=Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab, and Political Life of Muha-Raja Runjeet Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8bz-gg6mD4C |year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-02872-1 |pages=152–161 }}</ref> while in 1838, he cooperated with them in removing the hostile Islamic Emir in Afghanistan.<ref name=roylorge100/>

As consistent with many Punjabis of that time, Ranjit Singh was a secular king<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ranjit Singh: A Secular Sikh Sovereign|last=Duggal|first=K.S.|date=1993|publisher=Abhinav Pubns|isbn=8170172446}}</ref> and followed the Sikh path.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The evolution of the Sikh community: five essays|last=McLeod|first=W. H.|date=1976|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=0-19-826529-8|location=Oxford|oclc=2140005}}</ref> His policies were based on respect for all communities, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim.<ref name= Singh2011 /> A devoted Sikh, Ranjit Singh restored and built historic Sikh [[Gurdwara]]s – most famously, the [[Harmandir Sahib]], and used to celebrate his victories by offering thanks at the Harmandir. He also joined the Hindus in their temples out of respect for their sentiments.<ref name= Singh2011 /> The veneration of cows was promoted and cow slaughter was punishable by death under his rule.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030308/windows/above.htm|title=The Tribune – Windows – This Above All|website=www.tribuneindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Polk|first=William Roe|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Crusade_and_Jihad/ozFDDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sikh+empire+anti+islamic&pg=PA263&printsec=frontcover|title=Crusade and Jihad: The Thousand-year War Between the Muslim World and the Global North|date=January 2018 |publisher=Yale University Press|pages=263|isbn=9780300222906 |author-link=William R. Polk}}</ref> He ordered his soldiers to neither loot nor molest civilians.<ref>{{cite book|author=Khushwant Singh|title=Ranjit Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D068dKeyGW4C  |year=2008|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-306543-2 |pages= 25–26 }}</ref>

Ranjit Singh had also abolished the [[gurmata]] and provided significant patronage to the [[Udasi]] and [[Nirmala (sect)|Nirmala]] sect, leading to their prominence and control of Sikh religious affairs.{{refn|<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mandair |first=Arvind |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Teachings_of_the_Sikh_Gurus/ftdcvmviy_8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR35&printsec=frontcover |title=Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures |date=4 July 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136451089 |pages=xxxv (35)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Mann|first=Gurinder Singh|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Studying_the_Sikhs/bTCFDfh7Qv4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA150&printsec=frontcover|title=Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America|date=January 1993 |publisher=State University of New York Press|pages=150|isbn=9780791414255 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Die |first=Marguerite |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Religion_and_Public_Life_in_Canada/GxZqGT-IrJ4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA348&printsec=frontcover |title=Religion and Public Life in Canada: Historical and Comparative Perspectives |date=January 2001 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=9780802082459 |pages=348}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mandair |first=Arvind-Pal S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzeCy_zL0Q8C&pg=PA264 |title=Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality, and the Politics of Translation |date=22 October 2009 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-51980-9 |pages=264 |language=en |quote=As Khalsa Sikhs became more settled and as Ranjit Singh's rule became more autocratic, the Gurumata was effectively abolished, thereby ensuring that the doctrine of the Guru Panth would lose its efficacy. At the same time, however, Ranjit Singh continued to patronize Udasi and Nirmala ashrams. The single most important result of this was the more pronounced diffusion of Vedic and Puranic concepts into the existing Sikh interpretive frameworks}}</ref>}}

[[File:Ranjit Singh at Harmandir Sahib - August Schoefft - Vienna 1850 - Princess Bamba Collection - Lahore Fort.jpg|thumb|800px|center|{{center|Maharaja Ranjit Singh listening to [[Guru Granth Sahib]] being recited near the [[Akal Takht]] and [[Golden Temple, Amritsar]], [[Punjab, India]].}}]]

[[File:Maharaja Ranjit singh's treasure.jpg|thumb|A [[lithography|lithograph]] by [[Emily Eden]] showing one of the favourite horses of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his collection of jewels, including the [[Koh-i-Noor]]]]Ranjit Singh ensured that Panjab manufactured and was self-sufficient in all weapons, equipment and munitions his army needed.<ref name="kaushikroyp143" /> His government invested in infrastructure in the 1800s and thereafter, established raw materials mines, cannon foundries, gunpowder and arm factories.<ref name="kaushikroyp143" /> Some of these operations were owned by the state, others operated by private Sikh operatives.<ref name="kaushikroyp143" />

The mid 19th-century Muslim historians, such as Shahamat Ali who experienced the Sikh Empire first hand, presented a different view on Ranjit Singh's Empire and governance.<ref name="bayly1996p233" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Chitralekha Zutshi|title=Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rEluAAAAMAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-521939-5 |pages=39–41 }}</ref> According to Ali, Ranjit Singh's government was despotic, and he was a mean monarch in contrast to the Mughals.<ref name="bayly1996p233">{{cite book|author=Christopher Alan Bayly|title=Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering and Social Communication in India, 1780–1870|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bqEzPPp8xIC |year=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-66360-1 |pages=233 }}</ref> The initial momentum for the Empire building in these accounts is stated to be Ranjit Singh led Khalsa army's "insatiable appetite for plunder", their desire for "fresh cities to pillage", and eliminating the Mughal era "revenue intercepting intermediaries between the peasant-cultivator and the treasury".<ref name="Low1991p263">{{cite book|author=Clive Dewey | editor=D. A. Low|title=Political Inheritance of Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VaeuCwAAQBAJ |year=1991|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-349-11556-3 |pages=263–265 }}</ref>

According to Ishtiaq Ahmed, Ranjit Singh's rule led to further persecution of Muslims in Kashmir, expanding{{clarify| reason=What does this word mean.| date=April 2021}} the previously selective persecution of Shia Muslims and Hindus by Afghan Sunni Muslim rulers between 1752 and 1819 before Kashmir became part of his Sikh Empire.<ref name="iahmed1998">{{cite book|author=Ishtiaq Ahmed|title=State, Nation and Ethnicity in Contemporary South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czSm7cmhgA0C&pg=PA140 |year=1998|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-85567-578-0 |pages=139–140}}</ref> Bikramjit Hasrat describes Ranjit Singh as a "benevolent despot".<ref>{{cite book|author=Bikramajit Hasrat|title=Life and Times of Ranjit Singh: A Saga of Benevolent Despotism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UPgdAAAAMAAJ|year=1977|oclc= 6303625 | publisher=V.V. Research Institute|pages=83, 198}}</ref>

[[File:Maharaja Ranjit Singh's funeral.jpg|thumb|Maharaja Ranjit Singh's funeral. ca. 1840]]

[[File:Samadhi of Ranjit Singh 1.jpg|thumb|The [[Samadhi of Ranjit Singh]] is located in [[Lahore]], Pakistan, adjacent to the iconic [[Badshahi Mosque]].]]

In the 1830s, Ranjit Singh suffered from numerous health complications as well as a stroke, which some historical records attribute to alcoholism and a failing liver.<ref name="Smith1920p690" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Kartar Singh Duggal|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Last to Lay Arms|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4udb8LsF3-oC&pg=PA107 |year=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-410-3|pages=107–108 }}</ref> He died in his sleep on 27 June 1839.<ref name="Anand2015p13" /> Four of his Hindu wives- Mehtab Devi (Guddan Sahiba), daughter of Raja Sansar Chand, Rani Har Devi, the daughter of Chaudhri Ram, a Saleria rajput, Rani Raj Devi, daughter of Padma Rajput and Rani Rajno Kanwar, daughter of Sand Bhari along with seven Hindu concubines with royal titles committed [[Sati (practice)|sati]] by voluntarily placing themselves onto his funeral pyre as an act of devotion.<ref name="Anand2015p13" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Altekar|first=Anant S.|page=132 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYG4K0yYHQgC&pg=PA131|title=The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization: From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day |year=1956 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-8120803244}}</ref>

In 1783, Ranjit Singh established a crafts colony of Thatheras near [[Amritsar]] and encouraged skilled metal crafters from [[Kashmir]] to settle in [[Jandiala Guru]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=112387|title=Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making from Punjab gets inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO, 2014.|website=pib.nic.in|access-date=1 July 2019}}</ref> In the year 2014, this traditional craft of making brass and copper products got enlisted on the [[UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists|List of Intangible Cultural Heritage]] by [[UNESCO]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-brass-and-copper-craft-of-utensil-making-among-the-thatheras-of-jandiala-guru-punjab-india-00845|title=UNESCO – Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India|website=ich.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=1 July 2019}}</ref> The [[Government of Punjab, India|Government of Punjab]] is now working under Project Virasat to revive this craft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/age-old-craft-of-thatheras-to-get-new-life/articleshow/64715430.cms|title=Jandiala utensils: Age-old craft of thatheras to get new life {{!}} Chandigarh News – Times of India|date=24 June 2018|first=Yudhvir |last=Rana |website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=1 July 2019}}</ref>

* ''Maharaja Ranjit Singh'', a [[documentary film]] directed by Prem Prakash covers his rise to power and his reign. It was produced by the [[Government of India]]'s [[Films Division of India|Films Division]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH {{!}} Films Division|url=https://filmsdivision.org/shop/maharaja-ranjit-singh|access-date=12 June 2021|website=filmsdivision.org}}</ref>

* [[Charat Singh]]

* [[Hari Singh Nalwa]]