Rise of the Sikh Power and Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The Sikhs rose from a religious community to a political power, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh united the Punjab into the Sikh Empire (Sarkar-i-Khalsa) in 1799 to 1839.

From Guru Nanak to the Misls

• Guru Nanak (1469 to 1539) founded Sikhism. Guru Arjan was executed by Jahangir (1606). Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed by Aurangzeb (1675). Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699 at Anandpur, and died in 1708 at Nanded.
• Banda Singh Bahadur led the Sikhs after the Guru's death. He captured Sirhind (1710) and set up a Sikh rule at Lohgarh. He was captured in 1715 and executed in 1716.
• After Banda, Sikhs organised in 12 misls (bands) under the Dal Khalsa (1748). The Sukerchakia misl, to which Ranjit Singh belonged, grew to the top.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780 to 1839)

• Born at Gujranwala (1780). He seized Lahore in 1799, and was crowned Maharaja on 12 April 1801 (Baisakhi). Amritsar followed in 1802.
• Treaty of Amritsar (25 April 1809) with the British (Charles Metcalfe) fixed the Sutlej as the boundary. He could not expand to the east of the Sutlej (the Cis-Sutlej states), so he turned west and north.
• Conquests: Multan (1818), Kashmir (1819), Peshawar (1834), and Ladakh (1834, by Zorawar Singh of Jammu). In 1838 he signed the Tripartite Treaty with the British and the exiled Afghan ruler Shah Shuja.
• Administration: His army, the Fauj-i-Khas, was trained by European officers (Ventura, Allard, Court, Avitabile). He had a strong artillery. His court had Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims (Dhian Singh the prime minister, Fakir Azizuddin the foreign minister).
• He took the Koh-i-Noor from Shah Shuja. He died on 27 June 1839.

After Ranjit Singh

Weak rulers and palace murders followed: Kharak Singh (1839 to 1840), Nau Nihal Singh (1840), Sher Singh (1841 to 1843) and Duleep Singh (1843 to 1849, with his mother Rani Jindan as regent). The army (Khalsa panchayats) became powerful. This led to the Anglo-Sikh Wars.