Maharaja Ranjit Singh, born on
13 November 1780, was the leader 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. His empire grew in the Punjab region under his
leadership through 1839.
Prior to his rise, the Punjab region
had numerous warring misls, twelve of which were under Sikh rulers and one
Muslim. Ranjit Singh successfully absorbed and united the Sikh misls and took
over other local kingdoms to create the Sikh Empire. He repeatedly defeated
invasions by outside armies, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, and
established friendly relations with the British.
Ranjit Singh's reign introduced
reforms, modernisation, investment into infrastructure and general prosperity.
His Khalsa army and government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Europeans.
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. He was popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab, or
"Lion of Punjab".
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