Maharaja Ranjit
Singh - He was also known by the following
titles: (1) Sher-e-Punjab (Lion of Punjab) (2)
Maharaja of Lahore (3) Sarkar Khalsaji
(4) Napoleon of East (5) Lord of 5
rivers
Date of
Birth
November 13, 1780
– Gujranwala, Undivided India
Date of
Death
June 27, 1839
– Lahore, Punjab, Sikh Empire, Undivided India
Identity
Founder of the Sikh
Empire
Events / Works
April 12, 1801 - He was crowned
Maharaja of Punjab.
December 11, 1845:
The first Anglo-Sikh war started on
this day; the Sikh empire suffered a
humiliating defeat
in the first Anglo-Sikh war.
August 20, 2003:
A 22-foot tall bronze
statue of Ranjit Singh was installed in the Parliament
of India.
February 10, 1846: FIRST ANGLO-SIKH WAR -
BATTLE OF SABRAON - On this day, the British defeated
Sikhs in final battle of the war.
March 09, 1846: The first
Anglo-Sikh war started on this day.
Developments
Father – Maha
Singh; Mother – Raj
Kaur; Son (his
successor) – Kharak Singh.
In childhood, he lost
his one eye because of
smallpox.
His father Maha Singh was the
Commander of the Sukerchakia
misl and controlled a territory in
the west Punjab based around his
headquarters at Gujranwala.
Few years after his father's
death, he brought the whole of the
central Punjab from the
Sutlej to the Jhelum under
his command.
Gradually, he conquered the
other misls and created the
Sikh Empire.
His rule was one of the
most secular rules.
The ban on cow slaughter
was universally imposed in the
Sarkar Khalsaji.
The Sikhs never razed places of
worship to the ground belonging to
the enemy.
He 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
died, in Nanded, Maharashtra in
1708.
After his death, soon the
empire started crumbling
due to poor governance by the
successors.
Commemorations
The Ram Bagh garden
in Amritsar has been converted into
a museum which displays objects
connecting to Maharaja Ranjit Singh
such as arms and armour, outstanding
paintings and centuries old coins
and manuscripts.
A 22-foot tall bronze
statue of Ranjit Singh was
installed in the Parliament of
India.