A bronze statue of the first ruler of the Sikh Empire, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was vandalized in Pakistan.

Who was Maharaja Ranjit Singh?

• Maharaja Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or “Lion of Punjab”, was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.
• He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye.
• Prior to his rise, the Punjab region had numerous warring misls (confederacies), 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.

Empirical expansion

• Ranjit Singh’s trans-regional empire spread over several states. His empire included the former Mughal provinces of Lahore and Multan besides part of Kabul and the entire Peshawar.
• The boundaries of his state went up to Ladakh — Zorawar Singh, a general from Jammu, had conquered Ladakh in Ranjit Singh’s name — in the northeast.
• His empire extended till Khyber pass in the northwest, and up to Panjnad in the south where the five rivers of Punjab fell into the Indus.
• During his regime, Punjab was a land of six rivers, the sixth being the Indus.

His legacy

• Ranjit Singh’s reign introduced reforms, modernization, 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, Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Bihar, and Hazur Sahib Nanded, Maharashtra under his sponsorship.

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now