In the modern history of India, one of the most successful kings was Maharaja Ranjit Singh who had made Lahore (now in Pakistan) as his capital. He died young, aged only 58 but by that time, this extraordinary ruler had ruled over a vast empire for almost 40 years. Ranjit Singh died on June 27, 1839, after falling ill in his last days but he was extremely alert to possible British machinations against the Lahore Durbar till his last day.
In his heyday, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s empire stretched from Khyber Pass on north-west side to west bank of Sutlej river on one axis. On the other axis, his kingdom was from far-off Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan to the west to Leh and beyond on east to Thar desert of Rajasthan. Incidentally, the inclusion of whole of Ladakh in his kingdom was the result of General Zorawar Singh’s exploits.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was truly a visionary who rewarded merit and promoted bravery, loyalty and fearlessness. He had ascended to the throne of Lahore after fighting, winning and consolidating his hold on many areas. The days of his intense fighting and consolidation of his hold over various Sikh misls (clans) lasted from the age 15 to 19. Before that, he became head of Sukherchakia misl in 1792 when he was just 12 after his father Maha Singh died.
Gujranwalan city and nearby villages were what he inherited from his father then but his marriage with the daughter of head of Kanhaiya misl (clan) three years later made him much stronger. A second marriage in the Nakai misl with Raj Kaur Nakai was like icing on the cake. This strategic marital alliance catapulted him to the forefront of Sikh politics of that time. Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s second marriage was to Raj Kaur Nakai, who was later renamed Datar Kaur. This marriage, which took place in 1792, was a strategic alliance between the Sukerchakia and Nakai misls. Datar Kaur, also known as Mai Nakain, became the mother of Kharak Singh, Ranjit Singh’s heir.
She was the favourite queen of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who had many wives but giving him a son and heir made her so very special in the pecking order. Unfortunately, his heir was unable to consolidate or hold together the vast empire that Maharaja Ranjit Singh had built in his life time. The Lahore Durbar disintegrated within less than seven years of the great emperor’s death and by March 1846, it was a kingdom just in name.
It was in 1799 at the age of 19 that Ranjit Singh scored a victory over Lahore, a prime jewel in the crown of Afghan king who ruled it at that time. The Afghan king acknowledged this victory and announced that henceforth Ranjit Singh will be the governor of Lahore and nearby areas. At that juncture, Ranjit Singh did not offer any resistance to this announcement. However, within two years, in 1801, he declared himself to be independent sovereign who was not subsidiary to the Afghan king.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh won many victories in the battlefield leading an army that comprised of Sikhs, Muslims and even French! For modernising his army, he had hired some French soldiers and experts in gunnery who had at one time worked with Napolean!
It may be mentioned here that because of lack of a meritorious heir, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s descendants virtually remain unknown, or little known, in history. Interestingly, Dogra Gulab Singh entered the services of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as a young soldier of barely 17 and rose in the ranks because of his excellent swordsmanship. Maharaja Ranjit Singh anointed Gulab Singh as Raja of Jammu on June 17, 1822, at Jia Pota ghat on the banks of the Chenab river at Akhnoor.
This Dogra Hindu dynasty, founded partially on the ruins of the Sikh empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ruled Jammu, Kashmir as also Ladakh between March 1846 and August 1947.
The Dogra brothers, Gulab Singh, Suchet Singh and Dhyan Singh, played a major role in expansion and consolidation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s empire. So much so that within a decade of entering the service, the Dogra brothers had become the most powerful group in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s durbar. For many years, Dhyan Singh was the Prime Minister of the Sikh Maharaja and it was often the cause of heartburn among other durbaris. This ill-will and resultant intrigues in Lahore Durbar led to the assassination of Dhyan Singh by a Sikh clan years after Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death.
Interestingly, Maharaja Ranjit Singh never had any coins minted in his own name as he ruled virtually as a ruler in the names of Sikh Gurus. The coins issued from the official mint of Lahore Durbar carried the names of first Sikh Guru, Shri Guru Nanak and the 10th Guru, Shri Guru Govind Singh. These coins were called Nanakshahi coins.
At one time, Maharaja Ranjit Singh got the famous Kohinoor diamond from an Afghan noble and it remained a priced possession for him during his lifetime. Presently, this diamond is in Britain as their single most invaluable heirloom in the royal family.
The north-west frontiers of India remained vulnerable to attack by foreigners from times immemorial. All aggressors who invaded ancient India came from the north-west areas but during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time, they were rebuffed like never before. The Afghans, hardly Pathans known for their martial traditions, were tamed by the Maharaja who ensured that the north-west frontiers did not fall into the hands of these people.
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