| RANJIT SINGH (1780-1839) and his Sikh kingdom | |
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A set of Joppen historical maps that show Ranjit Singh's kingdom over time; and a more general set of *maps of the Punjab*; see also the *Imperial Gazetteer* |
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The coins of the Sikh kingdom bore Persian inscriptions |
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Ranjit Singh, the son of a local Sikh chieftain, was born in Gujranwala; he succeeded his father at the age of 12, and soon rallied followers behind him |
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Ranjit Singh, the "Sher-e Panjab" (Lion of the Punjab), ruled inclusively; he had many loyal Muslim and Hindu supporters, and used European officers in his army |
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FORT* |
From 1799 onward, he made his headquarters in the Lahore Fort |
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SAR* |
In 1802 he took the Sikhs' holiest city, Amritsar; he then drove the Afghans out of western Punjab, and took *Peshawar* |
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ZAMAH* |
He was the last to use the famous cannon "Zamzamah": it was damaged in the siege of Multan in 1818, and was retired from service |
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In 1819, Ranjit Singh was able to capture and annex the huge northern region of Jammu and Kashmir |
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Some drawings of the Sikh kingdom and its people; Ranjit Singh stayed west of the Sutlej, and carefully avoided conflict with the British |
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Ranjit Singh died in 1839; his tomb adjoins the *Lahore Fort*, to which he had added a handsome barahdari |
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Vicious power struggles soon caused his sons Kharak Singh and Sher Singh, and their sons Nau Nihal Singh and Pratap Singh, to be murdered by rival chieftains |
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Ranjit Singh's widow Rani Jindan actively sought power in the name of her young son Duleep Singh, and finally escaped British confinement by fleeing to Nepal |
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Tensions with the British increased, and the first Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) resulted in the loss both of Kashmir and of the famous Koh-i-nur diamond |
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The second Anglo-Sikh War
(1848-49) ended
with the British annexation of the whole Punjab; a
British perspective is offered by *G. A. Henty, 1894* |
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Duleep Singh himself (r.1843-49), who had been installed on the throne at the age of 5, was lavishly pensioned off; he ended up living on an estate in England |
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The Punjab not only remained quiet during 1857, but also contributed many soldiers to the British force that suppressed the *Rebellion* |