Maharaja Ranjit Singh Biography Ranjit Singh belonged to a Sikh clan of Northern India . He was born in Gujranwala , now in modern - day Pakistan, according to some historians, into a Jatt Sikh family and some that he was born into a Sansi Sikh family who were Sukerchakia misldars . As a child he suffered from smallpox which resulted in the loss of one eye . At the time, much of Punjab was ruled by the Sikhs under a Confederate Sarbat Khalsa system , who had divided the territory among factions known as misls . Ranjit Singh s father Mahan Singh was the Commander of the Sukerchakia misl and controlled a territory in the west Punjab based around his headquarters at Gujranwala . After his father s death he was raised under the protection of Sada Kaur of the Kanheya Misl. Ranjit Singh succeeded his father at the age of 18 . After several campaigns , he conquered the other misls and created the Sikh Empire . The Maharaja Ranjit Singh was crowned on 12 April 1801 ( to coincide with Baisakhi ) . Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak Dev, conducted the coronation . Gujranwala served as his capital from 1799 . In 1802 he shifted his capital to Lahore. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period, from a leader of a single Sikh misl to finally becoming the Maharaja ( Emperor ) of Punjab . He then spent the following years fighting the Afghans , driving them out of the Punjab . He also captured Pashtun territory including Peshawar ( now referred to as North West Frontier Province and the Tribal Areas ) . This was the first time that Peshawari Pashtuns were ruled by Punjabis. He captured the province of Multan which encompassed the southern parts of Punjab , Peshawar ( 1818) , Jammu and Kashmir ( 1819 ) . Thus Ranjit Singh put an end to more than a Hundred years of Muslim rule in Multan Area . He also conquered the hill states north of Anandpur Sahib, the largest of which was Kangra . When the Foreign Minister of the Ranjit Singh s court , Fakir Azizuddin , met the British Governor - General of India , Lord Auckland , in Simla, Lord Auckland asked Fakir Azizuddin which of the Maharaja s eyes was missing , Azizuddin replied: The Maharaja is like the sun and sun has only one eye. The splendor and luminosity of his single eye is so much that I have never dared to look at his other eye . The Governor General was so pleased with this reply that he gave his gold watch to Azizuddin . Ranjit Singh s Empire was secular , none of the subjects were discriminated against on account of their religions . The Maharaja never forced Sikhism on his subjects.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:24:52 +0000
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