Maharaja Ranjit Singh
| Maharaja Ranjit Singh | |
|---|---|
Maharaja Ranjit Singh
|
|
| Reign | 12 April 1801 – 27 June 1839 |
| Investiture | 12 April 1801 at Lahore Fort |
| Successor | Maharaja Kharak Singh |
| Born | ਬੁਧ ਸਿੰਘ, بدھ سنگھ Buddh Singh 13 November 1780 Gujranwala, Sukerchakia Misl (modern-day Pakistan) |
| Died | 27 June 1839 (aged 58) Lahore, Punjab, Sikh Empire (present-day Pakistan) |
| Burial | Cremated remains stored in the Samadhi of Ranjit Singh in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Spouse | See Marriages |
| Issue |
Kharak Singh Ishar Singh Maharaja Sher Singh Tara Singh Kashmira Singh Peshaura Singh Multana Singh Maharaja Duleep Singh |
| Father | Sardar Mahan Singh |
| Mother | Raj Kaur |
| Religion | Sikhism |
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780 –1839), was the founder of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10. After his father died, he fought several wars to expel the Afghans in his teenage years, and was proclaimed as the "Maharaja of Punjab" at age 21. His empire grew in the Punjab region under his leadership through 1839.
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 Muslim armies, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, and established friendly relations with the British.
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 Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar as well as other major gurudwaras, including Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Bihar and Hazur Sahib Nanded, Maharashtra under his sponsorship. He was popularly known as Sher-i-Punjab, or "Lion of Punjab".
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son, Maharaja Kharak Singh.
Ranjit Singh was born on 13 November 1780, to Mahan Singh Sukerchakia and Raj Kaur – the daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind, in Gujranwala, in the Majha region of Punjab (now in Pakistan). His birth name was Buddh Singh, after his ancestor who was a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, a Khalsa, and whose descendants created the Sukerchakia misl before the birth of Ranjit Singh, which became the most powerful of many small Sikh kingdoms in northwestern Southern Asia in the wake of the disintegrating Mughal Empire. The child's name was changed to Ranjit (literally, "victor in battle") by his father to commemorate his army's victory over the Muslim Chatha chieftain Pir Muhammad.
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