- Punjab, Pakistan
- Punjab, India
- Haryana, India
- Himachal Pradesh, India
- Chandigarh, India
- Delhi, India
- Jammu, India
- North West Frontier Province, Pakistan
- Tribal Areas, Pakistan
- Islamabad Capital Teritory, Pakistan
- Parts of North-Eastern Afghanistan
This area can be seen on the map below, click to see the large view.
The jewel in the crown of the empire was that of Punjab or land of the five rivers, the Beas, Ravi Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum, which are all tributaries of the Indus river. The Empire was subject to the governance of the Sarbat Khalsa, a biannual gathering of the Khalsa Panth in Amritsar. During the time before Maharaja Ranjit Singh's sucession to ruler the areas was attacked frequently by Ahmed Shah Abdali and Nadir Shah but the Sikhs were a strong collaboration and would grow stronger and stronger in defence of such attacks, the time is remembered as a heroic century. Despite only being a tiny proportion of the area's population the Sikhs rose to power against unseemable odds, the religious demographics of the Sikh Empire show that 80% was Muslim, with 10% Hindu and 10% Sikh.The army of the empire was called the Dal Khalsa until Maharaja Ranjit Singh came to power and it was renamed the Sikh Khalsa Army. The Sikh Khalsa Army was responsible for land warfare, land defence, and all responsibilities for the protection of the Sikh Empire's political institutions and national security. The army was responsible and answerable to Maharaja Ranjit Singh with very strong commitments to the Guru of the Sikhs the Guru Granth Sahib. At the time the army was viewed as the premier fighting force of all of Asia. From 1819 to 1838 the army grew from a total of 12, 909 to over 87, 000, this included 35,000 regular fully professional soldiers qualified with the latest military training of the time and a back up of 52,000 irregular forces. If needs be there was a large reservoir of feudal and militia forces numbering approximately 250,000. The Commander-In-Chief of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army was Hari Singh Nalwa (1791-1837), he was one of the most honoured Sikh warriors and called "the Murat of the Khalsa" by Sir Henry Griffin. One British newspaper asserted in the early twentieth century that had Nalwa had the resources and artillery of the British, he could have conquoured the East and exteneded the boundaries of the Sikh Empire into Europe. Hari Singh Nalwa was instrumental in the conquests of, Sialkot (1807), Multan (1818), Kashmir (1819), Pakhli & Damtaur (1821-2), Peshawar (1834) and finally Jamrud (1837) in the Khyber Hills. He also served as the goveror of both Kashmir and Peshawar. He had gained the name Nalwa after he had killed a tiger without the aid of firearms. Hari Singh Nalwa was also victorious on his death when he was killed during the battle of Jamrud in 1837, where had he not fighted the Sikh Empire would have lost the entire North West Province, howver Nalwa rose to the challenege of the Afghans and the Sikhs held onto the fort of Jamrud. Hari Singh had met with British, French and German travellers, once such traveller, Baron Charles Von Heigel remembers him fondly in his memoirs. Charles met Hari Singh Nalwa at his residence in Gujranwala and the German was gifted a portrait of Nalwa in the act of killing a tiger after the Baron had told Hari Singh he was already aware of his brave act. Hari Singh Nalwa could write and read Persian, Gurmukhi and Pashto, the language of the Pashtuns. He was also familiar with world politics, including details about European states from his meetings with travelers.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh also had European generals in his army, including:
- Ventura - Italian (Modena)
- Paolo di Avitabile - Italian (Naples)
- Court - French
- Oms -Spanish
- Allard - French
Ventura and Allard came in 1822 to seek service in the Sikh army, both of them had served under Napolean Bonepart in the imperial army of France. However after Napolean's defeat at Waterloo they lost their occupation and left Europe to try their fortune in the East. They had heard many a tale of the grandeuf of Ranjit Singh's court and were excited with the idea of visiting Lahore. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, although not educated was very wise and intelligent, he was aware of the exploits of Napolean. Punjabi historians had compared the two rulers and Ranjit singh was even called Napolean of the East. Ranjit singh met these two Europeans and he received them kindly asked them about their health and journey, previous employment, future plans. He showed them his troops on parade and provided amenities for their entertainment. In April of 1822, they sent a letter to Maharaja asking for an employment with his troops. The communication between these soldiers and Maharaja was in French through the trusted aide Faqir Nur-ud-din, who knew French, English, persian as many other languages. The Maharaja wanted to make sure that these people did not have contacts with the British and only when he was one hundered per cent sure, he gave them command of 500 horsemen each. This command had few Purbias (Bihari) and other Hindus of the Central provinces, employed with Ranjit Singh. They were also instructed to train all forces of Sikhs in the western method of drill. Ventura's army was called Fauj-e-Khas while little bit later Allard was asked to raise a cavalry of fresh recruits. Then Ranjit Singh also made them sign an agreement that in the event of a clash between Maharaja and European power, they would remain loyal to Sarkar Khalsa and fight for him. They were to wear their beards long and abstain from beef and tobacco. Ranjit Singh provided houses for Ventura and Allard and gave them handsome salaries. To Ventura he gave 40,000 rupees when he married a Muslim girl from Ludhiana. Two villages were subsequently given to the daughter of Ventura as jagir. Ventura built a house, which still exists near Anarkali, it is a beautiful Cheateau in French style. This shows that even though Ranjit Singh was cautious but shrewd and able enough to distinguish between people beneficial to him. He also emplyed several more European surgeons, such as Dr. Honigberger of Hungary and Dr Benet a Frenchman who was surgeon-general of the Khalsa army.
Ranjit Singh was a benevolent king. Whilst the Government of Punjab was called the Sarkar Khalsa, no laws were imposed on any of the minority or majority. He governed the fourty years of his rule from with secular ideals, he would fast with Mulsims during Ramadan and play Holi with Hindus, yet he would be at Amritsar almost every Month to take bath. Once a poor muslim from Lahore had written a Quran which he was going to take to Delhi to sell at the Mughals court. Ranjit Singh asked him how much he wanted and paid him twice as much. One year due to a massive famine, people were starving, so being king, he opened up all the state stores for people. Ranjit singh would often roam in the streets of Lahore in disguise to check his rule, whether people were happy or not. One night he saw an old woman who could not carry a bag of wheat to her house where her children were starving. He carried that bag to her house on his back. Ranjit Singh's death on June 27, 1839, left a deep hiatus. The Khalsa lost a leader who had, by commanding personality, foresight and skill, had secured them the status of sovereign people. The British had by then taken practically the whole of India, except the Punjab and sind. However it would take a further 10 years after the death of this great leader, before the British could gain control. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Kharak Singh (1801-1840), who had gained power in June 1839 after his father's death, but he was removed shortly after on the 8th October 1939 and replaced by his son Nau Nihal Singh. He is thought to have died on the 5th November 1840 from a slow posioning. Nau Nihal's rule was even shorter, he was unable to keep control of the various factions in the kingdom, and upon returning from his father's funeral he was injured when a building collapsed on him. He was taken to a tent away from courtiers, who were prevented from seeing him. Eyewitnesses to the accident had described the initial injuries as small blows to the head that had knocked him unconcious, but later when the tent was opened he was found dead, his head having been smashed in, possibly with a rock. It is argued that the culprits were the Dogra brothers, Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, but this is not universally suported as Gulab Singh's was himself injured in the sam accident and his son was also killed in the same accident. Nau Nihal Singh was then succeeded by Sher Singh (Born: December 1807 - Died: September 16th 1843), who was the son of Ranjit Singh, he became Maharaja after the sudden death of Nau Nihal in 1841. His remembered by historians as being not very smart politically, letting the Dogras take charge of all state functions. In 1843, Sher Singh was killed as he reached for a new shotgun held by Ajit Singh Sandhawalia his cousin, who had pulled the trigger. Sher Singh only had time to utter, "what treachery." The Sandhawalias also murdered Wazir Dhian Singh Dogra. The Sandhawalias were thought to have also had designs on the kingdom. Sher Singh was then succeeded by Duleep Singh (1838 - 1893), the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who was the last ruler of the Sikh Empire, ruling from 1843 - 1849. After the close of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the Punjab was annexed on 29th March 1849, he was dethroned at the age of 11 by the East India Company and was separated from his mother who was imprisoned. In 1853, under the tutelage of his long-time retainer Bhajan Lal (himself a Christian convert) he converted to Christianity at Fatehgarh with the approval of the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie. His conversion remains controversial, having been effected in unclear circumstances before he turned 15. He was also heavily and continuously exposed to Christian texts under the tutelage of the devout John Login. His two closest childhood friends were both English, one being the child of Anglican missionaries.
In 1854, he was sent into exile in Britain. Whilst in exile in England Duleep sought to learn more about Sikhism and was eager to return to India. Though previous efforts were thwarted by his handlers, he reestablished contact with his cousin Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, who on 28 September 1884, left Amritsar for England along with by his sons Narinder Singh and Gurdit Singh and a Sikh granthi (priest), Partab Singh He also brought a list of properties held by Duleep Singh in India, all this renewed his connection with Sikhism. The British Government decided in 1886 against his return to India or his re-embracing Sikhism. Despite protests from the India Office, he set sail for 'home' on 30 March 1886. However, he was intercepted and arrested in Aden, where the writ of the Raj began. He could not be stopped from an informal re-conversion ceremony in Aden, far less grand and symbolic than it would have been in India, done by emissaries sent by Sardar Thakar Singh Sandhawalia, who was earlier planning the Pahaul ceremony at Bombay. Duleep was forced to return to Europe. Duleep Singh died in Paris in 1893 at the age of 55, not having seen India (let alone the Punjab) again after he was 15, except for two brief, tightly-controlled visits in 1860 (to bring his mother to England) and in 1863 (to scatter his mother's ashes). A life-size bronze statue of the Maharajah showing him on a horse was unveiled by HRH the Prince of Wales in 1999 at Butten Island in Thetford, a town which benefited from his and that of his sons' generosity.
Duleep Singh in 1854, portrait by Franz Xavier Winterhalter.
