View source for Place:Sikh Empire

{{Short description|Empire on the Indian subcontinent, 1799–1849}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Sikh Empire
| native_name            = ''Sarkār-i-Khālsa''<br>''Khālasā Rāj''
| common_name            = Sikh Empire, Punjab Empire
| year_start             = 1799
| year_end               = 1849 <br/>
| date_start             = 7 July
| date_end               = 29 March
| motto                  = ਅਕਾਲ ਸਹਾਇ<br />''Akāl Sahāi''<br />"With God's Grace"
| p1                     = Kangra State
| flag_p1                = Flag of Kangra state.png
| p2                     = Durrani Empire
| flag_p2                = Flag of Herat until 1842.svg
| p3                     = Sikh Confederacy
| flag_p3                = Kattar Dhal Talwar.jpg
| p4                     = Sial dynasty
| p5                     = Maqpon dynasty
| p6                     = Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh{{!}}Namgyal dynasty
| s1                     = Punjab Province (British India)
| flag_s1                = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
| s2                     = Jammu and Kashmir (princely state){{!}} Jammu and Kashmir {{small|(princely state)}}
| flag_s2                = Flag of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir (1836-1936).svg
| flag                   = 
| alt_flag               = Emblem
| flag_border            = no
| flag_caption           = 
| image_flag             = Sikh Empire flag.svg
| image_coat             = Seal of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.svg
| symbol                 =
| symbol_type            = Seal
| era                    = Early modern period
| event_start            = Capture of Lahore by Ranjit Singh
| event_end              = End of Second Anglo-Sikh War
| image_map              = Map showing Sikh Empire's territory at the time of Ranjit Singh’s passing away.jpg
| image_map_caption      = Sikh Empire at the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839
| capital                = {{plainlist|
* Gujranwala {{small|(1799–1802)}}
* Lahore {{small|(1802–1849)}}
 }}
| anthem                 = ਦੇਗ ਤੇਗ ਫ਼ਤਿਹ<br />''Dēġ Tēġ Fatih''<br />"Victory to Charity and Arms"
| stat_pop1              = 12,000,000<ref name="The Encyclopedia of Empire">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe314|doi = 10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe314|chapter = Sikh Empire|title = The Encyclopedia of Empire|year = 2016|last1 = Singh|first1 = Pashaura|pages = 1–6|isbn = 978-1118455074}}</ref>
| stat_year1             = 1800s
| stat_area1             = 
| stat_year2             = 1839
| stat_area2             = {{convert|200,000|mi2|km2|disp=number}}
| ref_area2              = <ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Amarpal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHWoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT16|title=The First Anglo-Sikh War|date=2010|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-2038-1|language=en|quote=By 1839, the year of his death, the Sikh kingdom extended from Tibet and Kashmir to Sind and from the Khyber Pass to the Himalayas in the east. It spanned 600 miles from east to west and 350 miles from north to south, comprising an area of just over 200,000 square miles.}}</ref>
| religion               = {{plainlist|
*[[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]] {{small|(~6–12%; dynastic)}}
*[[Religion:Islam|Islam]] {{small|(~50–80%; majority)}}
*[[Religion:Hinduism|Hinduism]] {{small|(~10–40%)}}
*[[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]] {{small|(≤1%; mostly in Ladakh)}}
*[[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]] {{small|(≤1%; including ''Firangi'' soldiers and officials)}}
*[[Religion:Judaism|Judaism]] {{small|(≤1%; including ''Firangi'' soldiers and officials)}} 
}}
| currency               = Nanak Shahi [[Finance:Coin|Sikke]]
| languages_type         = Court language
| languages              = [[Social:Persian language|Persian]]<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition 1911 Page 892">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Ranjit Singh |volume=22 |page=892}}</ref><ref name="Grewal112">{{cite book|last=Grewal|first=J. S.|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab, Chapter 6: The Sikh empire (1799–1849) |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|series=The New Cambridge History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC|isbn=0-521-63764-3|page=112|quote=The continuance of Persian as the language of administration.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fenech|first1=Louis E.|title=The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh: A Discursive Blade in the Heart of the Mughal Empire|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press (US)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUUfAQAAQBAJ&q=principal+language|isbn=978-0199931453|page=239|quote=We see such acquaintance clearly within the Sikh court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, for example, the principal language of which was Persian.}}</ref>
| languages2_type        = Spoken languages
| languages2             = {{hlist | [[Social:Punjabi language|Punjabi]] {{small|(various dialects)}} | Kangri | [[Social:Dogri language|Dogri]] | Pashto | [[Social:Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] | Gojri | Kundal Shahi | Balti | Shina | [[Social:Wakhi language|Wakhi]] | [[Social:Burushaski|Burushaski]] | Khowar | Domaki | Ladakhi | Purgi | Bhadarwahi | Shina | Bateri | Kohistani | Kalasha}}
| government_type        = [[Social:Federal monarchy|Federal monarchy]]
| title_leader           = Maharaja
| leader1                = Ranjit Singh
| year_leader1           = 1801–1839
| leader2                = Kharak Singh
| year_leader2           = 1839
| leader3                = Nau Nihal Singh
| year_leader3           = 1839–1840
| leader4                = Sher Singh
| year_leader4           = 1841–1843
| leader5                = Duleep Singh
| year_leader5           = 1843–1849
| title_representative   = Regent
| representative1        = Chand Kaur
| year_representative1   = 1840–1841
| representative2        = Jind Kaur
| year_representative2   = 1843–1846
| title_deputy           = Wazir
| deputy1                = Khushal Singh Jamadar<ref>{{cite book |last=Grewal |first=J.S. |date=1990 |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC&pg=PA107 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=107 |isbn=0-521-63764-3 |access-date=15 April 2014 }}</ref>
| year_deputy1           = 1799–1818
| deputy2                = Dhian Singh Dogra
| year_deputy2           = 1818–1843
| deputy3                = Hira Singh Dogra
| year_deputy3           = 1843–1844
| deputy4                = Jawahar Singh Aulakh
| year_deputy4           = 14 May – 21 September 1845
| deputy5                = Lal Singh
| year_deputy5           = 1845–1846
| deputy6                = Gulab Singh{{sfn|Satinder Singh, Raja Gulab Singh's Role|1971|pp=46–50}}
| year_deputy6           = 31 January – 9 March 1846
| today                  = {{plainlist|
*{{wipe|Pakistan}}
*{{wipe|India}}
}}
}}

The '''Sikh Empire''' <!--Please do not add "WP:INDICSCRIPT"--> was a regional power based in the [[Place:Punjab|Punjab region]] of the [[Earth:Indian subcontinent|Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDE822/ |title=Ranjit Singh: A Secular Sikh Sovereign |author=K.S. Duggal|isbn =978-8170172444|publisher=Exoticindiaart.com |year= 2015 |orig-year=1989|access-date=2009-08-09}}</ref> It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the British East India Company in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. It was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous [[Place:Misl|misl]]s.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition 1911 Page 892">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Ranjit Singh |volume=22 |page=892}}</ref><ref name="Grewal">{{cite book|last=Grewal|first=J. S.|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab, Chapter 6: The Sikh empire (1799–1849) |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|series=The New Cambridge History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC|isbn=0-521-63764-3}}</ref> At its peak in the 19th century, the empire extended from Gilgit and [[Place:Tibet|Tibet]] in the north to the [[Earth:Thar Desert|deserts of Sindh]] in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east as far as Oudh.<ref name="ra">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwFDAAAAYAAJ|title=History of the Sikhs|page=201|author= Gupta, Hari Ram|year=1991|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|isbn=978-8121505154}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Khushwant|title= History of the Sikhs|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195673081 |page=viii|date=2004}}</ref> It was divided into four provinces: Lahore, which became the Sikh capital; Multan; Peshawar; and [[Place:Kashmir|Kashmir]] from 1799 to 1849. Religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 4.5 million in 1831 (making it the 19th most populous country at the time),<ref name="ReferenceA">Amarinder Singh's The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar</ref> it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]].

The formation of the empire began with the capture of Lahore from its Durrani ruler, Zaman Shah Durrani. Ranjit Singh was proclaimed as Maharaja of the Punjab on 12 April 1801 (to coincide with Vaisakhi), creating a unified political state. Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of [[Biography:Guru Nanak|Guru Nanak]], conducted the coronation.<ref>[http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/ The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508213214/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/ |date=8 May 2014 }}, section ''Sāhib Siṅgh Bedī, Bābā (1756–1834)''.</ref> The formation of the empire was followed by the progressive expulsion of [[Place:Durrani Empire|Afghans]] from Punjab by capitalizing off Afghan decline in the Afghan-Sikh Wars, and the unification of the separate Sikh misls. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period, from a leader of a single ''misl'' to finally becoming the Maharaja of Punjab. He began to modernise his army, using the latest training as well as weapons and [[Engineering:Artillery|artillery]]. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the empire was weakened by the British East India Company stoking internal divisions and political mismanagement. Finally, in 1849, the state was dissolved after the defeat in the Second Anglo-Sikh War.

==Background==
The foundation of the Sikh Empire can be traced to as early as 1707, the year of Aurangzeb's death and the start of the downfall of the Mughal Empire. With the Mughals significantly weakened, the Sikh army, known as the Dal Khalsa, a rearrangement of the Khalsa inaugurated by [[Biography:Guru Gobind Singh|Guru Gobind Singh]], led expeditions against them and the [[Place:Durrani Empire|Afghans]] in the west. This led to a growth of the army which split into different confederacies or semi-independent ''misls''. Each of these component armies controlled different areas and cities. However, in the period from 1762 to 1799, Sikh commanders of the ''misls'' appeared to be coming into their own as independent.

===Mughal rule of Punjab===
[[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]] began during the conquest of North India by Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. His grandson, Akbar, supported religious freedom and after visiting the [[Religion:Langar (Sikhism)|langar]] of [[Biography:Guru Amar Das|Guru Amar Das]] got a favourable impression of Sikhism. As a result of his visit, he donated land to the langar and the Mughals did not have any conflict with [[Biography:Sikh gurus|Sikh gurus]] until his death in 1605.<ref>{{harvnb|Kalsi|2005|pages=106–107}}</ref>

His successor Jahangir, saw the Sikhs as a political threat. He ordered Guru Arjan, who had been arrested for supporting the rebellious Khusrau Mirza,<ref>{{harvnb|Markovits|2004|page=98}}</ref> to change the passage about Islam in the Adi Granth. When the Guru refused, Jahangir ordered him to be put to death by torture.<ref>{{cite book |last=Melton |first=J. Gordon |year= 2014 |title=Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bI9_AwAAQBAJ&q=khusrau+mirza+died&pg=PA1163 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=1163 |isbn=9781610690263 |access-date=3 November 2014 }}</ref> Guru Arjan's martyrdom led to the sixth Guru, [[Biography:Guru Hargobind|Guru Hargobind]], declaring Sikh sovereignty in the creation of the Akal Takht and the establishment of a fort to defend Amritsar.<ref name="Jestice 2004 pages=345-346">{{harvnb|Jestice|2004|pages=345–346}}</ref>

Jahangir attempted to assert authority over the Sikhs by jailing Guru Hargobind at Gwalior Fort, but released him after a number of years when he no longer felt threatened. The Sikh community did not have any further issues with the Mughal Empire until the death of Jahangir in 1627. The succeeding son of Jahangir, [[Biography:Shah Jahan|Shah Jahan]], took offence at Guru Hargobind's "sovereignty" and after a series of assaults on Amritsar forced the Sikhs to retreat to the Sivalik Hills.<ref name="Jestice 2004 pages=345-346"/>

The next guru, [[Biography:Guru Har Rai|Guru Har Rai]], maintained the guruship in these hills by defeating local attempts to seize Sikh land and playing a neutral role in the power struggle between two of the sons of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, for control of the Mughal Empire. The ninth Guru, [[Biography:Guru Tegh Bahadur|Guru Tegh Bahadur]], moved the Sikh community to Anandpur and travelled extensively to visit and preach in defiance of Aurangzeb, who attempted to install Ram Rai as new guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur aided Kashmiri Pandits in avoiding conversion to [[Religion:Islam|Islam]] and was arrested by Aurangzeb. When offered a choice between conversion to Islam and death, he chose to die rather than compromise his principles and was executed.<ref>{{harvnb|Johar|1975|pages=192–210}}</ref>

===Formation of the Khalsa===
[[Biography:Guru Gobind Singh|Guru Gobind Singh]] assumed the guruship in 1675 and to avoid battles with Sivalik Hill rajas moved the guruship to Paunta. There he built a large fort to protect the city and garrisoned an army to protect it. The growing power of the Sikh community alarmed the Sivalik Hill rajas, who attempted to attack the city, but [[Biography:Guru Gobind Singh|Guru Gobind Singh]]'s forces routed them at the Battle of Bhangani. He moved on to Anandpur and established the Khalsa, a collective army of baptised Sikhs, on 30 March 1699.<ref name=Gobind/>

The establishment of the Khalsa united the Sikh community against various Mughal-backed claimants to the guruship.<ref>{{harvnb|Jestice|2004|pages=312–313}}</ref> In 1701, a combined army of the Sivalik Hill rajas and the Mughals under Wazir Khan attacked Anandpur. The Khalsa retreated but regrouped to defeat the Mughals at the Battle of Muktsar. In 1707, [[Biography:Guru Gobind Singh|Guru Gobind Singh]] accepted an invitation by Aurangzeb's successor Bahadur Shah I to meet him. The meeting took place at [[Place:Agra|Agra]] on 23 July 1707.<ref name=Gobind>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/ |title=Gobind Singh Guru (1666–1708) |last1=Ganda Singh |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=11 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508213214/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/ |archive-date=8 May 2014}}</ref>

===Banda Singh Bahadur===
In August 1708, Guru Gobind Singh visited Nanded. There he met a Bairāgī recluse, Madho Das, who converted to Sikhism, rechristened as Banda Singh Bahadur.<ref name=Gobind/><ref name="Banda Singh Bahadur">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/51460/Banda-Singh-Bahadur |title=Banda Singh Bahadur |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=15 May 2013}}</ref> A short time before his death, Guru Gobind Singh ordered him to reconquer Punjab region and gave him a letter that commanded all Sikhs to join him. After two years of gaining supporters, Banda Singh Bahadur initiated an agrarian uprising by breaking up the large estates of Zamindar families and distributing the land to the poor peasants who farmed the land.<ref name="Singh 2008 pages=25-26">{{harvnb|Singh|2008 |pages=25–26}}</ref>

Banda Singh Bahadur started his rebellion with the defeat of Mughal armies at Samana and Sadhaura and the rebellion culminated in the defeat of Sirhind. During the rebellion, Banda Singh Bahadur made a point of destroying the cities in which Mughals had been cruel to the supporters of Guru Gobind Singh. He executed Wazir Khan in revenge for the deaths of Guru Gobind Singh's sons and Pir Budhu Shah after the Sikh victory at Sirhind.<ref>{{harvnb|Nesbitt |2005 |page=61}}</ref>

He ruled the territory between the Sutlej river and the Yamuna river, established a capital in the Himalayas at Lohgarh and struck [[Finance:Coin|coin]]age in the names of [[Biography:Guru Nanak|Guru Nanak]] and Guru Gobind Singh.<ref name="Singh 2008 pages=25-26"/> In 1716, his army was defeated by the Mughals after he attempted to defend his fort at Gurdas Nangal. He was captured along with 700 of his men and sent to [[Place:Delhi|Delhi]], where they were all tortured and executed after refusing to convert to [[Religion:Islam|Islam]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Kulwant|title=Sri Gur Panth Prakash: Episodes 1 to 81|year=2006|publisher=Institute of Sikh Studies|isbn=978-8185815282|page=415}}</ref>

==History==

===Dal Khalsa period===

====Sikh Confederacy====
{{Main|Place:Misl}}
The period from 1716 to 1799 was a highly turbulent time politically and militarily in the Punjab region. This was caused by the overall decline of the Mughal empire<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.gov.pk/html_Pages/sikh.htm |title=Sikh Period – National Fund for Cultural Heritage |publisher=Heritage.gov.pk |date=14 August 1947 |access-date=9 August 2009}}</ref> that left a power vacuum in the region that was eventually filled by the Sikhs of the Dal Khalsa, meaning "Khalsa army" or "Khalsa party". In the late 18th century, after defeating several invasions by the Afghan rulers of the [[Place:Durrani Empire|Durrani Empire]] and their allies,<ref name="The History of Afghanistan">Meredith L. Runion [https://books.google.com/books?id=aZk9XzqCFGUC&dq=ahmad+shah+durrani+1749+sindh+and+punjab&pg=PA69 ''The History of Afghanistan''] pp 70 Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 {{ISBN|0313337985}}</ref> remnants of the Mughals and their administrators, the Mughal-allied Hindu hill-rajas of the Sivalik Hills,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Patwant Singh| title=The Sikhs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27XYeylUzWwC&q=sikh+hill+rajas&pg=PT60| year=2007| publisher=Crown Publishing Group|isbn=978-0307429339|page=270}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/the-sikh-empire-1799-1839/sikhs-relations-with-hill-states|title=Sikhs' Relation with Hill States|website=www.thesikhencyclopedia.com|date=19 December 2000|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> and hostile local Muslims siding with other Muslim forces.<ref name="The History of Afghanistan" /> The Sikhs of the Dal Khalsa eventually formed their own independent Sikh administrative regions, ''Misls'', derived from a Perso-Arabic term meaning 'similar', headed by ''Misldars''. These Misls were united in large part by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

====Cis-Sutlej states====

The Cis-Sutlej states were a group of Sikh<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jayanta Kumar Ray| year=2007| title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379| publisher=Pearson Education|isbn=978-8131708347| page=379}}</ref> states in the Punjab region lying between the Sutlej River to the north, the Himalayas to the east, the Yamuna River and [[Place:Delhi|Delhi]] district to the south, and Sirsa District to the west. The Cis-Sutlej states included Kalsia, Kaithal, Patiala State, Nabha State, Jind State, Thanesar, Maler Kotla, Ludhiana, Kapurthala State, Ambala, Ferozpur and Faridkot State, among others. These states fell under the suzerainty of the Scindhia, appointed by Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II as viceregent (Vakil-i-Mutlaq) of the Mughal empire,<ref name="Farooqui Salma Ahmed">{{cite book |last1=Ahmed |first1=Farooqui Salma |year=2011 |title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid ... |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-8131732021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&q=daulatrao+scindia+punjab&pg=PA334 |access-date=2012-07-21}}</ref>{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=167}} after a brief Sikh-Maratha treaty in 1785 where according to the treaty, Scindhia would recognize the political supremacy of the Sikhs in the Punjab whereas the Sikhs would forbear from attacking the adjoining territories of Delhi.<ref name=Mittal1986p11>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RKTigrrP1cC&pg=PA11 |title=Haryana, a Historical Perspective |isbn=978-8171560837 |last=Mittal |first=Satish Chandra |year=1986|page=11 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors}}</ref> Before the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803–1805, the Marathas lost all influence on the territory to the British East India Company.{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=13}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jayanta Kumar Ray| title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379| year=2007| publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=978-8131708347 |page=379}}</ref>

The Cis-Sutlej state was ruled by many chiefs though the region was under the Mughal Empire.{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=167}} Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II's viceregent Afrasiyab was killed by Zain-ul-Abidin Khan on 2 November 1784, thus leaving no one to appoint as the next viceregent.{{sfn|Gupta|1978|p=196}} Thus Mughal Emperor appointed Mahadji Sindhia as viceregent (Vakil-i-Mutlaq) of the Mughal empire as Shah Alam II knew that Sindhia is the only one who would remain acquiescent to him and would be able to maintain peace and order in his kingdom.{{sfn|Gupta|1978|p=197|ps=. "On the 4th December at another public darbar the Emperor bestowed the highest post of Vakahi-Mutlaq [Regent Plenipotentiary] on Mahadji Sindhia."}} The Maratha-Sikh treaty on 10 May 1785 made an establishment of the small Cis-Sutlej states, protected states of Scindia Dynasty,<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&dq=cis+sutlej+states+Ranjit+Singh&pg=PA83|title=An Advanced History of Modern India|last1=Sen|first1=Sailendra Nath|year=2010 |publisher=Macmillan India |isbn=978-0230328853 |quote=By Mahadji Shinde's treaty of 1785 with the Sikhs, Maratha influence had been established over the divided Cis-Sutlej states. But at the end of the second Maratha war in 1806 that influence had been pass over to the British.}}</ref> on behalf of Mughals with Mahadji Scindia deputed the ''Vakil-i-Mutlaq'' (Regent of the Mughal empire) of Mughal affairs in 1784.<ref name="Farooqui Salma Ahmed"/>{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=167}} Therefore, Mahadji as newly appointed viceregent of the Mughal Emperor, tried to come to an agreement with the Cis-Sutlej chiefs and concluded a treaty on 10 May 1785.{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=168}} According to the treaty, Mahadji would recognize the political supremacy of the Sikhs in the Punjab whereas the Sikhs would forbear from attacking the adjoining territories of Delhi.<ref name=Mittal1986p11/> Additionally, the chiefs would join Sindhia's army with at least 5,000 horses and in return would receive a land grant worth million rupees and the chiefs would not meddle in the affairs outside of their territory.{{sfn|Sen|1994|p=30}}{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=167}} Additionally, it was agreed that any territories conquered through the joint alliance of Sikhs and the Marathas, the Sikhs would keep one-third of the territories and the enemies of both the parties would be considered mutual.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-kanqrtVhYC&pg=PA30 |title=Anglo-Maratha Relations, 1785–96 Volume 2|last=Sen|first=Sailendra Nath |year=1994|page=30|publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-8171547890 }}</ref> However the treaty fell apart as the chiefs did not observe the terms of the treaty.{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=168}}{{sfn|Gupta|1978|p=216|ps=. "No sooner was the treaty signed than misgivings arose between them. The Sikhs did not wish to abide by the treaty."}} In 1789, again a peaceful agreement was set in place where Sindhia legitamized the chiefs to collect tributes from the villages as the purpose behind Mahadji's policy was to win over the chiefs by friendship, but this policy too failed.{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|p=168}}

After Mahadji's death in 1794, Daulat Rao was made his replacement, under whom the unstable conditions continued against the chiefs till the Second Anglo-Maratha War from 1803–1805, losing any influence over Cis-Sutlej state and parts of Uttar Pradesh, which he administered on behalf of the Mughal Emperor.{{sfn|Chaurasia|2004|pp=167–170}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Hari Ram|title= History of the Sikhs: Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire|publisher= Munshiram Manoharlal |pages=196–216|date=1978}}</ref>

Following the Second Anglo-Maratha War, in 1806, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington drafted a treaty granting independence to the Sikh clans east of the Sutlej River in exchange for their allegiance to the British General Gerard Lake acting on his dispatch.<ref name=DukeDispatch>{{cite book|title=The Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondance, of the Marquess Wellesley, K. G. During His Administration in India|author-last=Wellesley|author-first=Arthur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JB0-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA264|year=1837|number=v.3|pages=264–267}}</ref><ref name=duketreaty>{{cite book|title=Supplementary Despatches and Memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur, Duke of Wellington, K. G.: India, 1797–1805|author-last=Wellesley|author-first=Arthur|author1-link=Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|date=1859|volume=I |pages=269–279, 319|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9EgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA269|quote="ART VI Scindiah to renounce all claims the Seik chiefs or territories" (p. 318)}}</ref>

Ranjit Singh led three expeditions into Cis-Sutlej states in 1806, 1807 and 1808, seizing many territories, particularly 45 district subdivisions or administrative units (parganas) and then distributed them among different chiefs who would pay annual tributes of certain amount as recognition of Ranjit Singh's supremacy.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=83}} Ranjit Singh gave some territories of Cis-Sutlej to his mother in law Rani Sada Kaur and granted a good deal of villages to his general Dewan Mokham Chand.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=83}} In all 45 paraganas, Ranjit Singh assigned salaried agents to different territories who sustained some soldiers for internal administration to retrieve revenues from lands.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=83}} Some of the important vassal territories of Sikh empire were, Anandpur, Rupar, Himmatpur, Wadni, Harikepatan, Firozpur and Mamdot.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Hari Ram|title= History of the Sikhs Volume 5|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheSikhsVol.VTheSikhLionOfLahoremaharajaRanjitSingh/page/n97/mode/2up?view=theater|publisher= Munshiram Manoharlal|pages=83–96|date=1991|isbn=978-8121505154}}</ref>

On 9 February 1809, David Ochterlony of the British East India company issued a proclamation declaring the Cis-Sutlej states to be under British protection which concluded with a treaty of friendship on 25 April 1809 between the British East India company and Ranjit Singh, emperor of the Sikh Empire, recognised the territories of 45 paraganas, north of the river Sutlej under the aegis of Ranjit Singh's Sikh Empire and in return Ranjit Singh recognised British protection to the Cis-Sutlej states. The river Sutlej became the boundary between Ranjit Singh's dominion and the British territory.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=RAON5AW4yUEC&dq=cis+sutlej+british+1809&pg=PA65|chapter=Defending British India Against Napoleon|last1=Chopra|first1=P.N.|page=66|isbn=978-8120725065|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|title=A Comprehensive History of India, Volume 3|date=2003 }}</ref>

Ranjit Singh possessed 45 Taluqas in the Cis-Sutlej states, wholly or in share with others on the British side of the river Sutlej.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=83}} On 29 July 1809, David Ochterlony recognized large territory along river Sutlej from Chamkaur to Harikepatan and Kot Kapura as directly under Ranjit Singh's control.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=86}} Dewan Mokham Chand, Ranjit Singh's commander was granted 102 villages in the tehsil of Dharamkot, Zira and Kot Kapura, which also belonged to Ranjit Singh.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=86}} Raja of Jind, maternal uncle of Ranjit Singh, was granted 90 villages in the paraganah of Ludhiana-Sirhind{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=86}} Raja of Kapurthala, brother of Ranjit Singh, was awarded 106 villages in the tehsil of Talwandi and Naraingarh.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=86}} Other rewards as part of the treaty were, 38 villages secured to Raja Jaswant Singh of Nabha State, 32 villages in the tehsil of Baddowal secured to Gurdit Singh of Ladwa, 36 villages in the tehsil of Ghungrana secured to Karam Singh Nagia, 62 villages in the tehsil of Dharamkot granted to Garbha Singh of Bharatgarh, many number of villages granted to Jodh Singh of Kalsia, Basant Singh, Atar Singh, Jodh Singh of Bassia and Ranjit Singh's mother in law Sada Kaur was granted with Himmatpur-Wadni.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=86}} The recipients were granted the territories under the condition of submission to Ranjit Singh's supremacy.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=87}}

On 17 March 1828, Captain W. Murray prepared a list of 45 Taluqas in south of Satluj that belonged and were claimed by Ranjit Singh.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=87}} They were: Anandpur, Makhowal, Mattewala, Bajr, Goewal, Howab, Karesh, Sujarwala, Sohera, Sailbah, Khai, Muedkoh, Wazirpur, Kunki, Saholi, Basi, Bharog, Jagraon, Kot Isa Khan, Mahani, Khaspura, Molanwala, Naraingarh, Sadar Khan, Tohra, Mari, Machhiwara, Kotari, Puwa, Want, part of Kotlah, Kot Guru Har Sahe, Dharamkot, Rajwana, Fatahgarh, Kala Majri, Chuhar Chak, Dhilwan, Talwandi Sayyidan, Jhandianah, Buthor, Ranian, Baholpur, Bharatgarh, Chanelgarh, Lohangarh, Phillaur district, Firozpur, Nurpur, Khaira, Sohala, Todarpur, Tughal, part of Kotlah, Ghungrana, Rumanwala, Mamdot, Sanehwal, Rasulpur, Aitiana, Himmatpur, Pattoki, Wadni, Moga, Mohlan, Zira, Behekbodia, Bhagra, Hitawat, Jinwar, Kot Kapura, Muktsar, Kenoan, Singhanwala, Suhewaron, Chamkaur and Molwal.{{sfn|Gupta|1991|p=87}}

==== Intra-Misl Wars ====
After the reign of Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, the Sikh Misls became divided and fought each other. A sort of 'Cold War' broke out with the Bhangi, Nakkai, Dalelwala and Ramgharia Misls verses Sukerchakia, [[Religion:Ahluwalia (misl)|Ahluwalia]], Karor Singhia and Kaniyeha. The Shaheedan, Nishania and [[Religion:Singhpuria Misl|Singhpuria]] also allied but did not engage in warfare with the others and continued the Dal Khalsa.

The Phulkian Misl was excommunicated from the confederacy. Rani Sada Kaur of the Kanhaiya Misl rose in the vacuum and destroyed the power of the Bhangis. She later gave her throne to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

===Empire===
[[File:Punjabin_1809_AD-History_of_Punjab_pg32.jpg|thumb|right|The expanding Sikh Empire in 1809. The Cis-Sutlej states are visible south of the Sutlej River]]
The formal start of the Sikh Empire began with the unification of the Misls by 1801, creating a unified political state. All the Misl leaders, who were affiliated with the army, were the nobility with usually long and prestigious family backgrounds in Sikh history.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition 1911 Page 892"/>

The main geographical footprint of the empire was from the Punjab region to Khyber Pass in the west, to Kashmir in the north, Sindh in the south, and [[Place:Tibet|Tibet]] in the east.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwFDAAAAYAAJ|title=History of the Sikhs|author= Gupta, Hari Ram|year=1991|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|isbn=978-8121505154}}</ref>

In 1799 Ranjit Singh moved the capital to Lahore from Gujranwala, where it had been established in 1763 by his grandfather, Charat Singh.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j894miuOqc4C&q=gujranwala+capital&pg=PA411|title=World and Its Peoples: Middle East, Western Asia, and Northern Africa|year=2007|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0761475712|page=411}}</ref>

Ranjit Singh annexed the Sial State, a local Muslim-ruled chieftaincy, after invading Jhang in 1807.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Rishi |title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab |publisher=Sage Publications India |year=2014 |isbn=978-9351505044 |quote=When Ranjit Singh realised that Ahmad Khan Sial of Jhang had concluded a secret treaty with Nawab Muzaffar Khan of Multan, he annexed Jhang in 1807 and gave Ahmad Khan a jagir at Mirowal near Amritsar.}}</ref> The basis for this annexation was that the local ruler of Jhang, Ahmad Khan Sial, was conspiring with Nawab Muzaffar Khan of Multan and had signed a secret treaty with the latter.<ref name=":6" /> [[File:Ranjit Singh holding court - Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh - pg203.jpg|thumb|right|Ranjit Singh holding court in 1838]]
Hari Singh Nalwa was [[Social:Commander-in-chief|Commander-in-Chief]] of the Sikh Khalsa Army from 1825 to 1837.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849|author1=Roy, K.|author2=Roy, L. D. H. K.|date=2011|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1136790874|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC|page=147|access-date=10 December 2014}}</ref> He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Multan, [[Place:Kashmir|Kashmir]], Attock and Peshawar. Nalwa led the Sikh army in freeing Shah Shuja from Kashmir and secured the Koh-i-Nor diamond for Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He served as governor of Kashmir and Hazara and established a mint on behalf of the Sikh empire to facilitate revenue collection. His frontier policy of holding the Khyber Pass was later used by the [[History:British Raj|British Raj]]. Nalwa was responsible for expanding the frontier of Sikh empire to the Indus River. At the time of his death, the western boundary of the Sikh Empire was the Khyber Pass.

The Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh paid regular annual tribute to the Sikh Empire starting 1819 until 1834.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Petech |first=Luciano |title=The Kingdom of Ladakh, c. 950–1842 A.D. |publisher=Instituto Italiano Per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente |year=1977 |pages=130}}</ref> The tribute was paid to the local Sikh governors of Kashmir.<ref name=":1" /> The Namgyal kingdom would later be conquered by the Dogras, under the leadership of Zorawar Singh.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Huttenback |first=Robert A. |date=1961 |title=Gulab Singh and the Creation of the Dogra State of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123065805if_/http://pahar.in/mountains/Books%20and%20Articles/Indian%20Subcontinent/1961%20Gulab%20Singh%20and%20Creation%20of%20Dogra%20State%20of%20Jammu%20Kashmir%20and%20Ladakh%20by%20Huttenback%20from%20J%20Asian%20Studies%20v20%20s.pdf |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=477–488 |doi=10.2307/2049956|jstor=2049956 |s2cid=162144034 }}</ref>

The domain of the Maqpon kingdom of Baltistan, based in Skardu, under the rule of Ahmad Shah Maqpon, was conquered in 1839–40 and its local ruler was deposed.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> The Dogras at this time were under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire.<ref name=":2" />

During the Sino-Sikh War of 1841, the forces of the empire invaded the [[Place:Tibetan Plateau|Tibetan Plateau]], which was then under the control of the Qing dynasty.<ref name=":7">{{cite book |last1=Guo |first1=Rongxing |title=China's Regional Development and Tibet |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-9812879585 |chapter=Chapter 1: A Brief History of Tibet |date=2015 |quote=In AD 1834, the Sikh empire invaded and annexed Ladakh-a culturally Tibetan region that was an independent kingdom at the time. Seven years later, a Sikh army invaded western Tibet from Ladakh, starting the Sino-Sikh War. A Qing-Tibetan army repelled the invaders but was in turn defeated when it chased the Sikhs into Ladakh. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Chushul between the Chinese and Sikh empires (Rubin 1960). As the Qing dynasty declined, its influence on Tibet weakened gradually. By the late nineteenth cen tury, Qing's authority over Tibet had become more symbolic.}}</ref> However, this control was short-lived and the military of the empire was forced to retreat to Ladakh due to a counterattack by the Chinese and Tibetans.<ref name=":7" />

==== Geography ====
[[File:Joppen1907India1805a.jpg|thumbnail|200px|The Indian subcontinent in 1805.]]

The Sikh Empire spanned a total of over {{cvt|200,000|sqmi}} at its zenith.<ref>{{cite book|last=Manning|first=Stephen|date=2020|title=Bayonet to Barrage Weaponry on the Victorian Battlefield |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNveDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA9|publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited|isbn=978-1526777249|quote="The Sikh kingdom expanded from Tibet in the east to Kashmir in the west and from Sind in the south to the Khyber Pass in the north, an area of 200,000 square miles"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Barczewski|first=Stephanie|year= 2016| title=Heroic Failure and the British|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixd8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|publisher=Yale University Press|page=89|isbn=978-0300186819|quote="…the Sikh state encompassed over 200,000 square miles (518,000 sq km)"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Khilani|first=N. M.|date=1972| title=British power in the Punjab, 1839–1858|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fGEDAAAAMAAJ&q=punjab+of+over+200,000+square+miles+khilnani|publisher=Asia Publishing House|page=251|isbn=978-0210271872|quote="..into existence a kingdom of the Punjab of over 200,000 square miles"}}</ref> Another more conservative estimate puts its total surface area during its zenith at 100,436 sq mi (260,124&nbsp;km sq).<ref name=":0" />

The following modern-day political divisions made up the historical Sikh Empire:
*Punjab region, to Mithankot in the south
** Punjab, Pakistan, excluding Bahawalpur State
** Punjab, India, excluding the Cis-Sutlej states<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9D3QDwAAQBAJ&dq=sikh+empire+cis+sutlej&pg=PT18 | title=Punjab Current Affairs Yearbook 2020 | last1=Meena | first1=R. P. }}</ref>
** Himachal Pradesh, India, only the territories northwest of Sutlej river.
** Jammu Division, Jammu and [[Place:Kashmir|Kashmir]], India and Pakistan (1808–1846)
* [[Place:Kashmir|Kashmir]], from 5 July 1819 to 15 March 1846, India/Pakistan<ref>The Masters Revealed, (Johnson, p. 128)</ref><ref>Britain and Tibet 1765–1947, (Marshall, p. 116)</ref>
** Kashmir Valley, India from 1819 to 1846
** [[Place:Baltistan|Baltistan]], from 1840 onwards<ref name=":3">{{cite journal |last1=Rieck |first1=Andreas |date=1995 |title=The Nurbakhshis of Baltistan: Crisis and Revival of a Five Centuries Old Community |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1571229 |journal=Die Welt des Islams |location=Hamburg |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=159–188 |doi=10.1163/1570060952597761 |jstor=1571229 |access-date=30 June 2023 |quote=Thus Baltistan remained under local Rajas who paid only nominal allegiance to subsequent rulers of Kashmir until subdued by a Sikh army in 1840, and who stayed in office as ''jagirdars'' under the Hindu Dogra Maharajas (1846–1947) and even in Pakistan until 1972. ... As has been stated above, there are no reliable indicators for the extent to which Twelver Shi'ism had spread in Baltistan at the time of the Sikh conquest (1840). |via=JSTOR}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Mock |first1=John |title=Trekking in the Karakoram & Hindukush |last2=O'Neil |first2=Kimberley |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |year=2002 |isbn=978-1740590860 |pages=302 |quote=By the 18th century, fighting among the Maqpon princes led to a decline in Skardu's importance. The Sikhs, who inherited much of the Moghul empire, annexed Baltistan in 1840 and the Balti kingdoms' sovereignty ended.}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Baloch |first=Sikandar Khan |title=In the Wonderland of Asia, Gilgit & Baltistan |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |year=2004 |isbn=978-9693516142 |page=127}}</ref>
** Gilgit, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, from 1842 to 1846{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
** Ladakh, India 1834–1846<ref>{{cite book|author1=Pandey, Dr. Hemant Kumar|author2=Singh, Manish Raj|title=India's Major Military and Rescue Operations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nn5IDwAAQBAJ&q=ladakh+1834+sikh&pg=PA57| year=2017| publisher=Horizon Books|isbn=978-9386369390|page=57}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1923&context=isp_collection| title=Frontier: The Making of the Northern and Eastern Border in Ladakh From 1834 to the Present| first1=Jonathan M.| last1=Deng | publisher=SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 920| date=2010}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
* Lower part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHQMAQAAMAAJ | title=Frontier Facets: Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province | date=4 January 2024 | publisher=National Book Foundation ; Lahore }}</ref>
** Peshawar, Pakistan<ref>The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion, (Docherty, pp. 185–187)</ref> (taken in 1818, retaken in 1834)
**Excluding Waziristan, Ranjit Singh made no attempt to conquer Waziristan.<ref>https://www.google.com.pk/books/edition/History_of_the_Sikhs_The_Sikh_Lion_of_La/-1huAAAAMAAJ?hl=en(p. 80)</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEhdAgAAQBAJ&dq=Nor+did+the+Sikh%2C+Ranjit+Singh%2C+who+supplanted+the+Durranis+as&pg=PA1 | title=Imperial Frontier: Tribe and State in Waziristan | isbn=978-1-136-83957-3 | last1=Beattie | first1=Dr Hugh | last2=Beattie | first2=Hugh | date=16 December 2013 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref>
Jamrud District (Khyber Agency, Pakistan) was the westernmost limit of the Sikh Empire. The westward expansion was stopped in the Battle of Jamrud, in which the Afghans managed to kill the prominent Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa in an offensive, though the Sikhs successfully held their position at their Jamrud fort. Ranjit Singh sent his General Sirdar Bahadur Gulab Singh Powind thereafter as reinforcement and he crushed the Pashtun rebellion harshly.<ref>Hastings Donnan, ''Marriage Among Muslims: Preference and Choice in Northern Pakistan'', (Brill, 1997), 41.[https://books.google.com/books?id=PL_ACoFwJ2gC&dq=raja+gulab+singh+revolt&pg=PA41]</ref> In 1838, Ranjit Singh with his troops marched into Kabul to take part in the victory parade along with the British after restoring Shah Shoja to the Afghan throne at Kabul.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/491193/Ranjit-Singh Encyclopædia Britannica – Ranjit Singh]</ref>

====Religious policy====
The Sikh Empire allowed men from religions other than their own to rise to commanding positions of authority.<ref>Kartar Singh Duggal (2001). Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Last to Lay Arms. Abhinav Publications. pp. 125–126. {{ISBN|978-81-7017-410-3}}.</ref>

The Fakir brothers were trusted personal advisors and assistants as well as close friends to Ranjit Singh,{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=ix}} particularly Fakir Azizuddin, who would serve in the positions of foreign minister of the empire and translator for the maharaja, and played important roles in such important events as the negotiations with the British, during which he convinced Ranjit Singh to maintain diplomatic ties with the British and not to go to war with them in 1808, as British troops were moved along the Sutlej in pursuance of the British policy of confining Ranjit Singh to the north of the river, and setting the Sutlej as the dividing boundary between the Sikh and British empires;{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=27}} negotiating with Dost Muhammad Khan during his unsuccessful attempt to retake Peshawar,{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=27}} and ensuring the succession of the throne during the Maharaja's last days in addition to caretaking after a stroke, as well as occasional military assignments throughout his career.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=28}} The Fakir brothers were introduced to the Maharaja when their father, Ghulam Muhiuddin, a physician, was summoned by him to treat an eye ailment soon after his capture of Lahore.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=25}}

The other Fakir brothers were Imamuddin, one of his principal administration officers, and Nuruddin, who served as home minister and personal physician, were also granted jagirs by the Maharaja.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=iv}}

Every year, while at Amritsar, Ranjit Singh visited shrines of holy people of other faiths, including several Muslim saints, which did not offend even the most religious Sikhs of his administration.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=3}}
As relayed by Fakir Nuruddin, orders were issued to treat people of all faith groups, occupations,{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=19}} and social levels equally and in accordance with the doctrines of their faith, per the Shastras and the [[Religion:Quran|Quran]], as well as local authorities like judges and ''panches'' (local elder councils),{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=17}} as well as banning forcible possession of others' land or of inhabited houses to be demolished.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=18}} There were special courts for Muslims which ruled in accordance to Muslim law in personal matters,{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=20}} and common courts preceded over by judicial officers which administered justice under the customary law of the districts and socio-ethnic groups, and were open to all who wanted to be governed by customary religious law, whether Hindu, Sikh, or Muslim.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=20}}

One of Ranjit Singh's first acts after the 1799 capture of Lahore was to revive the offices of the hereditary Qazis and Muftis which had been prevalent in Mughal times.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=20}} Kazi Nizamuddin was appointed to decide marital issues among Muslims, while Muftis Mohammad Shahpuri and Sadulla Chishti were entrusted with powers to draw up title-deeds relating to transfers of immovable property.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=20}} The old mohalladari{{Definition needed|date=August 2021}} system was reintroduced with each mahallah, or neighborhood subdivision, placed under the charge of one of its members. The office of Kotwal, or prefect of police, was conferred upon a Muslim, Imam Bakhsh.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=20}}

Generals were also drawn from a variety of communities, along with prominent Sikh generals like Hari Singh Nalwa, Fateh Singh Dullewalia, Nihal Singh Atariwala, Chattar Singh Attariwalla, and Fateh Singh Kalianwala; Hindu generals included Misr Diwan Chand and Dewan Mokham Chand Nayyar, his son, and his grandson; and Muslim generals included Ilahi Bakhsh and Mian Ghaus Khan; one general, Balbhadra Kunwar, was a Nepalese Gurkha, and European generals included Jean-Francois Allard, Jean-Baptiste Ventura, and Paolo Avitabile.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=23}} other notable generals of the Sikh Khalsa Army were Veer Singh Dhillon, Sham Singh Attariwala, Mahan Singh Mirpuri, and Zorawar Singh Kahluria, among others.

The appointment of key posts in public offices was based on merit and loyalty, regardless of the social group or religion of the appointees, both in and around the court, and in higher as well as lower posts. Key posts in the civil and military administration were held by members of communities from all over the empire and beyond, including Sikhs, Muslims, Khatris, Brahmins, Dogras, Rajputs, Pashtuns, Europeans, and Americans, among others,{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=22}} and worked their way up the hierarchy to attain merit. Dhian Singh, the prime minister, was a Dogra, whose brothers Gulab Singh and Suchet Singh served in the high-ranking administrative and military posts, respectively.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=22}} Brahmins like finance minister Raja Dina Nath, Sahib Dyal, and others also served in financial capacities.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=23}}

Muslims in prominent positions included the Fakir brothers, Kazi Nizamuddin, and Mufti Muhammad Shah, among others. Among the top-ranking Muslim officers there were two ministers, one governor and several district officers; there were 41 high-ranking Muslim officers in the army, including two generals and several colonels,{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=23}} and 92 Muslims were senior officers in the police, judiciary, legal department and supply and store departments.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=23}} In artillery, Muslims represented over 50% of the numbers while the cavalry had some 10% Muslims from among the troopers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Amarinder|title=The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar|publisher=Roli Books|year=2010|isbn=978-81-7436-779-2|location=|page=40}}</ref>

Thus, the government was run by an elite corps drawn from many communities, giving the empire the character of a secular system of government, even when built on theocratic foundations.{{sfn|Waheeduddin|1981|p=24}}

A ban on cow slaughter, which can be related to Hindu sentiments, was universally imposed in the Sarkar Khalsaji.<ref>Lodrick, D. O. 1981. ''Sacred Cows, Sacred Places''. Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 145</ref><ref>Vigne, G. T., 1840. ''A Personal Narrative of a Visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan, and a Residence at the Court of Dost Mohammed'', London: Whittaker and Co. p. 246 ''The Real Ranjit Singh''; by Fakir Syed Waheeduddin, published by Punjabi University, {{ISBN|81-7380-778-7}}, 2001, 2nd ed.</ref> Ranjit Singh also donated large amounts of gold for the plating of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple's dome.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217371 |title=The Sacred City of the Hindus: An Account of Benares in Ancient and Modern Times |author=Matthew Atmore Sherring |publisher=Trübner & co. |year=1868 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217371/page/n93 51] }}</ref><ref name="Madhuri_2007">{{cite book |author=Madhuri Desai |title=Resurrecting Banaras: Urban Space, Architecture and Religious Boundaries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdD3MYnYey8C&pg=PA30 |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-549-52839-5 }}</ref>

The Sikhs attempted not to offend the prejudices of Muslims, noted Baron von Hügel, the Austrian botanist and explorer,<ref>Hügel, Baron (1845) 2000. ''Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab, containing a Particular Account of the Government and Character of the Sikhs'', tr. Major T. B. Jervis. rpt, Delhi: Low Price Publications, p. 151</ref> yet the Sikhs were described as harsh. In this regard, Masson's explanation is perhaps the most pertinent: "Though compared to the Afghans, the Sikhs were mild and exerted a protecting influence, yet no advantages could compensate to their Mohammedan subjects, the idea of subjection to infidels, and the prohibition to slay [[Biology:Cattle|kine]], and to repeat the ''azan'', or 'summons to prayer'."<ref>Masson, Charles. 1842. ''Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan and the Panjab'', 3 v. London: Richard Bentley (1) 37</ref> According to Chitralekha Zutshi and William Roe Polk, Sikh governors adopted policies that alienated the Muslim population such as the ban on cow slaughter and the [[Religion:Adhan|azan]] (the Islamic call to prayer), the seizure of mosques as property of the state, and imposed ruinous taxes on Kashmiri Muslims causing a famine in 1832. In addition, begar (forced labour) was imposed by the Sikh administration to facilitate the supply of materials to the imperial army, a policy that was augmented by the successive Dogra rulers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chitralekha |first=Zutshi |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cfXDwAAQBAJ&dq=ranjit+singh+banned+cow+slaughter+afghanistan+inpublisher:university&pg=PT39 |title=Kashmir |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190990466 |chapter=Kashmir as Mulk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Polk|first=William Roe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozFDDwAAQBAJ&dq=sikh+empire+anti+islamic&pg=PA263|title=Crusade and Jihad: The Thousand-year War Between the Muslim World and the Global North|date=2018|publisher=Yale University Press|page=263|isbn=978-0300222906|author-link=William R. Polk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bray|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZO95DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|title=Modern Ladakh: Anthropological Perspectives on Continuity and Change|date=2008|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9047443346|page=48}}</ref> These policies led the Kashmiri Muslim population to emirgate en masse to more lenient neighboring countries, particularly Ladakh.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dollfus |first=Pascale |date=1995 |title=The History of Muslims in Central Ladakh |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43300542 |journal=The Tibet Journal |volume=20 |issue=3 |page=41 |jstor=43300542 |issn=0970-5368}}</ref> As a symbolic assertion of power, the Sikhs regularly desecrated Muslim places of worship, including closing of the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar and the conversion of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore to an ammunition store and horse stable, but the empire still maintained Persian administrative institutions and court etiquette; the Sikh silver rupees were minted on the Mughal standard with Persian legends.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ziad |first=Waleed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-ZFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 |title=Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints Beyond the Oxus and Indus |date=2021|publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-24881-6 |page=45 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chida-Razvi |first=Mehreen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3QeEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT92 |title=The Friday Mosque in the City: Liminality, Ritual, and Politics |date=2020|publisher=Intellect Books |isbn=978-1-78938-304-1 |pages=91–94 |language=en |quote=In addition to the masjid's use as a site for military storage, stables for the cavalry horses, and barracks for soldiers, parts of it were also used as storage for powder magazines.}}</ref>

In 1839, a major pogrom, called the ''Allahdad'', targeting the local Jews of [[Place:Mashhad|Mashhad]] in Qajar Persia had occurred.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Yvette Alt |date=3 September 2023 |title=When Jews Found Refuge in the Sikh Empire |url=https://aish.com/when-jews-found-refuge-in-the-sikh-empire/ |access-date=6 September 2023 |website=Aish}}</ref> A group of Persian Jewish refugees from Mashhad, escaping persecution back home in Qajar Persia, settled in the Sikh Empire around the year 1839.<ref name=":8" /> Most of the Jewish families settled in Rawalpindi (specifically in the Babu Mohallah neighbourhood) and Peshawar.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tahir |first=Saif |date=3 March 2016 |title=The lost Jewish history of Rawalpindi, Pakistan |url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-lost-jewish-history-of-rawalpindi-pakistan/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=blogs.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US |quote=The history of Jews in Rawalpindi dates back to 1839 when many Jewish families from Mashhad fled to save themselves from the persecutions and settled in various parts of subcontinent including Peshawar and Rawalpindi.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Considine |first=Craig |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/993691884 |title=Islam, race, and pluralism in the Pakistani diaspora |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-46276-9 |location=Milton |oclc=993691884}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Khan |first=Naveed Aman |date=2018-05-12 |title=Pakistani Jews and PTI |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/239196/pakistani-jews-and-pti/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Daily Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rawalpindi – Rawalpindi Development Authority |url=https://rda.gop.pk/rawalpindi/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Rawalpindi Development Authority (rda.gop.pk) |quote=Jews first arrived in Rawalpindi’s Babu Mohallah neighbourhood from Mashhad, Persia in 1839, in order to flee from anti-Jewish laws instituted by the Qajar dynasty.}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> Most of these Jews would leave for India during the partition of 1947.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daiya |first=Kavita |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/302391286 |title=Violent belongings : partition, gender, and national culture in postcolonial India |date=2008 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-59213-745-9 |location=Philadelphia |pages=129 |oclc=302391286}}</ref><ref name=":8" />

Christian missionaries had been active in the Punjab even prior to the dissolution of the empire in 1849.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kumar |first=Ram Narayan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24339822 |title=The Sikh struggle : origin, evolution, and present phase |date=1991 |publisher=Chanakya Publications |others=Georg Sieberer |isbn=81-7001-083-7 |location=Delhi |page=100 |oclc=24339822}}</ref>

==== Administration ====
[[File:Detail from ‘Darbar of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’, gouache, ca.1850.jpg|thumb|Detail from ‘Darbar (royal court) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’, gouache, ca.1850]]{{Expand section|Please add the governors, capitals, borders, major cities, etc. for the various provinces of the Sikh Empire (with sources)|date=March 2023}}
The empire was divided into various provinces (known as ''Subas''), them namely being:<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Herrli |first=Hans |title=The Coins of the Sikhs |year=1993 |page=10}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!No.
!Name
!Estimated population (1838)
!Major population centre
|-
|1.
|Lahore Suba
|1,900,000
|Lahore
|-
|2.
|Multan Suba
|750,000
|Multan
|-
|3.
|Peshawar Suba
|550,000
|Peshawar
|-
|4.
|Derajat Suba
|600,000
|Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan
|-
|5.
|[[Place:Kashmir|Jammu]] and Hill States Suba
|1,100,000
|[[Place:Srinagar|Srinagar]]
|}

==Demography==
{{bar box
|title=Religions in Khalsa Empire (1800s)<ref name="The Encyclopedia of Empire"/><ref name="Puri 2693–2701">{{cite journal |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=38 |number=26 |date=June–July 2003 |pages=2693–2701 |publisher=Economic and Political Weekly |title=Scheduled Castes in Sikh Community: A Historical Perspective |first=Harish K. |last=Puri |jstor=4413731}}</ref>{{rp|2694}}
|titlebar=#F6F6F6
|left1=Religions
|right1=Percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|Islam|Green |69}}
{{bar percent|Hinduism|DarkOrange|24}}
{{bar percent|Sikhism|Yellow|6}}
{{bar percent|others|purple|1}}
}}

The population of the Sikh empire during the time of Ranjit Singh's rule was estimated to be around 12 million people.<ref name="The Encyclopedia of Empire">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe314|doi = 10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe314|chapter = Sikh Empire|title = The Encyclopedia of Empire|year = 2016|last1 = Singh|first1 = Pashaura|pages = 1–6|isbn = 978-1118455074}}</ref> There were 8.4 million [[Religion:Muslims|Muslims]], 2.88 million [[Religion:Hindus|Hindus]] and 722,000 Sikhs.<ref name="Puri 2693–2701">{{cite journal |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=38 |number=26 |date=June–July 2003 |pages=2693–2701 |publisher=Economic and Political Weekly |title=Scheduled Castes in Sikh Community: A Historical Perspective |first=Harish K. |last=Puri |jstor=4413731}}</ref>

The religious demography of the empire is estimated to have been just over 10%<ref name="Abhinav Publications">{{cite book |author1=Kartar Singh Duggal |title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Last to Lay Arms |publisher=Abhinav Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4udb8LsF3-oC&q=hardly+10+percent |year=2001 |isbn=978-8170174103 |page=55}}</ref> to 12%<ref name="J. S. Grewal">{{cite book |author1=J. S. Grewal |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=II.3 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0521637640 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC&pg=PA113 |page=113}}</ref> Sikh, 80% Muslim,<ref name="Abhinav Publications" /> and just under 10% Hindu.<ref name="Abhinav Publications" /> Surjit Hans gave different numbers by retrospectively projecting the 1881 census, putting Muslims at 51%, Hindus at 40% and Sikhs at around 8%, the remaining 1% being Europeans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hans |first=Surjit |date=April 2006 |title=Why are we sentimental about Ranjit Singh ? |url= |journal=The Panjab, Past and Present |volume=XXXVII–Part 1 |page=47 |via=}}</ref> The population was 3.5 million in 1831, according to Amarinder Singh's ''The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Amarinder |title=The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar |publisher=Roli Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-81-7436-779-2 |location= |page=23}}</ref> Hans Herrli in ''The Coins of the Sikhs'' estimated the total population of the empire to be around 5.35 million during 1838.<ref name=":0" />

An estimated 90% of the Sikh population at the time, and more than half of the total population, was concentrated in the upper [[Place:Doab#Bari Doabs|Bari]], Jalandhar, and upper Rachna ''[[Place:Doab|Doab]]s'', and in the areas of their greatest concentration formed about one third of the population in the 1830s; half of the Sikh population of this core region was in the area covered by the later districts of Lahore and Amritsar.<ref name="J. S. Grewal" />

==Economy==
[[File:Coin of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, minted in Amritsar.jpg|thumb|Nanakshahi coins of the Sikh Empire]]

=== Revenue ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Revenue in Rupees, 1844<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cunningham|first=Joseph Davey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u1cOAAAAQAAJ|title=A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej|publisher=J. Murray|year=1849|location=London|page=424|language=en}}</ref>
!Sr
! colspan="2" |Particulars
!Revenue in Rupees
|-
|1
|Land Revenue
|
|
|-
|1.a
|
|Tributary States
|5,65,000
|-
|1.b
|
|Farms
|1,79,85,000
|-
|1.c
|
|Eleemosynary
|20,00,000
|-
|1.d
|
|Jaghirs
|95,25,000
|-
|2
|Customs
|
|24,00,000
|-
|
|'''Total'''
|
|'''3,24,75,000'''
|}

Land revenue was the main source of income, accounting for about 70% of the state's income. Besides this, the other sources of income were customs, excises and monopolies.<ref>https://www.rajasthali.marudharacollege.ac.in/papers/Volume-1/Issue-4/04-07.pdf</ref>

==Decline==
[[File:Two drawings of Sikh troops in action against British forces.jpg|thumb|Two late 19th century drawings of Sikh troops in action against British forces during the Anglo-Sikh Wars]]
[[File:SORS1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Samadhi of Ranjit Singh is located in Lahore, Pakistan, adjacent to the iconic Badshahi Mosque]]
After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the empire was severely weakened by internal divisions and political mismanagement. This opportunity was used by the British East India Company to launch the First Anglo-Sikh War.

The Battle of Ferozeshah in 1845 marked many turning points, the British encountered the Punjab Army, opening with a gun-duel in which the Sikhs "had the better of the British artillery". As the British made advances, Europeans in their army were specially targeted, as the Sikhs believed if the army "became demoralized, the backbone of the enemy's position would be broken".<ref>Ranjit Singh: administration and British policy, (Prakash, pp. 31–33)</ref> The fighting continued throughout the night. The British position "grew graver as the night wore on", and "suffered terrible casualties with every single member of the Governor General's staff either killed or wounded".<ref name="Maharaja Ranjit Singh p.136-137">Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last to lay arms, (Duggal, pp. 136–137)</ref> Nevertheless, the British army took and held Ferozeshah. British General Sir James Hope Grant recorded: "Truly the night was one of gloom and forbidding and perhaps never in the annals of warfare has a British Army on such a large scale been nearer to a defeat which would have involved annihilation."<ref name="Maharaja Ranjit Singh p.136-137"/>

The reasons for the withdrawal of the Sikhs from Ferozeshah are contentious. Some believe that it was treachery of the non-Sikh high command of their own army which led to them marching away from a British force in a precarious and battered state. Others believe that a tactical withdrawal was the best policy.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

The Sikh empire was finally dissolved at the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 into separate princely states and the British province of Punjab. Eventually, a Lieutenant Governorship was formed in Lahore as a direct representative of the British Crown.

== Timeline ==
* 1699: Formation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh.
* 1710–1716: Banda Singh defeats the Mughals and declares Khalsa rule.
* 1716–1738: Turbulence, no real ruler; Mughals take back the control for two decades but Sikhs engage in [[Social:Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla warfare]]
* 1733–1735: The Khalsa accepts, only to reject, the confederal status given by the Mughals.
* 1748–1757: Afghan invasion of Ahmad Shah Durrani
* 1761–1767: Recapture of Punjab region by Afghan in Third Battle of Panipat
* 1763–1774: Charat Singh Sukerchakia, Misldar of Sukerchakia [[Place:Misl|misl]], establishes himself in Gujranwala.
* 1764–1783: Baba Baghel Singh, Misldar of Singh Krora Misl, imposes taxes on the Mughals.
* 1783: Sikh capture of Delhi and the Red Fort from the Mughals
* 1773: Ahmad Shah Durrani dies and his son Timur Shah launches several invasions into Punjab.
* 1774–1790: Maha Singh becomes Misldar of the Sukerchakia [[Place:Misl|misl]]. [[File:Bataille de Sobraon.jpg|thumb|Contemporary painting of the Battle of Sobraon in 1846.]]
* 1790–1801: Ranjit Singh becomes Misldar of the Sukerchakia [[Place:Misl|misl]].
* 1799, formation of the Sikh Khalsa Army
* 12 April 1801 (coronation) – 27 June 1839: reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
* March 1809 – August 1809: Nepal–Sikh War
* 20 February 1810: Siege of Multan (1810)
* 1 June 1813: Ranjit Singh is given the Kohinoor Diamond.
* 13 July 1813: Battle of Attock, the Sikh Empire's first significant victory over the Durrani Empire.
* March – 2 June 1818: Battle of Multan, the 2nd battle in the Afghan–Sikh wars.
* 3 July 1819: Battle of Shopian [[File:Bataille d'Aliwal 1.jpg|thumb|The charge of the British 16th Lancers at Aliwal on {{Nowrap|28 January}} 1846, during the First Anglo-Sikh War]]
* 14 March 1823: Battle of Nowshera
* 30 April 1837: Battle of Jamrud
* 27 June 1839 – 5 November 1840: Reign of Maharaja Kharak Singh
* 5 November 1840 – 18 January 1841: Chand Kaur is briefly Regent
* 18 January 1841 – 15 September 1843: Reign of Maharaja Sher Singh
* May 1841 – August 1842: Sino-Sikh war
* 15 September 1843 – 31 March 1849: Reign of Maharaja Duleep Singh
* 1845–1846: First Anglo-Sikh War
* 1848–1849: Second Anglo-Sikh War

==List of rulers==

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!S. No.
!Name
!Portrait 
!colspan=2|Birth and death
!colspan=3|Reign
!colspan=2|Note
|-
|1
|Maharaja Ranjit Singh
|[[File:Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lion of the Punjab.jpg|101x101px]]
|13 November 1780 (Gujranwala) 
|27 June 1839 (Lahore) 
|12 April 1801
|27 June 1839
|{{age in years and days|1801|04|12|1839|06|27}}
|The first Sikh ruler
|Stroke 
|-
|2
|Maharaja Kharak Singh
|[[File:Painting of Yuvraj Kharak Singh, Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, seated on a chair.jpg|75x75px]]
|22 February 1801 (Lahore)
|5 November 1840 (Lahore) 
|27 June 1839
|8 October 1839
|{{age in years and days|1839|06|27|1839|10|8}}
|Son of Ranjit Singh
|Poisoning
|-
|3
|Maharaja Nau Nihal Singh
|[[File:Painting of Nau Nihal Singh seated on a blue oval rug against a bolster with a yellow shawl reaching up to the back of his head, ca.1840.jpg|97x97px]]
|11 February 1820 (Lahore)
|6 November 1840 (Lahore)
|8 October 1839
|6 November 1840
|{{age in years and days|1839|10|8|1840|11|6}}
|Son of Kharak Singh
|Assassinated 
|-
| 4
|Maharani Chand Kaur <br />{{small|}}
|[[File:Maharani Chand Kaur.jpg|75px]]
|1802 (Fatehgarh Churian)
|11 June 1842 (Lahore)
|6 November 1840
|18 January 1841
|{{age in years and days|1840|11|06|1841|01|18}}
| Wife of Kharak Singh and the only female ruler of Sikh Empire
|Abdicated
|-
|5
|Maharaja Sher Singh
|[[File:Sher Singh, emperor of the Sikhs.jpg|102x102px]]
|4 December 1807 (Batala)
|15 September 1843 (Lahore)
|18 January 1841
|15 September 1843
|{{age in years and days|1841|01|18|1843|09|15}}
|Son of Ranjit Singh 
|Assassinated 
|-
|6
|Maharaja Duleep Singh
|[[File:Maharajah Duleep Singh dressed for a State function, c. 1875.jpg|75px]]
|6 September 1838 (Lahore)
|22 October 1893 ([[Place:Paris|Paris]])
|15 September 1843
|29 March 1849
|{{age in years and days|1843|09|15|1849|03|29}}
|Son of Ranjit Singh
|Exiled
|-
| 7
|Maharani Jind Kaur<br />{{small|(regent; nominal)}}
|[[File:Maharani Jind Kaur.jpg|75px]]
|1817 (Gujranwala) 
|1 August 1863 (Kensington)
|15 September 1843
|29 March 1849
|{{age in years and days|1843|09|15|1849|03|29}}
|Wife of Ranjit Singh
|Exiled
|}

== Family tree ==

{{Chart top|width=100%|collapsed=yes|Family tree of the Maharajas of the Sikh Empire}}

{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | |F|~|~|~|~|7| | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1|A01  |K|A02  |y|A|~|A03  |~|~|y|A04  |
A01='''Jind Kaur'''<br><sup>(7)</sup><br><small>r. 1847<br>''Regent''<br>1843–1847</small>|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#008000|
A02=Datar Kaur|
A03='''Ranjit Singh'''<br><sup>(1)</sup><br><small>r. 1801–1839</small>|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#008000|
A04=Mehtab Kaur}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | |!| | | |!| | | | | | | |!| | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | |A01  | |A02  |y|A03  | |A04  | | |
A01='''Duleep Singh'''<br><sup>(6)</sup><br><small>r. 1843–1849</small>|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#008000|
A02='''Kharak Singh'''<br><sup>(2)</sup><br><small>r. 1839</small>|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#008000|
A03='''Chand Kaur'''<br><sup>(4)</sup><br><small>r. 1840–1841</small>|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#008000|
A04='''Sher Singh'''<br><sup>(5)</sup><br><small>r. 1841–1843</small>|boxstyle_A04=border-color:#008000}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | |
A01='''Nau Nihal Singh'''<br><sup>(3)</sup><br><small>r. 1839–1840</small>|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#008000}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Chart bottom}}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Maharaj Ranjit Singh.jpg|Ranjit Singh, {{Circa|1830}}.<ref>Miniature painting from the photo album of princely families in the Sikh and Rajput territories by Colonel James Skinner (1778–1841)</ref>
File:Ranjit Singh at Harmandir Sahib - August Schoefft - Vienna 1850 - Princess Bamba Collection - Lahore Fort.jpg|{{center|1=Ranjit Singh listening to [[Biography:Guru Granth Sahib|Guru Granth Sahib]] being recited near the Akal Takht and Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India.}}
File:Sikh helmet.jpg|Sikh warrior helmet with butted mail neckguard, 1820–1840, iron overlaid with gold with mail neckguard of iron and brass
File:Letter sent from the King of France, Louis-Philippe, to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh is addressed as “Rendjit Sing Bahador - Padichah du Pendjab”. Dated 27 October, 1835.jpg|A letter sent from the King of France, Louis-Philippe to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh is addressed as “Rendjit Sing Bahador – Padichah du Pendjab”.  27 October 1835
</gallery>

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| title = Sikh Empire
| before = Sukerchakia Misl
| after = East India Company
| years = 1799–1849
}}
{{s-end}}

== See also ==
* History of Punjab
* History of Pakistan
* History of India
* Kapurthala State
* Mughal Empire
* Sikh Khalsa Army

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |last1=Chaurasia |first1=R. S. |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_v3Y7hns8QC |title=History of the Marathas |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-8126903948 |accessdate=2012-05-26}}
* {{citation |last = Heath |first = Ian |title = The Sikh Army 1799–1849 |publisher = Osprey Publishing (UK) |year=2005 |isbn = 1-84176-777-8 }}
* {{citation |title=Sikhism |series=Religions of the World |last=Kalsi |first=Sewa Singh |year=2005 |publisher=Chelsea House Publications |isbn=978-0-7910-8098-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhismreligions00sewa |url-access=registration}}
* {{citation |title = A history of modern India, 1480–1950 |last=Markovits |first=Claude |year=2004 |publisher=Anthem Press |location=London |isbn = 978-1-84331-152-2 }}
* {{citation |title = Holy people of the world: a cross-cultural encyclopedia, Volume 3 |last=Jestice |first=Phyllis G. |year=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO  |isbn = 978-1-57607-355-1 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&q=guru+har+gobind+jahangir&pg=PA345 }}
* {{citation |title = Guru Tegh Bahadur |last=Johar |first=Surinder Singh |year=1975 |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for South Asian Studies |isbn = 81-7017-030-3 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dFomYOVXsAkC&q=tegh+bahadur+martyrdom&pg=PA192 }}
* {{citation |title = Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy |last=Singh |first=Pritam |year=2008 |publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]] |isbn = 978-0-415-45666-1 |pages=25–26 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mQLDcjhNoJwC&q=dal+khalsa+banda+bahadur&pg=PA26 }}
* {{citation |title = Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction |last=Nesbitt |first=Eleanor |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press, US |isbn=978-0-19-280601-7 |page=61}}
*{{cite book |last1=Waheeduddin |first1=Fakir Syed |title=The Real Ranjit Singh |date=1981 |publisher=Punjabi University |location=Patiala, Punjab, India |isbn=978-8173807787 |edition=|url=http://www.panjabdigilib.org/webuser/searches/displayPage.jsp?ID=36718&page=1&CategoryID=1&Searched= |access-date=14 May 2019}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Grewal |first1=J. S. |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=II.3 |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1316025338 |pages=82–127 |edition=Revised |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |access-date=16 April 2020|}}
* ''Volume 2: Evolution of Sikh Confederacies (1708–1769)'', By Hari Ram Gupta. (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. 1999, {{ISBN|81-215-0540-2}}, 383 pages, illustrated)
* ''The Sikh Army (1799–1849) (Men-at-arms)'', By Ian Heath. (2005, {{ISBN|1-84176-777-8}})
* ''The Heritage of the Sikhs By Harbans Singh''. (1994, {{ISBN|81-7304-064-8}}).
* ''Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire''. (2000, 2nd ed. {{ISBN|81-215-0213-6}})
* ''The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls''. (2001, revised ed. {{ISBN|81-215-0165-2}})
* ''Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lord of the Five Rivers'', By Jean-Marie Lafont. (Oxford University Press. 2002, {{ISBN|0-19-566111-7}})
* ''History of Panjab'', By Dr L. M. Joshi and Dr Fauja Singh {{ISBN?}}
* ''Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his Times'', By Bhagat Singh. (Sehgal Publishers Service. 1990, {{ISBN|81-85477-01-9}})
* ''Ranjit Singh – monarch mystique'', By V. Nalwa. (Hari Singh Nalwa Foundation Trust. 2022, {{ISBN|978-81-910526-1-9}})

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110718115655/http://worldsikhnews.com/7%20January%202009/Image/page%2012-13%20for%20web.pdf Article on Coins of the Sikh Empire]
* [http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/warriors_1750.html Sikh Confederacy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801171311/http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/warriors_1750.html |date=1 August 2018 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090105224202/http://www.searchsikhism.com/rise.html Confederacy of Punjab]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090105222035/http://www.searchsikhism.com/raaj.html Sikh Kingdom of Ranjit Singh]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120222114638/http://www.harisinghnalwa.com/final_frontier.html Battle of Jamrud]


[[Category:Empires and kingdoms of India]]
[[Category:Former countries in Central Asia]]

{{Sourceattribution|Sikh Empire}}