The strongest kingdom in Indian History.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh ( Sher-e-Punjab)<img
He's been called Ranjit the Great many times. But its Sher-e-Punjab that is stuck to him.
some articles on him
-Regrettably, scholars have neglected the use of Persian source-material in their study of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. That is why research work produced and published on him and his times has generally relied on the British sources which are partial and one-sided. A major portion of research studies on him has been brought out by non-professional historians who are ignorant of the Persian language, says V. N. Datta.
DUE to the labour of dedicated scholars, Sita Ram Kohli, Ganda Singh and Vidya Sagar Suri in resurrecting and translating a wide range of first-class contemporary source-material on the first half of the 19th century, wonderful results have been achieved in our understanding of the life and times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. His bi-centenary as the sovereign of Punjab falls on April 12, 2001. Baba Sahib Singh Bedi had proclaimed him as the Maharaja when he was only 20 years old.
Regrettably, scholars have neglected the use of Persian source-material in their study of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. That is why research work produced and published on him and his times has generally relied on the British sources which are partial and one-sided. A major portion of research studies on him has been brought out by non-professional historians who are ignorant of the Persian language. In his illuminating presidential address delivered on the occasion of the bicentenary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s birth held in Punjabi University, Patiala, in 1981, Ganda Singh, the doyen of Punjab historians, had drawn our attention to this deficiency which is a hindrance to any just appraisal. Though some valuable articles and studies have appeared, there remains still a need for further research publications on Ranjit Singh and his times, particularly in the light of large, hitherto unpublished source material and new techniques of historical analysis.
Each age has its own historian. Ranjit Singh still awaits a historian! Eighteenth century India was an age of troubles, generally called a gardi ka waqt (bad times). It was probably the worst of times in India, a period of greater misery and adversity than anything that Europe had witnessed since the Dark Age, not excluding the horrors of the Thirty Years War. India was drifting into chaos. Mughal rule had tumbled; the Mughal emperor was a prisoner; and his authority was confined steadily shrinking around Delhi.
In Northern India, atrocities committed by Nadir Shah in 1738-39, and later by Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1748, 1749 and 1752, had brought untold suffering to people who had no breath of peace. In 1761 on the historic battlefield of Panipat, the death toll has been estimated at nearly 200,000.
By the end of the 18th century all political unity in India had disappeared and everywhere local magnates, heads of old tribal communities or ambitious upstarts, were scrambling for power and territory. The great mass of people had everything to lose as the framework of law and order had broken. The whole area was the prey of the strongest and most audacious free booter of the day. In fact, there was no government that could govern. Every adventurer who could muster a troop of horses might aspire to a throne.
The historical process works inexorably in human affairs in which an element of contingency operates. The rise of Sikh power in Punjab in the 18th century was a unique phenomenon. The forces of religious fervour unleashed by Guru Gobind Singh, the awakener of consciousness, his trials and tribulations, and his tearing spirit, inspired his followers who were to transform with a passionate zeal a purely religious sect into a great military confederacy in the early part of the 18th century. It was Ranjit Singh’s genius that in the turbulent period he succeeded in galvanizing these forces of theocratic confederacy into establishing a Sikh Kingdom that was to last for half a century, until its collapse at Sobroan.
Within six years of his assumption of power, after seizing Lahore and Amritsar, Ranjit Singh found himself placed in a predicament which exasperated him. In 1807 the Treaty of Silsit was signed between Napoleon and the Czar of Russia, Alexander I. Thereafter, Russia began to extend her influence in Persia and Afghanistan. It was also stipulated that the Shah of Persia was required to give a passage to the French army, should Napoleon decide to attack India. The Governor-General, Lord Minto, felt alarmed by Napoleon’s ambitious schemes in Persia. He thought it necessary to make the Punjab a strong bulwark against foreign invasions from Central Asia and Africa. And for this purpose, Lord Minto dispatched John Malcolm to Persia, Mountstruct Elphinstone to Kabul, and Charles Metcalfe to Amritsar to cement friendly ties in order to ward off foreign invasion.
By the time Metcalfe arrived in Amritsar for negotiating a treaty on September 19, 1808 there was a striking change in European politics. The French danger of invasion over India had passed away. The British object was therefore limited to only the security of the country south of the river Sutlej, in order to give protection to the Southern Sikhs who were the rulers of small principalities. Ranjit Singh was thus required to withdraw his troops to the right bank of the Sutlej.
On February 8, 1809 Colonel David Ochterlony declared all states on the left of the river Sutlej under British protection. Ranjit Singh did not want his freedom of action to be curtailed. He required from the British envoy the acknowledgement of his sovereignty over all Sikh states and people lying between the Sutlej and the Yamuna so that he could consolidate them into a great empire. The British were determined not to allow the subjection of the Cis-Sutlej states—these principalities were already under British protection. Confronted with such pressure from the British envoy Metcalfe to sign a treaty, what was Ranjit Singh to do. Ranjit Singh kept Metcalfe on tenterhooks for about six months. He used all possible means to circumvent British designs. He procrastinated. He dilly-dallied: He flattered Metcalfe in order to win him over by his smiles and humour. But Metcalfe stood firm. In January, 1809 the British government ordered Ochterlony to advance a military force to the banks of the Sutlej. Ranjit Singh realized the danger of war. He distrusted the British but knew that he did not possess sufficient power to withstand them. Therefore he signed the Treaty of Amritsar on April 25, 1809 with the British government which confined his territory to the south bank of the river Sutlej with exclusion of a strip of territory on the south bank in which he was bound not to place troops. The broad line of demarcation was the river Sutlej. This arrangement preserved the peace of northern frontier for 40 years.
For signing the treaty Ranjit Singh has been strongly criticised by historians like Patwant Singh and Sangat Singh on the ground that he had tamely succumbed to the British pressure and forfeited his independence. I think this criticism is totally unjustified. Ranjit Singh was a realist in politics who could never mistake a shadow for substance. He knew the limits of his powers. He realized that he could not fight the British. Nor could he find any Indian ally to support him in his resistance to the British. By this treaty Ranjit Singh managed to retain the independence of his kingdom. He also had a free hand to expand his territory in the North and the North-West undeterred by the British.
When Ranjit Singh died in 1837 at the age of fifty nine, he was the undisputed ruler of a compact Kingdom. He left in Punjab, an army which was capable of fighting the British on equal terms. He could dodge and confound the British envoy Metcalfe who had come to parley with him, and dismiss the Maratha chief Jaswant Rao Holkar as Pucca Haramzada, (Great Rascal). He drove back the Afghans across the Indus, into the mountains, and stemmed for all time to come tide of the Afghan marauders pouring into Northern India and committing arson, pillage and slaughter.
But for him, Kashmir would have continued to be a part of Afghanistan. He brought under his sway, three Muslim provinces: Peshawar in the west; Multan in the south west; and Kashmir in the north. He incorporated also the numerous petty states into his kingdom. It was only the growth of British power and its strength in India that prevented the Sikhs from succeeding the Mughals as the controlling authority in India but it is a speculation whether they would have succeeded in this venture.
Ranjit Singh had a questioning mind. He was deeply interested in the how and why of things. His was not a philosophical or speculative mind. He thought in plain terms and simplified even the most complex problems. This xtraordinary understanding of human affairs he acquired by mediating over his own experiences through the steps and slips of life. In other words, his experiences were the foundation of his own life. He never ceased learning from others, due to his restless curiosity.
Victor Jacquemont, the French traveller, who met Ranjit Singh in Lahore wrote that the "Maharaja’s conversations were like a nightmare. Jacquemont wrote, "He asked a hundred thousand questions of me, about India and the British, Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte, the world in general and the next, hell, paradise, the soul, God, the devil and myriad of others of the same kind. In 1812 he rode with the British Commander David Ochterlony to inspect the drill of the English Company, in the style in which they would behave in the field of battle and he admired their performance. He employed French and Italian Generals to train his army on western model. That is why both his infantry and artillery were unrivalled for steadiness.Ranjit Singh had, doubtless, all the wildness and irregularity of an ardent and indisciplined sensualist. Wine and women he could not resist, and he believed that the only way to resist their temptation was to yield. He would indulge in riotous career of self-indulgence, drinking and revelling in the company of women with reckless abandon and he let himself go. He was used to taking laudanum almost daily.
Ranjit Singh’s passion for collecting guns and horses for the army amounted almost to insanity. He would never miss an opportunity of obtaining a gun, and would even storm a fort to seize it. For acquiring the celebrated horse Leili, he embroiled himself in a tedious war with a neighbouring province, which cost him upwards of thirty thousand pounds.
What kind of a Kingdom did Ranjit Singh establish? Was it a military monarchy? Monarchy was the only form of government in India for centuries, and the Sikhs, in spite of their attachment to democratic ideals, could not think of representative government. Ranjit Singh refused to sit on the throne. His name was never inscribed on the coin. He ept the army under control, and never used it as an instrument of tyranny. He set up a Sikh state in the sense that the ruler was Sikh who held power in the name of the Khalsa, and the army was predominantly Sikh. His was indeed a heterogenous state based on harmony of religious faiths, and cooperation of communities with a rapport with the common man. There was no dictatorship of one community over other. He told Faqir Aziz ud Din, `God intended me to look all religions with one eye, that is why he took away the light from the other’.
By any standards, Ranjit Singh was statesman who out of anarchy and chaos had created order and stability and made Punjab a power to reckon with. There were also a glimmering of Punjab Nationalism. His task was enormous, his time was short, and his unworthy successes were a lot of trembling paltrooms lacking in political instinct who destroyed all the things he had build with political sagacity and will.
In Indian history, Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Punjab and Raja Rammohan Roy in Bengal will go down as the two reatest Indians of their times.
-Punjab presented a picture of chaos and confusion when Ranjit singh took reins of Sukerchikias misal. The edifice of Ahmad Shah abdali's empire in India had crumbled. Afghanistan was dismembered. Peshawar and Kashmir though under the suzerainty of Afghanistan had attained de facto independence. Barakzais were the masters of these places. Attock was ruled by Wazrikhels and Jhang lay at the feet of Sials. Pathans were ruling Kasur. Multan had thrown yoke and Nawab Muzaffar Khan had taken its charge.
Map of Punjab in 1790's
Both Punjab and Sind were under Afghan rule since 1757 after Ahmad Shah Abdali was granted suzerainty over these two provinces. They were confronted with the rising power of Sikhs in Punjab. Taimur Khan, a local Governor was able to turn away Sikhs from Amritsar. He razed to the ground the fort of Ram Rauni. But this state of affairs did not last long and the Sikh misal joined hands and defeated Taimur Shah and his Chief minister Jalal Khan. The Afghans were forced to retreat and Lahore was occupied by the Sikhs in 1758, Jassa singh Ahluwalia proclaimed Sikh's sovereignty and became its head. He struck coins to commemorate his victory.
When Ahmad Shah Abdali was engaged in his campaign against the Marathas at Panipat in 1761, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia plundered Sirhind and Dialpur, seized some places in Ferozepur district and took under his possession Jagraon and Kot Isa Khan on the other bank of Sutlej. He captured Hoshiarpur and Naraingurh in Ambala and levied tribute from the chief of Kapurthala. He then marched towards Jhang. Sial chief offered stout resistance. When Ahmad Shah left in Feb. 1761, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia again attacked Sirhind and extended his territory as far as Tarn Taran. He crossed Bias and capture Sultanpur. In 1762, Ahmad Shah again appeared and a fierce battle took place. It is called Ghalughara, a great holocaust. Jassa singh fled to Kangra hills after Sikh forces were totally routed. After the departure of Ahmad Shah Abdali, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia attacked Sirhind, it was razed to ground and the afghan Governor Zen Khan was killed. This was a great victory to Sikhs who were rulers of all the area around the Sirhind. Jassa Singh hastily paid visit to Hari Mandir at Amritsar, and he made amends and restored it to original shape as it was defiled by Ahmad Shah by slaughtering cows in its precincts.
Ahmad Shah died in June 1773. After his death power of Afghans declined in Punjab. Taimur Shah ascended the throne at Kabul. By then misals, had established themselves in Punjab. They had under their control the area as far as Saharnpur in east, Attock in west, Kangra Jammu in north and Multan in south. Efforts were made by Afghan rulers to dislodge Sikhs from their citadels. Taimur Shah attacked Multan and defeated the Bhangis. The Bhangi sardars, Lehna Singh, and Sobha singh were driven out of Lahore in 1767 by the Abdali but soon reoccupied it. They remained in power in Lahore till 1793-the year when Shah Zaman succeeded to the throne of Kabul.
Another menace to Sikhs was the Pathan ruler of Kasur who was loyal to Kabul. During the Abdali attacks, he took side with him and plundered the Sikh territory. Now again assistance was promised to Shah by Kasur ruler, Nizam-Ud-Din-Khan.
The first attempt by Shah Zaman was made in 1793. He came upto Hassan Abdal from where he sent an army of 7000 strong cavalry under Ahmad Shahnachi but the Sikhs totally routed them. It was a great setback to Shah Zaman but again in 1795 he reorganized forces and attacked Hassan Abdal, snatched Rohtas from Sukerchikias, whom leader was Ranjit Singh. who suffered at Shah Zaman' hands but did not lose courage. However, shah had to be back in Kabul as an invasion was apprehended on his own country from the west. After he went back, Ranjit dislodged the Afghans from Rohtas.
Shah Zaman could not sit idle. In 1796 he moved, crossed Indus for the third time and dreamt of capturing Delhi. His ambition knew no bounds. By now he had collected 3000 strong afghan army. He was confident a large number of Indians will join with him. Nawab of Kasur had already assured him help. Sahib Singh of Patiala betrayed his countrymen and declared his intentions of helping Shah Zaman. He had family traditions of loyalty to all the invaders who attacked India. Shah Zaman was also assured help by the Rohillas, Wazir of Oudh, and Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Shah was bent upon to finish the infidels. The news of Shah Zaman invasion spread like wild fire. Chicken hearted people started fleeing to hills for safety. Heads of Misals, though bound to give protection to the people as they were collecting Rakhi tax from them were the first to leave the people in lurch. In Dec. Shah occupied territory upto Jhelum. When he reached Gujarat Sahib singh bhangi panicked and left the place. He could not offer any resistance.
Next was the territory of Ranjit singh. He was alert and raised an army of 5000 horsemen. But they were inadequately armed with only spears and muskets. The afghans were equipped with heavy artillery. Ranjit singh thought of a stiff united fight against the invaders. He came to Amritsar. A congregation of Sarbat Khalasa was called and many Sikh sardars answered the call. An almost unanimous opinion prevailed that Shah zaman's army should be allowed to enter the Punjab, and they all should retire to hills.
However, Sada Kaur thought otherwise and exhorted the Sikhs to fight to the last. She persuaded Ranjit singh to be bold enough to face the Afghan army and offer stiff resistance. Forces were reorganized under the command of Ranjit singh and they marched towards Lahore. They were able to gave Afghans a crushing defeat in several villages and ultimately surrounded the city of Lahore. Sorties were made in night in which they would kill a few Afghan soldiers and then leave the city in the thick of darkness. Following this tactic they were able to dislodge Afghans at several places.
In 1797, Shah Zaman, suddenly left for Afghanistan as his brother Mahmud had revolted. Shahanchi khan with considerable force was left at Lahore. The Sikhs however followed Shah upto Jhelum and snatched many goods from him. The Sikhs returned and in the way were attacked by the army of Shahnachi khan near Ram Nagar. The Sikhs routed his army. It was the first major achievement of Ranjit Singh. He became the hero of the land of Five Rivers and his reputation spread far and wide.
Again in 1798 Shah Zaman attacked Punjab to avenge his defeat in 1797, people took refuge in hills. Sarbat Khalsa was again called and Sada Kaur again persuaded Sikhs to fight till the last man. This time even Muslims were not spared by Shah Zaman forces and he won Gujarat very easily. Sada Kaur aroused the sense of Sikhs of national honor and if they had left Amritsar then she will command the forces against Afghans. She said an Afghani soldier was no match to a Sikh soldier . They would be give befitting reply and by the grace of Sat Guru they would be successful.
The Afghans had plundered the towns and villages as they had vowed and declared openly that they would exterminate the Sikhs; but in the process the Muslims suffered most as Hindus and Sikhs had already left for the hills. The Muslims thought that they would not be touched but their hopes were belied and their provisions were forcible taken away by the Afghans.
Shah Zaman sought help of raja Sansar Chand of Kangra, that he will not gave any food or shelter to Sikhs. He agreed. Shah Zaman attacked Lahore and Sikhs were surrounded from all sides, they had to fight a grim battle. The Afghans occupied Lahore on Nov. 1798, and planned to attack Amritsar. Ranjit Singh collected his Men and faced forces about 8 Km from Amritsar. It was a well-matched encounter which forced Afghans at last to retire. They were humiliated and fled towards Lahore. Ranjit Singh pursued them and surrounded Lahore. Afghan supply lines were cut. Crops were burnt and other provisions plundered so that they did not fall into Afghan's hands. The Afghans never expected such a humiliating defeat at the hands of Sikhs. Nizam-ud.din of Kasur attacked Sikhs near Shahdara on the banks of Ravi, but his forces were no match to Sikhs. Here too, Muslims suffered the most. The retreating Afghans and Nizam-ud-din forces plundered the town which antagonized the local people.
The Afghans struggled hard to dislodge Sikhs but in vain. Sikh cordon was so strong that they made impossible for the Afghans to break it and proceed towards Delhi. Ranjit singh became terror to them.
-Two Europeans, Ventura, an Italian by birth, and Allard, a Frenchman, came to Lahore in 1822 to seek service in the Sikh army. Both of them had served under Napolean in the imperial army of France. 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 taken up with the idea of visiting Lahore. Ranjit Singh, although not educated but was very wise and intelligent, he knew about the exploits of Napolean. Punjabi historians had compared them and Ranjit singh was even called Napolean of the East. Ranjit singh met these two European 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. Maharaja wanted to make sure that these people did not had any contacts with British and only when he was cent percent sure, he gave them command of 500 horsemen each. This command had few Purbias(Bihari) and other Hindus of Central provinces, employed with Ranjit Singh. They were also 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 selectively employed several more Europeans, such as Dr.Honigberger, a native of Hungary. Avitable an Italian later appointed Governor of Peshawar. General Court, a Frenchman who organized the artillery. Dr. Harlan an American, who became governor of Jasrata and later Gujrat. Henry Steinbach, a German was made a battalion commander. Hurbon, a Spainard was an engineer. Dr. Benet, a Frenchman was a surgeon-general of Khalsa Army. Viewkenawitch, a Russian held a high rank in the artillery. There were a number of Englishmen too- Fitzroy, Gillmore, Leslie, Harvey, and Foulkes, to mention but a few- who were employed on various civil and military duties. With men of such diverse races, nationalities and faiths to serve him, Ranjit Singh maintained a most picturesque and cosmopolitan court. He was very kind to these foreigners. He trusted them and gave them positions of responsibility and rewarded them generously for their services. But he always kept a watchful eye on them and never let them have an influence over him. They willingly submitted to his natural dignity and served him faithfully.
Ranjit singh's Lahore also attracted many visitors and travellers. Like his foreign counriers, they came from all parts of the world. They were drawn by the reports of the Maharaja's hospitality and his personal charm and joi de vivre. What fascinated his visitors most was his unquenchable curiosity. He asked them the most searching questions and his keenness of mind and range of interest surprised everyone. Many travellers have written in their books of his generosity, refined manner and mental alertness. He was always cheerful and vivacious and transmitted the same spirit of heartiness to his visitors. In the summer of 1821, William Moorcroft, the Superintendent of East India Company's horses came to visit Ranjit Singh's court. A daily allowance of 100 rupees was fixed for his entertainment. Moorcroft was also shown Sikh army, he was greatly impressed by the turnout and discipline of the Sikh army. He also visited the royal stables and remarked that some of Ranjit Singh's horses were the finest in the world. On the way back from Bukhara, Moorcroft brought a letter from Prince Nesselrode of Russia which contained greetings and good wishes from the ruler of that country. It also expressed Russia's desire to have trade raltions with the country of Ranjit Singh. They traders from Punjab were assured welcome and security in Russia.
Another famous traveller to visit Ranjit Singh was Baron Charles Hugel. He was a German Scientist, who travelled extensively in the Punjab and Kashmir. In his book, he wrote that Punjab under Ranjit singh was safer than territories ruled by the British. He also recorded his conversations with Ranjit Singh, who, as usual, asked him many questions. He asked him if he had served as a soldier and questioned him about the German armies and their wars with France. He asked him what he thought of the Sikh army and whether it was in a fit state to confront a European force.
Victor Jacquemont, a French traveller, also praised Ranjit Singh's powers of conversation and his shrewd judgement. He wrote in his book: "Ranjit Singh is almost the first inquistive Indian I have seen, but his curiosity makes up for the apathy of his whole nation. He asked me a hundred thousand questions about India, the English, Europe, Napolean, this world in general and the other one., hell and paradise, the soul, God, the devil, and a thousand things besides." There were several missionaries whom Ranjit singh also met. Several requests to open up churches, convent schools, etc were denied by Ranjit Singh. He asked them to teach Punjabi language and Sikh scriptures instead. No wonder when British took over Punjab after Ranjit Singh convent Schools were spread all over Punjab.
He was a benevolent king. Eventhough the Government of Punjab was called Sarkar Khalsa but no laws were imposed on any of the minority or majority. Sikhs at his time were about 15% of whole population, hindus around 25%, rest were Muslims. He governed the fourty years of his rule from Lahore 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. A poor muslim from Lahore had written a Quran which he was going to take to DelhiA to sell at the Mughals court. Ranjit Singh asked him how much he wanted and paid him twice. There is another story about Ranjit singh. One year, crops totally die and due to a massive famine, people were starving. . So being a king, he opened up all the state stores for people. Ranjit singh would often roam in streets of Lahore in disguise to check his rule, whether people are happy or not. That 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. Although he was a devout Sikh but he cannot be called a strict Khalsa sikh adhering to all the principles of Sikhism. He was a very well disciplined soldier of Khalsa who was also a secular as well as enjoying his life, like drinking, etc. The spirit of stern religious discipline and sacrifice which had supported Sikhs through a critical period of their history and led them to power and glory was dimmed in the pomp and splendour of sovereignty. 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, become their beau ideal and secured them the status of sovereign people. The British had by then taken practically the whole of India, except the Punjab and sind
-During my visit to Pakistan in 1983 I was pleasantly surprised to find that the people there regarded Ranjit Singh as "their" king in whose reign Punjab regained its lost glory. The guide at Lahore Fort described Ranjit Singh as the bravest and the most benevolent king of the 19th century. He said that the Punjab peasantry still remembered the king in whose rule the strong were just and the weak secure. A book entitled "The Real Ranjit Singh" by a Pakistani historian, Syed Fakeer Waheeduddin, the great grandson of Fakeer Azizuddin, Maharaja's Foreign Minister, brings out the secular character of the Maharaja giving very intimate facts based on family records and archives. According to the book the Maharaja is fondly remembered by one and all, not only by people who once lived there but also by those who still reside there. Even during his conquests he was regarded more as a liberator than a conqueror as at Peshawar, Multan or Kashmir. Wherever the soldiers of Ranjit Singh went they were treated as friends, not foes. Maharaja's standing orders to his armies were that during their movement, no religious place, no religious book, no place of learning, no standing crop was to be destroyed and no woman dishonoured.
Capital punishment was abolished. "Never was so large an empire built with so little criminality", says Princep. The Maharaja is not known to have taken anybody's life although his own life was attempted at more than once. His special care for the 'Kisan' (farmer) and the 'Jawan' (soldier) made Punjab a very livable place. The result was that people from Delhi, UP and Rajasthan came and settled in Punjab. George Keene, a very keen observer of the Punjab scene, states: "In hundreds and in thousands the orderly crowds stream on. Not a bough is broken of a wayside tree, not a rude remark to a woman". Writing sixty years after the Maharaja's death, Griffin said: " His name is a household word in the province. His portrait is preserved in the castle and in the cottage alike." Jacquemont, the French botanist who came from Paris to Punjab in search of roses and who met the Maharaja, said, "His conversation is a nightmare. He passes from one subject to another with the speed of a tornado. He remembers by heart the names of all the villages of his empire, the village heads, the cash crops, the flora and the fauna." He was a modern mind unfettered by nationalities, religion and faiths, an internationalist who looked much beyond his frontiers.
The French visitor called Ranjit Singh "the first inquisitive Indian" who completely identified himself with the joys and sorrows of his people. Magnanimous to the fallen foe and generous to the injured and the insulted, Ranjit Singh was the last Indian king in whose reign the common man felt real freedom. The repartee and the freedom of speech that existed in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh could be the envy of any parliamentary forum.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was one of those rare rulers who remained humane even on the battlefield. He possessed an informal yet a disciplined mind, with a hilarious yet an equable temperament, humorous yet not given to levity. A man of unusual presence of mind and exceptional balance, he could surprise even the wittiest Westerner. When Dr. Joseph Wolffe asked the Punjab ruler what was the easiest way to reach God, the shrewd king replied: "By immediately concluding an alliance with the East India Company!" His retorts were gentle, his humour pungent. A son of the soil, his humour was an integral part of the Punjabi character. Like all Punjabis he loved the banter and burlesque, yet suffered no fools.
When his Muslim wife formerly a courtesan, asked him where he was when the God Almighty was distributing beauty, the Maharaja twinkled his only eye and said: "I had gone in search of a kingdom." And what a great kingdom he established. During his 40-year rule there was not a single communal riot in his kingdom, no forced conversion, no second-class citizenry, no disrespect to a shrine or a mosque. On the other hand he donated several mounds of gold for the Vishwanath Temple at Benares and Saraswati Mandir at Kurukshetra. He gave liberal grants to mosques and the Madarsas (Muslim schools). He was a far-sighted man who made many Punjabis learn English. He established the first printing press in Gurmukhi (Punjabi language script) at Lahore. He respected talent and asked the Punjabi traders to go abroad and trade with other nations. He thus freed Punjab from the slavery of eight centuries, brought peace and prosperity to the land of five rivers. The ravaged fields smiled once again, Punjab once again became the cherished "golden sparrow".
Maharaja Ranjit Singh had a tender heart. He released the young cub, which he had caged with care. Asked why he said: "The lioness, the cub's mother, had been crying and wailing throughout the night. I could not bear the cries of a mother." Nobody could shoot a sailing swan or hurt a singing nightingale. With the onset of Monsoon he would order a 102-gun salute to the rising moon. No king anywhere had done it before or ever since.
The Indian Prince of Hyderabad, the Nizam, extended his hand of friendship to him and sent enormous gifts. The Kings of Nepal, Burma, the Czar of Russia and the Emperor of France wanted their embassies to be established at Lahore. When Fakeer Azizuddin, Maharaja's emissary, was asked by Lord Auckland at Simla which of the Maharaja's eyes was missing", he replied: "The Maharaja is like the Sun. Sun has only one eye. The splendour and the luminosity of his single eye is so much that I have never dared to look at the other eye!" Lord Auckland was so pleased with the reply that he gave his wristwatch to Maharaja's emissary as a present.
No wonder that when he fell seriously ill in the summer of 1839 there were continuous prayers, non-stop recitations in the temples, the mosques and the Gurudwaras for the recovery of their own 'Badshah' (King).
On 27th June, 1839, he breathed his last. He died 159 years ago. But he is still the ruler of the mind of Punjab,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
REAL Punjab:
