Sikh Empire
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The Sikh Empire was a state in the north-western part of the Indian Subcontinent (present-day India and Pakistan) from 1799 to 1849.[1] It consisted of a collection of autonomous Punjabi Misls, which were governed by Misldars,[2] mainly in the Punjab region.
Ranjit Singh was crowned on April 12, 1801 (to coincide with Baisakhi). Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak Dev, conducted the coronation [3]. Gujranwala served as his capital from 1799. In 1802 he shifted his capital to Lahore and Amritsar. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period, from a leader of a single Sikh misl to finally becoming the Maharaja of Punjab.
There was strong collaboration in defense against foreign incursions such as those initiated by Ahmed Shah Abdali and Nadir Shah. The city of Amritsar was attacked numerous times. Yet the time is remembered by Sikh historians as the "Heroic Century". This is mainly to describe the rise of Sikhs to political power against large odds. The circumstances were the hostile religious environment against Sikhs with a tiny Sikh population compared to other religious and political groups.
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[edit] History
[edit] Mughal Rule of Punjab
The religion of Sikhism began at the time of the Conquest of Northern India by Babur. His grandson, Akbar supported religious freedom and after visiting the langar of Guru Amar Das had a favorable impression of Sikhism. As a result of his visit he donated land to the langar and had a positive relationship with the Sikh Gurus until his death in 1605 [4]. His successor, Jahangir, saw the Sikhs as a political threat. He arrested Guru Arjun Dev because of Sikh support for Khusrau Mirza [5] and ordered him to be put to death by torture. Guru Arjan Dev's Martyrdom led to the sixth Guru, Guru Har Gobind, declaring Sikh sovereignty in the creation of the Akal Takht and the establishment of a fort to defend Amritsar [6].Jahangir attempted to assert authority over the Sikhs by jailing Guru Har Gobind at Gwalior and released him after a number of years when he no longer felt threatened. Sikhism did not have any further issues with the Mughal Empire until the death of Jahangir in 1627. His successor, Shah Jahan "took offense" at Guru Har Gobind's sovereignty and after a series of assaults on Amritsar forced the Sikhs to retreat to the Sivalik Hills [7]. Guru Har Gobind's successor, Guru Har Rai maintained the guruship in the Sivalik Hills by defeating local attempts to seize Sikh land and taking a neutral role in the power struggle between Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh for control of the Timurid dynasty. The ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, moved the Sikh community to Anandpur and traveled extensively to visit and preach in Sikh communities in defiance Aurangzeb, who attempted to install Ram Rai to the guruship. He aided Kashmiri Brahmins in avoiding conversion to Islam and was arrested and confronted by Aurangzeb. When offered a choice between conversion or death, he chose to die rather than compromise his principles and was executed [8]. Guru Gobind Singh, assumed the guruship in 1675 and to avoid battles with Sivalik Hill Rajas moved the gurship to Paunta. He built a large fort to protect the city and garrisoned an army to protect it.The growing power of the Sikh community alarmed Sivalik Hill Rajas who attempted to attack the city but the Guru's forces routed them at the Battle of Bhangani. He moved on to Anandpur and established the Khalsa, a collective army of baptized Sikhs, on March 30, 1699. The establishment of the Khalsa united the Sikh community against various Mughal-backed claimants to the guruship [9]. In 1701, a combined army composed of the Sivalik Hill Rajas and the Mughal army under Wazir Khan attacked Anandpur and, following a retreat by the Khalsa, were defeated by the Khalsa at the Battle of Mukstar. In 1707, Guru Gobind Singh accepted an invitation by Bahadur Shah I, Aurangzeb's successor to meet in southern India. When he arrived in Nanded in 1708, he was assassinated by agents of Wazir Khan, the governor of Sirhind.
[edit] Banda Singh Bahadur
Banda Singh Bahadur was an ascetic who converted to Sikhism after meeting Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded. A short time before his death, Guru Gobind Singh ordered him to reconquer Punjab 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 Sikh, Hindu,and Muslim peasants who farmed the land [10]. 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 Sikhs, including executing Wazir Khan in revenge for the deaths of Guru Gobind Singh's sons after the Sikh victory at Sirhind [11]. He ruled the territory between the Sutlej river and the Yamuna river established a capital in the Himalayas at Lohgarh and struck coinage in the names of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh[12]. 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 Delhi where he was tortured and executed after refusing to convert to Islam
[edit] Dal Khalsa
[edit] Sikh Misls
The period from 1716 to 1799 was a highly turbulent time politically and militarily in the Punjab. This was caused by the overall decline of the Mughal Empire.[13] This left a power vacuum that was eventually filled by the Sikhs in the late 18th century, after fighting off local Mughal remnants and allied Rajput leaders, Afghans, and occasionally hostile Punjabi Muslims who sided with other Muslim forces. Sikh warlords eventually formed their own independent Sikh administrative regions (misls), which were united in large part by Ranjit Singh.
[edit] Formation
The Sikh Empire (1801–1849) was formed on the foundations of the Punjabi Army by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west, to Kashmir in the north, to Sindh in the south, and Tibet in the east. The main geographical footprint of the empire was the Punjab region. The religious demography of the Sikh Empire was Muslim (80%), Sikh (10%), Hindu (10%),[14].
The foundations of the Sikh Empire, during the time of the Punjabi Army, could be defined as early as 1707, starting from the death of Aurangzeb and the downfall of the Mughal Empire. The fall of the Mughal Empire provided opportunities for the army, known as the Dal Khalsa, to lead expeditions against the Mughals and Afghans. This led to a growth of the army, which was split into different Punjabi armies and then semi-independent "misls". Each of these component armies were known as a misl, each controlling different areas and cities. However, in the period from 1762-1799, Sikh rulers of their misls appeared to be coming into their own. The formal start of the Sikh Empire began with the disbandment of the Punjab Army by the time of coronation of Ranjit Singh in 1801, creating a unified political state. All the misl leaders who were affiliated with the Army were nobility with usually long and prestigious family histories in Punjab's history.[2][15]
[edit] End of Empire
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 Empire to launch the Anglo-Sikh Wars.
The Battle of Ferozeshah in 1845 marked many turning points, the British encountered the Punjabi Army, opening with a gun-duel in which the Sikhs "had the better of the British artillery". But as the British made advancements, Europeans in their army were especially targeted, as the Sikhs believed if the army "became demoralised, the backbone of the enemy's position would be broken"[16]. The fighting continued throughout the night earning the nickname "night of terrors". 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"[17].
British General Sire 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"[17]
The Punjabi ended up recovering their camp, and the British were exhausted. Lord Hardinge sent his son to Mudki with a sword from his Napoleonic campaigns. A note in Robert Needham Cust's diary revealed that the "British generals decided to lay down arms: News came from the Governor General that our attack of yesterday had failed, that affairs were disparate, all state papers were to be destroyed, and that if the morning attack failed all would be over, this was kept secret by Mr.Currie and we were considering measures to make an unconditional surrender to save the wounded..."[17].
However, a series of events of the Sikhs being betrayed by some prominent leaders in the army led to its downfall. Maharaja Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh, were Hindu Dogras from Jammu, and top Generals of the army. Tej Singh and Lal Singh were secretly allied to the British. They supplied important war plans of the Army, and provided the British with updated vital intelligence on the Army dealings, which ended up changing the scope of the war and benefiting the British positions[1][18].
The Sikh Empire was finally dissolved after a series of wars with the British at the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 into separate princely states and the British province of Punjab, which were granted statehood. Eventually, a Lieutenant Governorship was formed in Lahore as a direct representative of the British Crown.
[edit] Geography
The Punjab region was a region straddling India and Afghanistan. The following modern day political divisions made up the historical Sikh Empire:
- Punjab region till Multan in south
- Kashmir, conquered in 1818, India/Pakistan/China[19][20]
- Khyber Pass, Afghanistan/Pakistan[22]
- Parts of Western Tibet (1841), China[25]
Jamrud, Khyber Agency District 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 prominent Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa in an offensive, though the Sikhs successfully held their position at their Jamrud fort.
[edit] Timeline
- 1762 - 1767, Invasion of Ahmed Shah Abdali.
- 1763 - 1774, Charat Singh Sukerchakia, Misldar of Sukerchakia misl established himself in Gujranwala.
- 1773, Ahmed Shah Abdali dies and his son Timur Shah launches several invasions of Punjab.
- 1774 - 1790, Maha Singh becomes Misldar of the Sukerchakia misl.
- 1790 - 1801, Ranjit Singh becomes Misldar of the Sukerchakia misl.
- 1801 April 12, Coronation of Ranjit Singh as Maharaja.
- 1801 - 27 June 1839, Reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose coronation took place in 1801.
- 27 June 1839 - 5 November 1840, Reign of Maharaja Kharak Singh
- 5 November 1840 - 18 January 1841, Chand Kaur was briefly Regent
- 18 January 1841 - 15 September 1843, Reign of Maharaja Sher Singh
- 15 September 1843 - 31 March 1849, Reign of Maharaja Duleep Singh
[edit] See also
- Mughal Empire
- Aurangzeb
- Misl
- Punjab Army
- Ranjit Singh
- History of Punjab
- Punjab Chiefs
- Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Generals
- http://thesikhmisl.com/The_Sikh_Misl/Welcome.html
[edit] References
- ^ a b Grewal, J. S. (1990). "Chapter 6: The Sikh empire (1799–1849)". The Sikh empire (1799–1849). The New Cambridge History of India. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521268844_CHOL9780521268844A008.
- ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, (Edition: Volume V22, Date: 1910-1911), Page 892.
- ^ ""Ranjit Singh, Maharaja", Sikh Cyber Museum". Sikhcybermuseum.org.uk. http://www.sikhcybermuseum.org.uk/People/ranjitmaharaja.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Kalsi 2005, pp. 106–107
- ^ Markovits 2004, p. 98
- ^ Jestice 2004, pp. 345-346
- ^ Jestice 2004, pp. 345-346
- ^ Johar 1975, pp. 192-210
- ^ Jestice 2004, pp. 312-313
- ^ Singh 2008, pp. 25-26
- ^ Nesbitt 2005, p. 61
- ^ Singh 2008, pp. 25-26
- ^ "Sikh Period - National Fund for Cultural Heritage". Heritage.gov.pk. 1947-08-14. http://www.heritage.gov.pk/html_Pages/sikh.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "Ranjit Singh: A Secular Sikh Sovereign by K.S. Duggal. ''(Date:1989. ISBN 81-7017-244-6'')". Exoticindiaart.com. 2009-02-01. http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDE822/. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "MAHARAJAH RANJIT SINGH ... - Online Information article about MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH". Encyclopedia.jrank.org. http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/PYR_RAY/RANJIT_SINGH_MAHARAJA_178o_1839.html. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Ranjit Singh: administration and British policy, (Prakash, p.31-33)
- ^ a b c Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last to lay arms, (Duggal,p.136-137)
- ^ Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last to lay arms, (Duggal,p.136-138)
- ^ The Masters Revealed, (Johnson, p. 128)
- ^ Britain and Tibet 1765-1947, (Marshall,p.116)
- ^ Ben Cahoon. "Pakistan Princely States". Worldstatesmen.org. http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Pakistan_princes.html. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion, (Docherty,p.187)
- ^ The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion, (Docherty,p.185-187)
- ^ Bennett-Jones, Owen; Singh, Sarina, Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway Page 199
- ^ Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last to lay arms, (Duggal,p.133)
[edit] Bibliography
- Heath, Ian (2005), The Sikh Army 1799-1849, Osprey Publishing (UK), ISBN 1-84176-777-8
- Kalsi, Sewa Singh (2005), Sikhism (Religions of the World), Chelsea House Publications, ISBN 978-0791080986
- Markovits, Claude (2004), A history of modern India, 1480-1950, London: Anthem Press, ISBN 978-1843311522
- Jestice, Phyllis G. (2004), Holy people of the world: a cross-cultural encyclopedia, Volume 3, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-1576073551, http://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&pg=PA345&dq=guru+har+gobind+jahangir&cd=2#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Johar, Surinder Singh (1975), Guru Tegh Bahadur, University of Wisconsin--Madison Center for South Asian Studies, ISBN 8170170303, http://books.google.com/books?id=dFomYOVXsAkC&pg=PA192&dq=tegh+bahadur+martyrdom&hl=en&ei=VdTES8i6DpCKNLDWxL8O&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=2&ved=0CDoQ6wEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Singh, Pritam (2008), Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy, Routledge, pp. 25-26, ISBN 978-0415456661, http://books.google.com/books?id=mQLDcjhNoJwC&pg=PA26&dq=dal+khalsa+banda+bahadur&hl=en&ei=55PGS9jfJ4XUM8XDuewI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Nesbitt, Eleanor (2005), Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, USA, p. 61, ISBN 978-0192806017
[edit] Notes
- Volume 2: Evolution of Sikh Confederacies (1708–1769), By Hari Ram Gupta. (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. Date:1999, ISBN 81-215-0540-2, Pages: 383 pages, illustrated).
- The Sikh Army (1799–1849) (Men-at-arms), By Ian Heath. (Date:2005, ISBN 1-84176-777-8).
- The Heritage of the Sikhs By Harbans Singh. (Date:1994, ISBN 81-7304-064-8).
- Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire. (Date:2000, second edition. ISBN 81-215-0213-6).
- The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of Sikh Misls. (Date:2001, revised edition. ISBN 81-215-0165-2).
- Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lord of the Five Rivers, By Jean-Marie Lafont. (Oxford University Press. Date:2002, ISBN 0-19-566111-7).
- History of Panjab, Dr L. M. Joshi, Dr Fauja Singh.
[edit] External links
- Article on Coins of the Sikh Empire
- Sikh Confederacy
- Confederacy of Punjab
- Sikh Kingdom of Ranjit Singh
- Battle of Jamrud
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