Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

RANJIT SINGH, MAHARAJA (178o-1839)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 892 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

RANJIT SINGH, MAHARAJA (178o-1839) , native See also:

Indian ruler, was See also:born on the 2nd of See also:November 178o, the son of See also:Sirdar See also:Mahan Singh, whom he succeeded in 1792 as See also:head of the Sukarchakia See also:branch of the See also:Sikh confederacy. By See also:birth he was only one of many Sikh barons and owed his rapid rise entirely to force of See also:character and will. At the See also:age of seventeen he seized the reins of See also:government. He is said to have poisoned hismother, though it is more probable that he merely imprisoned her to keep her out of his way. At the age of twenty he obtained from Zaman Shah, the See also:king of See also:Afghanistan, a See also:grant of See also:Lahore, which he seized by force of arms in 1799. Subsequently he attacked and annexed See also:Amritsar in 1802, thus becoming See also:master of the two Sikh capitals. When Jaswant See also:Rao See also:Holkar took See also:refuge in the See also:Punjab in 18o5, Ranjit Singh made a treaty with the See also:British, excluding Holkar from his territory. Shortly afterwards acute difficulties arose between him and the British as to the Cis-See also:Sutlej portion of the Punjab. It was Ranjit Singh's ambition to weld the whole of the Punjab into a single Sikh See also:empire, while the British claimed the territory See also:south of the Sutlej by right of See also:conquest from the See also:Mahrattas. The difference proceeded almost to the point of See also:war; but at the last moment Ranjit Singh gave way, and for the future faith-fully observed his engagements with the British, whose rising See also:power he was See also:wise enough to See also:gauge. In x8o8 See also:Charles See also:Metcalfe was sent to See also:settle this question with Ranjit Singh, and a treaty was concluded at Amritsar on the 15th of See also:April 1809. At this See also:period a See also:band of Sikh fanatics called " akalis," attacked See also:Sir Charles Metcalfe's escort, and the steadiness with which the disciplined sepoys repulsed them, so impressed the maharaja that he decided to See also:change the strength of his See also:army from See also:cavalry to See also:infantry.

He organized a powerful force, which was trained by See also:

French and See also:Italian See also:officers such as Generals Ventura, Allard and Avitabile, and thus forged the formidable fighting See also:instrument of the Khalsa army, which afterwards gave the British their hardest battles in See also:India in the two Sikh See also:wars. In 1810 he captured See also:Multan after many assaults and a See also:long See also:siege, and in 182o had consolidated the whole of the Punjab between the Sutlej and the See also:Indus under his dominion. In 1823 the See also:city and See also:province of See also:Peshawar became tributary to him. In 1833 when Shah Shuja, flying from Afghanistan, sought refuge at his See also:court, he took from him the Koh-i-nor See also:diamond, which subsequently came into the See also:possession of the British See also:crown. Though he disapproved of See also:Lord See also:Auckland's policy of substituting Shah Shuja for Dost Mahomed, he loyally supported the British in their advance on Afghanistan. Known as " The See also:Lion of the Punjab," Ranjit Singh died of See also:paralysis on the 27th of See also:June 1839. In his private See also:life Ranjit Singh was selfish, avaricious, drunken and immoral, but he had a See also:genius for command and was the only See also:man the Sikhs ever produced strong enough to bind them together. His military genius showed itself not so much in actual generalship as in the organization of his plans, the selection of his generals and his ministers, the tenacity of his purpose and the soundness of his See also:judgment. The British were the one power in India that was too strong for him, and as soon as he realized that fact he was unwaveringly loyal to his engagements with them. His power was military See also:aristocracy resting on the See also:personal qualities of its founder, and after his See also:death the Sikh confederacy gradually crumbled and See also:fell to pieces through sheer want of leadership; and the See also:rule of the Sikhs in the Punjab passed away completely as soon as it incurred the hostility of the British. See Sir Lepel See also:Griffin, Ranjit Singh (Rulers of India See also:Series), 1892; See also:General Sir See also:John See also:Gordon, The Sikhs, 1904; and S. S.

Thorburn, The Punjab in See also:

Peace and War, 1904.

End of Article: RANJIT SINGH, MAHARAJA (178o-1839)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
RANGPUR, or RUNGPORE 		[next]
RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally conn...

Site © 2006 - Net Industries