:Sikh Empire

The empire is also referred to as the Lahore State, such as in contemporary British maps.{{Cite book |last=Oberoi |first=Harjot |title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition |year=1994 |publisher= University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226615929 |page=87}}{{Cite book |title=Catalogue of the Historical Maps of the Survey of India, 1700–1900 |publisher= National Archives of India |year=1975 |editor-last=Prasad |editor-first=Sri Nandan |location=New Delhi |pages=7 |chapter=F.5/24.}}{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Anne |title=Routledge Handbook of South Asian Religions |year=2020 |publisher= Routledge |isbn=9780429622069 |editor-last=Jacobsen |editor-first=Knut A. |page=212 |chapter=13: The Territorialisation of Sikh Pasts}} The term Lahore Darbar refers to the Sikh court at Lahore of the empire's ruling government.{{Efn|Alternatively spelt as 'Lahore Durbar'.|group=note}}{{Cite book |last=Hasrat |first=B. J. |title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism |publisher= Punjabi University |year=2011 |isbn=978-8173802041 |editor-last=Singh |editor-first=Harbans |edition=3rd |volume=2: E–L |location=Patiala |pages=547–549}} However, the term "Lahore Darbar" gained currency only around the time of Ranjit Singh's death, and was not found in British sources until then. The empire's own Persian chronicles refers to its ruling government as the Sarkar Khalsaji.

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 Fauj inaugurated by Guru Gobind Singh, led expeditions against them and the 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

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 langar of 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 Sikh gurus until his death in 1605.{{harvnb|Kalsi|2005|pages=106–107}}

His successor Jahangir, saw the Sikhs as a political threat. He ordered Guru Arjan, who had been arrested for supporting the rebellious Khusrau Mirza,{{harvnb|Markovits|2004|page=98}} to change the passage about Islam{{Clarify|date=October 2024 |reason="The passage about what about Islam?"}} in the Adi Granth. When the Guru refused, Jahangir ordered him to be put to death by torture.{{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 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225513/https://books.google.co.id/books?id=bI9_AwAAQBAJ&q=khusrau+mirza+died&pg=PA1163&redir_esc=y |url-status=live }} Guru Arjan's martyrdom led to the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, declaring Sikh sovereignty in the creation of the Akal Takht and the establishment of a fort to defend Amritsar.{{harvnb|Jestice|2004|pages=345–346}}

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, 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.

The next guru, 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, Guru Tegh Bahadur, moved the Sikh community to Anandpur and travelled extensively to visit and preach in defiance of Aurangzeb, who attempted to install the excommunicated Ram Rai as the new guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur aided Kashmiri Pandits in avoiding conversion to Islam and was arrested under the orders of Aurangzeb. When offered a choice between conversion to Islam and death, he chose to die rather than compromise his principles and was executed.{{harvnb|Johar|1975|pages=192–210}}

Guru Gobind Singh assumed the guruship in 1675 and to avoid battles with Sivalik Hill rajas moved the guruship to Paonta. 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 Shivalik Hill rajas, who attempted to attack the city, but 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.

The establishment of the Khalsa united the Sikh community against various Mughal-backed claimants to the guruship.{{harvnb|Jestice|2004|pages=312–313}} 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, Guru Gobind Singh accepted an invitation by Aurangzeb's successor Bahadur Shah I to meet him. The meeting took place at Agra on 23 July 1707.{{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}}

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.{{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 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225042648/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Banda-Singh-Bahadur |url-status=live }} 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.{{harvnb|Singh|2008 |pages=25–26}}

Banda Singh Bahadur started his rebellion by defeating the Mughal armies at the Battle of Samana, establishing the First Sikh State in 1709. This was followed the next year by another Sikh victory at the Battle of Sadhaura. The rebellion culminated following their defeat at the Siege of Gurdaspur. 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.{{harvnb|Nesbitt |2005 |page=61}}

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. 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 they were all tortured and executed after refusing to convert to Islam.{{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}}

{{Main|Dal Khalsa (Sikh Army)}}

{{Main|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{{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 |archive-date=14 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914142731/http://www.heritage.gov.pk/html_pages/sikh.htm |url-status=dead }} 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 Durrani Empire and their allies,Meredith L. Runion [https://books.google.com/books?id=aZk9XzqCFGUC&dq=ahmad+shah+durrani+1749+sindh+and+punjab&pg=PA69 The History of Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403232109/https://books.google.com/books?id=aZk9XzqCFGUC&dq=ahmad+shah+durrani+1749+sindh+and+punjab&pg=PA69 |date=3 April 2023 }} p. 70 Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 {{ISBN|0313337985}} remnants of the Mughals and their viceroys, the Mughal-allied Hindu hill rajas of the Sivalik Hills,{{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|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=14 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225524/https://books.google.com/books?id=27XYeylUzWwC&q=sikh+hill+rajas&pg=PT60#v=snippet&q=sikh%20hill%20rajas&f=false|url-status=live}}{{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=13 April 2019}} and hostile local Muslims siding with other Muslim forces. 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.

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, Ahluwalia, Karor Singhia and Kaniyeha. The Shaheedan, Nishania and 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. 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.

File:Punjabin_1809_AD-History_of_Punjab_pg32.jpg 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.

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 Tibet in the east.{{Sfn|Gupta|1991|p=201}}

In 1799, Ranjit Singh moved the capital to Lahore from Gujranwala, where it had been established in 1763 by his grandfather, Charat Singh.{{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|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=14 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225515/https://books.google.com/books?id=j894miuOqc4C&q=gujranwala+capital&pg=PA411#v=snippet&q=gujranwala%20capital&f=false|url-status=live}}

Ranjit Singh annexed the Sial State, a local Muslim-ruled chieftaincy, after invading Jhang in 1807.{{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.}} 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. File:Ranjit Singh holding court - Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh - pg203.jpg holding court in 1838]]

Hari Singh Nalwa was Commander-in-Chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army from 1825 to 1837.{{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|archive-date=14 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225527/https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC&redir_esc=y|url-status=live}} He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Multan, 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 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.{{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}} The tribute was paid to the local Sikh governors of Kashmir. The Namgyal kingdom would later be conquered by the Dogras, under the leadership of Zorawar Singh.{{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=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 |archive-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 |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 November 2018 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=477–488 |doi=10.2307/2049956|jstor=2049956 |s2cid=162144034 }}

The domain of the Maqpon dynasty of Baltistan, based in Skardu, under the rule of Ahmad Shah Maqpon, was conquered in 1839–40 and its local ruler was deposed. The Dogras at this time were under the suzerainty of the Sikh Empire.

During the Sino-Sikh War of 1841, the forces of the empire invaded Tibet, which was then under the control of the Qing dynasty.{{cite book |last1=Guo |first1=Rongxing |title=China's Regional Development and Tibet |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-9812879585 |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.}} 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.

{{Main|Cis-Sutlej states}}

The Cis-Sutlej states were a group of Sikh{{cite book |author1=Jayanta Kumar Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379 |title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2007 |isbn=9788131708347 |page=379 |access-date=7 November 2020 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225521/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379#v=snippet&q=%22second%20anglo%20maratha%20war%22%20sutlej&f=false |url-status=live }} states in the Punjab region lying between the Sutlej River to the north, the Himalayas to the east, the Yamuna River and Delhi district to the south, and Sirsa District to the west. These states fell under the suzerainty of the Maratha Empire after 1785 before the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803–1805, after which the Marathas lost control of the territory to the British East India Company. The Cis-Sutlej states included Kalsia, Kaithal, Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Thanesar, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Ambala, Ferozpur and Faridkot, among others.{{cite book |author1=Jayanta Kumar Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379 |title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2007 |isbn=9788131708347 |page=379 |access-date=7 November 2020 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225521/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379#v=snippet&q=%22second%20anglo%20maratha%20war%22%20sutlej&f=false |url-status=live }} The Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh occupied Faridkot State in 1807.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Gursharan |title=History of Pepsu: Patiala and East Punjab States Union, 1948–1956 |publisher=Konark Publishers |year=1991 |isbn=9788122002447 |page=8}} However, control was restored to Gulab Singh of Faridkot in 1809 due to the signing of a treaty between the Lahore Darbar and the British East India Company.

While these Sikh states had been set up by the Dal Khalsa, they did not become part of the Sikh Empire. There was a mutual ban on warfare following the treaty of Amritsar in 1809 (in which the empire forfeited the claim to the Cis-Sutlej States, and the British were not to interfere north of the Sutlej or in the empire's existing territory south of the Sutlej),{{cite web |author=Lt. Gen. Kirpal Singh Randhawa, PVSM, AVSM (Retd.) |title=Sikh Wars |url=http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/postgurus/Sikh%20Wars/sikhwars.htm |access-date=13 April 2019 |website=www.sikh-heritage.co.uk |language=en-GB |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224183324/http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/postgurus/Sikh%20Wars/sikhwars.htm |url-status=live }} following attempts by Ranjit Singh to wrest control of these states from the British between 1806 and 1809{{cite book |author1=Jayanta Kumar Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379 |title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2007 |isbn=9788131708347 |pages=379–380 |access-date=7 November 2020 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225521/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379#v=snippet&q=%22second%20anglo%20maratha%20war%22%20sutlej&f=false |url-status=live }}Sangat Singh, the Sikhs in History.

The Sikh crossing of the Sutlej, following British militarization of the border with Punjab (from 2,500 men and six guns in 1838 to 17,612 men and 66 guns in 1844, and 40,523 men and 94 guns in 1845), and plans on using the newly conquered territory of Sindh as a springboard to advance on the Sikh-held region of Multan,{{cite book |author1=Jayanta Kumar Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379 |title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2007 |isbn=9788131708347 |page=381 |access-date=7 November 2020 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814225521/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=%22second+anglo+maratha+war%22+sutlej&pg=PA379#v=snippet&q=%22second%20anglo%20maratha%20war%22%20sutlej&f=false |url-status=live }} eventually resulted in conflict with the British.

File:Two_drawings_of_Sikh_troops_in_action_against_British_forces.jpg

File:SORS1.jpg 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 Khalsa 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".Ranjit Singh: administration and British policy, (Prakash, pp. 31–33) 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".Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the last to lay arms, (Duggal, pp. 136–137) 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."

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.

File:Detail from ‘Darbar of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’, gouache, ca.1850.jpg (royal court) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’, gouache, ca.1850]]The empire's ruling court based out of Lahore is termed the Lahore Darbar or Khalsa Darbar. Faqir Saifuddin of the Fakir Khana Museum prefers to use the term Punjab Darbar rather than "Khalsa Darbar", owing to the large role Muslims played in Ranjit Singh's court.{{Cite web |last=Chatterjee |first=Nandini |date=22 May 2018 |title=Fieldwork in Punjab, Pakistan, March 2018 |url=https://lawforms.hypotheses.org/147 |access-date=18 August 2024 |website=Lawforms |doi=10.58079/qqvc}} The ruling court was diverse and under the ultimate command of the ruling maharaja, who was the "drum of the Khalsa". In-theory, the Sikh court was based on the Khalsa ideals propounded by Guru Gobind Singh yet the court was secular in-practice. As an example of this secularism, members of the court came from various religious background, including Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. Furthermore, the members also came from various ethnic, regional, and caste backgrounds, such as Dogras, Rajputs, Brahmins, Jats, and Europeans. Whilst Ranjit Singh himself preferred to dress modestly, the Sikh court was filled with elaborately garbed and decorated members. Only three individuals were permitted to be seated on chairs within the durbar, them namely being heir-apparent Kharak Singh, Kanwar Sher Singh, and Raja Hira Singh. Three sides of the hall of the durbar were covered with golden-pillars, with shawl carpets that were embroidered with gold and silver, and inset with precious stones, decorating the floor. The maharaja was seated on a golden throne, with Ranjit Singh preferring to sit cross-legged on it. The member of the court allowed to be seated behind the maharaja was Raja Dhian Singh. The rest of the members of the court were seated as per their rank and status. The colours of the Sikh court were yellow and green. Thus, most of its members donned yellow-coloured dressings made from Kashmiri silk or woolens. However, there existed no strict categorization scheme of the rankings of the constituent members of the Lahore Darbar, thus the rankings of its members was determined by the level of trust the maharaja held in them. The court also granted awards upon its members, with most of these essentially being bestowed titles in the form of honourifics, however some members were granted jagirs (estate grant). Laziness was heavily looked-down upon with the court, with the ruling maharaja often sending out the court's members on military or diplomatic missions.

The business of the ruling government was carried out in Lahore, specifically the Musamman Burj located within the Lahore Fort. A public court was held from morning until noon in the Diwan-i-Aam ("hall of audience"), with the court being attended by important members of the court, including princes, ministers, nobles, and civil and military officers. Some matters discussed in the court include high-level civil and military appointments, reports from the provincial governors (provincial satraps) and kardars (tax collectors). When matters of the court were read-out, royal decrees made orally were transferred into writing for final approval. Tributes and nazaranas were also exchanged or bestowed within the court. Supplicants to the court were dismissed with khill'ats (robes) or monetary gifts. When the maharaja was travelling, the court ceased to be static and was held at whatever location the maharaja's retinue decided to hold-up at, often under a tree or whilst moving on horseback. The maharaja would dictate orders to provincial governors whilst inspecting their troops or even in the midst of battle.

Noble members of the court, including relatives of the royal family, resided in palatial haveli structures and donned expensive clothing and accessories (such as jewelry). The Sikh princes, and also Raja Dhian Singh, were permitted to hold their own miniature durbars (courts).

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 to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh is addressed as “Rendjit Sing Bahador – Padichah du Pendjab”. 27 October 1835]]

Foreign visitors to the Sikh court were treated with respect and hospitality, with many contemporary accounts of foreign visitors to the court noting the good-treatment afforded to them by the state. When a foreign visitor arrived, they would be greeted by a protocol officer, who would arrange for their temporary residence, which was based upon the status of the visitor. The state government paid for the expenses regarding the visitor's entertainment. There exists accounts of visitors being gifted by the state, with presents such as fruits, sweets, wines, and also money. Full displays of the empire's regalia and military forces were displayed during important ceremonial functions, such as the marriages of important nobles or when receiving high-level foreign diplomatic dignitaries.

In order to keep tabs and updated on the happenings of surrounding regions, including remote parts of its territory and foreign countries, the Sikh court received reports from the waqa'nawis (news-writers) located in the empire's provinces (subas). The reports were dispatched to the Lahore Darbar at regular intervals. Furthermore, the vakils (agents) of foreign countries were associated with the Sikh court on a reciprocal basis. The Sikh court had news-writers located in Afghanistan and also had its own vakil emissaries in the Cis-Sutlej States and also in territory under the British East India Company's rule. Other vakil emissaries of the Sikh court were sent to Rajputana, the Marathas, and Nepal on complimentary missions.

Western/European officers from various backgrounds, including Britishers, Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Americans, and Russians, also rose to high levels within the Sikh court in many instances. However, the Sikh court was wary of the Westerners within the court, and kept them therefore under strict regulation. These foreign Western members of the court were persuaded by the state to integrate themselves by marrying a local woman, settling down within the empire, and adopt the cultural customs of the locals, such as growing out a beard or wearing a turban. The Western members of the court were also banned from publicly consuming beef or smoking.

The Sikh Empire did enact a simple border policy where it did not allow uninvited foreigners into the state.{{Cite web |last=Madra |first=Amandeep Singh |date=8 January 2012 |title=The Maharaja, the Spy & the Temple of Gold |url=http://goldentemple1588.com/the-maharaja-the-spy-and-the-temple-of-gold/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130055458/http://goldentemple1588.com/the-maharaja-the-spy-and-the-temple-of-gold/ |archive-date=30 January 2012 |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=Golden Temple 1588}} The purpose of this border policy was to dissuade potential foreign spies from entering the country. An example of the policy in-action is the case of Captain Arnold Mathews, who snuck into the Sikh Empire in circa 1808 to spy under the guise of being a tourist headed towards Kashmir but was intercepted and brought to Lahore.

File:Maharaja Ranjit Singh holding court outside near the Golden Temple in Amritsar with everyone dressed in Basant (yellow).jpg

The Sikh court observed the festivals of Vaisakhi, Dussehra, Basant, Holi, and Diwali. Vaisakhi was considered an especially auspicious celebration within the Sikh court, with it giving and distributing gifts of money, gold, silver, cows, horses, elephants, gold-bangles, and food to Brahmins and the poor. During Basant celebrations, the military troops of the empire were paraded donning yellow uniforms, with members of the Sikh court and nobles also wearing yellow clothing on the day. During Basant, the officials bore gifts for the sovereign ruler, with the ruler in-turn bestowing robe-of-honours to the officials based on their rank and status. During celebrations of Dussehra, the Sikh court assembled itself at Amritsar and the jagirdari troops of the empire's military were paraded and inspected by the maharaja.

File:Joppen1907India1805a.jpg

The Sikh Empire spanned a total of over {{cvt|200,000|sqmi}} at its zenith.{{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.|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164802/https://books.google.com/books?id=sNveDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA9|url-status=live}}{{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)|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164802/https://books.google.com/books?id=ixd8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|url-status=live}}{{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|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405041653/https://books.google.com/books?id=fGEDAAAAMAAJ&q=punjab+of+over+200,000+square+miles+khilnani|url-status=live}} Another more conservative estimate puts its total surface area during its zenith at 100,436 sq mi (260,124 km sq).

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{{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. | access-date=19 January 2024 | archive-date=17 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117051151/https://books.google.com/books?id=9D3QDwAAQBAJ&dq=sikh+empire+cis+sutlej&pg=PT18 | url-status=live }}
• Himachal Pradesh, India, only the territories northwest of Sutlej river.
• Jammu Division, Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan (1808–1846)
• Kashmir, from 5 July 1819 to 15 March 1846, India/PakistanThe Masters Revealed, (Johnson, p. 128)Britain and Tibet 1765–1947, (Marshall, p. 116)
• Kashmir Valley, India from 1819 to 1846
• Baltistan, from 1840 onwards{{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). }}{{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.}}{{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}}
• Gilgit, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, from 1842 to 1846{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
• Ladakh, India 1834–1846{{cite book|author1=Pandey, 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|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=14 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814230027/https://books.google.com/books?id=nn5IDwAAQBAJ&q=ladakh+1834+sikh&pg=PA57#v=snippet&q=ladakh%201834%20sikh&f=false|url-status=live}}{{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| access-date=15 April 2019| archive-date=18 December 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218164514/https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1923&context=isp_collection| url-status=live}}
• Lower part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.{{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 }}
• Peshawar, PakistanThe Khyber Pass: A History of Empire and Invasion, (Docherty, pp. 185–187) (taken in 1818, retaken in 1834)
• Excluding Waziristan, Ranjit Singh made no attempt to conquer Waziristan.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1huAAAAMAAJ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814230020/https://www.google.com.pk/books/edition/History_of_the_Sikhs_The_Sikh_Lion_of_La/-1huAAAAMAAJ?hl=en |archive-date=14 August 2024 |page=80| isbn=978-81-215-0515-4 | title=History of the Sikhs: The Sikh Lion of Lahore, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1799–1839 | date=1978 | publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal }}{{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=Hugh | date= 2013 | publisher=Routledge | access-date=19 January 2024 | archive-date=17 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117044302/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEhdAgAAQBAJ&dq=Nor+did+the+Sikh,+Ranjit+Singh,+who+supplanted+the+Durranis+as&pg=PA1 | url-status=live }}

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.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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405015100/https://books.google.com/books?id=PL_ACoFwJ2gC&dq=raja+gulab+singh+revolt&pg=PA41|date=5 April 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/491193/Ranjit-Singh |title=Encyclopædia Britannica – Ranjit Singh |access-date=31 January 2015 |archive-date=7 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407012307/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/491193/Ranjit-Singh |url-status=live }}

File:Map of the trans-Indus frontier of the Punjab and the Multan Province of the Sikh Empire, surveyed by Herbert B. Edwardes, 1848–49 (F11-02).jpg

The empire was divided into various provinces (known as Subas), with them namely being as follows as per Hari Ram Gupta:{{Cite book |last=Herrli |first=Hans |title=The Coins of the Sikhs |year=1993 |page=10}}{{Sfn|Gupta|1991|pp=334–336}}

Hans Herrli instead claims there were five provinces of the Sikh Empire, namely Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Derajat, and Jammu and Hill States.

File:Maharaja Ranjit Singh seeking the sanctuary of Guru Nanak, ca.1830.jpg

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

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 administrative 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 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}} Qazi 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,{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} 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, Qazi 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.{{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}}

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 empire.Lodrick, D. O. 1981. Sacred Cows, Sacred Places. Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 145Vigne, 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. Ranjit Singh also donated large amounts of gold for the plating of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple's dome.{{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 |author-link=Matthew Atmore Sherring |publisher=Trübner & co. |year=1868 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217371/page/n93 51] }}{{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 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The Sikhs attempted not to offend the prejudices of Muslims, noted Baron von Hügel, the Austrian botanist and explorer,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 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 kine, and to repeat the azan, or 'summons to prayer'."Masson, Charles. 1842. Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan and the Panjab, 3 v. London: Richard Bentley (1) 37

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 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.{{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 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405015101/https://books.google.com/books?id=7cfXDwAAQBAJ&dq=ranjit%20singh%20banned%20cow%20slaughter%20afghanistan%20inpublisher%3Auniversity&pg=PT39 |url-status=live }}{{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}}{{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|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405041653/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZO95DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|url-status=live}} These policies led the Kashmiri Muslim population to emigrate en masse to more lenient neighboring regions, particularly Ladakh.{{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}} As a symbolic assertion of power, the Sikhs regularly desecrated Muslim places of worship, including closing of the Jamia Masjid of 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.{{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 |access-date=11 March 2022 |archive-date=17 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817011436/https://books.google.com/books?id=W-ZFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA45#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}{{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. |access-date=11 March 2022 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814230541/https://books.google.com/books?id=q3QeEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT92 |url-status=live }}

Christian missionaries had been active in the Punjab even prior to the dissolution of the empire in 1849.{{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 |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814230538/https://search.worldcat.org/title/24339822 |url-status=live }}

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The population of the Sikh empire during the time of Ranjit Singh's rule was estimated to be around 12 million people. There were 8.4 million Muslims, 2.88 million Hindus and 722,000 Sikhs.

The religious demography of the empire is estimated to have been just over 10%{{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 |access-date=15 April 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806115540/https://books.google.com/books?id=4udb8LsF3-oC&q=hardly+10+percent#v=onepage&q=hardly%2010%20percent&f=false |url-status=live }} to 12%{{Sfn|Grewal|1998|p=113}} Sikh, 80% Muslim, and just under 10% Hindu. 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.{{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=}} The population was 3.5 million in 1831, according to Amarinder Singh's The Last Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Lahore Durbar.{{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}} Hans Herrli in The Coins of the Sikhs estimated the total population of the empire to be around 5.35 million during 1838.

An estimated 90% of the Sikh population at the time, and more than half of the total population, was concentrated in the upper Bari, Jalandhar, and upper Rachna Doabs, 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.{{Sfn|Grewal|1998|p=113}}

In 1839, a major pogrom, called the Allahdad, targeting the local Jews of Mashhad in Qajar Persia had occurred.{{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 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814230529/https://aish.com/when-jews-found-refuge-in-the-sikh-empire/ |url-status=live }} A group of Persian Jewish refugees from Mashhad, escaping persecution back home in Qajar Persia, settled in the Sikh Empire around the year 1839. Most of the Jewish families settled in Rawalpindi (specifically in the Babu Mohallah neighbourhood) and Peshawar.{{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=27 February 2023 |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. |archive-date=27 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227022144/https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-lost-jewish-history-of-rawalpindi-pakistan/ |url-status=live }}{{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 |access-date=27 February 2023 |archive-date=6 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806115542/https://search.worldcat.org/title/993691884 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Khan |first=Naveed Aman |date=12 May 2018 |title=Pakistani Jews and PTI |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/239196/pakistani-jews-and-pti/ |access-date=27 February 2023 |website=Daily Times |language=en-US |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814230545/https://dailytimes.com.pk/239196/pakistani-jews-and-pti/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Rawalpindi – Rawalpindi Development Authority |url=https://rda.gop.pk/rawalpindi/ |access-date=27 February 2023 |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. |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306223117/https://rda.gop.pk/rawalpindi/ |url-status=live }} Most of these Jews would leave for the Dominion of India during the partition of 1947.{{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 |page=129 |oclc=302391286 |access-date=7 March 2023 |archive-date=6 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806115657/https://search.worldcat.org/title/302391286 |url-status=live }}

File:Coin of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, minted in Amritsar.jpg

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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.rajasthali.marudharacollege.ac.in/papers/Volume-1/Issue-4/04-07.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=3 August 2023 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814230413/https://www.rajasthali.marudharacollege.ac.in/papers/Volume-1/Issue-4/04-07.pdf |url-status=live }}

• 1699: Formation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh.
• 1710–1716: Banda Singh defeats the Mughals and declares Khalsa rule.
• 1716–1738: Mughals take back territorial control for two decades but Sikhs engage in guerrilla warfare
• 1733–1735: The Khalsa accepts, only to reject, the confederal status given by the Mughals.
• 1738–1757: Nader Shah's invasion of India; Afghan invasion by Ahmad Shah Durrani
• 1761–1767: Recapture of Punjab region by Afghan in Third Battle of Panipat
• 1763–1774: Charat Singh Sukerchakia, Misldar of Sukerchakia 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 misl. File:Bataille de Sobraon.jpg in 1846.]]
• 1790–1801: Ranjit Singh becomes Misldar of the Sukerchakia 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.
• – 2 March 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 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

• Khushal Singh Jamadar (1799–1818){{Sfn|Grewal|1998|p=114}}
• Dhian Singh Dogra (1818–1843)
• Hira Singh Dogra (1843–1845)
• Jawahar Singh (wazir) (14 May 1845 – 21 September 1845)
• Lal Singh (1845–1846)
• Gulab Singh (31 January – 9 March 1846){{cite journal |last=Singh |first=Bawa Satinder |title=Raja Gulab Singh's Role in the First Anglo-Sikh War |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=5 |number=1 |year=1971 |jstor=311654 |doi=10.1017/s0026749x00002845|s2cid=145500298 |pages=46–50}}

{{Expand section|Add governors for other provinces|date=March 2025}}

The nominal and acting governors of Kashmir during Sikh-rule and their tenures are as follows:{{Cite book |last=Herrli |first=Hans |title=The Coins of the Sikhs |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |year=2004 |isbn=9788121511322 |edition=2nd |pages=120 |chapter=6: Kashmir - The Sikh Governors of Kashmir}}

• Diwan Moti Ram (1st term), end of 1819 – 1820
• Hari Singh Nalwa, 1820–1821
• Diwan Moti Ram (2nd term), December 1821 – spring of 1825
• Gurmak Singh, 1825 (acting governor)
• Diwan Chuni Lal, 1825 – end of 1826
• Diwan Kirpa Ram, early 1827 – 1830
• Maha Singh, 1830 (governor for one month after Kirpa Ram)
• Bhima Singh Ardali, summer 1830 – 1831
• Kanwar Sher Singh, 1831–1834
• Diwan Vesaka Singh, 1831–1832 (acting governor on behalf of Sher Singh)
• Shaikh Gholam Muhyi Addin & Jamadar Kushal Singh, 1832–1834 (acting governors for Sher Singh)
• Mihan Singh Kumedan, July 1834 – 17 April 1841
• Shaikh Gholam Muhyi Addin, April 1841 – 1845
• Shaikh Imam-ud-Din, 1845 – November 1847

• Several temporary Sikh governors of Multan, 1818–1820
• Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra, 1820–1844
• Diwan Mulraj Chopra, 1844–1849

• Hukma Singh Chimni, 1814–1819
• Diwan Ram Dayal, 1819–1820
• Amar Singh Majithia, 1820–1822
• Hari Singh Nalwa, 1822–1837
• Mahan Singh Hazarawala, 1837–1838
• Tej Singh, 1838–1844
• Arbel Singh, 1844 – ?
• Chattar Singh Attariwalla, 1848–1849

• Hari Singh Nalwa, 1834–1837
• Paolo Avitabile, 1837 – ?

• Desa Singh Majithia, ? – 1832
• Shaikh Ghulam Muhy-ud-Din, 1834–1841
• Shaikh Imam-ud-Din, 1841–1845

• Desa Singh Majithia, 1809–1832
• Lehna Singh Majithia, 1832 – ?

{{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
⁽⁷⁾
r. 1847
Regent
1843–1847|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#008000|

A02=Datar Kaur|

A03=Ranjit Singh
⁽¹⁾
r. 1801–1839|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#008000|

A04=Mehtab Kaur}}

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

{{Tree chart|border=1| | |A01 | |A02 |y|A03 | |A04 | | |

A01=Duleep Singh
⁽⁶⁾
r. 1843–1849|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#008000|

A02=Kharak Singh
⁽²⁾
r. 1839|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#008000|

A03=Chand Kaur
⁽⁴⁾
r. 1840–1841|boxstyle_A03=border-color:#008000|

A04=Sher Singh
⁽⁵⁾
r. 1841–1843|boxstyle_A04=border-color:#008000}}

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

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | |A01 | | | | | | | | |

A01=Nau Nihal Singh
⁽³⁾
r. 1839–1840|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#008000}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Chart bottom}}

File:Maharaj Ranjit Singh.jpg|Ranjit Singh, {{Circa|1830}}.Miniature painting from the photo album of princely families in the Sikh and Rajput territories by Colonel James Skinner (1778–1841)

File:Ranjit Singh at Harmandir Sahib - August Schoefft - Vienna 1850 - Princess Bamba Collection - Lahore Fort.jpg|{{center|1=Ranjit Singh listening to 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

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

| title = Sikh Empire

| before = Sukerchakia Misl

| after = British Punjab

| years = 1799–1849

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Portal|Punjab|History}}

• History of Punjab
• History of Pakistan
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• Kapurthala State
• Mughal Empire
• Sikh Khalsa Army

{{Reflist|group=note}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{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=26 May 2012}}
• {{cite book |first=Hari Ram |last= Gupta|author-link=Hari Ram Gupta|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfTheSikhsVol.VTheSikhLionOfLahoremaharajaRanjitSingh/page/n342/mode/2up?q=Sansar |title=The Sikh Lion of Lahore (Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 1799–1839) |date=1991 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-8-121-50515-4 |series=History Of The Sikhs |volume=V |pages=}}
• {{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=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}}

• {{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= |edition=Revised |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |access-date=16 April 2020 |author1-link=J. S. Grewal}}
• 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 L. M. Joshi and 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}})

{{Commons category}}

• [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]

{{Sikhism}}

{{Sikh Empire}}

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{{Sikh politics}}

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