Sikh Empire

Pakistan, 1733–1849. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab region of South Asia. It existed from 1799, when maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and annexed by the British East India Company following the Second Anglo-Sikh War. At its peak in the mid-19th century, the empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, the empire was weakened by the British East India Company stoking internal divisions and political mismanagement.

Seat of power: Lahore

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The empire was religiously diverse, with an estimated population of 12 million in 1800, and it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be conquered by the British Empire.
• Ranjit Singh modernised his army using the latest training as well as weapons and artillery.
• Ranjit Singh was formally crowned on 12 April 1801 by Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak.
• The term Lahore Darbar refers to the Sikh court at Lahore of the empire's ruling government.

Picture

The Badshahi Mosque in Lahore was constructed between 1671 and 1673 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Image: Romero Maia, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Sources

• Sikh Empire (Wikipedia)
• Sikh Empire (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.