PSEB 12th Class History Notes Chapter 17 Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Career and Conquests

This PSEB 12th Class History Notes Chapter 17 Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Career and Conquests will help you in revision during exams.

Early Career of Maharaja Ranjit Singh:

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was born in 1780 A.D. in the family of the Sukarchakia Misl chief Mahan Singh.
The name of Ranjit Singh’s mother was Raj Kaur.
Ranjit Singh was four years old when he fell a victim to smallpox because of which the light of his left eye was gone forever.
Ranjit Singh was very brave right from his childhood.
He was 16 years old when he was married to Mehtab Kaur, the granddaughter of the Kanahia Misl Sardar, Jai Singh, and the daughter of Gurbaksh Singh.
When Mahan Singh died, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a minor and so the task of state administration passed into the hands of his mother, Raj Kaur, Diwan Lakhpat Rai, and Sada Kaur who together formed the Triune Regency.
When Ranjit Singh grew to be 17, he took over the charge of administration and put an end to the Triune Regency.

The political condition of Punjab:

When Ranjit Singh took over the reins of the Sukarchakia Misl, the atmosphere of anarchy and lawlessness was prevalent in Punjab.
In most parts of Punjab, the Sikhs had founded 12 independent Misls.
All these were very weak and they continued to fight with one another.
In the North-West regions of Punjab, the Muslims had set up several independent states.
There was a lack of unity among these states.
There were few Rajput states in Punjab.
The Gorkhas of Nepal were greedily looking towards Punjab.
In the East, the British and the Marathas had locked their horns and so Maharaja Ranjit Singh did not have to worry about them.
The ruler of Afghanistan, Shah Zaman, had taken possession of Lahore.

Ranjit Singh’s Policy towards the Sikh Misls:

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s policy towards the Sikh Misls was similar to the Rajput policy adopted by Akbar.
There was no room for relation or obligation in it.
He established matrimonial ties with the powerful Kanahia and Nakkai Misls and established friendly relations with
Ahluwalia and Ramgarhia Misls.
With their support, he attacked the weak lists and annexed them to his kingdom.
At the right opportunity, he backstabbed friendly misls and annexed them to his kingdom.
In 1805 A.D. Ranjit Singh put an end to the Gurmata and acquired complete freedom of taking political decisions.

Conquests of Maharaja Ranjit Singh:
A brief description of the important victories of Maharaja Ranjit Singh is as follows:

Conquest of Lahore:

Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Lahore from the Bhangi Sardars on July 7, 1799 A.D.
This was his first and most important victory.
Lahore remained the capital of the empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Conquest of Amritsar:

In 1805 A.D., Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Amritsar from Mai Sukhan.
This victory led to the spread of fame of Maharaja far and wide because the Sikhs considered Amritsar as their Mecca.

Conquest of Multan:

Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent 7 expeditions to Multan to conquer it between 1802 and 1817 A.D.
In the end, Multan was conquered on 2nd June 1818 A.D.
Its ruler Muzzafar Khan and his five sons were killed in the battle.
The conqueror of Multan, Misar Diwan Chand was bestowed upon with the title of Zafar Jang.

Conquest of Kashmir:

Maharaja Ranjit Singh invaded Kashmir thrice.
He conquered Kashmir during his third expedition in 1819 A.D.
At that time Jabbar Khan was the Governor of Kashmir.
This victory proved to be extremely beneficial for Maharaja in several respects.

Conquest of Peshawar:

Though Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Peshawar in 1823 A.D. yet he annexed it to his kingdom in 1834 A.D.
This dealt a severe jolt to the power of the Afghans.

Other Conquests:

Other important conquests of Maharaja Ranjit Singh that deserve a special mention were Kasur and Jhang (1807), Sialkot (1808), Kangra (1809), Jammu (1809), Attock (1813), and Dera Gazi Khan (1820), etc.