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Ranjit Singh

Process of Unification
In 1799, a process of unification was started by Ranjit Singh to establish an empire. The occupation of Lahore from Bhangi Misl in the summer of 1799 marked a watershed in his career. With the conquest of Lahore Ranjit Singh was fairly launched on a career of systematic aggrandisement which made him master of an empire in less than quarter of a century.

Ranjit Singh was crowned on 12 April 1801 as the Maharaja of Punjab. He was 20 years old at the time. Sahib Singh, a descendant of Guru Nanak, conducted the coronation. He reduced many neighbouring states to tributary status. He gradually establish his control over all the Sikh Misl's west of the Satluj.

He spent the following years fighting the Durrani rulers of Afghanistan. After driving them out of Punjab, Ranjit Singh and his Sikh army then invaded ethnic Pashtun territories in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He captured Multan which encompassed the southern parts of Punjab, Peshawar (1818), Jammu and Kashmir (1819).

When the foreign minister of Ranjit Singh's court, Fakir Azizuddin, met the British Governor-General of India, Lord Auckland, in Simla, Auckland asked Fakir Azizuddin which of the Maharaja's eyes was missing, Azizuddin replied: "The Maharaja is like the sun and sun has only one eye. The splendor and luminosity of his single eye is so much that I have never dared to look at his other eye." The Governor General was so pleased with this reply that he gave his gold watch to Azizuddin.

Ranjit Singh's Empire was secular, none of the subjects were discriminated against on account of their religions. That he did not force Sikhism on non-Sikhs and respected all religions.

Army of the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh
Army of Sikh Empire, a formidable military machine that helped the Ranjit Singh carve out an extensive kingdom and maintain it amid hostile and ambitious neighbours. All of Ranjit Singh’s conquests were achieved by Punjabi armies composed of Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus. His commanders were also drawn from different religious communities, as were his cabinet ministers.

Reforms introduced by Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh decided to intensify the training and organize his army. The reorganization carried out at Amritsar gave a clearer picture of the forces available and fixed the responsibility for putting them into field. Once the responsibility has been fixed Ranjit Singh set most exacting standards of efficiency in march, manoeuvre, and marksmanship.