The Sikh Empire

The Misls sometimes argued with each other, but when danger came they joined as the Dal Khalsa (the army of the Khalsa). Ranjit Singh’s family led the Sukerchakia Misl.

His father, Maha Singh, died when Ranjit was about 12. His mother and his mother-in-law, Sada Kaur — a clever and powerful Misl leader — helped guide him as a young chief.

He then joined the Misls together into one kingdom. Over the years his empire grew to include Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar, stretching from the Khyber Pass to the mountains of Tibet.

His foreign minister, Fakir Azizuddin, was a Muslim, and his finance minister, Dewan Dina Nath, was a Hindu. He rarely used the death penalty. He did not sit on a fancy throne and called his government Sarkar-i-Khalsa (the government of the Khalsa), not by his own name. His coins were issued in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh.

He hired experienced European officers, such as Jean-Baptiste Ventura and Jean-François Allard, to train his soldiers in modern ways.

He also gave gold to Hindu temples, such as the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, and gifts to mosques — showing his respect for all faiths.

After the empire ended, the British took the diamond and it was given to Queen Victoria. It is now part of the British Crown Jewels.

The last Maharaja, Duleep Singh, was only 10 years old. He was separated from his mother, Maharani Jind Kaur, and sent to England. His daughter, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, later became a famous campaigner for women’s right to vote in Britain.