The Making of the Sikh Empire

The Making of the Sikh Empire PDF Author: Bhupinder Singh Mahal
Publisher: Mahal Publications
ISBN: 9780968673614
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
This study is based primarily on secondary sources in English language and takes issue with Sikh historians to offer novel perspectives on the nature and function of Sikh misls. It covers the period beginning in the fall of 1709 when Banda Bahadur and his small band of Khalsa warriors stormed into Punjab and the Baisakhi day in 1801 when Ranjit Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab. During this period Punjab was buffeted by political turbulence and confusion. Mogul empire was losing its majesty and luster and embroiled with an endless spiral of wars of succession that weakened the imperial grip over Punjab. The Moguls confronted a two-front war on two geographically separate fronts. In the north, primarily in Punjab, the repeated forays of Afghan invader Abdali so emasculated Mogul hold over Punjab that the Mogul emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur ceded Lahore and Multan to Abdali. In the south the Marathas read the winds of change then blowing through imperial Mogul indicating an empire on the wane and in 1757 captured Delhi and vast swathes of countryside up to Saharanpur. With overpowering presence in the imperial city the Marathas now turned their eye on Punjab to drive the Afghan invader and occupier from the country. The Afghans and Marathas faced one another at Panipat. They fought three battles and in the final clash in January 1761 the Maratha army suffered a catastrophic defeat, ending Maratha hegemony over Punjab. Although Abdali managed to crush the Marathas once and for all, his ambition of hegemony over Punjab was quashed by his nemesis, the Sikh misls. And in this crucible of turbulence the Sikhs were to forge their destiny. Following the death of Banda Bahadur some of his followers for whom marauding had become a way of life formed their own jathas (gangs) and lived off plunder. On Baisakhi 1748 these bands or jathas were finally merged into one army, the Dal Khalsa divided into eleven misls with own name, leader and flag, under the supreme command of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The twelfth misl was the Phulkian misl but it was not an integral part of the Dal Khalsa. Pillaging skills that the jathas honed over the years were employed to pounce on Abdali's booty-laden caravan, hit and grab as much of loot and make a getaway to their strongholds and bulwarks in the hills and jungles; redoubts built for the purpose of better securing their persons and property against Afghan and Mogul search parties. The misls pillaged villages, merchants and traders. In time they changed their tactics. Instead of terrorizing the villages and towns they offered them protection (rakhi) against interlopers and in return exact some form of tithe. As a misl amassed large treasure, it also attracted greater following. The stronger misls would flex their muscles and intimidate the weaker ones. Territorial influence intensified rivalry and political maneuverings prompting some misldars to invite their counterparts to launch an attack on a chieftain with whom they had a bone to pick with. They double-crossed each other and often aligned themselves with the enemy (Moguls or Afghans), without compunction. As the authority of prominent and wealthy misldars diminished on their passing or old age, Ranjit Singh, chief of Sukerchakia misl, was able to amalgamate or annex them under his flag and proclaimed Maharaja.

The Making of the Sikh Empire

The Making of the Sikh Empire PDF Author: Bhupinder Singh Mahal
Publisher: Mahal Publications
ISBN: 9780968673614
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book Here

Book Description
This study is based primarily on secondary sources in English language and takes issue with Sikh historians to offer novel perspectives on the nature and function of Sikh misls. It covers the period beginning in the fall of 1709 when Banda Bahadur and his small band of Khalsa warriors stormed into Punjab and the Baisakhi day in 1801 when Ranjit Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab. During this period Punjab was buffeted by political turbulence and confusion. Mogul empire was losing its majesty and luster and embroiled with an endless spiral of wars of succession that weakened the imperial grip over Punjab. The Moguls confronted a two-front war on two geographically separate fronts. In the north, primarily in Punjab, the repeated forays of Afghan invader Abdali so emasculated Mogul hold over Punjab that the Mogul emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur ceded Lahore and Multan to Abdali. In the south the Marathas read the winds of change then blowing through imperial Mogul indicating an empire on the wane and in 1757 captured Delhi and vast swathes of countryside up to Saharanpur. With overpowering presence in the imperial city the Marathas now turned their eye on Punjab to drive the Afghan invader and occupier from the country. The Afghans and Marathas faced one another at Panipat. They fought three battles and in the final clash in January 1761 the Maratha army suffered a catastrophic defeat, ending Maratha hegemony over Punjab. Although Abdali managed to crush the Marathas once and for all, his ambition of hegemony over Punjab was quashed by his nemesis, the Sikh misls. And in this crucible of turbulence the Sikhs were to forge their destiny. Following the death of Banda Bahadur some of his followers for whom marauding had become a way of life formed their own jathas (gangs) and lived off plunder. On Baisakhi 1748 these bands or jathas were finally merged into one army, the Dal Khalsa divided into eleven misls with own name, leader and flag, under the supreme command of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The twelfth misl was the Phulkian misl but it was not an integral part of the Dal Khalsa. Pillaging skills that the jathas honed over the years were employed to pounce on Abdali's booty-laden caravan, hit and grab as much of loot and make a getaway to their strongholds and bulwarks in the hills and jungles; redoubts built for the purpose of better securing their persons and property against Afghan and Mogul search parties. The misls pillaged villages, merchants and traders. In time they changed their tactics. Instead of terrorizing the villages and towns they offered them protection (rakhi) against interlopers and in return exact some form of tithe. As a misl amassed large treasure, it also attracted greater following. The stronger misls would flex their muscles and intimidate the weaker ones. Territorial influence intensified rivalry and political maneuverings prompting some misldars to invite their counterparts to launch an attack on a chieftain with whom they had a bone to pick with. They double-crossed each other and often aligned themselves with the enemy (Moguls or Afghans), without compunction. As the authority of prominent and wealthy misldars diminished on their passing or old age, Ranjit Singh, chief of Sukerchakia misl, was able to amalgamate or annex them under his flag and proclaimed Maharaja.

Royals and Rebels

Royals and Rebels PDF Author: Priya Atwal
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197566944
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
In late-eighteenth-century India, the glory of the Mughal emperors was fading, and ambitious newcomers seized power, changing the political map forever. Enter the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, whose Sikh Empire stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet. Priya Atwal shines fresh light on this long-lost kingdom, looking beyond its founding father to restore the queens and princes to the story of this empire's spectacular rise and fall. She brings to life a self-made ruling family, inventively fusing Sikh, Mughal and European ideas of power, but eventually succumbing to gendered family politics, as the Sikh Empire fell to its great rival in the new India: the British. Royals and Rebels is a fascinating tale of family, royalty and the fluidity of power, set in a dramatic global era when new stars rose and upstart empires clashed.

The Sikhs of the Punjab

The Sikhs of the Punjab PDF Author: J. S. Grewal
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316025330
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
In a revised edition of his original book, J. S. Grewal brings the history of the Sikhs from its beginnings in the time of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, right up to the present day. Against the background of the history of the Punjab, the volume surveys the changing pattern of human settlements in the region until the fifteenth century and the emergence of the Punjabi language as the basis of regional articulation. Subsequent chapters explore the life and beliefs of Guru Nanak, the development of his ideas by his successors and the growth of his following. The book offers a comprehensive statement on one of the largest and most important communities in India today.

Empire of the Sikhs

Empire of the Sikhs PDF Author: Patwant Singh
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
ISBN: 0720615240
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
The definitive biography of Ranjit Singh, contemporary of Napoleon and one of the most powerful and charismatic Indian rulers of his ageRanjit Singh has been largely written out of accounts of the subcontinent's past by recent Western historians, yet he had an impact that lasts to this day. He unified the warring chiefdoms of the Punjab into an extraordinary northern Empire of the Sikhs, built up a formidable modern army, kept the British in check to the south of his realm, and closed the Khyber Pass through which plunderers had for centuries poured into India. Unique among empire builders, he was humane and just, gave employment to defeated foes, honored religious faiths other than his own, and included Hindus and Muslims among his ministers. In person he was a colorful character whose his court was renowned for its splendor; he had 20 wives, kept a regiment of "Amazons," and possessed a stable of thousands of horses. The authors make use of a variety of eyewitness accounts from Indian and European sources, from reports of Maratha spies at the Lahore Durbar to British parliamentary papers and travel accounts. The story includes the range of the maharaja's military achievements and ends with an account of the controversial period of the Anglo-Sikh Wars following his death, which saw the fall of his empire while in the hands of his successors.

The British & the Sikhs

The British & the Sikhs PDF Author: Gurinder Singh Mann
Publisher: Helion
ISBN: 9781911628248
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
A book which covers the relationship between the British and the Sikhs in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

Lions of the Punjab

Lions of the Punjab PDF Author: Richard Gabriel Fox
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520054912
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description


Sikhs in Britain

Sikhs in Britain PDF Author: Gurharpal Singh
Publisher: Zed Books
ISBN: 9781842777176
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
The history of Sikhs in Britain provides important clues into the evolution of Britain as a multicultural society and the challenges it faces today. The authors examine the complex Anglo-Sikh relationship that led to the initial Sikh settlement and the processes of community-building around Sikh institutions such as gurdwaras. They explore the nature of British Sikh society as reflected in the performance of Sikhs in the labor markets, the changing characteristics of the Sikh family and issues of cultural transmission to the young. They provide an original and insightful account of a community transformed from the site of radical immigrant class politics to a leader of the Sikh diaspora in its search for a separate Sikh state.

In Pursuit of Empire

In Pursuit of Empire PDF Author: Davinder Toor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781911271031
Category : Art, Sikh
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Two centuries ago, Punjab's Sikh ruling elite lavishly patronised artists and craftsmen to enhance the extraordinary splendour of their flourishing empire. A sumptuous array of objects fit for Sikh kings, queens, warriors and saints were produced by skilled artisans to reflect a vibrant and potent new power on the world's stage. Through the remarka

The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia

The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia PDF Author: Sarbpreet Singh
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 935708133X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
In 1801 the young scion of a petty fiefdom in the Punjab was invested with the title of Maharaja of Punjab. The young man whose name was Ranjit Singh went on to carve out a kingdom for himself that stretched from the borders of Afghanistan in the west to the boundaries of the British Raj in the east. It included the lush hills and valleys of Kashmir the barren mountains of Ladakh and the fertile plains of his native Punjab. The British valued him as an ally who would keep their western frontier safe and while they coveted his kingdom they did not dare to engage in military adventures in Punjab during his lifetime. The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia is an examination of Ranjit Singh and his times that focuses on a wide array of characters that populated his court. All these stories combine to present a nuanced and complex image of Maharaja Ranjit Singh through his interactions with these characters. The work humanises Maharaja Ranjit Singh and presents him as the brilliant man he clearly was without attempting to gloss over his flaws and foibles.

The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab

The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab PDF Author: Khushwant Singh
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9351187969
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
A forgotten classic from India’s favourite storyteller This riveting historical narrative is more full of drama than any fiction. With the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the great Punjab empire he had built was riven by intrigues, betrayals, assassinations and wars until the British finally annexed it, seizing the Kohinoor diamond and sending the young Maharaja Duleep Singh into exile in Britain. Khushwant Singh brings this turbulent period to vivid life in this page-turning account of the collapse of a once-mighty kingdom.