Sikh Empire

A sovereign state centered in Punjab, founded under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and ruled by Sikh monarchs from 1799 until British annexation in 1849.

Ranjit Singh: The Sikh ruler who unified much of Punjab and founded the Sikh Empire. His capture of Lahore in 1799 established the empire’s capital and his rule.
Khalsa Army: The modernized military force of the Sikh Empire, organized under Ranjit Singh. Its infantry, artillery, and cavalry secured and expanded the empire.
Kharak Singh: The eldest son and successor of Ranjit Singh, who ruled briefly from 1839. His contested succession exposed the instability that followed Ranjit Singh’s death.
First Anglo-Sikh War: A war between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company from 1845 to 1846. Its defeat forced the empire to accept British control over key affairs.
Misls: Confederacies of Sikh warrior bands that governed much of Punjab before its unification. Ranjit Singh consolidated these competing powers into a centralized state.
Fauj-i-Khas: An elite, European-trained division of the Sikh army. It embodied Ranjit Singh’s effort to strengthen the army through foreign military methods.
Nau Nihal Singh: A grandson of Ranjit Singh who briefly held power after Kharak Singh’s death. His sudden death in 1840 intensified the succession crisis.
Second Anglo-Sikh War: The 1848–1849 conflict that ended Sikh sovereignty in Punjab. Its outcome was the British annexation of the empire in 1849.
Lahore: A major city in Punjab, now the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Ranjit Singh made Lahore the empire’s capital after taking the city in 1799.
Hari Singh Nalwa: A Sikh general who led campaigns on the empire’s northwestern frontier. His campaigns extended imperial authority toward Peshawar and the Khyber region.

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