What Made Maharaja Ranjit Singh Such A Great Sikh Leader

[ElusiveFighter]

Click on the comments below the title below, very interesting feedback from the Pakistani readers.

Ranjit Singh : The Quintessential Indus Man

June 29th, 2009 | 42 Comments

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

Today (29th June) is the 170th death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Bismarck of Punjab and Pakhtunkhwa, whose great Indus state was the forerunner of Pakistan.

Narrowminded ideologues – writing in the aftermath of bitter communal bloodletting accompanying the birth of Pakistan- have not been able to fully appreciate the significance of this great statesman to the state of Pakistan. If they were to apply their minds to the history of the Punjab from late 18th to mid 19th century theywould find in support of the legal arguments employed by Jinnah a hundred years later. The great tragedy ofcourse was that Sikh leadership could not come to terms with Jinnah in 1947 even though the latter had given them a blank cheque.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh literally cobbled together a number of principalities to forge an independent state from Kashmir to NWFP consisting of Punjabis and Pakhtuns, Muslims and Hindus. This state had its own foreign relations and foreign policy. It also showed that India was never one country but a continent which was to become the basic premise upon which Muslim League was t0 build its case for Pakistan. More importantly, however, Ranjit Singh laid the foundations for the Punjabi parochialism that was to create such a huge problem for both Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League, forcing the latter to search for a slogan that sought to tame this parochialism. It was this powerful parochialism that Jinnah referred to when he told Mountbatten that “A Punjabi is a Punjabi before he is a Muslim or Hindu ” while arguing against the partition of the province. This identity was given to the Punjabis by Ranjit Singh.

How did this one-eyed Sikh warrior manage to bring together Punjabi Musalmans, Sikhs, Hindus and Pushtun Musalmans together in this one great Sikh-dominated state remains a mystery. It is said that a calligrapher tried to sell a beautifully copy of the Quran to Ranjit Singh’s Foreign Minister Fakir Azizuddin who wouldn’t buy it. Ranjit Singh overheard the argument, took the Holy Quran, kissed it and bought it for a price in excess of what is being asked. When asked why he replied “God gave me one eye – so that I could see all religions with the same eye”. Our historians would have us believe that this man defiled the Badshahi Mosque.

Perhaps the most poignant lessons that the Pakistani state can learn from the Maharaja is the way he brought the <Edited>-led Islamist insurgency against the state in form of Syed Ahmad and Shah Abdul Aziz. These forerunners of the modern day Taliban and Al Qaeda had taken refuge in NWFP and had used the Pathan tribesmen to wage a “Jehad” against Ranjit Singh and his state which was in any event Muslim majority. Ranjit Singh and the Army of the Indus crushed this earliest insurgency of the Taliban, pushing back Afghans who had occupied Peshawar since Mahmud Ghaznavi’s time, thus establishing what was to become the permanent border of British India later and consequently Pakistan’s border. It is often said that the British and Russians failed to subdue insurgencies in the tribal area. It is suggested that the US might lose the war as well. However, Ranjit Singh proved that the Army of Indus could defeat this insurgency. Today another Army of the Indus is fighting yet another war in the same region to safeguard another Muslim majority state against a “Jehad”. Inshallah the Army of the Indus will overcome.

This is no call for Punjabi parochialism lest I be mistaken- I believe in Punjab being divided up into several provinces. My interest in Ranjit Singh is purely from a Pakistani angle. Just as we admire Tipu Sultan but do not become Mysore Nationalists, we don’t become Punjabi nationalists by admiring Ranjit Singh. This is however an attempt to honor one of the greatest sons of this soil from whom the Pakistani nation state can learn a thing or two in state-craft.

[ElusiveFighter]

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Who Ruled His People's Hearts

By K. K. Khullar

During my visit to Pakistan in 1983 I was pleasantly surprised to find that the people there regarded Ranjit Singh as "their" king in whose reign Punjab regained its lost glory. The guide at Lahore Fort described Ranjit Singh as the bravest and the most benevolent king of the 19th century. He said that the Punjab peasantry still remembered the king in whose rule the strong were just and the weak secure. A book entitled "The Real Ranjit Singh" by a Pakistani historian, Syed Fakeer Waheeduddin, the great grandson of Fakeer Azizuddin, Maharaja's Foreign Minister, brings out the secular character of the Maharaja giving very intimate facts based on family records and archives. According to the book the Maharaja is fondly remembered by one and all, not only by people who once lived there but also by those who still reside there. Even during his conquests he was regarded more as a liberator than a conqueror as at Peshawar, Multan or Kashmir. Wherever the soldiers of Ranjit Singh went they were treated as friends, not foes. Maharaja's standing orders to his armies were that during their movement, no religious place, no religious book, no place of learning, no standing crop was to be destroyed and no woman dishonoured.

Capital punishment was abolished. "Never was so large an empire built with so little criminality", says Princep. The Maharaja is not known to have taken anybody's life although his own life was attempted at more than once. His special care for the 'Kisan' (farmer) and the 'Jawan' (soldier) made Punjab a very livable place. The result was that people from Delhi, UP and Rajasthan came and settled in Punjab. George Keene, a very keen observer of the Punjab scene, states: "In hundreds and in thousands the orderly crowds stream on. Not a bough is broken of a wayside tree, not a rude remark to a woman". Writing sixty years after the Maharaja's death, Griffin said: " His name is a household word in the province. His portrait is preserved in the castle and in the cottage alike." Jacquemont, the French botanist who came from Paris to Punjab in search of roses and who met the Maharaja, said, "His conversation is a nightmare. He passes from one subject to another with the speed of a tornado. He remembers by heart the names of all the villages of his empire, the village heads, the cash crops, the flora and the fauna." He was a modern mind unfettered by nationalities, religion and faiths, an internationalist who looked much beyond his frontiers.

The French visitor called Ranjit Singh "the first inquisitive Indian" who completely identified himself with the joys and sorrows of his people. Magnanimous to the fallen foe and generous to the injured and the insulted, Ranjit Singh was the last Indian king in whose reign the common man felt real freedom. The repartee and the freedom of speech that existed in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh could be the envy of any parliamentary forum.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was one of those rare rulers who remained humane even on the battlefield. He possessed an informal yet a disciplined mind, with a hilarious yet an equable temperament, humorous yet not given to levity. A man of unusual presence of mind and exceptional balance, he could surprise even the wittiest Westerner. When Dr. Joseph Wolffe asked the Punjab ruler what was the easiest way to reach God, the shrewd king replied: "By immediately concluding an alliance with the East India Company!" His retorts were gentle, his humour pungent. A son of the soil, his humour was an integral part of the Punjabi character. Like all Punjabis he loved the banter and burlesque, yet suffered no fools.

When his Muslim wife formerly a courtesan, asked him where he was when the God Almighty was distributing beauty, the Maharaja twinkled his only eye and said: "I had gone in search of a kingdom." And what a great kingdom he established. During his 40-year rule there was not a single communal riot in his kingdom, no forced conversion, no second-class citizenry, no disrespect to a shrine or a mosque. On the other hand he donated several mounds of gold for the Vishwanath Temple at Benares and Saraswati Mandir at Kurukshetra. He gave liberal grants to mosques and the Madarsas (Muslim schools). He was a far-sighted man who made many Punjabis learn English. He established the first printing press in Gurmukhi (Punjabi language script) at Lahore. He respected talent and asked the Punjabi traders to go abroad and trade with other nations. He thus freed Punjab from the slavery of eight centuries, brought peace and prosperity to the land of five rivers. The ravaged fields smiled once again, Punjab once again became the cherished "golden sparrow".

Maharaja Ranjit Singh had a tender heart. He released the young cub, which he had caged with care. Asked why he said: "The lioness, the cub's mother, had been crying and wailing throughout the night. I could not bear the cries of a mother." Nobody could shoot a sailing swan or hurt a singing nightingale. With the onset of Monsoon he would order a 102-gun salute to the rising moon. No king anywhere had done it before or ever since.

The Indian Prince of Hyderabad, the Nizam, extended his hand of friendship to him and sent enormous gifts. The Kings of Nepal, Burma, the Czar of Russia and the Emperor of France wanted their embassies to be established at Lahore. When Fakeer Azizuddin, Maharaja's emissary, was asked by Lord Auckland at Simla which of the Maharaja's eyes was missing", he replied: "The Maharaja is like the Sun. Sun has only one eye. The splendour and the luminosity of his single eye is so much that I have never dared to look at the other eye!" Lord Auckland was so pleased with the reply that he gave his wristwatch to Maharaja's emissary as a present.

No wonder that when he fell seriously ill in the summer of 1839 there were continuous prayers, non-stop recitations in the temples, the mosques and the Gurudwaras for the recovery of their own 'Badshah' (King).

On 27th June, 1839, he breathed his last. He died 159 years ago. But he is still the ruler of the mind of Punjab, nay the whole of India.

[ElusiveFighter]

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a Lion. He was brave and skilful Warrior, who lead and fought in battle.

He was an astute and magnificent strategist.

He was truly egalitarian and people of all faiths blossomed and lived peacefully with each other under his rule.

He held Adi Granth in the highest esteem and always sought the Guru’s aagya before any task.

He respected the puratan authority of the Akaal Takht.

He was a world leading diplomat and politician.

He was humble.

He was compassionate.

He was Kind.

All Kings and world leaders of his age knew about him and were in awe of him. Many of them sent their diplomats to Punjab to establish relations.

In Maha-Shaheed Nihang Baba Gurbaksh Singh Ji’s sakha in Panth Pracheen Prakash, it is stated that all the Shaheeds came to collect Baba Ji from his Legendary Shaheedi at Darbar Sahib and decided to return him as a Ruler of Punjab as a reward. Such was the esteem that Maharaj Ranjit was held in.

Lastly, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a leader that only the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib could ever produce.

Earliest Portrait of Shere Punjab.

[HSD2]

Click on the comments below the title below, very interesting feedback from the Pakistani readers.

Ranjit Singh : The Quintessential Indus Man

June 29th, 2009 | 42 Comments

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

Today (29th June) is the 170th death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Bismarck of Punjab and Pakhtunkhwa, whose great Indus state was the forerunner of Pakistan.

Narrowminded ideologues – writing in the aftermath of bitter communal bloodletting accompanying the birth of Pakistan- have not been able to fully appreciate the significance of this great statesman to the state of Pakistan. If they were to apply their minds to the history of the Punjab from late 18th to mid 19th century theywould find in support of the legal arguments employed by Jinnah a hundred years later. The great tragedy ofcourse was that Sikh leadership could not come to terms with Jinnah in 1947 even though the latter had given them a blank cheque.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh literally cobbled together a number of principalities to forge an independent state from Kashmir to NWFP consisting of Punjabis and Pakhtuns, Muslims and Hindus. This state had its own foreign relations and foreign policy. It also showed that India was never one country but a continent which was to become the basic premise upon which Muslim League was t0 build its case for Pakistan. More importantly, however, Ranjit Singh laid the foundations for the Punjabi parochialism that was to create such a huge problem for both Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League, forcing the latter to search for a slogan that sought to tame this parochialism. It was this powerful parochialism that Jinnah referred to when he told Mountbatten that “A Punjabi is a Punjabi before he is a Muslim or Hindu ” while arguing against the partition of the province. This identity was given to the Punjabis by Ranjit Singh.

How did this one-eyed Sikh warrior manage to bring together Punjabi Musalmans, Sikhs, Hindus and Pushtun Musalmans together in this one great Sikh-dominated state remains a mystery. It is said that a calligrapher tried to sell a beautifully copy of the Quran to Ranjit Singh’s Foreign Minister Fakir Azizuddin who wouldn’t buy it. Ranjit Singh overheard the argument, took the Holy Quran, kissed it and bought it for a price in excess of what is being asked. When asked why he replied “God gave me one eye – so that I could see all religions with the same eye”. Our historians would have us believe that this man defiled the Badshahi Mosque.

Perhaps the most poignant lessons that the Pakistani state can learn from the Maharaja is the way he brought the <Edited>-led Islamist insurgency against the state in form of Syed Ahmad and Shah Abdul Aziz. These forerunners of the modern day Taliban and Al Qaeda had taken refuge in NWFP and had used the Pathan tribesmen to wage a “Jehad” against Ranjit Singh and his state which was in any event Muslim majority. Ranjit Singh and the Army of the Indus crushed this earliest insurgency of the Taliban, pushing back Afghans who had occupied Peshawar since Mahmud Ghaznavi’s time, thus establishing what was to become the permanent border of British India later and consequently Pakistan’s border. It is often said that the British and Russians failed to subdue insurgencies in the tribal area. It is suggested that the US might lose the war as well. However, Ranjit Singh proved that the Army of Indus could defeat this insurgency. Today another Army of the Indus is fighting yet another war in the same region to safeguard another Muslim majority state against a “Jehad”. Inshallah the Army of the Indus will overcome.

This is no call for Punjabi parochialism lest I be mistaken- I believe in Punjab being divided up into several provinces. My interest in Ranjit Singh is purely from a Pakistani angle. Just as we admire Tipu Sultan but do not become Mysore Nationalists, we don’t become Punjabi nationalists by admiring Ranjit Singh. This is however an attempt to honor one of the greatest sons of this soil from whom the Pakistani nation state can learn a thing or two in state-craft.

Considering what a mess they have made of Pakistan, it's no wonder they are claiming Maharaja Ranjit Singh for themselves. In reality they cant divide and break up Punjab and then try to emulate Maharajah Ranjit Singh and try to pretend his achievements were anything other than due the mix of the best qualities of being Punjabi and Sikh.

Ironically, it is the very fact that they consider themselves a muslim state that will be their undoing. When the West leaves, the Taliban will move on and Pakistan will reap what it's sown. Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Punjabi Army had no qualms about sorting them out. The Pakistani populace and military on the other hand arent. So let's see what happens.

[ks55]

Hold on if Maharaja Ranjit Singh was not an Amritdhari as You say, then why was he ordered to be lashed by Akali Phula Singh ji for his marrying a muslim woman (mora). Which i guess was his punishment for breaking rehat. ( Allthough he was forgiven and not lashed in the end)

Bhai Bhag Singh was his tutor who taught him about sikh history , Then Ranjit singh asked about his own ancestors he was told Sardar Budh Singh was your fathers grandfather, that is your great grandfather.

He had the honour and privilege of having been baptized by Guru Gobind Singh ji himself.

To which Ranjit singh exclaimed, How lucky he was! what would i not give to drink amrit from the tenth masters own hands!

He came from amritdhari ancestors, so why would he not be amritdhari, It makes no sense, His Mother In law Sada Kaur was amritdhari.

It was the time in our history when sikhi saroop, Amrit Gurus teaching were more important than ones own life!!

Sure he made mistakes and none of us are perfect even amritdharis, but no one says they are or at least i am not !

Please provide more info regarding this as i am always ready to learn, but i assumed he was.

WJKK WJKF

amritdhari ancestors or not - until one takes the dip himself - there is no way you can be amrtidhari just because your parents were ? which sikh refereance or history or maryada mentions that please?

[sat]

amritdhari ancestors or not - until one takes the dip himself - there is no way you can be amrtidhari just because your parents were ? which sikh refereance or history or maryada mentions that please?

Which Sikh reference or any other mentions that he was not Amritdhari , you made the statement in a previous post , i am not saying he was, just that i assumed he was and that if he was not then it makes no sense, for which i have given my reasons in my previous post and quoted from a piece of literature, i also asked you to provide some evidence to the statement in which you said he was not Amritdhari , but instead you have tried to side track the issue with another question, please provide supporting info to your statement that quote " Ranjit Singh did immense seva - even though not an Amritdhari ", otherwise i will assume it is just hear say you have heard or made up !, or like many non - amritdhari's are you trying to say that taking amrit is not important because Maharaja Ranjit Singh did not, but instead did immense sewa ! But let me say Maharaja Ranjit singh may have been Maharaja of Punjab but he was the dust of the feet of the Tenth Lord Guru Gobind Singh JI Maharaj who does say that Amrit And Rehat are a must for any one calling themselves a sikh.

[chatanga]

A very good topic, and as i am reading a lot in this subject would like to add a few words.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a great leader, he was not just a great Sikh leader. He had the respect and admiration of the other community's in Panjab, not in a whole measure but substantially. His determination and ability to make friends out of foes, is a rare trait in any human being, never mind a King.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh was summioned to Akal Takht for punishment bvy Akali Phoola Singh because he married a Muslim dancing girl called Moran.

From Sikhwiki regarding Akali Phoola Singh:

" A born leader, who lived his life in accordance with the moral codes of the Sikh Gurus, he even called Maharaja Ranjit Singh to task, when he married outside of the Sikh fold (he had married a Muslim woman, named Moran of Lahore). As the Jathedar of the Akal Takth, Akali Phula Singh, declared that Maharaja Ranjit singh was no longer a Sikh, declaring him to be a Tankhaiya (removed from the Sikh fold). He issued a Huknama, ordering the Maharaja to appear before the Sikh Sangat, in front of the Akal Takht (a tradition begun by Guru Hargobind that has been followed to this day.) To his credit, the mighty Maharaja answered the Huknama (order) of Akali Phula Singh. The humbled Ranjit Singh admitted that he had made a mistake. Akali Phula Singh then ordered a punishment of 50 lashes for Maharaja Ranjit Singh to be carried out immediately.

Ranjit Singh took off his shirt and bowed down to receive his punishment, seeing this Akali Phula Singh asked the Community (Sadh Sangat) to forgive the Maharaja for this mistake. And thus the Maharaja was pardoned, but not before he promised that he would not marry again. Maharaja Ranjit Singh who loved and respected the Harmandir and the Akal Takht, unlike many other monarchs of the World, never tried to replace Akali Phula Singh as Jathedar, remaining true to the authority he had invested in Akali Phula Singh."

There is more to this than just marrying a muslim woman. It was part the fact that Maharaja had stopped the whole convoy to look at this dance. Moran the woman who he eventually married, was one of his closest confidantes throughout his life thereafter.

Sure, as a Sikh, he can be severely criticised as someone who lacked restraint, especially in the kaam department. Plus it's well known that he took opium and drank alcohol.

No one can deny Ranjit Singh's inclusiveness and tolerance of differences was one of the key factors behind his success. Pair these with his worldly wisdom. He was astute and realistic. Today the lack of these very specific qualities amongst Sikhs has turned our once powerful community into a bunch of small time, myopic pendus, bickering over petty issues and completely failing to see the wider, global picture.

We need an independent, intelligent, astute leader like this man - who (by all alcounts and I've read many of them!) could mix it up with the most devious of diplomats from so-called advanced nations and out outmaneuver them, more than ever.

The question to ask may be:

Can we can really have a great, relevant, globally effective leader, today, who conforms to the rigid codes of behaviour/discipline that more conservative members of our wider society feel are absolutely essential to be a 'good Sikh' in this day and age?

He married a Muslim girl...and he put gold on major shrines in Sikhism. I heard in a katha that Guru Gobind Singh Ji didn't want Hazoor Sahib to be covered with gold

Having many wives is not an indication of being Kaami. Maharaja in his lifetime, only produced 8 children. If he was so indulgent in this area, with so many wives, we would have expected more children.

Dal Singh you ask, can we ever have such a leader again? I beleive we did have in Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He had these qualities of a world leader. He ran rings around the indian ministers, when they came to see him, and even Ram Jethmalaani had no answers to Sant Ji.

The question in this time, 2013, is who best fits this bill.

The creation of a monarchy did great damage to the Sikhs in the long term as after Ranjit Singhs death there was no strong single leader. If control had been passed to a Sarbat Khalsa we would have had stability instead of anarchy.

There was a sarbatio khalsa of sorts of Maharaja's passing, which came to be known as Khalsa Panchayat. For a time they kept some stability in the Kingdom, but other opposing factors were just too great.

If Maharaja had either, nurtured his son(s) in statemanship and running a kingdom, or reinstated Sarbat Khalsa there may well have been a different outcome.

This is the main negative of his rule. That no viable option of continuing the rule was given adequate consideration or practice.

A trend i fear is still running in the Panth today, especially in our numerous Gurdwaras.

[ks55]

Which Sikh reference or any other mentions that he was not Amritdhari , you made the statement in a previous post , i am not saying he was, just that i assumed he was and that if he was not then it makes no sense, for which i have given my reasons in my previous post and quoted from a piece of literature, i also asked you to provide some evidence to the statement in which you said he was not Amritdhari , but instead you have tried to side track the issue with another question, please provide supporting info to your statement that quote " Ranjit Singh did immense seva - even though not an Amritdhari ", otherwise i will assume it is just hear say you have heard or made up !, or like many non - amritdhari's are you trying to say that taking amrit is not important because Maharaja Ranjit Singh did not, but instead did immense sewa ! But let me say Maharaja Ranjit singh may have been Maharaja of Punjab but he was the dust of the feet of the Tenth Lord Guru Gobind Singh JI Maharaj who does say that Amrit And Rehat are a must for any one calling themselves a sikh.

agree he did sewa immense beyone our imagination - that's why he was great - but we all are human and make mistakes - so did he too- i have nothing further to add -

[sat]

agree he did sewa immense beyone our imagination - that's why he was great - but we all are human and make mistakes - so did he too- i have nothing further to add -

ok so you have no real evidence to back your previous comment that he was not Amritdhari !

please refrain from misleading people / sangat as we already have many people doing this and it does not help sikhi / panth !!

Dont listen to hear say from people who call themselves sikhs and make up stories to justify there reason for not taking Amrit.

[chatanga]

and he put gold on major shrines in Sikhism. I heard in a katha that Guru Gobind Singh Ji didn't want Hazoor Sahib to be covered with gold

apologies as i quoted this in a previous post but forgot to give a reply.

Hazoor Sahib was built well after Guru Gobind Singh's going to Sachkhand. The place where Guru Ji, left this earth, was marked out, but the site was washed away by a flood soon after.

The area was identified and a new gurdwara was built, and it was this building that Maharaja Ranjit Singh had built. Guru Ji supposedly said that whoever builds a Gurdwara in his name will have their family line end, but i havent actually seen or read anything that confirms this, rather it seems to be a tale to explain why Maharaja's family ended. What was shocking for me especially is that the symbol of dedication to the sewa of Gurdwaras, which we ask Waheguru for whenever we do Ardas, can be ignored and people can perpetuate the myth that Guru Ji would say this. In the lives of previous Guru's many Sikhs built Gurdwaras, but there was no such injunction then.

A few years, Nishkam Sewak Jatha guilded the dome at hazoor Sahib, but i havent noticed anything happening to their organisation as per 10th Guru's "saying". Rather they have strenghtened as a result if this sewa.

Maharaja also gave the equivalent weight in gold to Somnath Mandir, that he gave to Darbar Sahib.