Empire of the Sikh
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سرکار خالصہ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ਰਾਜ |
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Khālsā Rāj |
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| Empire of the Sikh | |||||
| 1799-1849 | |||||
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| Official language |
Panjabi ( officially ) Persian and Hindustani ( lingua franca ) |
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| Capital |
Gujranwala (1799–1802) Lahore and Amritsar (1802–1849) |
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| Form of government | Federal monarchy | ||||
| Head of state , also head of government |
Maharajah Ranjit Singh (1799–1839) Kharak Singh (1839) Nihal Singh (1839–1840) Sher Singh (1841–1843) Duleep Singh (1843–1849) |
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| surface | 491,464 km² | ||||
| population | 1,500,000 (1799) 3,000,000 (1849) |
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| Population density | 3 (1799) 6 (1849) inhabitants per km² |
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| currency | Nanakshahi | ||||
| National anthem | Deg Tegh Fateh | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +5 | ||||
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The Sikh empire ( Panjabi سکھ سلطنت , ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ਰਾਜ Khālsā Rāj ) existed from 1799 to 1849 in the area of the Punjab region in what is now India , Pakistan and in the northeast as far as China . The empire united under Maharajah Ranjit Singh from the twelve Misl of the Punjab region.
prehistory
The history of the origin of the empire goes back to the time of the tenth and last guru of the Sikhs Gobind Singh († October 7, 1708) and the reign of Aurangzeb († March 3, 1707), when the power of the Mughal empire gradually declined. The decline of the Mughal empire prompted the Sikh army under Dal Khalsa to carry out campaigns against the Baluch and Pashtuns . As a result, the army gained experience, which was previously led in a loose alliance and was divided according to the origin of its soldiers. Each of these units then took control of their area of origin and the soldiers returned to their hometowns.
The period from 1716 to 1799 was marked by political turbulence caused by the sinking Mughal Empire. The Sikh used this power vacuum to campaign against the Durrani Empire , Maratha , Baluch and Panjab Muslims to establish their own state. To this end, they founded their own regional administrations, the twelve Misls, which were united when the empire was founded.
founding
The official founding of the united Sikh empire took place with the coronation of Ranjit Singh on April 12, 1801, the day of the Vaisakh Festival , by Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Nanak Dev , the founder of Sikhism. Ranjit Singh rose from ruler of one of the twelve Misl to Maharajah of Punjab in a short time. He began modernizing the army and introducing new weapons and artillery. The leaders of the Misls were raised to the nobility and their families played a leading role in the history of the Sikhs.
The Sikhs organized a strong defense against foreign attacks, such as those commanded by Ahmad Shah Durrani , the founder of the Durrani Empire and by Nader Shah of the Persian Empire . The city of Amritsar has been attacked several times. This period is referred to by Sikh historians as the “heroic time”, which is primarily intended to describe the rise of the Sikhs to a regional power. At that time the Sikh represented a smaller religious group in the neighborhood of the major religions Islam and Hinduism with many followers. 80% of the population were Muslim , 10% Sikhs and 10% Hindu . Gujranwala served as the capital from 1799, which was moved to Lahore and Amritsar in 1802 .
Under Maharajah Ranjit Singh, the Sikh Empire was at the height of its power, stretching from the Chaiber Pass in the west to Tibet in the east and from Kashmir in the north to Sindh in the south. Ranjit Singh commanded an army of 40,000 men, which was organized on the European model and included mercenaries from several countries.
The End
After Ranjit Singh's death, the empire was weakened by internal tensions and political mismanagement. The British East India Company took advantage of this and started the First Sikh War to annex the empire to their Indian possessions.
The British were victorious in the Battle of Mudki on December 18, 1845, whereupon the Sikh withdrew and the British reinforced their army. On December 21st, the Battle of Ferozeshah took place , which ended with a narrow victory for the British. On January 28, 1846, the Battle of Aliwal , again victorious for the British, forced the Sikh leaders to negotiate with the British for the first time. Since the Sikhs could not meet the demands of the British for the dissolution of the Sikh army due to a lack of authority, the British saw themselves forced to the Battle of Sobraon , which ended with the surrender of the Sikh troops. The British victory was favored by the betrayal of Sikh leaders Gulab Singh, Tej Singh and Lal Singh, whose reward was demanded by the British. The British forced the empire to become dependent on British India, to reduce the size of the army, to cede Jalandhar Doab and to allow its own troops to pass through. Since the compensation claim of 1,500,000 pounds could not be met, the Sikhs had to cede Kashmir to British India in 1846, where Ghulab Singh was installed as maharajah in November of the same year.
In April 1848 a riot broke out after the murder of two British envoys in Punjab, which led to the Second Sikh War . The Battle of Ramnagar on November 22, 1848 ended without a clear winner, as did the Battle of Chilianwala on October 13, 1848. Meanwhile, the British took the city of Multan on January 2, 1849 , whereupon the army marched towards Lahore. Before the troops could reach the city, the Battle of Gujrat took place on February 20, 1849 , which ended with the complete defeat of Sher Singh and the rest of his troops surrendered on March 14, 1849. The remaining Sikh went to the Battle of Gujrat that ended in final defeat. The Sikhs surrendered on March 31, 1849, Maharajah Dalip Singh Sukerchakia was forced to abdicate and the Punjab was incorporated into British India. With this, the last independent state in India disappeared, the border of which was shifted to the emirate of Afghanistan , where the Russian area of interest was already located. The British temporarily renounced the conquest of Afghanistan, which served as a buffer state. The conquest of Punjab and later Avadh led to the Indian uprising of 1857 of the disappointed Indian population.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Ian Heath: The Sikh Army 1799-1849 . Ed .: Osprey Publishing. 2005, ISBN 978-1-84176-777-2 ( books.google.com [accessed July 4, 2011]).
- ↑ a b Ranjit Singh . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 22 : Poll - Reeves . London 1911, p. 892 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
- ↑ JS Grewal: The Sikh empire (1799-1849) . In: Cambridge University Press (Ed.): The New Cambridge History of India . 1990 ( histories.cambridge.org ).
- ^ Ranjit Singh, Maharaja. (No longer available online.) Sikhcybermuseum.org.uk, archived from the original on August 15, 2007 ; accessed on July 4, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ KS Duggal: Ranjit Singh: A Secular Sikh Sovereign . 1989, ISBN 81-7017-244-6 (English, exoticindiaart.com [accessed July 4, 2011]).
- ↑ George Bruce Malleson: The Decisive Battles of India. From 1746 to 1849 inclusive. Associated Publishing House, New Delhi 1973, ISBN 0-336-00400-1 , p. 318 f. (English).
- ^ ER Crawford: The Sikh Wars, 1845-49. In: Brian Bond (ed.): Victorian Military Campaigns. New York 1967. p. 43.
- ↑ KK Datta (Ed.): A Comprehensive History of India . Volume 11: The Consolidation of British Rule in India. New Delhi 1985, p. 28.
- ^ Edward Penderel Moon: The British Conquest and Dominion of India. London 1990, pp. 601 f.
literature
- Ian Heath: The Sikh Army 1799-1849 . Ed .: Osprey Publishing [UK]. 2005, ISBN 1-84176-777-8 .
- Sewa Singh Kalsi: Sikhism (Religions of the World) . Ed .: Chelsea House Publications. 2005, ISBN 0-7910-8098-6 .
- Markovits Claude: A history of modern India, 1480–1950 . Ed .: Anthem Press. London UK 2004, ISBN 1-84331-152-6 .
- Johar Surinder Singh: Guru Tegh Bahadur . Ed .: University of Wisconsin, Madison Center for South Asian Studies. 1975, ISBN 81-7017-030-3 ( books.google.com ).
- Pritam Singh: Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy . Ed .: Routledge. 2008, ISBN 978-0-415-45666-1 , pp. 25-26 ( books.google.com ).
- Eleanor Nesbitt: Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction . Ed .: Oxford University Press, USA. 2005, ISBN 0-19-280601-7 , pp. 61 .
Web links
- The Sikh Confederation (English) ( Memento of 9 December 2012 at the Internet Archive )
- The Confederation of Punjab (English)
- The Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh (English)
- The Battle of Jamrud (English)