Give the background and early life of Ranjit Singh.

Ranjit Singh was born in 1780 at Gujranwala into the Sukerchakia misl, lost an eye to smallpox as an infant, and became leader of his misl while still a boy after his father's death.

The misls were the twelve independent Sikh confederacies that ruled parts of the Punjab in the eighteenth century, each with its own chief and territory.

How did Ranjit Singh come to power in the Punjab?

He took Lahore in 1799 and was proclaimed Maharaja in 1801, then took Amritsar and absorbed the other misls, so that the divided Sikh chieftaincies became a single state.

How far did the Sikh empire extend at its height?

It covered the Punjab and reached to Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar, holding the north-western passes through which invaders had entered India for centuries.

What did the Treaty of Amritsar of 1809 settle?

It fixed the river Sutlej as the boundary between Ranjit Singh's territory and the area under British protection, which secured his eastern frontier and turned his expansion northwards and westwards.

WJEC A-Level Religious Studies 603-0277-X

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Sikhism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures

Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Sikh empire

3 things to know
A2 Unit 3

Overview

Recall questions on the misls, his rise in the Punjab, the empire's extent, the Treaty of Amritsar, the coinage, religious freedom, the Harmandir Sahib, and what followed his death.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What were the misls?

Numbers

Distinguish the founding of the Khalsa in 1699 from the Khalsa state of Ranjit Singh.

Key term

Give evidence that the Sikh empire granted religious freedom.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Give the background and early life of Ranjit Singh.
Model answer
Ranjit Singh was born in 1780 at Gujranwala into the Sukerchakia misl, lost an eye to smallpox as an infant, and became leader of his misl while still a boy after his father's death.
2
What were the misls?
Model answer
The misls were the twelve independent Sikh confederacies that ruled parts of the Punjab in the eighteenth century, each with its own chief and territory.
3
How did Ranjit Singh come to power in the Punjab?
Model answer
He took Lahore in 1799 and was proclaimed Maharaja in 1801, then took Amritsar and absorbed the other misls, so that the divided Sikh chieftaincies became a single state.
4
Distinguish the founding of the Khalsa in 1699 from the Khalsa state of Ranjit Singh.
Model answer
The Khalsa as an order of initiated Sikhs was created by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699; what Ranjit Singh founded a century later was a kingdom governed in the name of that order, which he called Sarkar Khalsaji.
5
How far did the Sikh empire extend at its height?
Model answer
It covered the Punjab and reached to Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar, holding the north-western passes through which invaders had entered India for centuries.
6
What did the Treaty of Amritsar of 1809 settle?
Model answer
It fixed the river Sutlej as the boundary between Ranjit Singh's territory and the area under British protection, which secured his eastern frontier and turned his expansion northwards and westwards.

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