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118-625: The Akal Takht ( Gurmukhi : ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ, Punjabi pronunciation: [äːkäːl t̪axt] ; lit.   ' Throne of the Timeless One ' ; originally Akal Bunga ) is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikhs . It is located in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab , India. The Akal Takht (originally called Akal Bunga) was built by Guru Hargobind as

236-487: A couch whilst being attended upon by both Lakshmana and Hanuman . The ninth panel illustrated a scene of a hunting expedition involving a horse and three hunting hounds in an advancing pose. Finally, the last and tenth panel represented a scene of the Vaisakhi events of 1699 at Anandpur, where Guru Gobind Singh prepares Amrit for the newly introduced Amrit Sanchar ceremony whilst Mata Jito appends sugar crystals to

354-667: A diplomatic channel with the British; in 1828, he sent gifts to George IV and in 1831, he sent a mission to Simla to confer with the British Governor General, William Bentinck , which was followed by the Ropar Meeting ; while in 1838, he cooperated with them in removing the hostile Islamic Emir in Afghanistan. As consistent with many Punjabis of that time, Ranjit Singh was a secular king and followed

472-475: A later dating. The first-ever structure erected on the premises was an open brick platform consecrated by Guru Hargobind. Later, a hall would be erected at the site. In the 18th century, Ahmed Shah Abdali and Massa Rangar led a series of attacks on the Akal Takht and Harmandir Sahib . Takht which is on the first floor was rebuilt in brick in 1774, under Sultan-ul-Qaum Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (1718–1783) –

590-401: A list of just sixteen wives and their pension list. Most of his marriages were performed through chādar andāz. Some scholars note that the information on Ranjit Singh's marriages is unclear, and there is evidence that he had many concubines. Dr. Priya Atwal presents an official list of Ranjit Singh's thirty wives. The women married through chādar andāzī were noted as concubines and were known as

708-434: A long vowel (/a:/, /e:/, /i:/, /o:/, /u:/, /ɛ:/, /ɔː/, which triggers shortening in these vowels) in the penult of a word, e.g. ਔਖਾ aukkhā "difficult", ਕੀਤੀ kī̆ttī "did", ਪੋਤਾ pō̆ttā "grandson", ਪੰਜਾਬੀ panjā̆bbī "Punjabi", ਹਾਕ hākă "call, shout", but plural ਹਾਕਾਂ hā̆kkā̃ . Except in this case, where this unmarked gemination is often etymologically rooted in archaic forms, and has become phonotactically regular,

826-880: A place of justice and consideration of temporal issues; the highest seat of earthly authority of the Khalsa (the collective body of the Sikhs) and the place of the Jathedar , the highest spokesman of the Sikhs. The position of the Jathedar is disputed between the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee who appointed Giani Raghubir Singh as the acting Jathedar in 2023, and the Sarbat Khalsa organized by some Sikh organizations in 2015. Due to

944-514: A religious diversity. His army included Polish, Russian, Spanish, Prussian and French officers. In 1835, as his relationship with the British warmed up, he hired a British officer named Foulkes. However, the Khalsa army of Ranjit Singh reflected the regional population, and as he grew his army, he dramatically increased the Rajputs and the Sikhs who became the predominant members of his army. In

1062-547: A subscript ਵ would produce ਸ੍ਵ ( sʋə- ) as in the Sanskrit word ਸ੍ਵਰਗ (/ sʋə ɾᵊgə/, "heaven"), but followed by a regular ਵ would yield ਸਵ - ( səʋ- ) as in the common word ਸਵਰਗ (/ səʋ əɾᵊgə̆/, "heaven"), borrowed earlier from Sanskrit but subsequently changed. The natural Punjabi reflex, ਸੁਰਗ /sʊɾᵊgə̆/, is also used in everyday speech. For example, the regular ਹ is used after vowels as in ਮੀਂਹ (transcribed as mĩh ( IPA: [míː] ), "rain"). The subjoined ਹ ( ha ) acts

1180-760: A treaty with the British viceroy Lord Auckland to restore Shah Shoja to the Afghan throne in Kabul. In pursuance of this agreement, the British army of the Indus entered Afghanistan from the south, while Ranjit Singh's troops went through the Khyber Pass and took part in the victory parade in Kabul. The Sikh Empire, also known as the Sikh Raj and Sarkar-a-Khalsa, was in the Punjab region, the name of which means "the land of

1298-496: Is also a conjunct form of the letter yayyā , ਯ→੍ਯ , a later form, which functions similarly to the yakaśă , and is used exclusively for Sanskrit borrowings, and even then rarely. In addition, miniaturized versions of the letters ਚ, ਟ, ਤ, and ਨ are also found in limited use as subscript letters in Sikh scripture. Only the subjoined /ɾə/ and /hə/ are commonly used; usage of the subjoined /ʋə/ and conjoined forms of /jə/, already rare,

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1416-476: Is derived from Sharada in the Northwestern group, of which it is the only major surviving member, with full modern currency. Notable features include: Gurmukhi evolved in cultural and historical circumstances notably different from other regional scripts, for the purpose of recording scriptures of Sikhism , a far less Sanskritized cultural tradition than others of the subcontinent. This independence from

1534-984: Is generally believed to have roots in the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet by way of the Brahmi script , which developed further into the Northwestern group ( Sharada , or Śāradā, and its descendants, including Landa and Takri ), the Central group ( Nagari and its descendants, including Devanagari , Gujarati and Modi ) and the Eastern group (evolved from Siddhaṃ , including Bangla , Tibetan , and some Nepali scripts), as well as several prominent writing systems of Southeast Asia and Sinhala in Sri Lanka, in addition to scripts used historically in Central Asia for extinct languages like Saka and Tocharian . Gurmukhi

1652-446: Is increasingly scarce in modern contexts. To express vowels (singular, sură ), Gurmukhī, as an abugida , makes use of obligatory diacritics called lagā̃ . Gurmukhī is similar to Brahmi scripts in that all consonants are followed by an inherent schwa sound. This inherent vowel sound can be changed by using dependent vowel signs which attach to a bearing consonant. In some cases, dependent vowel signs cannot be used – at

1770-501: Is not always obligatory: The letter ਸ਼, already in use by the time of the earliest Punjabi grammars produced, along with ਜ਼ and ਲ਼, enabled the previously unmarked distinction of /s/ and the well-established phoneme /ʃ/, which is used even in native echo doublets e.g. rō̆ṭṭī-śō̆ṭṭī "stuff to eat"; the loansounds f , z , x , and ġ as distinct phonemes are less well-established, decreasing in that order and often dependent on exposure to Hindi-Urdu norms. The character ਲ਼ ( ḷa ),

1888-604: Is not used when writing Punjabi in Gurmukhī. However, it may occasionally be used in Sanskritised text or in dictionaries for extra phonetic information. When it is used, it represents the suppression of the inherent vowel. The effect of this is shown below: The ḍaṇḍī (।) is used in Gurmukhi to mark the end of a sentence. A doubled ḍaṇḍī , or doḍaṇḍī (॥) marks the end of a verse. The visarga symbol (ਃ U+0A03)

2006-513: Is responsible for adding the golden dome at the top of the edifice. Maharaja Ranjit Singh's revamping of the building in the first half of the 19th century raised the number of stories of the structure to five. The murals that had existed in the original building had been painted around the mid-19th century. There were murals decorating the walls of the first and second stories. The structure was then rebuilt twice: once immediately after Operation Blue Star in 1984 and then again in 1986. The Akal Takht

2124-426: Is said that Ishar Singh was not the biological son of Mehtab Kaur and Ranjit Singh, but only procured by Mehtab Kaur and presented to Ranjit Singh who accepted him as his son. Tara Singh and Sher Singh had similar rumours, it is said that Sher Singh was the son of a chintz weaver, Nahala and Tara Singh was the son of Manki, a servant in the household of Sada Kaur . Henry Edward Fane, the nephew and aide-de-camp to

2242-557: Is used in all spheres of culture, arts, education, and administration, with a firmly established common and secular character. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic , and is currently the 14th most used script in the world. The prevalent view among Punjabi linguists is that as in the early stages the Gurmukhī letters were primarily used by the Guru's followers, gurmukhs (literally, those who face, or follow,

2360-634: Is used very occasionally in Gurmukhī. It can represent an abbreviation, as the period is used in English, though the period for abbreviation, like commas, exclamation points, and other Western punctuation, is freely used in modern Gurmukhī. Gurmukhī has its own set of digits, which function exactly as in other versions of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system . These are used extensively in older texts. In modern contexts, they are sometimes replaced by standard Western Arabic numerals . *In some Punjabi dialects,

2478-534: The Afghans throughout his teenage years. At the age of 21, he was proclaimed the "Maharaja of Punjab". His empire grew in the Punjab region under his leadership through 1839. Before his rise, the Punjab region had numerous warring misls (confederacies), twelve of which were under Sikh rulers and one Muslim. Ranjit Singh successfully absorbed and united the Sikh misls and took over other local kingdoms to create

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2596-630: The Chattha chieftain Pir Muhammad. Ranjit Singh contracted smallpox as an infant, which resulted in the loss of sight in his left eye and a pockmarked face. He was short in stature, never schooled, and did not learn to read or write anything beyond the Gurmukhi alphabet. However, he was trained at home in horse riding, musketry and other martial arts. At age 12, his father died. He then inherited his father's Sukerchakia Misl estates and

2714-486: The Kashmiri language . With the last known inscription dating to 1204 C.E., the early 13th century marks a milestone in the development of Sharada. The regional variety in Punjab continued to evolve from this stage through the 14th century; during this period it starts to appear in forms closely resembling Gurmukhī and other Landa scripts . By the 15th century, Sharada had evolved so considerably that epigraphists denote

2832-564: The Khalsa community of Sikh warriors by Guru Gobind Singh accelerated the decay and fragmentation of the Mughal power in the region. Raiding Afghans attacked the Indus river valleys but met resistance from both organised armies of the Khalsa Sikhs as well as irregular Khalsa militias based in villages. The Sikhs had appointed own zamindars , replacing the previous Muslim revenue collectors, which provided resources to feed and strengthen

2950-475: The Nakai Misl in 1797 and she turned into Ranjit's most beloved wife. Mehtab Kaur had three sons, Ishar Singh who was born in 1804 and died in infancy. In 1807 she had Sher Singh and Tara Singh . According to historian Jean-Marie Lafont, she was the only one to bear the title of Maharani . She died in 1813, after suffering from failing health. His second marriage was to, Datar Kaur (Born Raj Kaur )

3068-617: The Nihangs , whose leader Akali Phula Singh was the Jathedar of the Akal Takht . When Ranjit Singh visited Amritsar , he was called outside the Akal Takht, where he was made to apologise for his mistakes. Akali Phula Singh took Ranjit Singh to a tamarind tree in front of the Akal Takht and prepared to punish him by flogging him. Then Akali Phula Singh asked the nearby Sikh pilgrims whether they approved of Ranjit Singh's apology. The pilgrims responded with Sat Sri Akal and Ranjit Singh

3186-516: The Sikh Empire , serving on the throne of Punjab from 1801; of Jammu from 1808; and of Kashmir from 1819, until his death in 1839. He ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10. After his father died around Ranjit's early teenage years, Ranjit subsequently fought several wars to expel

3304-496: The gurmata and provided significant patronage to the Udasi and Nirmala sect, leading to their prominence and control of Sikh religious affairs. The army under Ranjit Singh was not limited to the Sikh community. The soldiers and troop officers included Sikhs, but also included Hindus, Muslims and Europeans. Hindu Brahmins and people of all creeds and castes served his army, while the composition in his government also reflected

3422-612: The jathedar of the Akal Takht invited the fourteenth jathedar of Damdami taksal Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale , who was on the run for radicalized militancy in Punjab, popular in much of rural Punjab, to hide in the Golden Temple Complex , later moving to the Akal Takht to protect himself from getting arrested. Between 3 June and 8 June 1984, the Indian army conducted a counter-insurgency operation, ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to arrest Bhindranwale. The Akal Takht

3540-673: The mukhă (face, or mouth) of the Gurus. Consequently, the script that was used to write the resulting scripture may have also been designated with the same name. The name for the Perso–Arabic alphabet for the Punjabi language, Shahmukhi , was modeled on the term Gurmukhi . The Gurmukhī alphabet contains thirty-five base letters ( akkhară ), traditionally arranged in seven rows of five letters each. The first three letters, or mātarā vāhakă ("vowel bearer"), are distinct because they form

3658-438: The 1800s. Contemporary restoration work found a layer of paint-decorated lime plaster that might have been part of the original structure but later than the time of Harminder. A unique aspect of the Akal Takht is that it flies two Nishan Sahibs rather than one. The two flags are said to represent the two-sword concept of miri-piri . In July 1983, the Sikh political party Akali Dal 's President Harcharan Singh Longowal and

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3776-486: The 35 original letters, there are six supplementary consonants in official usage, referred to as the navīnă ṭollī or navīnă vargă , meaning "new group", created by placing a dot ( bindī ) at the foot ( pairă ) of the consonant to create pairĭ bindī consonants. These are not present in the Guru Granth Sahib or old texts. These are used most often for loanwords, though not exclusively, and their usage

3894-453: The Afghan army. Much of the Afghan army retreated back to Afghanistan. In 1799, Raja Ranjit Singh's army of 25,000 Khalsa , supported by another 25,000 Khalsa led by his mother-in-law Rani Sada Kaur of Kanhaiya misl , in a joint operation attacked the region controlled by Bhangi Sikhs centered around Lahore. The rulers escaped, marking Lahore as the first major conquest of Ranjit Singh. The Sufi Muslim and Hindu population of Lahore welcomed

4012-590: The Afghan forces of Nadir Shah and later Azim Khan. His court was ecumenical in composition: his prime minister, Dhian Singh , was a Hindu ( Dogra ); his foreign minister, Fakir Azizuddin , was a Muslim; and his finance minister, Dina Nath, was also a Hindu ( Brahmin ). Artillery commanders such as Mian Ghausa were also Muslims. There were no forced conversions in his time. His wives Bibi Mohran, Gilbahar Begum retained their faith and so did his Hindu wives. He also employed and surrounded himself with astrologers and soothsayers in his court. Ranjit Singh had also abolished

4130-466: The Akal Takht can look upon the Harmandir Sahib and remember the importance of spirituality. Thus, it is a representation of the co-dependence of religion and politics and that one cannot exist without being balanced by the other, just like limbs of a body. The modern building is a five-story structure with marble inlay and a gold-leafed dome. Three of the stories were added by Ranjit Singh in

4248-424: The Akal Takht, to save it from destruction by ignorant Kar Seva volunteers who had no idea of its importance. The present-day Akal Takht lacks many of the historical and cultural intangible heritage that was once found in the original structure. Conservators have raised alarms that the present structure was not designed with the traditional Sikh art style in-mind. They further claimed that any present art works within

4366-800: The British officials of the East India Company, in which he agreed that his Sikh forces would not attempt to expand south of the Sutlej River, and the Company agreed that it would not attempt to militarily cross the Sutlej River into the Sikh territory. In 1807, Ranjit Singh's forces attacked the Muslim ruled Kasur and, after a month of fierce fighting in the Battle of Kasur defeated the Afghan chief Qutb-ud-Din, thus expanding his empire northwest towards Afghanistan. He took Multan in 1818, and

4484-828: The Commander-in-Chief, India, General Sir Henry Fane, who spent several days in Ranjit Singh's company, reported, "Though reported to be the Maharaja's son, Sher Singh's father has never thoroughly acknowledged him, though his mother always insisted on his being so. A brother of Sher, Tara Singh by the same mother, has been even worse treated than himself, not being permitted to appear at court, and no office given him, either of profit or honour." Five Years in India , Volume 1, Henry Edward Fane, London, 1842 Multana Singh , Kashmira Singh and Pashaura Singh were sons of

4602-684: The Doaba region his army was composed of the Jat Sikhs, in Jammu and northern Indian hills it was Hindu Rajputs, while relatively more Muslims served his army in the Jhelum river area closer to Afghanistan than other major Panjab rivers. Ranjit Singh changed and improved the training and organisation of his army. He reorganised responsibility and set performance standards in logistical efficiency in troop deployment, manoeuvre , and marksmanship . He reformed

4720-412: The Guru, as opposed to a manmukh ); the script thus came to be known as gurmukhī , "the script of those guided by the Guru." Guru Angad is credited in the Sikh tradition with the creation and standardization of Gurmukhi script from earlier Śāradā -descended scripts native to the region. It is now the standard writing script for the Punjabi language in India. The original Sikh scriptures and most of

4838-576: The Maharaja or coins being struck in her name. Bibi Moran spent the rest of life in Pathankot. Duleep Singh makes a list of his father's queens which also does not mention Bibi Moran. After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal Empire fell apart and declined in its ability to tax or govern most of the Indian subcontinent. In the northwestern region, particularly the Punjab, the creation of

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4956-624: The Panjab region into his control through his general Shahanchi Khan and 12,000 soldiers. The battle was fought in the territory that fell in Ranjit Singh's controlled misl, whose regional knowledge and warrior expertise helped resist the invading army. This victory at the Battle of Amritsar (1798) gained him recognition. In 1798, the Afghan ruler sent in another army, which Ranjit Singh did not resist. He let them enter Lahore, then encircled them with his army, blocked off all food and supplies, and burnt all crops and food sources that could have supported

5074-608: The Phulkias misl had switched loyalties in the late 18th century and supported the Afghan army invasion against their Khalsa brethren. The Kasur region, ruled by Muslims, always supported the Afghan invasion forces and joined them in plundering Sikh misls during the war. Ranjit Singh's fame grew in 1797, at age 17, when the Afghan Muslim ruler Shah Zaman, of the Ahmad Shah Abdali dynasty , attempted to annex

5192-683: The Punjabi language is its tone system. The script has no separate symbol for tones, but they correspond to the tonal consonants that once represented voiced aspirates as well as older * h . To differentiate between consonants, the Punjabi tonal consonants of the fourth column, ਘ kà , ਝ cà , ਢ ṭà , ਧ tà , and ਭ pà , are often transliterated in the way of the voiced aspirate consonants gha , jha , ḍha , dha , and bha respectively, although Punjabi lacks these sounds. Tones in Punjabi can be either rising, neutral, or falling: The letters now always represent unaspirated consonants, and are unvoiced in onset positions and voiced elsewhere. In addition to

5310-410: The Punjabi language, it served as the main medium of literacy in Punjab and adjoining areas for centuries when the earliest schools were attached to gurdwaras . The first natively produced grammars of the Punjabi language were written in the 1860s in Gurmukhi. The Singh Sabha Movement of the late 19th century, a movement to revitalize Sikh institutions which had declined during colonial rule after

5428-658: The Sanskritic model allowed it the freedom to evolve unique orthographical features. These include: and other features. From the 10th century onwards, regional differences started to appear between the Sharada script used in Punjab, the Hill States (partly Himachal Pradesh ) and Kashmir . Sharada proper was eventually restricted to very limited ceremonial use in Kashmir, as it grew increasingly unsuitable for writing

5546-571: The Sikh Empire. He repeatedly defeated invasions by outside armies , particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, and established friendly relations with the British . Ranjit Singh's reign introduced reforms, modernisation, investment in infrastructure and general prosperity. His Khalsa army and government included Sikhs , Hindus , Muslims and Europeans . His legacy includes a period of Sikh cultural and artistic renaissance, including

5664-492: The Sikh forces against the Afghan forces of Shah Mahmud led by Fateh Khan Barakzai. The Afghans lost their stronghold at Attock in that battle. In 1813–14, Ranjit Singh's first attempt to expand into Kashmir was foiled by Afghan forces led by Azim Khan , due to a heavy downpour, the spread of cholera, and poor food supply to his troops. In 1818, Darbar's forces led by Kharak Singh and Misr Dewan Chand occupied Multan, killing Muzaffar Khan and defeating his forces, leading to

5782-592: The Sikh path. His policies were based on respect for all communities, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim. A devoted Sikh, Ranjit Singh restored and built historic Sikh Gurdwaras – most famously, the Harmandir Sahib , and used to celebrate his victories by offering thanks at the Harmandir. He also joined the Hindus in their temples out of respect for their sentiments. The veneration of cows was promoted and cow slaughter

5900-408: The Sikh people could be addressed. Along with Baba Buddha and Bhai Gurdas , the sixth Sikh Guru built a 9-foot-high concrete slab. When Guru Hargobind revealed the platform on 15 June 1606, he put on two swords : one indicated his spiritual authority ( piri ) and the other, his temporal authority ( miri ). According to Kanwarjit Singh Kang, the platform raised by Guru Hargobind was built in 1609,

6018-595: The Sikhs led by him and the Afghans, which displayed the extent of the western boundaries of the Sikh Empire. On 25 November 1838, the two most powerful armies on the Indian subcontinent assembled in a grand review at Ferozepore as Ranjit Singh, the Maharajah of the Punjab brought out the Dal Khalsa to march alongside the sepoy troops of the East India Company and the British troops in India. In 1838, he agreed to

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6136-717: The Sikhs. The Takri alphabet developed through the Dēvāśēṣa stage of the Sharada script from the 14th-18th centuries and is found mainly in the Hill States such as Chamba, Himachal Pradesh and surrounding areas, where it is called Chambeali . In Jammu Division , it developed into Dogri, which was a "highly imperfect" script later consciously influenced in part by Gurmukhi during the late 19th century, possibly to provide it an air of authority by having it resemble scripts already established in official and literary capacities, though not displacing Takri. The local Takri variants got

6254-630: The State. During the expedition to Multan in 1818 , she was given command alongside her son, Kharak Singh . Throughout his life she remained Ranjit Singh's favorite and for no other did he have greater respect for than Datar Kaur, who he affectionately called Mai Nakain. Even though she was his second wife she became his principal wife and chief consort. During a hunting trip with Ranjit Singh, she fell ill and died on 20 June 1838. Ratan Kaur and Daya Kaur were wives of Sahib Singh Bhangi of Gujrat (a misl north of Lahore, not to be confused with

6372-499: The Takht, which led to the government military operation and the original shrine's destruction in the ensuing conflict. He claimed that he had done a great service for the Sikhs by rebuilding the structure. A few years later, Bhindranwale's successor from Damdami Taksal, Baba Thakur Singh, had the government-sponsored rebuilt Akal Takht demolished, and rebuilt after resolutions were passed by Sarbat Khalsa 1986. The rebuilt Akal Takht under

6490-403: The basis for independent vowels and are not consonants, or vianjană , like the remaining letters are, and except for the second letter aiṛā are never used on their own; see § Vowel diacritics for further details. The pair of fricatives, or mūlă vargă ("base class"), share the row, which is followed by the next five sets of consonants, with the consonants in each row being homorganic ,

6608-422: The beginning of a word or syllable for instance – and so an independent vowel character is used instead. Independent vowels are constructed using the three vowel-bearing characters: ੳ ūṛā , ਅ aiṛā , and ੲ īṛī . With the exception of aiṛā (which in isolation represents the vowel [ ə ] ), the bearer vowels are never used without additional vowel diacritics. Vowels are always pronounced after

6726-619: The consonant they are attached to. Thus, siā̀rī is always written to the left, but pronounced after the character on the right. When constructing the independent vowel for [ oː ] , ūṛā takes an irregular form instead of using the usual hōṛā . Gurmukhi orthography prefers vowel sequences over the use of semivowels ("y" or "w") intervocally and in syllable nuclei , as in the words ਦਿਸਾਇਆ disāiā "caused to be visible" rather than disāyā , ਦਿਆਰ diāră "cedar" rather than dyāră , and ਸੁਆਦ suādă "taste" rather than swādă , permitting vowels in hiatus . In terms of tone orthography,

6844-555: The end of Afghan influence in the Punjab. In July 1818, an army from the Punjab defeated Jabbar Khan, a younger brother of the governor of Kashmir Azim Khan, and acquired Kashmir, along with a yearly revenue of Rs seventy lacs. Dewan Moti Ram was appointed governor of Kashmir. In 1823, Yusufzai Pashtuns fought the army of Ranjit Sing north of the Kabul River . In 1834, Mohammed Azim Khan once again marched towards Peshawar with an army of 25,000 Khattak and Yasufzai tribesmen in

6962-419: The event of external invasion such as from the Muslim armies of Ahmed Shah Abdali from Afghanistan, they would usually unite. Towards the end of 18th century, the five most powerful misls were those of Sukkarchakkia, Kanhayas, Nakkais, Ahluwalias and Bhangi Sikhs. Ranjit Singh belonged to the first, and through marriage had a reliable alliance with Kanhayas and Nakkais. Among the smaller misls, some such as

7080-487: The fall of the Sikh Empire, also advocated for the usage of the Gurmukhi script for mass media , with print media publications and Punjabi-language newspapers established in the 1880s. Later in the 20th century, after the struggle of the Punjabi Suba movement , from the founding of modern India in the 1940s to the 1960s, the script was given the authority as the official state script of the Punjab, India , where it

7198-509: The final spouse of Ranjit Singh. Her father, Manna Singh Aulakh, extolled her virtues to Ranjit Singh, who was concerned about the frail health of his only heir Kharak Singh. The Maharaja married her in 1835 by 'sending his arrow and sword to her village'. On 6 September 1838 she gave birth to Duleep Singh , who became the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire . His other wives included, Mehtab Devi of Kangara also called Guddan or Katochan and Raj Banso, daughters of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra. He

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7316-585: The five rivers". The five rivers are the Beas , Ravi , Sutlej , Chenab and Jhelum , all of which are tributaries of the river Indus . The geographical reach of the Sikh Empire under Singh included all lands north of Sutlej River, and south of the high valleys of the northwestern Himalayas. The major towns at the time included Srinagar, Attock, Peshawar, Bannu, Rawalpindi, Jammu, Gujrat, Sialkot, Kangra, Amritsar, Lahore and Multan. Muslims formed around 70%, Hindus formed around 24%, and Sikhs formed around 6–7% of

7434-409: The following consonant is geminated , and is placed above the consonant preceding the geminated one. Consonant length is distinctive in the Punjabi language and the use of this diacritic can change the meaning of a word, as below: It has not been standardized to be written in all instances of gemination; there is a strong tendency, especially in rural dialects, to also geminate consonants following

7552-426: The following epochs, Gurmukhī became the primary script for the literary writings of the Sikhs. Playing a significant role in Sikh faith and tradition, it expanded from its original use for Sikh scriptures and developed its own orthographical rules, spreading widely under the Sikh Empire and used by Sikh kings and chiefs of Punjab for administrative purposes. Also playing a major role in consolidating and standardizing

7670-443: The formulae he is stirring, whilst the inaugural Panj Piare watch-on. After Operation Blue Star, the surviving Akal Takht structure still contained historical artwork dating to the mid-to-late 18th century, such as ivory mosaic work, in-laid stone work ( jaratkari ), and wall paintings (murals). The murals had depicted Indic mythological scenes, deities, and bhagats and had been painted by expert Sikh artisans ( naqqashis ). Of

7788-402: The frescoes, there were depictions of Krishna accepting wet rice from Sudama , Rama , Bhagat Dhanna , Bhagat Dhruv , and of Bhagat Kabir at work as a weaver in a hut alongside Mai Loi (Kabir's wife). There also were lion figurines made of marble. They survived until January 1986, when the Takht was completely demolished to make way for the present-day structure. During the destruction of

7906-406: The government-sponsored kar seva work. Many institutions such as the Damdami Taksal , felt that the Nihang Singhs should not have taken money from the government to rebuild the Takht, and thus protested against the effort. Some Sikhs termed the government-sponsored kar seva work by Santa Singh as "sarkari seva" derogatorily since personnel and materials sourced from government departments was used for

8024-418: The historic Sikh literature have been written in the Gurmukhi script. Although the word Gurmukhī has been commonly translated as "from the Mouth of the Guru", the term used for the Punjabi script has somewhat different connotations. This usage of the term may have gained currency from the use of the script to record the utterances of the Sikh Gurus as scripture, which were often referred to as Gurmukhī, or from

8142-406: The historical structure, the original raised platform that Guru Hargobind had erected located at the base of the built-around structure (where the Guru used to address the gathered Sikh congregation from) was also at-risk of being demolished but protest by Giani Mohinder Singh (former SGPC secretary), then an elderly and respected Sikh, whom took the matter up with Gurdev Singh Kaunke, then Jathedar of

8260-406: The leader of the Sikh Confederacy in Punjab. The renovations during the 18th century gave the building a "better shape". An Udasi mahant by the name of Pritam Das (founder of Akhara Sangalwara, also located nearby) was responsible for originally installing the dual Nishan Sahibs at the Akal Takht. Hari Singh Nalwa , a general of Maharaja Ranjit Singh , decorated the Akal Takht with gold and

8378-471: The lesser title of Rani (queen). While Mehtab Kaur and Datar Kaur officially bore the title of Maharani (high queen), Datar Kaur officially became the Maharani after the death of Mehtab Kaur in 1813. Throughout her life was referred to as Sarkar Rani . After her death, the title was held by Ranjit's youngest widow Jind Kaur. According to Khushwant Singh in an 1889 interview with the French journal Le Voltaire , his son Dalip (Duleep) Singh remarked, "I am

8496-585: The more recent [ਕ਼] / qə /, are also on rare occasion used unofficially, chiefly for transliterating old writings in Persian and Urdu , the knowledge of which is less relevant in modern times. Three "subscript" letters, called duttă akkhară ("joint letters") or pairī̃ akkhară ("letters at the feet") are utilised in modern Gurmukhī: forms of ਹ ha , ਰ ra , and ਵ va . The subscript ਰ ra and ਵ va are used to make consonant clusters and behave similarly; subjoined ਹ ha introduces tone. For example, ਸ with

8614-663: The muklawa happened in 1796. She was the only daughter of Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya and his wife Sada Kaur . She was the granddaughter of Jai Singh Kanhaiya , the founder of the Kanhaiya Misl . This marriage was pre-arranged in an attempt to reconcile warring Sikh misls , Mehtab Kaur was betrothed to Ranjit Singh in 1786. The marriage, however, failed, with Mehtab Kaur never forgiving the fact that her father had been killed in battle with Ranjit Singh's father, and she mainly resided with her mother after marriage. The separation became complete when Ranjit Singh married Datar Kaur of

8732-528: The name of Guru Nanak named the "NanakShahi" ("of the Emperor Nanak"). In 1802, Ranjit Singh, aged 22, took Amritsar from the Bhangi Sikh misl , paid homage at the Harmandir Sahib temple, which had previously been attacked and desecrated by the invading Afghan army, and announced that he would renovate and rebuild it with marble and gold. On 1 January 1806, Ranjit Singh signed a treaty with

8850-462: The name of jihad, to fight against infidels. The Maharaja defeated the forces. Yar Mohammad was pardoned and was reinvested as governor of Peshawar with an annual revenue of Rs one lac ten thousand to Lahore Darbar. In 1835, the Afghans and Sikhs met again at the Standoff at the Khyber Pass , however it ended without a battle. In 1837, the Battle of Jamrud , became the last confrontation between

8968-589: The only character not representing a fricative consonant, was only recently officially added to the Gurmukhī alphabet. It was not a part of the traditional orthography, as the distinctive phonological difference between /lə/ and /ɭə/, while both native sounds, was not reflected in the script, and its inclusion is still not currently universal. Previous usage of another glyph to represent this sound, [ਲ੍ਰ], has also been attested. The letters ਲ਼ ḷa , like ਙ ṅ , ਙ ṅ , ਣ ṇ , and ੜ ṛ , do not occur word-initially, except in some cases their names. Other characters, like

9086-512: The patronage of Santa Singh was demolished in January 1986. Santa Singh was excommunicated from the Sikh religion in the aftermath by the Akal Takht's clergy as punishment for violating "Sikh maryada". However, Santa Singh rejoined the religion officially in March 2001. Originally, wall paintings had existed on the first and second stories of the building. Kanwarjit Singh Kang dates the execution of

9204-565: The political imprisonment of Jagtar Singh Hawara , Dhian Singh Mand was appointed as the acting Jathedar by the Sarbat Khalsa. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee however refused to accept its authority. Originally known as the Akal Bunga , the building directly opposite the Harmandir Sahib was founded by sixth Sikh Guru , Guru Hargobind , as a symbol of political sovereignty and where spiritual and temporal concerns of

9322-458: The present-day structure is designed differently from the original one. A kar seva group leader, Jagtar Singh (Dera Baba), was responsible for the renovations of the structure under the instruction of the SGPC. Enamel paint was apparently used in the present structure, Amrik Singh claims only water-based paints were used and they did not fade for over five years. The fresco work of the present structure

9440-584: The rebuilding of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar as well as other major gurdwaras , including Takht Sri Patna Sahib , Bihar and Hazur Sahib Nanded , Maharashtra under his sponsorship. Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son Kharak Singh . Ranjit Singh also founded the Order of the Propitious Star of Punjab in 1837 . Singh is known by several titles such as Sher-e-Punjab ("Lion of Punjab") and Sarkar-e Wallah (Head of Government). Ranjit Singh

9558-412: The rebuilding. The government-sponsored rebuilding was swift, with it being completed in one and a half months. A contract had been given to a private company, Skipper Builders, operated by Tejwant Singh, for the reconstruction effort. Santa Singh defended his actions by saying the Akal Takht's Jathedar, clergy, and the SGPC had not opposed Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale holing himself and his supporters up in

9676-422: The retrieved stolen horses, Dilbagh and Gulbagh, to Guru Hargobind. Bhagat Kabir was depicted in the fourth mural taking care of daily chores alongside his family, Bhagat Sain in the fifth is depicted alongside Raja Rana, and saint Dharuva in the sixth. The seventh panel portrayed Krishna eating rice that was offered by his childhood friend, Sudama . The eighth panel depicted Rama seated alongside Sita on

9794-806: The rows arranged from the back (velars) to the front (labials) of the mouth, and the letters in the grid arranged by place and manner of articulation . The arrangement, or varṇămāllā , is completed with the antimă ṭollī , literally "ending group." The names of most of the consonants are based on their reduplicative phonetic values, and the varṇămāllā is as follows: The nasal letters ਙ ṅaṅṅā and ਞ ñaññā have become marginal as independent consonants in modern Gurmukhi. The sounds they represent occur most often as allophones of [ n ] in clusters with velars and palatals respectively. The pronunciation of ਵ can vary allophonically between [ [ ʋ ] ~ [ β ] ] preceding front vowels , and [ [ w ] ] elsewhere. The most characteristic feature of

9912-552: The rule of Ranjit Singh. In 1800, the ruler of the Jammu region ceded control of his region to Ranjit Singh. In 1801, Ranjit Singh proclaimed himself as the "Maharaja of Punjab", and agreed to a formal investiture ceremony, which was carried out by Baba Sahib Singh Bedi – a descendant of Guru Nanak. On the day of his coronation, prayers were performed across mosques, temples and gurudwaras in his territories for his long life. Ranjit Singh called his rule "Sarkar Khalsa", and his court "Darbar Khalsa". He ordered new coins to be issued in

10030-462: The same way but instead is used under consonants: ਚ ( ca ) followed by ੜ ( ṛa ) yields ਚੜ ( caṛă ), but not until the rising tone is introduced via a subscript ਹ ( ha ) does it properly spell the word ਚੜ੍ਹ ( cáṛĭ , "climb"). This character's function is similar to that of the udātă character (ੑ U+0A51), which occurs in older texts and indicates a rising tone. In addition to the three standard subscript letters, another subscript character representing

10148-485: The script at this point by a special name, Dēvāśēṣa . Tarlochan Singh Bedi (1999) prefers the name prithamă gurmukhī , or Proto-Gurmukhī. It was through its recording in Gurmukhi that knowledge of the pronunciation and grammar of the Old Punjabi language (c. 10th–16th century) was preserved for modern philologists. The Sikh gurus adopted Proto-Gurmukhī to write the Guru Granth Sahib , the religious scriptures of

10266-412: The script did not have vowel symbols. In Punjab, there were at least ten different scripts classified as Laṇḍā, Mahajani being the most popular. The Laṇḍā scripts were used for household and trade purposes. In contrast to Laṇḍā, the use of vowel diacritics was made obligatory in Gurmukhī for increased accuracy and precision, due to the difficulties involved in deciphering words without vowel signs. In

10384-476: The second-story, three of them depicted themes related to Guru Hargobind. The first was the Guru meeting with Sri Chand, son of Guru Nanak. In this mural was also depicted the five children of the sixth guru, them namely being: Gurditta , Ani Rai, Suraj Mal, Atal Rai, and Tyag Mal (later Guru Tegh Bahadur). The second mural panel depicted a scene of Guru Hargobind listening to music being performed by instrumentalists. The third panel depicted Bidhi Chand presenting

10502-635: The short vowels [ɪ] and [ʊ], when paired with [h] to yield /ɪh/ and /ʊh/, represent [é] and [ó] with high tones respectively, e.g. ਕਿਹੜਾ kihṛā ( IPA: [kéːɽaː] ) 'which?' ਦੁਹਰਾ duhrā ( IPA: [d̪óːɾaː] ) "repeat, reiterate, double." The compounding of [əɦ] with [ɪ] or [ʊ] yield [ɛ́ː] and [ɔ́ː] respectively, e.g. ਮਹਿੰਗਾ mahingā ( IPA: [mɛ́ːŋgaː] ) "expensive", ਵਹੁਟੀ vahuṭṭī ( IPA: [wɔ́ʈːiː] ) "bride." The diacritics for gemination and nasalization are together referred to as ਲਗਾਖਰ lagākkhară ("applied letters"). The diacritic ਅੱਧਕ áddakă ( ੱ ) indicates that

10620-411: The shrine would not last very long, since they used artificially-sourced pigments and non-traditional methods, as opposed to the naturally-sourced pigments used by the traditional Sikh art school. Amrik Singh, the SGPC supervisor of the kar seva renovations at the Akal Takht, claims the new methods are better than the traditional methods and that the older methods are "impracticable". He further claims that

10738-399: The son of one of my father's forty-six wives." Dr. Priya Atwal notes that Ranjit Singh and his heirs entered a total of 46 marriages. But Ranjit Singh was known not to be a "rash sensualist" and commanded unusual respect in the eyes of others. Faqir Sayyid Vaḥiduddin states: "If there was one thing in which Ranjit Singh failed to excel or even equal the average monarch of oriental history, it

10856-485: The state of Gujarat). After Sahib Singh's death, Ranjit Singh took them under his protection in 1811 by marrying them via the rite of chādar andāzī , in which a cloth sheet was unfurled over each of their heads. The same with Roop Kaur, Gulab Kaur, Saman Kaur, and Lakshmi Kaur who looked after Duleep Singh when his mother Jind Kaur was exiled. Ratan Kaur had a son Multana Singh in 1819, and Daya Kaur had two sons Kashmira Singh and Pashaura Singh in 1821. Jind Kaur ,

10974-575: The status of official scripts in some of the Punjab Hill States, and were used for both administrative and literary purposes until the 19th century. After 1948, when Himachal Pradesh was established as an administrative unit, the local Takri variants were replaced by Devanagari . Meanwhile, the mercantile scripts of Punjab known as the Laṇḍā scripts were normally not used for literary purposes. Laṇḍā means alphabet "without tail", implying that

11092-472: The structure. Buta Singh had approached many Sikh groups to gain their support in the kar seva work but all of them refused to work with the government on the reconstruction work unless government forces vacate from the shrine's premises. However, Santa Singh, alongside Narain Singh, decided to convene a Sarbat Khalsa on 11 August 1984, where it was decided that Santa Singh and his faction of Sikhs would assist with

11210-419: The subjoined /j/, the yakaśă or pairī̃ yayyā ( ੵ U+0A75), is utilized specifically in archaized sahaskritī -style writings in Sikh scripture, where it is found 268 times for word forms and inflections from older phases of Indo-Aryan, as in the examples ਰਖੵਾ /ɾəkʰːjaː/ "(to be) protected", ਮਿਥੵੰਤ /mɪt̪ʰjən̪t̪ə/ "deceiving", ਸੰਸਾਰਸੵ /sənsaːɾəsjə/ "of the world", ਭਿਖੵਾ /pɪ̀kʰːjaː/ "(act of) begging", etc. There

11328-401: The texts ( interpuncts in the form of a dot were used by some to differentiate between words, such as by Guru Arjan ). This is opposed to the comparatively more recent method of writing in Gurmukhi known as padă chēdă , which breaks the words by inserting spacing between them. Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of

11446-544: The total population living in Singh's empire Ranjit Singh allowed men from different religions and races to serve in his army and his government in various positions of authority. His army included a few Europeans, such as the Frenchman Jean-François Allard , though Singh maintained a policy of refraining from recruiting Britons into his service, aware of British designs on the Indian subcontinent. Despite his recruitment policies, he did maintain

11564-427: The two widows of Sahib Singh, Daya Kaur and Ratan Kaur, whom Ranjit Singh took under his protection and married. These sons, are said to be, not biologically born to the queens and only procured and later presented to and accepted by Ranjit Singh as his sons. In 1802, Ranjit Singh married Moran Sarkar , a Muslim nautch girl . This action, and other non- Sikh activities of the Maharaja, upset orthodox Sikhs, including

11682-573: The usage of the áddakă is obligatory. It is also sometimes used to indicate second-syllable stress, e.g. ਬਚਾੱ ba'cā , "save". The diacritics ਟਿੱਪੀ ṭippī ( ੰ ) and ਬਿੰਦੀ bindī ( ਂ ) are used for producing a nasal phoneme depending on the following obstruent or a nasal vowel at the end of a word. All short vowels are nasalized using ṭippī and all long vowels are nasalized using bindī except for dulaiṅkaṛă ( ੂ ), which uses ṭippī instead. Older texts may follow other conventions. The ਹਲੰਤ halantă , or ਹਲੰਦ halandă , ( ੍ U+0A4D) character

11800-842: The use of synthetic and bright colours, which he decried as being alien to the traditional Sikh school of art. 31°37′14″N 74°52′31″E  /  31.62056°N 74.87528°E  / 31.62056; 74.87528 Gurmukhi The primary scripture of Sikhism , the Guru Granth Sahib , is written in Gurmukhī, in various dialects and languages often subsumed under the generic title Sant Bhasha or "saint language", in addition to other languages like Persian and various phases of Indo-Aryan languages. Modern Gurmukhī has thirty-five original letters, hence its common alternative term paintī or "the thirty-five", plus six additional consonants , nine vowel diacritics , two diacritics for nasal sounds, one diacritic that geminates consonants and three subscript characters. The Gurmukhī script

11918-423: The wall paintings to the mid-19th century. Of the frescoes dating to the middle of the 19th century that once embellished the walls of the edifice, only 10 fresco panels survived by 1971. These frescoes had survived painted on the walls of the second-story of the structure. Their colours had been bleached and portions of the plaster at various places was peeling-off. Of the ten surviving murals documented in 1971 on

12036-449: The warriors aligned with Sikh interests. Meanwhile, colonial traders and the East India Company had begun operations in India on its eastern and western coasts. By the second half of the 18th century, the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent (now Pakistan and parts of north India) were a collection of fourteen small warring regions. Of the fourteen, twelve were Sikh-controlled misls (confederacies), one named Kasur (near Lahore)

12154-608: The whole Bari Doab came under his rule with that conquest. In 1819 at the Battle of Shopian , he successfully defeated the Afghan Sunni Muslim rulers and annexed Srinagar and Kashmir , stretching his rule into the north and the Jhelum valley, beyond the foothills of the Himalayas. The most significant encounters between the Sikhs in the command of the Maharaja and the Afghans were in 1813, 1823, 1834 and 1837. In 1813, Ranjit Singh's general Dewan Mokham Chand led

12272-426: The word for three is ਤ੍ਰੈ trai ( IPA: [t̪ɾɛː] ). The scriptural symbol for the Sikh term ਇੱਕੁ ਓਅੰਕਾਰੁ ikku о̄aṅkāru ( ੴ U+0A74) is formed from ੧ ("1") and ਓ ("о̄"). Before the 1970s, Gurbani and other Sikh scriptures were written in the traditional scriptio continua method of writing the Gurmukhi script known as ਲੜੀਵਾਰ laṛīvāră , where there were no spacing between words in

12390-494: The youngest child and only daughter of Ran Singh Nakai , the third ruler of the Nakai Misl and his wife Karman Kaur . They were betrothed in childhood by Datar Kaur's eldest brother, Sardar Bhagwan Singh, who briefly became the chief of the Nakai Misl, and Ranjit Singh's father Maha Singh. They were married in 1797; this marriage was a happy one and Ranjit Singh always treated Raj Kaur with love and respect. Since Raj Kaur

12508-438: Was Muslim controlled, and one in the southeast was led by an Englishman named George Thomas. This region constituted the fertile and productive valleys of the five rivers – Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Bias and Sutlej. The Sikh misls were all under the control of the Khalsa fraternity of Sikh warriors, but they were not united and constantly warred with each other over revenue collection, disagreements, and local priorities; however, in

12626-549: Was also married to Rani Har Devi of Atalgarh, Rani Aso Sircar and Rani Jag Deo According to the diaries, that Duleep Singh kept towards the end of his life, these women presented the Maharaja with four daughters. Dr. Priya Atwal notes that the daughters could be adopted. Ranjit Singh was also married to Jind Bani or Jind Kulan, daughter of Muhammad Pathan from Mankera and Gul Bano, daughter of Malik Akhtar from Amritsar. Ranjit Singh married many times, in various ceremonies, and had twenty wives. Sir Lepel Griffin , however, provides

12744-466: Was also the name of Ranjit Singh's mother, his wife was renamed Datar Kaur. In 1801, she gave birth to their son and heir apparent, Kharak Singh . Datar Kaur bore Ranjit Singh two other sons, Rattan Singh and Fateh Singh. Like his first marriage, the second marriage also brought him a strategic military alliance. Along with wisdom and all the chaste virtues of a noblewoman, Datar Kaur was exceptionally intelligent and assisted Ranjit Singh in affairs of

12862-447: Was an open-air semi-circular structure built on marble pillars and a gilded interior section. There were also painted wall panels depicting Europeans. According to Teja Singh and Ganda Singh, the structure was built so close-by to the Harmandir Sahib because whilst the Akal Takht represents politics, the Harmandir Sahib symbolizes spirituality. People at Harmandir Sahib could glance at the Akal Takht and remember temporality whilst those in

12980-567: Was born in a Sandhawalia Jat Sikh family on 13 November 1780 to Maha Singh and Raj Kaur in Gujranwala , Punjab region (present-day Punjab, Pakistan ). His mother Raj Kaur was the daughter of Sidhu Jat Sikh ruler Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind . Upon his birth, he was named Buddh Singh after his ancestor who was first in line to take Amrit Sanchaar . The child's name was changed to Ranjit (literally, "victor in battle") Singh ("lion") by his father to commemorate his army's victory over

13098-400: Was built on a site where there existed only a high mound of earth across a wide-open space. It was a place where Guru Hargobind played as a child. The original Takht was a simple platform, 3.5 metres (11 ft) high, on which Guru Hargobind would sit in court to receive petitions and administer justice. He was surrounded by insignia of royalty such as the parasol and the fly whisk. Later, there

13216-476: Was converted into "Moti Mandir" (Pearl Temple) by the Sikh army, and Sonehri Mosque was converted into a Sikh Gurdwara , but upon the request of Sufi Fakir (Satar Shah Bukhari), Ranjit Singh restored the latter to a mosque. Lahore's Begum Shahi Mosque was also used as a gunpowder factory, earning it the nickname Barudkhana Wali Masjid , or "Gunpowder Mosque." Singh's sovereignty was accepted by Afghan and Punjabi Muslims, who fought under his banner against

13334-475: Was heavily damaged during this operation by the Indian Army. Bhindranwale was killed in action during an exchange of fire between the armed Militants and the Indian Army. After Operation Blue Star, the Akal Takht was rebuilt by the Jathedar of Budha Dal, Baba Santa Singh . Santa Singh had been approached by Buta Singh (the then union home minister, dispatched by Indira Gandhi) for the purpose of rebuilding

13452-468: Was mostly carried out by the artist Harbhajan Singh, who also had helped retouch frescoes located in the Golden Temple shrine. However, Sukhdev Singh, the state convener of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) requested that all the kar seva renovators use "old materials and styles, in consonance with what is in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple". He further criticized

13570-596: Was punishable by death under his rule. He ordered his soldiers to neither loot nor molest civilians. He built several gurdwaras, Hindu temples and even mosques, and one in particular was Mai Moran Masjid, built at the behest of his beloved Muslim wife, Moran Sarkar . The Sikhs led by Singh never razed places of worship to the ground belonging to the enemy. However, he did convert Muslim mosques into other uses. For example, Ranjit Singh's army desecrated Lahore's Badshahi Mosque and converted it into an ammunition store, and horse stables. Lahore's Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque)

13688-423: Was raised by his mother Raj Kaur, who, along with Lakhpat Rai, also managed the estates. The first attempt on his life was made when he was 13, by Hashmat Khan, but Ranjit Singh prevailed and killed the assailant instead. At age 18, his mother died and Lakhpat Rai was assassinated, and thereon he was helped by his mother-in-law from his first marriage. In 1789, Ranjit Singh married his first wife Mehtab Kaur ,

13806-506: Was released and forgiven. An alternative holds that Ranjit went to visit Moran on his arrival in Amritsar before paying his respects at Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara , which upset orthodox Sikhs and hence was punished by Akali Phula Singh. Iqbal Qaiser and Manveen Sandhu make alternative accounts of the relationship between Moran and the Maharaja; the former states they never married, while the latter states that they married. Court chronicler, Sohan Lal Suri makes no mention of Moran's marriage to

13924-463: Was the size of his harem." George Keene noted, "In hundreds and in thousands the orderly crowds stream on. Not a bough is broken off a wayside tree, not a rude remark to a woman". According to the pedigree table and Duleep Singh 's diaries that he kept towards the end of his life another son Fateh Singh was born to Mai Nakain, who died in infancy. According to Henry Edward only Datar Kaur and Jind Kaur's sons are Ranjit Singh's biological sons. It

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