Talk:Mahārājā Raṇjīt Singh
By Vishal Agarwal
Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh was the Sikh Emperor of Pañjāba from 1799–1839 CE. He was a noble king, very just and very generous towards the poor and the needy. He was born in the town of Gujrānwālā in northern Pakistan. In those times, the ordinary people of the Pañjāba, Jammū and Kaśmīra regions (which is today in India and Pakistan) were harassed a lot by their Afghan rulers. Some Sikh warriors took up arms and they created twelve tribes called the ‘‘Misls’’ which started overthrowing Muslim rule in that area. Unfortunately, many of these Misls also indulged in looting and troubling the common people in many ways, although they were not as oppressive as the Afghans.
Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh waged war against many of these Misls and united them into a huge kingdom that eventually included most of the Pañjāba, Jammū and Kaśmīra and even parts of the area that was inhabited by the Afghans. During his 40-year-long rule, peace and prosperity reigned in the kingdom. Under the Afghan rule, Hindus and Sikhs could not practice their dharm freely, but now they could.
In his early childhood, Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh had lost one of his eyes due to smallpox. The Emperor used to joke that Bhagavān gave him only one eye so that he could see people of all faiths with equal justice. And indeed, he was respectful towards Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. His foreign minister was a Muslim, and the Prime Minister was a Hindu. The Muslims were initially worried that Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh would favor Hindus and Sikhs and would suppress them instead. But when the Emperor captured Lahaur, a seat of Muslim power in the past, one of the first things he did was to enter the Bādshāhī Mosque (the largest mosque of the city) and offer prayers. He never ordered demolition of any mosque. Whenever his soldiers acquired a copy of the Qurān from defeated enemies, Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh had the books handed over to Muslims in his kingdom with great respect.
The noble king banned the slaughter of cows in his kingdom because it is regarded as a sacred animal by the Hindus and Sikhs. He also asked the king of Afghanistan to stop killing of cows in his country. He threatened the Muslim rulers of Sindhu in southern Pakistan that he would invade and occupy their country if they did not stop harassing the Hindus.
He spent considerable amount of money to renovate the Harmandira Sāhib, the holiest temple of the Sikhs. He and his military generals constructed many other maṇḍiras and gurudvārās all over the kingdom. Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh also donated the entire amount of gold that covers the Viśvanātha Maṇḍira in Vārāṇasī, one of the holiest Hindu shrines, and to other Hindu maṇḍiras as well. In fact, his death wish was to donate the Kohinoor diamond (which was the largest diamond in the world at that time) to the Jagannātha Maṇḍira in eastern India. But his Hindu prime minister stopped the donation saying, “The diamond belongs to the state, and is not the personal property of Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh.” When he died of a stroke, he was cremated per Hindu ceremonies and a beautiful memorial was constructed over his ashes inside the fort of Lahaur. Many of his queens committed satī.
Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh was illiterate, i.e., he could not read or write. But he was very intelligent and had a fantastic memory. It is said that he could remember the names of thousands of soldiers in his army. Numerous stories are narrated from his life illustrating the greatness of his character.
Story: Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh gives charity to a thief One day, he was sitting under a tree in his garden. Suddenly, a stone came from the other side of the tree and hit him. His guards immediately ran to catch the culprit, who turned out to be a young lady. When she was asked why she had attacked the Mahārājā with the stone, she started crying. She said, “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I did not know that you or anyone else was sitting below this tree. I am a poor woman and have no money to buy food. So, I threw a stone at the tree, thinking that it would hit one of the mangoes and cause it to fall. I had hoped to eat that mango to fill my stomach.”
The Mahārājā ordered the guards to release the woman, and then said, “Give her some money so that she can buy food.” The guards were surprised that the Mahārājā gave money to the lady whose stone could have hurt him. The king sensed their puzzled looks and said, “If her stone had hit the right spot on the tree, the tree would have given her food for her lunch. Now, am I not better than this tree? If the tree can give her a mango on being hit, I should surely give her something more. She was a poor woman and she threw a stone at the tree to fight her hunger.”
Story: Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh works as a laborer The Emperor often disguised himself and took rounds in the city at night to check how his subjects were doing, and whether they were happy or not. Once, as he was walking on a street, he saw an old lady struggling to carry a bag of grains. Immediately, he rushed forward and helped her carry it to her home. The lady was very grateful and said, “I want to bless you with a long life. Tell me your name, son.” When Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh told her who he was, she started trembling with fear and asked for forgiveness, saying, “I am sorry, Your Majesty. I did not know that you are our king. I would not have made you carry my load had I known that.” The Emperor replied with great humility, “You have called me your son. It is my duty to help my mother. Please do not feel bad at all.”