Sikh Empire & Misls — PPSC previous year questions

Maharaja Ranjit Singh obtained the Kohinoor in 1813 from Shah Shuja. He was the deposed Afghan ruler who had taken refuge in Lahore. He gave up the diamond in return for the Maharaja's protection and help in regaining the Afghan throne. After Punjab was annexed in 1849, the East India Company took it under the Treaty of Lahore. It was presented to Queen Victoria in 1850. Zaman Shah was Shah Shuja's brother and an Afghan (Durrani) ruler, not Iraqi. The Amirs of Sind and the Mughal Shah Alam II had no connection with the transfer.

The First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46) opened with the Battle of Mudki on 18 December 1845, in which Sir Hugh Gough's army defeated the Sikh force under Lal Singh. It was followed by Ferozeshah (21–22 December 1845), Aliwal (28 January 1846) and Sobraon (10 February 1846), after which the Treaty of Lahore (9 March 1846) was imposed on the Lahore Darbar. Ramnagar (November 1848) belongs to the Second Anglo-Sikh War.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur was taken captive by Mughal forces in December 1715 at the garhi (small mud fort) of Gurdas Nangal, near Gurdaspur, after an eight-month siege; from there he was taken to Delhi and martyred in June 1716. Lohgarh (Mukhlispur) was his capital, and Riarki is the tract around Gurdaspur and Amritsar.

Under the Rakhi system of the 18th-century Sikh misls (independent Sikh confederacies), the Dal Khalsa guarded villages from Afghan and Mughal raiders. In return it took one-fifth (20%) of the produce, collected after each harvest. The system is linked with misl leaders like Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. It gave the Sikh confederacies both revenue and territorial influence. It was a stepping stone to their political control of Punjab.

Banda Singh Bahadur took up arms against the Mughals after Guru Gobind Singh's death in 1708. He defeated Wazir Khan at Chappar Chiri in 1710. He was captured at Gurdas Nangal in December 1715. He was executed in Delhi in June 1716, in the reign of Farrukhsiyar (1713–19). Aurangzeb had died in 1707. Bahadur Shah I (1707–12) fought Banda but died before the capture. Jahandar Shah ruled only in 1712–13.

Banda Singh Bahadur was captured at Gurdas Nangal in December 1715. He was tortured to death in Delhi in June 1716 on the orders of the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar. Aurangzeb had died in 1707, so statement (c) is incorrect. The other statements are true. Guru Gobind Singh renamed the ascetic Madho Das as Banda Singh at Nanded in 1708. He sacked Samana (1709) and Sirhind (Battle of Chappar Chiri, 1710). He made Mukhlispur his capital and renamed it Lohgarh.

The First Anglo-Sikh War (December 1845 – March 1846) was fought under Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge. He was at Mudki, Ferozeshah and Sobraon. He signed the Treaty of Lahore on 9 March 1846. His successor Lord Dalhousie fought the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) and annexed Punjab. Canning was Governor-General in the 1857 revolt. Dufferin was Governor-General at the founding of the Congress in 1885.

Jean-François Allard and Jean-Baptiste Ventura, both veterans of Napoleon's army, reached Lahore in 1822 and entered Maharaja Ranjit Singh's service. They trained the Fauj-i-Khas (Ranjit Singh's European-style model brigade) on European lines — Allard raised the cavalry and Ventura the infantry; Court and Avitabile joined later. Ventura was Italian by birth (from Modena) but had served in the French army, so he is counted among the 'French officers'. Wellington and Blücher were the victors of Waterloo and never served the Sikhs.

Statement 1 is correct: Maha Singh, chief of the Sukerchakia misl (Sikh confederacy), died in 1792 and his son Ranjit Singh, then twelve, succeeded him as chief. Statement 2 is wrong: Gulab Singh bought Kashmir from the British for 75 lakh rupees under the Treaty of Amritsar of 16 March 1846, after the First Anglo-Sikh War. Ranjit Singh had died in 1839.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the East India Company signed the Treaty of Amritsar on 25 April 1809. Charles Metcalfe negotiated it on behalf of Lord Minto. It fixed the river Sutlej as the boundary between the Sikh kingdom and British territory. Ranjit Singh gave up his claims over the cis-Sutlej states (Sikh states east of the Sutlej). The British recognised his sovereignty north of the river. 1813 is the year of the Charter Act and 1835 of Macaulay's Minute. Both are unrelated to Punjab.