Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama

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Close to Lawrence road is the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama. The building is housed in the Ram Bagh garden. There is a board on every key aspect of Ranjit Singh life with panorama behind. I clicked each board and arranged the them year wise so you know key events in his life. U see a view of the Maharaja``s durbar during celebrations of Dussehra festival.

At the age of 18 Ranjit Singh drove out the Afghan invader, Shah Zaman, out of India. At the time of his birth on 13/11/1780 the greater part of Punjab plains was divided among 12 Sikh misls or associations of warriors. Ranjit Singh was the son of the leader of one misl. In the panorama you continously hear the Neighs of thousand horses announcing the arrival of the Lion of Punjab.

Ranjit Singh captured Kangra Fort from the Gorkhas in 1809. By a treaty with the British in 1809 he had absolute majority over the territories of 45 Parganas already held by him to the South of the Sutlej. But with this exception, the Sutlej was fixed as the southern boundary of his sphere of influence. This put an end to Ranjit Singhs ambition of knitting together all Sikhs between the Sindhu and the Yamuna into a compact and homegenous people.

Ranjit Singh crossed the Attock river to attack and defeat the Afghans in 1812-13. Seeing him lead from the front the army swam across the river.

Captured Fort of Attock from the Afghans in 1819 and liberated North India from Afghans. Ranjit Singh lead with Diwan Mokham Chand in operation accompanied by Hari Singh Nalwa etc. Note that Tukoji Holkar marched beyond the Jhelum and Indus in pursuit of the Afghans in Oct 1758 thus carried Maratha arms beyond Attock to Peshawar. They remained there for 4 months, returned to Lahore after new Afghan pressure. However, Abdali established his govt in Lahore in Oct 1759 and annexed Punjab. It was undertaken to remove the Maratha danger once for all.

Ranjit Singh won back the Kohinoor diamond from the Muslims. Ranjit Singh``s men won some great battles against Dost Muhammad of Afghanistan.

Ranjit Singh captured the Fort of Multan in 1919. He made unsuccessful attempts in 1802, 1807, 1810. Five touch-screen computers alongside the main hall of the Panorama have been installed to help visitors to identify the important Sikh Generals and courtiers of the Maharaja.

Defeated the Afghan ruler in 1819 to conquer Kashmir. Inspite of his o/s successes, Ranjit Singh remained true to his alliance with the British throughout his life. He refused to help Nepal against the British. He rejected requests from the Bhonsle Raja of Nagpur and ruler of Bharatpur due to his treaty of friendship with the British. Sadly the British did not reciprocate.

In 1823 he defeated the Prime Minister of Afghanistan and established Sikh supremacy to the west of the Indus. Read ``Conquering Afghanistan - What the West can learn from India``

Ranjit Singh donated gold to three temples. One is Hari Mandir Amritsar, two is temple at Jwalamukhi in modern day Himachal Pradesh and three is Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. Kashi temple was built by Ahilyabai Holkar. Ranjit Singh knew the resources of the British and realized the futility of opposing them, taking them on directly. If only the Sikhs and Marathas had fought together in the post Aurangzeb era the history of India might have been different.

Ranjit Singh got foreigners to work in his Army. He hired 2 generals who had served Napolean. Two o/s successes in his life were the unification of Punjab and the hill states under one banner and the check to Afghan oppression.

Ropar Treaty with the British in 1831. Ranjit Singh was smart enough never to clash with the British. Ranjit Singh died on 27/6/1839.

Board that refers to Ranjit Singh grand durbar. All narrations besides what appears on the board taken from The History n Culture of Indian People published by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan.

Another picture of the Grand Durbar. Maharaja seen with Chiefs and Nobles celebrating Dussehra. The poor are being given gifts. I missed clicking pics of the panorama background against each board. Also in Ram Bagh there is a Museum which I did not know about and missed.

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