Ranjit Singh was crowned on 12th April 1801 on the day of pious occasion of with Baisakhi. Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak Dev, conducted the coronation. Gujranwala served as his capital from 1799. In 1802 he shifted his capital to Lahore. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a very short period of time, from a leader of a single Sikh misl to finally becoming the Maharaja (Emperor) of Punjab.
He then spent the following years fighting the Afghans, driving them out of the Punjab. He also captured Pashtun territory including Peshawar (now referred to as North West Frontier Province and the Tribal Areas). This was the first time that Peshawari Pashtuns were ruled by Punjabis. He captured the province of Multan which encompassed the southern parts of Punjab, Peshawar (1818), Jammu and Kashmir (1819). Thus Ranjit Singh put an end to more than a hundred years of Muslim rule in Multan Area. He also conquered the hilly states of north of Anandpur Sahib, the largest of which was Kangra.
When the Foreign Minister of the Ranjit Singh’s court, Fakir Azizuddin, met the British Governor-General of India, Lord Auckland, in Simla, Lord Auckland asked Fakir Azizuddin which of the Maharaja’s eyes was missing, Azizuddin replied: “The Maharaja is like the sun and sun has only one eye. The splendor and luminosity of his single eye is so much that I have never dared to look at his other eye.” The Governor General was so pleased with this reply that he gave his gold watch to Azizuddin.
Ranjit Singh’s Empire was secular, none of the subjects were discriminated against on account of their religions. The Maharaja never forced Sikhism on his subjects.
