Siege of Rohtas (1764)

01North to the Jhelum

With Sirhind taken early in 1764, the misls spread out across the Punjab. Charat Singh, grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, turned north-west towards the Jhelum, and Gujjar Singh Bhangi joined him. Rohtas, built by Sher Shah Suri in the 1540s to hold down the Potohar, commanded the main road from Kabul to Lahore. Sarbuland Khan met the Sikhs outside, was beaten and shut himself inside the walls.

02The feigned retreat

The walls were too strong to storm. Charat Singh drew off as if giving up the siege, and the garrison came out after him. The Sikhs turned, routed the Afghans in the open and captured Sarbuland Khan. He was treated with courtesy and later let go on payment of a ransom. Charat Singh then took the Salt Range and the land up to the Indus, the base from which his son and grandson would build their power.

Dynasty · 1799–1849 CEThe Sikh Empire (Sarkar-i-Khalsa)Ranjit Singh took Lahore in 1799 and was proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab in 1801. He united the Sikh misls into one state, pushed the Afghans back beyond the Khyber, and built the last great Indian army to face the British; ten years after his death the empire was annexed in 1849.Read →