Siege of Sodhra

01A family quarrel

After Gujjar Singh Bhangi died, his sons fell out. Sahib Singh held Gujrat; his brother Fateh Singh turned to Mahan Singh of the Sukerchakias for help. Mahan Singh pressed a claim of his own on Sahib Singh’s lands and demanded tribute. Sahib Singh shut himself in Sodhra, east of Wazirabad. His wife Raj Kaur was Mahan Singh’s sister, and she tried to make peace, but the siege went ahead.

02Death of Mahan Singh

Karam Singh Dulu of Chiniot came to Sahib Singh’s aid, and Jodh Singh of Wazirabad left Mahan Singh’s camp. Then Mahan Singh himself fell gravely ill in the field. He was carried back to Gujranwala and died within days; by one account he first placed the young Ranjit Singh at the head of his men. The siege broke up. The boy who inherited the misl that year would take Lahore nine years later.

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 →