Runjeet Singh
called the "LION OF THE PUNJAB," founder of the Sikh kingdom; born in Gugaranwalla, India, Nov. 2, 1780. His father, a Sikh chieftain, died in 1792, and the government fell into the hands of his mother. At the age of 17, however, Runjeet rebelled against his mother's authority, assumed the reins himself, and began a career of ambition. The Shah of Afghanistan granted him possession of Lahore, which had been taken from the Sikhs, and Runjeet soon subdued the small Sikh states to the N. of the Sutlej. The chiefs to the S. of that river invoked the protection of the British, who made an arrangement with Runjeet in 1809, both accepting the Sutlej as the S. boundary of his dominions. He now organized his army after the European model with the help of French and English officers, and steadily extended his power, assuming the title of rajah in 1812. In 1813 he took Attock, and in the same year assisted Shah Shuja, then a refugee from Afghanistan, in return for the famous Koh-i-noor diamond. In 1818 he captured Mûltan; in 1819 he annexed Kashmir, and in 1823 the Peshawur valley. He was now ruler of the entire Punjab, and in 1819 had already assumed the title of Maharajah, or king of kings. In 1836 he suffered a heavy defeat from the Afghans, but until his death he retained his power over his 20,000,000 subjects. He died in Lahore, June 27, 1839.