A New Narrative of Punjab – I Who Is Afraid of Maharaja Ranjit Singh?

Is There a Comprehensive History of Punjab?

Is there a comprehensive history of Punjab comparable to Romila Thapar’s A History of India (in two volumes)? The answer is: the glass is half full. There are histories of Punjab, but we do not yet have a work comparable in scope and approach to Romila Thapar’s history. One of the problems with the historiography of Punjab is that many historians have been unable to break free from the confines of religious identity, prejudice, and ideological bias. The well-known histories of Punjab by S. M. Latif and Kanhaiya Lal, for instance, do not do full justice to the region’s complex history.

Our late friend and teacher, Dr. Manzur Ejaz, made an attempt to write a people’s history of Punjab, ‘Punjab Di Lok Taraikh.’ However, he brought the narrative to an end around 1000 CE, precisely where, in many respects, a particularly important period of Punjab’s history begins. Nevertheless, his book remains highly valuable, as it begins with Harappa and covers the ancient history of the region.

The last thousand years of Punjab’s history are of immense importance. During this period, the Persian wheel came into use, around the twelfth century, giving a major boost to agriculture. The invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni marked the beginning of successive periods of Afghan, Turkic, Lodi, and Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent.India has a powerful Marxist school of historians, including Irfan Habib, Romila Thapar, and Harbans Mukhia, among others. We do not, however, have a comparable Marxist school devoted specifically to the history of Punjab. There are nevertheless some valuable works, including Punjab: ‘A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten’ by Rajmohan Gandhi, ‘Chaar Bagh-i-Panjab’ by Ganesh Das, the books of Dr. Ganda Singh, and Chetan Singh’s ‘The 17-Century Punjab (1991, Oxford University Press).

The Problem with Religious Historiography

The most prominent historian of Punjab is J. S. Grewal. It is said that when Cambridge University Press commissioned historians to contribute to The New Cambridge History of India, Grewal, who was asked to write a history of Punjab, chose instead to write ‘The Sikhs of the Punjab’ (1994). Other titles in the series included The Mughals and Their Contemporaries, Indian States and the Transition to Colonialism, The Indian Empire and the Beginnings of Modern Society, and The Evolution of Contemporary South Asia.There was no comparable title devoted exclusively to a religious community other than the Sikhs. Sikhs constituted a minority of the population of undivided Punjab. Therefore, when the history of Punjab is reduced to the history of the Sikhs, a substantial part of the population and its historical experience is excluded. This is one of the reasons why we still lack a people’s history of Punjab.

Muslim historians, too, have often produced one-sided and biased accounts, even when their books have been published under the general title History of Punjab. Such titles can therefore be misleading when the narrative is confined largely to the experience of a particular religious community.

Aamir Riaz and Punjab Di Vel (1799–2025)

Aamir Riaz’s book, Punjab Di Vel: 1799–2025 (A Salute to Punjab), challenges a historiography of Punjab based on religion, caste, and sectarian divisions. We have previously had Hanif Ramay’s Punjab Ka Muqaddama (1985). However, it was written in Urdu, and Ramay also had political ambitions to become a spokesman and leader of Punjab, with the intention of participating in the politics of power.

Aamir Riaz’s book, by contrast, is entirely Punjab-oriented and, importantly, written in Punjabi. It took us almost eighty years to put forward our case in Punjabi, and this case is now being presented before the people, rather than before the official institutions of Punjab.

The book is dedicated to his mother, Rehana Riaz, who was uprooted during the Partition of Punjab and lost her parents. She was raised in a homeless people’s settlement in Lahore. Aamir himself therefore became a victim of the Partition of Punjab and can understand its pain and anguish.He is consequently well placed to write about Punjab, its history, and its dilemmas. Aamir founded Gotham Publishers and published several important books on Punjab and its history. He is a public intellectual and a strong voice for Punjab, Punjabis, and Punjabiyat. One may disagree with him, but his honesty and commitment to Punjab and its people are beyond doubt.

The Structure of the Book

The book is substantial and demands considerable attention to read, digest, and absorb. Almost every page is supported by a wealth of references. Of its 524 pages, the Zamimay (appendices) occupy approximately 146 pages, followed by references and an index. The book consists of nine chapters, but historically it can be divided into three broad sections.The first section focuses on the nineteenth century and the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It also deconstructs the writings of several British Orientalists and historians, including Charles Masson (1800–1853), Joseph Davey Cunningham (1812–1851), Major General Malcolm Robert Haig (1830–1916), Robert Stewart, William Wilson Hunter (1840–1900), and Charles Napier (1782–1853).

The third chapter deals with the events of 1857, which the author rejects as a War of Independence. Chapters Four, Five, and Six move into the twentieth century, discussing Jallianwala Bagh, three decades of religious politics (1905–1935), religious divisions, and language politics.Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine deal with the Partition of Punjab and its post-Partition history.

Why Begin with Maharaja Ranjit Singh?

One may ask why the book begins with Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The eighteenth century is equally important. Indeed, one could begin in 1699, with the emergence of the Khalsa and the end of the line of  Guruship, and continue to 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rule in Punjab began. The emergence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh can be understood as the culmination of the guerrilla warfare waged during the eighteenth century by the Nanki-Faridi movement, which was started by Banda Bahadur. This was not simply a conflict between Sikhs and Muslims, as it is sometimes portrayed. It was a struggle against Mughal rule and invading powers such as Ahmad Shah Abdali and Nadir Shah—a struggle involving the oppressed and dispossessed of the land.

The eighteenth century was marked by resistance to invading powers and Mughal authority by local communities associated, with the Nanki-Faridi movement.Beginning the modern history of Punjab with Maharaja Ranjit Singh is appropriate because his emergence represented a turning point. The author has titled this part of the book “The Story of a Kingdom That Was Deliberately Erased from Memory.”

Who Was Afraid of Maharaja Ranjit Singh?

Who was afraid of Maharaja Ranjit Singh? The British—the colonisers, usurpers, and occupying power in India. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the last major ruler in the region to stand in the way of their ambition to establish control over the whole of India.The area under British rule and the territory under Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s authority stood in direct geopolitical opposition. Aamir Riaz meticulously traces the various conspiracies that, in his account, were devised throughout the Maharaja’s reign.

His first argument is that it was the Lahore Darbar, not the Sikh Darbar, and he insists strongly on this distinction. Sikhs, he argues, should call it the Lahore Darbar because this designation reinforces the broader historical significance of Sikh rule. Muslims, on the other hand, might insist that it was a Sikh kingdom. Yet here an author who is Muslim by birth argues for a different understanding.

There is a painting in the Sikh Gallery, now perhaps deserving of the name Punjab Gallery, at the Lahore Fort. It depicts the full court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. People from different backgrounds are gathered there. A boy stands with his goat, and even a little mud is visible, apparently because of the rain. There is no elaborate decorum, pomp, or ceremonial display. It is, a truly people’s Lahore Darbar.

A Syncretic Kingdom

Although Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a devoted Sikh, he did not govern as a religious ruler. Muslims, Hindus, and Europeans, including French officers, served in his court, some in senior positions. In many areas under the Lahore Darbar, Muslims constituted the majority of the population. Yet, according to the author, British writers who documented the region after approximately fifty years of rule could not record a single instance of conflict between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.

The author writes:”The Maharaja took care of gurdwaras, mosques, temples, and khanqahs, issuing grants for their upkeep. He distributed offerings and alms during times of war and disease. Under the guise of criticizing superstition, the British writers, modernists and rationalists in reality, made a clever attempt to turn people’s minds against Ranjit Singh by portraying him as an opponent of pirs and faqirs.” (p. 20)

Politically, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a true heir to the teachings of Baba Guru Nanak, while in his personal life he was like all kings. 

While celebrating the syncretic character of the Maharaja’s rule, Aamir Riaz argues that many of the divisions between Muslims and Sikhs, as well as between Sikhs and Pathans, were encouraged or manufactured by British colonialists. The chapter seeks to expose the conspiracies that, according to the author, were designed and developed by British imperialism. He provides an extensive account of the Lahore Darbar’s political, military, and economic organisation, as well as its important trade routes, including those connected to Lahari Bandar.

The British, looking beyond Punjab, wanted to establish control over Sindh and the Frontier. They entered into an agreement with Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1809, commonly known as the Treaty of Sultej However, according to the author’s argument, the British did not honour the spirit of the agreement and continued to work against the Maharaja. Ludhiana and Patiala became important centres of opposition to his authority.

Punjab and the Idea of a Nation-State

Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Punjab possessed many of the features that could have supported the development of a nation-state, comparable in some respects to France and Germany. It had a long historical tradition, a defined territory, a distinctive culture, and its own language.

However, the author argues:”The British also moved our lands towards becoming a nation-state, but they established a colonial system in which the people were treated as subjects rather than citizens.” (p. 12). The British continued their efforts to undermine the Maharaja despite their agreements with him, and these efforts, according to the author, had been underway since 1831. During the final years of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s life, surveillance was so extensive that the British reportedly knew which medicines he was taking and what treatment he was receiving.

The Maharaja is said to have remarked:”It will all turn red.”The reference, as the author understands it, is to the red coats worn by British soldiers.

From the Annexation of Punjab to Partition

The question remains: if the people of Punjab were able to live together under Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rule for approximately fifty years, what happened in 1947?

The answer, in Aamir Riaz’s interpretation, lies in the annexation of Punjab by the British in 1849 and their subsequent rule until 1947.

The author argues that the communal hatred and sectarian divisions that erupted during Partition were not characteristic of the Maharaja’s reign, but developed and intensified during the ninety-eight years of British rule. He attributes these divisions to the colonial policy of divide and rule, which helped create and reinforce identities based on caste, class, and religion.

We forgot the harmony and syncretism taught by Baba Farid, Baba Guru Nanak, and the many pirs, faqirs, and Gurus of Punjab.

Aamir Riaz has rightly begun his book with Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The title, “The Story of a Kingdom That Was Deliberately Erased from Memory,” expresses the central argument of the work: that the history of the Lahore Darbar and its political, cultural, and social legacy deserves to be reconsidered beyond the narrow boundaries of religious historiography.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom represents, for the author, one of the last significant expressions of Sanjha Punjab—a shared Punjab whose history and memory transcend religious divisions.

To be continued.

Zubair Ahmad is a Lahore born Punjabi author. He is a short story writer, poet and critic and can be reached at Kitab.trinjan@gmail.com