Company rule and Maharaja Ranjit Singh's empire
While the Company tightened its grip, Maharaja Ranjit Singh built a powerful Sikh empire in the north-west, and social reformers began to change Indian society.
How it was ruled
Ranjit Singh took Lahore in 1799 and ruled an empire from the Satluj to Peshawar and Kashmir. The Dogra general Zorawar Singh took Ladakh and campaigned into Tibet. The Company annexed Punjab in 1849 and other states under the 'doctrine of lapse'.
How people lived
Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned against sati (abolished 1829); English education was introduced (1835); Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule opened schools for girls in Pune (1848).
What people did
Farming under heavy land revenue (Permanent Settlement in Bengal, ryotwari in the south); Indian handloom weaving declined against British machine-made cloth.
What people ate
Grains, pulses and vegetables; famines became more frequent under Company rule.
Trade
The first railway ran from Bombay to Thane in 1853; the telegraph followed.
Region by region
- Punjab: Ranjit Singh's capital Lahore (today's Pakistan) and the Golden Temple at Amritsar, which he covered in gold.
- Ladakh: Zorawar Singh's campaigns brought Ladakh into the Dogra kingdom (1834–1841).
- Jammu and Kashmir: The Treaty of Amritsar (1846) gave Kashmir to Gulab Singh, founding the Dogra state.
- Maharashtra: The Phules' schools and the first railway line.
- West Bengal: Calcutta, the Company's capital and the centre of the Bengal Renaissance.
Key events
- 1801: Ranjit Singh proclaimed Maharaja of Punjab
- 1829: Sati abolished
- 1849: Punjab annexed after the Anglo-Sikh wars
- 1853: First passenger train, Bombay to Thane
Legacy
Indian Railways, the modern school system, and the social reform movements.
Sources