This article is about the specific polity Sikh Empire and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was an empire based in the Punjab. It emerged from the union of the Sikh Misl, small principalities in the region. At its peak in the 19th century, the Empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east as far as Oudh. By 1849 the state was dissolved after the defeat in the Second Anglo-Sikh War and inglobated in the British domains in India.
Establishment
January 1802: The formal start of the Sikh Empire began with the unification of the Misls (states) by 1801, creating a unified political state.
January 1802: In 1801, the territory of Nabha State was established as one of the Phulkian princely states in Punjab, India. The capital was located in Nabha, and it was ruled by the Phulkian dynasty, specifically Maharaja Hira Singh and Maharaja Ripudaman Singh.
December 1802: On 31 Dec 1802, Dharampur State, under the rule of Raja Rajendra Singh, became a British protectorate. This decision was made as part of the Treaty of Bassein between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Expansion during the rule of Ranjit Singh in the Sikh Empire.
January 1810: Sikh invasion of the Kangra region.
January 1811: Kangra State was extinguished and annexed by Sikh Empire in 1810.
January 1819: Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, invaded Peshawar in 1818 and captured it from the Durranis, establishing Sikh control over the region. Singh was a powerful ruler known for his military conquests in the Indian subcontinent.
January 1820: In 1819, the Kashmir Valley passed from the control of the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan to the conquering armies of the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh.
January 1840: Expansion of the Sikh Empire by 1839.
1.1.Afghan-Sikh Wars
Were a series of military conflicts between the Durrani Empire and the Sikh Empire that took place mainly in the Punjab region.
July 1813: Battle of Attock.
June 1818: Siege of Multan.
July 1819: Battle of Shopian: Srinagar and Kashmir annexed into the Sikh Empire.
March 1823: Battle of Nowshera: Peshawar Valley annexed by the Sikh Empire.
1.2.Punjab War
The Sikh Empire took control of the entirety of Punjab from the Afghans.
January 1821: The Sikh Empire, led by Ranjit Singh, took control of the entirety of Punjab from the Afghans as well as local princes.
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
January 1809: Bestowed with the grit and instinct of survival, making self-preservation a priority the Raja of Patiala entered into a treaty with the British against Ranjit Singh in 1808, thus becoming collaborators in the empire building process of the British in the sub-continent of India.
Were a series of wars fought by the British East India Company in the Indian Subcontinent that resulted in the British conquest and colonial rule of the region.
3.1.Anglo-Nepalese War
Was a war between the Kingdom of Nepal and the British East India Company. .
3.1.1.Treaty of Sugauli
Was the treaty that ended the Anglo-Nepali War. Nepal lost one-third of its territory.
March 1816: The Anglo-Nepalese War ended with the Treaty of Sugauli, which has been considered as an unequal treaty vecause it led to Nepal losing one-third of its territory. The river Mechi became the new Eastern border and the Mahakali the Western boundary of Nepal.
3.2.Anglo-Sikh Wars
Were two military conflicts between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company that resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire.
3.2.1.First Anglo-Sikh War
Was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company.
December 1845: Battle of Mudki.
December 1845: Battle of Ferozeshah.
January 1846: Battle of Aliwal.
February 1846: Battle of Sobraon.
3.2.1.1.Treaty of Lahore
In the Treaty of Lahore of 9 March 1846 that ended the First Anglo-Sikh War, the Sikhs surrendered the Jullundur Doab region to the British.
March 1846: The Lahore Durbar was required to pay an indemnity of 15 million rupees to the British. Because it could not readily raise this sum, it ceded Kashmir, Hazarah and all the forts, territories, rights and interests in the hill countries situated between the Rivers Beas and Indus to the East India Company, as equivalent to ten million of rupees.
March 1846: In the Treaty of Lahore the Sikhs were made to surrender the valuable region (the Jullundur Doab) between the Beas River and Sutlej River.
3.2.2.Second Anglo-Sikh War
Was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company that took place in 1848 and 1849 and resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire.
January 1849: Captain John Nicholson, leading irregular cavalry based at Peshawar, seized the vital fort of Attock on the Indus River from its Sikh garrison.
January 1849: Battle of Chillianwala.
January 1849: Mulraj surrendered on 22 January.
February 1849: Battle of Chillianwala.
February 1849: Battle of Gujrat.
March 1849: Chattar Singh and Sher Singh surrendered near Rawalpindi.
March 1849: Sikh ruler Duleep Singh signed away all claims to the rule of the Punjab to the British, who annexed the region.
Was a war between Tibet, a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, and the Sikh Empire.
4.1.Tibetan Counterattack
Was the Tibetan counterattack against the Sikh invasion of the Dogra-Tibetan War.
December 1841: The Tibetans defeated the Sikh and pursued them up to Dumra (Nubra Valley, possibly Diskit), a day's journey from Leh, where they encamped.
February 1842: Tibetan invasion of Ladakh.
September 1842: Qing China and the Sikh Empire signed a treaty in September 1842 that stipulated no transgressions or interference in the other country's frontiers.
January 1804: Faridkot State was a self-governing princely state outside British India during the British Raj period in the Indian sub-continent. Patiala was one of the Phulkian States.
January 1806: Kutlehar State was occupied by the Kingdom of Nepal between 1805 and 1809. The Gorkha occupants, led by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, were eventually driven out by the British East India Company.
January 1807: Nepalese invasion of Bilaspur.
March 1809: On 3 May 1809 Maler Kotla became a British protectorate and was made part of the Cis-Sutlej states.
April 1809: On 25 April 1809, Jind State, under the rule of Raja Fateh Singh, became a British protectorate. This agreement was part of the British East India Company's expansion in India during the early 19th century.
January 1810: Between 1805 and 1809, Kutlehar State was occupied by Nepal until the Gorkha occupants, led by the famous military leader Amar Singh Thapa, were driven out by the British East India Company forces.
January 1816: Bilaspur State came under British protection in 1815.
January 1822: In 1821, Chamba annexed Bhadrawah State.
January 1824: The Emirate of Afghanistan emerged from the Durrani Empire, when Dost Mohammed Khan, the founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Kabul, became Emir in 1826.
January 1843: The Sikhs reached an agreement with the Tibetans in 1842 under which the Sikh Confederation took possession of the territory south of the Karakoram pass and Pangong lake. The British also recognized this border, which took the name of the Johnson Line.
January 1847: In 1846, after the First Anglo-Sikh War, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was established from territories that were previously part of the Sikh Empire. This marked the beginning of the rule of Maharaja Gulab Singh and the Dogra dynasty in the region.
January 1847: After the British took over the Sikh territories in 1846, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia's descendants became the ruling family of the Kapurthala State. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was a prominent Sikh leader and military commander during the 18th century.
Disestablishment
January 1849: Captain John Nicholson, leading irregular cavalry based at Peshawar, seized the vital fort of Attock on the Indus River from its Sikh garrison.
January 1849: Battle of Chillianwala.
January 1849: Mulraj surrendered on 22 January.
February 1849: Battle of Chillianwala.
February 1849: Battle of Gujrat.
March 1849: Chattar Singh and Sher Singh surrendered near Rawalpindi.
March 1849: Sikh ruler Duleep Singh signed away all claims to the rule of the Punjab to the British, who annexed the region.
Selected Sources
Hugh, C. (1911): Ranjit Singh, Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 22 (11th ed.), Cambridge (UK), p. 892
Sikh Empire
