Ranjit Singh.s Empire
Further information: Ranjit Singh
Badshahi Mosque with damaged minarets during Sikh rule
Mughal Emperor Jehangir's mausoleum in Shahdara, Lahore
Ranjit Singh was crowned on 12 April 1801 at Lahore. The 1740s were years of chaos and the city had nine different governors between 1745 and 1756. Invasions and chaos in local government allowed bands of warring Sikhs to gain control in some areas. In 1799 all Sikh Misls warring bands joined into one to form a sovereign Sikh state ruled by Maharaja Ranjit Singh from the royal capital, Lahore. During the 1740s frequent invasions by Afghans led by Ahmad Shah Abdali and chaos in local government had made life very uncomfortable for the citizens of Lahore. Bhangi Misl was the fist Sikh band to invade and plunder the Mughal Lahore.Later Ranjit Singh was able to make gains in this chaos. He defeated the grandson of Abdali Zaman Shah in a battle between Lahore and Amritsar. Out of the chaos of Afghan and Sikh conflicts emerged a victorious Sikh by the name of Ranjit Singh who was able to unify the Sikh factions and capture Lahore where he was crowned Emperor. On 7 July 1799, the Sikh militia of the Sukerchakia chief, Ranjit Singh, occupied of Lahore.For that brief half century from 1799 to 1846 Lahore recovered under the patronage of Ranjit Singh and his successors.Ranjit Singh consolidated the Sikh misls who had ruled more or less independently during the eighteenth century under a unified command and in 1799 he established Lahore as the administrative capital of a new Sikh kingdom. Nearby Amritsar became the spiritual and commercial center of the kingdom in 1802 after Ranjit Singh's troops occupied the city and the maharaja announced his intention to extend patronage and protection to the cit's leading groups.
The Samadhi of Emperor Ranjit Singh in Lahore Pakistan.
While much of Lahore's Mughal era fabric lay in ruins by the end of eighteenth century rebuilding efforts under the Sikhs were focused on the community as many visitors to the city noted that much of the city was in disrepair and many of its Muslims and Mosques were pillaged and desecrated. Marbles and precious stones were pillaged from Muslim buildings and homes by sikhs to build golden temple and other sikh holy places. Ranjit Singh death in 27 June 1839 ultimately ended his reign while the Sikh rule continued until the British gained control of the empire in 1849.