RAS question
The founder of the Sikh Empire was:
Correct answer: (A) Ranjit Singh.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh founded the Sikh Empire in Punjab and ruled from Lahore as maharaja.
Explanation
Maharaja Ranjit Singh is the right answer because he turned Sikh power in Punjab from a loose confederacy into a durable political state. Britannica identifies him as the founder and maharaja of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab from 1801 to 1839. That state was in Punjab, with Lahore as its capital. Ranjit Singh unified the Sikh Misls, modernised his army with French help, and built a powerful north-western Indian state. His role was therefore political consolidation, not merely religious leadership or rebellion, which is exactly what the phrase "founder of the Sikh Empire" tests.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Banda Bahadur led an important Sikh rebellion, but he did not establish the lasting territorial empire associated with Lahore and Punjab.
- (C) Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa, but the question asks about the founder of a political empire, not the Sikh religious-military order.
- (D) Guru Nanak founded Sikhism, but he did not found the Sikh Empire as a territorial state.
Concept
This tests the transition from Sikh religious history and the Misl confederacy to Ranjit Singh's state-building in Punjab. RAS repeats such founder-and-state questions because they separate religious leadership, rebellion and political consolidation.