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Maharaja; An essential lesson for Indian democracy

@Chak Bamu

My article had some weak links and you amazingly sorted them with ease.And I was expecting it to come soon.I agree, Singh Sahab's forty years of reign in Punjab had some severe deficiencies, as you mentioned. He did not change the age old agrarian policy which remained practically undisturbed through out Mughal period and it's true agrarian Punjab visited it's golden era only due to the Canal system introduced by the company.Although no records are found at present but Ranjit Singh did try to introduce an uniform code and appointed Bahadur Shah Hindustani to prepare one common civil and criminal code.

His grandeur army, extensively trained with discipline by the French,English,Hungarian and Spanish mercenaries as well were instrumental in restricting the Company at their door step in South of Sutlej, but the lack of an adept heir proved disastrous to the state after his death.Ranjit Singh did not change the recruitment policy of his army and a kind of trade unionism was introduced when deradaars started bargaining for better salaries and terms for their own men within the same army.The Sikh durbar sleepwalked into a disastrous state unknowingly by letting such sectarianism to remain as it was completely unnoticed.
Sikh Historians do tell about the Kohinoor episode with a completely different style and I should not involve in defending Maharaja either and let it go untouched for the moment.
The only comparison I wanted to draw was the present precariousness of our present political system and the moral bankruptcy it displays in front of a commoner like me. And when a twenty year boy showed extra ordinary courage,humbleness,spirit of equality and ability to govern a troubled state in the face of crisis from every corner of his frontier I thought it necessary to draw a comparison, not with everything in his life but some selective qualities which we might learn.

And "Hurt my feelings!!" What are you talking about? Each and every word you have said in your post is true and I could not have expected a fairer criticism of the article I chose to post about Maharaja Ranjit Singh. You have accurately pointed out the vulnerable areas about the article which I was expecting to come from someone of your rank. Thank you again chak for your brilliant analysis, it could not have been better any way.
 

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