leader of sikh empire who became maharajah of punjab
Ranjit Singh Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780 –1839),[5][6] was the leader of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10. After his father died, he fought several wars to expel the Afghans in his teenage years, and was proclaimed as the "Maharaja of Punjab" at age 21.[5][7] His empire grew in the Punjab region under his leadership through 1839.[8][9]
Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir India gained its independence from the United Kingdom on midnight of 15 August 1947 IST, and simultaneously Pakistan was created as a new country as a result of the partition of India. Jammu and Kashmir, then a princely state under suzerainty of British Monarch, and ruled by the Maharaja Hari Singh tried to avoid declaring his state's accession to either of the two dominions at the time of independence (although that was not an option under the Indian Independence Act, 1947). A Muslim majority state ruled by Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh (then the ruler of the state), government of the state signed a standstill agreement with Pakistan. However, on 6 October 1947, Pakistani Muslim tribes, supported by the government of Pakistan, attacked Jammu and Kashmir on the behest of Pakistan to achieve forcible accession to Pakistan. Maharaja Hari Singh requested assistance from India, and when India requested an Instrument of Accession to India, Maharaja signed it so that India could help in defense.