who united all the sikh and founded a kingdom in the punjab
Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire (also Sikh Khalsa Raj, Sarkar-i-Khalsa or PaÃ±jab (Punjab) Empire), was a major power in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established a secular empire based in the Punjab.[4] The empire existed from 1799, when Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849 and was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous Sikh misls.[5][6] At its peak in the 19th century, the Empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west to western Tibet in the east, and from Mithankot in the south to Kashmir in the north. It was the last major region of the subcontinent to be conquered by the British.
Golden Temple The temple is built around a man-made pool (sarovar) that was completed by Guru Ram Das in 1577.[5][6] Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of Sikhism, requested Sai Mian Mir, a Muslim Pir of Lahore to lay its foundation stone in 1589.[1] In 1604, Guru Arjan placed a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir Sahib, calling the site Ath Sath Tirath (lit. "shrine of 68 pilgrimages").[2][7] The temple was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it became a target of persecution and was destroyed several times by the Muslim armies from Afghanistan and the Mughal Empire.[2][4][8] The army led by Ahmad Shah Abdali, for example, demolished it in 1757 and again in 1762, then filled the pool with garbage.[2][9] Maharaja Ranjit Singh after founding the Sikh Empire, rebuilt it in marble and copper in 1809, overlaid the sanctum with gold foil in 1830. This has led to the name the Golden Temple.[10][11][12]