A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, and Chandragupta Maurya. [2] ' Title inflation' soon led to most being rather mediocre or even petty in real power, which led to compound titles (among other efforts) being used in an attempt to distinguish some among their ranks. Thomas J. Samuelian (2000), Armenian origins: an overview of ancient and modern sources and theories, Iravunq Publishing House, ... Cognate Chart Sanskrit: Maha Greek: Mega English: Much ... The title Bendahara Seri Maharaja was used by the ruler of Pahang (1623–1853 in personal union with Johor, eventually becoming a fief of the Bendahara family), till on 6 August 1882 Tuanku Ahmad al-Muadzam Shah ibni al-Marhum Tun Ali adopted the title, Sultan. Mann, Gurinder Singh (1993). Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America. State University of New York Press. p.150. ISBN 978-0791414255. Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making from Punjab gets inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO, 2014". pib.nic.in . Retrieved 1 July 2019.

Bhatia, Sardar Singh (2011). "Mahitab Kaur (d, 1813)". In Singh, Harbans (ed.). The Encyclopedia Of Sikhism. Vol.III M–R (3rded.). Punjabi University Patiala. p.19. ISBN 978-8-1-7380-349-9. a b c d e Sunit Singh (2014). Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp.62–65. ISBN 978-0-19-100411-7.Joseph Davey Cunningham (1843). A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej. p.9. Mandair, Arvind-Pal S. (2009). Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality, and the Politics of Translation. Columbia University Press. p.264. ISBN 978-0-231-51980-9. As Khalsa Sikhs became more settled and as Ranjit Singh's rule became more autocratic, the Gurumata was effectively abolished, thereby ensuring that the doctrine of the Guru Panth would lose its efficacy. At the same time, however, Ranjit Singh continued to patronize Udasi and Nirmala ashrams. The single most important result of this was the more pronounced diffusion of Vedic and Puranic concepts into the existing Sikh interpretive frameworks

Harjot Oberoi (1994). The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition. University of Chicago Press. pp.208–216. ISBN 978-0-226-61593-6. Michell, George (1995), Architecture and Art of Southern India: Vijayanagara and the successor states: 1350–1750, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-44110-2Singh, Patwant; Rai, Jyoti M. (2008). Empire of the Sikhs: the life and times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. London: Peter Owen. p.69. ISBN 978-0720613230. Chakravarti is a Sanskrit term for "emperor". The meaning of chakravarti is "he, whose wheels of chariot is moving" which symbolizes that the leader who is a war hero, who commands over vast land and sea, the one who rules the people with dedication. In the Mahabharata, the Chakravarti Bharat is known to have ruled the entire sub-continent of India brought golden age to his kingdom. He is called as chakravarti. Maharaja: The Story of Ranjit Singh (2010) is an Indian Punjabi-language animated film directed by Amarjit Virdi. [157] As a child, Singh played badminton in the marble halls of Umaid Bhawan and hide-and-seek under its hundred-foot-high dome. The palace bustled with so many people at any given time that meals were laid out for at least 30 just to be safe. Then, when Singh had children of his own, they roller-skated down the same halls and threw disco-themed parties for friends in the palatial rooms. They were also known to stand on the very top floor and hurl spitballs down at passing visitors—a misdemeanor that, on being discovered once, ended with them being sent to bed with bread and water.

Major, Andrew J. (1991). "The Punjabi Chieftains and the Transition from Sikh to British Rule". In DA Low (ed.). The Political Inheritance of Pakistan. Springer, Cambridge University Commonwealth Series. pp.53–85. doi: 10.1007/978-1-349-11556-3_3. ISBN 978-1-349-11558-7. The Sikh Empire, also known as the Sikh Raj and Sarkar-a-Khalsa, [84] was in the Punjab region, the name of which means "the land of the five rivers". The five rivers are the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum, all of which are tributaries of the river Indus. [85] Kumar, Anil. "Maharaja Ranjit Singh's statue in Pakistan vandalised by activist of banned far-right outfit". India Today . Retrieved 17 August 2021. Maharani Rudrama Devi was one the few ruling queens in Indian History. She ruled for 26 years (1263–1289) and built the Warangal fort, several major temples, dharmashalas and civic services for the poor a b c Anita Anand (2015). Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary. Bloomsbury Academic. p.13. ISBN 978-1-63286-081-1.

At the absence of the king (maharaja), minor heir, less experienced great queen (maharani); the mother of the king takes charge of the kingdom and acts as an temporary monarch/regent. Until the heir comes to the age or the Queen is ready, the Rajamata ( Queen mother) administers the kingdom. She is empowered to issue royal decree (Rajyaadesh/rajya shasan) and she will be the head of the military. Famous examples include Rajamata Shetu Lakshmi Bayi of Travincore dynasty, Gowri lakshmi bayi, Maharaji (later Rajamata) Rudrama devi of Kakatiya dynasty. [6] [7] The Rajamata can overrule the advice of ministerial council, abolish or impose tax, appoint or dismiss people from a post and has unlimited powers at the absence of the king. On 1 January 1806, Ranjit Singh signed a treaty with the British officials of the East India Company, in which he agreed that his Sikh forces would not attempt to expand south of the Sutlej river, and the Company agreed that it would not attempt to militarily cross the Sutlej river into the Sikh territory. [72]

Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series 1908, p.20 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFImperial_Gazetteer_of_India:_Provincial_Series1908 ( help)

In 1789, Ranjit Singh married his first wife Mehtab Kaur, [25] the muklawa happened in 1796. [22] She was the only daughter of Gurbaksh Singh Kanhaiya and his wife Sada Kaur, and the granddaughter of Jai Singh Kanhaiya, the founder of the Kanhaiya Misl. [6] This marriage was pre-arranged in an attempt to reconcile warring Sikh misls, wherein Mehtab Kaur was betrothed to Ranjit Singh in 1786. However, the marriage failed, with Mehtab Kaur never forgiving the fact that her father had been killed in battle with Ranjit Singh's father and she mainly lived with her mother after marriage. The separation became complete when Ranjit Singh married Datar Kaur of the Nakai Misl in 1797 and she turned into Ranjit's most beloved wife. [26] Mehtab Kaur had three sons, Ishar Singh who was born in 1804 and twins Sher Singh and Tara Singh born in 1807. According to historian Jean-Marie Lafont, she was the only one to bear the title of Maharani. She died in 1813, after suffering from a failing health. [27] It was 1952. Five years earlier, India had become independent through the transfer of power from the British crown to the successor states of India and Pakistan. Singh’s mother, Maharani Krishna Kumari, recognized a new reality. She sent her son to England to study at Cothill House and then Eton College. “She didn’t want me growing up in a palace, with palace retainers, thinking nothing had changed,” Singh, now 68, recalled recently. Chitralekha Zutshi (2004). Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir. Oxford University Press. pp.39–41. ISBN 978-0-19-521939-5. a b Christopher Alan Bayly (1996). Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering and Social Communication in India, 1780–1870. Cambridge University Press. p.233. ISBN 978-0-521-66360-1.